True villains live in shadows and sequels.
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00:00Now, while most video games amount to more than just their story or characters, there's
00:04no denying that every game needs a compelling, memorable villain in order to achieve true
00:09greatness.
00:10But sometimes developers opt to play their cards rather close to their chest, choosing
00:13not to reveal the true villain until late in the game, or perhaps even in the bloody
00:17sequel, and feeding the player a second-tier antagonist in the interim.
00:22Sometimes we might hear about these villains in an earlier game, or maybe their later reveal
00:25slots neatly into the existing continuity, but either way, we now know that these antagonists
00:29were doing their big bad guy thing all along.
00:32So let's have a look at them as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are the
00:3510 Best Video Games With An Unseen Enemy.
00:3810.
00:39Resident Evil
00:40The original Resident Evil's big twist is that fellow S.T.A.R.S.
00:43team member Albert Wesker is a double agent working in league with the Umbrella Corporation,
00:48helping them to test their various grotesque experiments out on his own teammates.
00:52However, Umbrella itself remains a relatively shady outfit throughout the game and the next
00:57few sequels, with the organisation's higher-ups kept firmly in the shadows.
01:01The man at the top is Oswell E. Spencer, the co-founder of Umbrella who is briefly mentioned
01:06in the original game's files, but who didn't make an appearance until well over a decade
01:10later in Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles, and more significantly, Resident Evil 5.
01:15Spencer is the megalomaniac ultimately responsible for the events that set the series in motion,
01:20including even the creation of Wesker himself, and is eventually killed by Wesker in Resident
01:24Evil 5.
01:25And yet, Oswell is a rarity in the franchise given that he never has any sort of direct
01:29interaction with any of the heroes or playable characters, nor does he ever appear as a boss.
01:34Though the recent Resident Evil Village went on to reveal that Mother Miranda was the one
01:38who taught Spencer about virology and inspired him to create Umbrella, Oswell is unique to
01:42the series in being known about since the very beginning, but rarely seen in action.
01:479.
01:48Crash Bandicoot
01:49Though Dr. Neo Cortex is, of course, the main villain of the first two Crash Bandicoot games,
01:54the sequel Crash Bandicoot Warped reveals that there has actually been a puppet master
01:57pulling the strings behind him all along.
02:00Enter Uka Uka, a voodoo mask spirit and evil twin brother of the benevolent witch doctor
02:05Aku Aku.
02:06Crash 3 sets Uka Uka free from his underground prison, where he reveals that he's basically
02:11the Thanos-like big bad of the entire series, and has effectively been using Cortex as a
02:15pawn to do his bidding.
02:17While Uka Uka's insertion into the franchise is an undeniable retcon given the lack of
02:22clues to his existence in either of the first two Crash games, he's certainly more imposing
02:26and palpable a threat than the rather goofy Cortex, much as we do love him.
02:318.
02:32Baldur's Gate
02:33Though Baal is a name well-known by Baldur's Gate fans, the violent god is a quintessential
02:37shadow villain who is responsible for setting the series' plot in motion, despite being
02:41totally absent, on account of being dead and all.
02:45The Baal Spawn saga, comprising the first two games and their respective expansions,
02:49is concerned with Baal's mortal-like children, aka the Baal Spawn, each of whom houses a
02:55fragment of his divine essence.
02:57His post-humorous plan for resurrection involves having each of the Spawn be killed, releasing
03:01their essence back into the world and allowing him to be brought back to life through a ritual.
03:06Aside from some very brief glimpses of him, he's been a quintessential unseen enemy
03:10throughout the Baal Spawn saga, totally pivotal in the machinations of the story and yet nowhere
03:15to be seen for pretty understandable reasons.
03:177.
03:18Doom
03:19Though Olivia Pierce is the villain of the Doom 2016 reboot, and The Kahnmaker is the
03:24primary antagonist of the sequel, Doom Eternal, ultimately both ended up making a pact with
03:29the series' real big bad, who was only revealed in Eternal's two-part DLC campaign, The
03:34Ancient Gods.
03:35There, we finally meet the one behind everything, the Dark Lord himself, aka Davoth, the supreme
03:41ruler of Hell who made a pact with Pierce to open portals to Hell on Mars, and granted
03:46the Kahnmaker enormous power in exchange for more worlds to enslave.
03:50Davoth eventually reveals that he created the multiverse and everything in it, including
03:54Earth, Mars, Hell, and so on, and also bears a notable physical resemblance to the Doom
03:59Slayer himself.
04:00But the most curious thing about the Dark Lord reveal is that, considering Eternal confirms
04:04that we're playing as the same Doom Slayer from the original games, that makes the Dark
04:08Lord the overarching antagonist of not just this reboot franchise, but the entire series
04:13dating back to its 1993 debut.
04:16With the Dark Lord killed at the end of The Ancient Gods, it'll be interesting to see
04:19where things go from here.
04:216.
04:22Mortal Kombat
04:23Keeping track of the Mortal Kombat franchise sure isn't easy, especially with the number
04:27of unseen villains who have later been confirmed to have just been hanging around in the periphery.
04:32In the series' earlier entries, though, it's fair to say that Shao Kahn was the pervading
04:36big bad, yet the Emperor of Outworld didn't appear in the original 1992 game, with Shang
04:41Tsung instead having served as the first Mortal Kombat villain, who, if victorious
04:45in one more Mortal Kombat tournament, would be able to take control of Earthrealm.
04:50Mortal Kombat 2 introduces Shao Kahn as the true main villain, while basically demoting
04:54Shang Tsung to lackey status, and ever since, Kahn has maintained a reputation as one of
04:59the fiercest recurring bosses throughout the series.
05:02Mortal Kombat has admittedly pulled this bait and switch a few times, what with the subsequent
05:06introductions of the One Being, the all-powerful creator of the realms, and Kronika, the ancient
05:10deity predating all others who controls the universe's timeline.
05:15These villains were all canonically around during the events of the original game, but
05:17in Kronika's case, she didn't reveal herself until the most recent game in the series,
05:22Mortal Kombat 11.
05:235.
05:24Bully
05:25Though the card-carrying antagonist of Rockstar's Bully is the sociopathic asshole Gary Smith,
05:30there's a subtle but vital sentiment throughout the game that shifts the blame towards the
05:34parents of Gary and other bullies like him.
05:37After all, bullies are more often than not the product of a rough, potentially abusive
05:41upbringing, and according to nerd Donald Anderson, Gary's dad was kicked out of Bullworth Academy
05:46himself and later went to prison.
05:48As such, it's little surprise that Gary is such an unstable young man with crazed
05:52designs to take over Bullworth.
05:54This isn't the only example of unseen parents being held responsible for their kid's behaviour,
05:58though.
05:59Derby Harrington, the obnoxious leader of the snobby Preppy's clique, is emboldened
06:02to act out with impunity by his father's status, being both enormously wealthy and
06:07a major Bullworth backer.
06:08We never see Gary or Derby's fathers, but it's clear that in different ways they're
06:12systematically responsible for the anarchy at this school.
06:164.
06:17Dark Souls
06:18Though there's some degree of debate over who the true overarching villain of the Souls
06:21series is, there's a solid argument to be made that it's Manus, the father of the
06:25Abyss, who makes an appearance in Dark Souls' Arcturus of the Abyss DLC.
06:30Given the series' generally vague approach to lore and worldbuilding, fans may not have
06:34expected to meet the party responsible for creating the never-ending expanse of darkness
06:38known as the Abyss that threatens to destroy the world throughout.
06:41But Arcturus of the Abyss takes place 100 years in the past, where players face off
06:45against and defeat Manus.
06:47And so, even with Manus being dead long before the mainline events of the Dark Souls games,
06:52the Abyss he created continues to pervade, ensuring he had a potent, terrifying legacy
06:57far beyond his demise.
06:593.
07:01Metal Gear Solid
07:02Trying to make head or tail of the Metal Gear Solid franchise's twisty lore is admittedly
07:05a surefire way to give yourself a massive cluster headache, but there are few shadow
07:10organisations in gaming more iconic than the Patriots.
07:13The original Metal Gear Solid makes no mention of the Patriots at all, which are then revealed
07:17in the second game to be a covert organisation who secretly control the United States and
07:22have basically been behind every major event in the series.
07:25The sequels and prequels only further expanded the Patriots' influence, was formed way
07:29back in the 1970s in an attempt to influence world events for the better.
07:34In-fighting led to Big Boss and Eva leaving, while Zero became the de facto leader, and
07:38ultimately developed AI iterations of the Patriots to follow his command after his death.
07:43Typically, though, the AI versions deviated from his plans and had their own designs on
07:47the future of humanity, including censoring digital information and manipulating global
07:51warfare for their own gain.
07:53Ultimately, Solid Snake was able to bring the Patriots down at the end of Metal Gear
07:56Solid 4, but to anyone playing the original MGS back in 1998, you'd never have guessed
08:02what Hideo Kojima was cooking up in the periphery.
08:052.
08:06Dead Space
08:07The Dead Space games are, of course, best remembered for players battling the grotesque
08:11mutated creatures known as the Necromorphs, humans which have been driven insane and transformed
08:16by the mysterious extraterrestrial objects known as the Markers.
08:20It isn't until Dead Space 3 that we learn the truth behind the creation of the Markers
08:23and therefore the Necromorphs, that they're part of a reproductive cycle of the Brethren
08:27Moons, gigantic, space-faring creatures which represent the final stage in a Necromorph's
08:33evolution.
08:34Long story short, the Brethren Moons will seed a suitable planet with Markers intended
08:38to turn the local population into Necromorphs.
08:40When enough conversion has been achieved, a convergence event will be triggered that
08:44amasses all of the Necromorphs in the area to form a new Brethren Moon.
08:48The game's Awaken DLC ended with the Brethren Moons launching a full-on attack on Earth,
08:53and fans have been left hanging ever since.
08:55Given that the next game in the series is a remake of the original, though, there's
08:58no guarantee that this thread will ever be picked up on again.
09:01Now, before I reveal our number one pick today, if you haven't played Horizon Forbidden West
09:06yet, major spoilers will follow.
09:09At number one, Horizon Zero Dawn.
09:15Horizon Zero Dawn is primarily concerned with protagonist Aloy discovering both her own
09:20past and that of Earth as a whole.
09:22At the game's end, we learn that an unknown force sent a signal to activate Hades, a dormant
09:26AI subsystem intended to act as an extinction failsafe in the event that the Earth-restoring
09:31Zero Dawn project was a failure.
09:33Though Hades is in effect the main villain of the first game, it's clear that something
09:37else is out there pulling the strings, the identity of which is finally revealed at the
09:40very end of the recent sequel, Horizon Forbidden West.
09:44Aloy eventually learns that the signal was sent by Nemesis, a shadowy evil AI that's
09:49determined to kill the Far Zenith, and is additionally en route to destroy Earth.
09:54Forbidden West leaves things up in the air for the inevitable threequel, which will presumably
09:58see Aloy and company face off against Nemesis in an all-out battle for Earth.
10:02Nice.
10:03And there we go, my friends, those were the 10 best video games with an unseen enemy.
10:07I hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
10:10comments section below.
10:11As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJ with a zero,
10:15or you can swing by Live and Let's Dice, where I do all of my streaming outside of
10:18work, and it'd be great to see you over there, but before I go, I just want to say
10:21one thing.
10:22Hope you treat yourself well with love and respect, my friend, because you deserve all
10:25of the best things in life, and do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise,
10:29alright?
10:30You're a massive ledge, and I can't wait to go out there and smash it today.
10:32As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
10:36to you soon.
10:37Bye.