Highlights

• Playing as the bad guy in video games can be a fun and refreshing change from the usual hero roles.
• Some games allow players to take control of the villain, revealing their evil tendencies later in the story.
• The best games that let you play as the bad guy are worth checking out for a unique and thrilling experience.

Without the repercussions of real life, being placed into the shoes of a bad guy in a video game can be a great way to go wild and let off some steam. Playing the virtuous hero who saves the day game after game can get stale pretty quickly, after all, so it's always interesting when a game lets the player take control of the villain instead.

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In many of these games, it's easy to tell when the protagonist is actually the villain, but some instead choose to obscure the player's vision of this fact until much later on in the story. For those looking to experience the joys of being bad for themselves, the best games that let you play as the bad guy are well worth checking out.

Updated November 19, 2023, by Tom Bowen: The video game industry is full of fantastic protagonists and wonderful villains. Sometimes, however, the line that separates them can be a little blurry. Within this gray area can be found some surprisingly compelling antiheroes whose personalities and actions can make them surprisingly likable in spite of their obvious evil tendencies. Sometimes, playing as the bad guy can be a real treat for players and often makes for a welcome change from the traditional good guy tropes that feature in most modern video games. Then there are the times when games allow players to choose whether or not to play as the villain, which can be just as illuminating.

1 Joker

Batman: Arkham Knight

Most of Batman: Arkham Knight is spent playing as Batman cleaning up the streets of Gotham City as one might expect. Near the end of the game though, the caped crusader is injected with a dose of Scarecrow's fear toxins, which sends Batman into a hallucinogenic state.

Control then switches abruptly from Batman to his arch-nemesis, The Joker, resulting in some of the very best gameplay in the franchise. Not only do players get to roam the halls shooting things with Joker's weapons, but they also get to drive a Joker-inspired Batmobile that looks incredibly cool.

2 Tim

Braid

With its fantastic time manipulation mechanics, Braid is one of the most innovative games of the early 21st century and played a huge role in the rise in popularity of the indie game genre. At a glance, it appears to tell the story of a time-bending man named Tim as he struggles to save a princess from an evil knight. However, as the game progresses, it becomes clear that nothing is quite as it seems.

It's revealed that Tim is actually the bad guy, with the princess running away from him the entire time. What's more, the knight that players had been conditioned to hate turns out to be one of the good guys, doing everything in his power to prevent Tim from getting his hands on the princess. This big reveal makes not only for a shocking twist but also an excellent conclusion to an already incredible game.

3 The Monster

Carrion

Most horror games are filled with fearsome foes and jump scares that are designed to petrify their players with fear. In Carrion, however, players are the jump scare. The amorphous monster that they control throughout the game is absolutely terrifying and becomes even more so as the game progresses.

Few monsters are as adept at causing death and destruction and the prospect of it breaking out of the lab's confinements really doesn't bode well for humanity. There is no gray area here; only a large red tentacled blob that kills indiscriminately and is incredibly proficient at doing so.

4 Various

Dead by Daylight

The dramatic rise in the popularity of asymmetrical multiplayer games over the past decade or so has led to some fantastic titles. Few have had quite the same impact as Dead by Daylight though. Four players must work together in order to escape from a crazed killer, who just so happens to be controlled by another player.

Despite having been released more than half a decade ago now, the game is still going strong and continues to add new characters to its roster as time goes by. Having launched with just three killers, there are now considerably more of them; many of whom are licensed from movies, television shows, and other video games.

5 Crypto

Destroy All Humans!

Destroy All Humans is a classic example of a video game that lets players control the bad guy. The game takes place in 1959, as players get to take control of the alien Cryptosporidium (Crypto, for short) and unleash carnage with an arsenal of powerful and hi-tech weaponry.

Crypto is a Furon warrior who enjoys destroying and torturing the inhabitants of Earth. The comedic tone of the game makes ravaging the planet feel a lot less terrible than it really should, which in turn makes this game incredibly unique and a lot of fun to experience.

6 Kratos

God of War

Kratos is one of the most complicated protagonists in all of gaming. While he's certainly been on the receiving end of some pretty despicable acts, some of the things that he's done are truly unforgivable. He's killed more family members than can be counted on a single hand and has unleashed his wrath and rage on countless mortals and gods.

The most recent entries in the God of War series brought some big changes to Kratos' character, both in terms of his appearance and his personality. As well as being redesigned to look a bit less intimidating, players were shown a different side to the bloodthirsty brute as well as a genuine desire from Kratos to change his ways. As the games' narrative unfolds though, it becomes clear to both Kratos and the player that he can't escape his true nature, nor his bloody past.

7 Michael, Trevor & Franklin

Grand Theft Auto V

The Grand Theft Auto franchise shows that video games based around playing as the bad guy can resonate with a wide audience of gamers around the world. Despite players growing to like the three playable characters from the fifth installment, Grand Theft Auto V, they are all hardened criminals.

The three go to great lengths to make their fortune and protect their own interests; often at the expense of other people's lives and well-being. That's arguably what makes Michael, Trevor, and Franklin such compelling characters in the end though, as players are given a lot of insight into what makes each of them tick.

8 Cole MacGrath

InFAMOUS 2

Multiple endings are something that more video games should try and incorporate into their narratives, as it can really improve the sense of agency that's given to players. It also provides a great deal of replayability, which is something that is prevalent in the inFamous series.

Cole MacGrath is the main character of inFamous 2 and is one of the most interesting protagonists in gaming when it comes to morality. One of the endings explicitly paints him as the villain of the game, though the player can choose to do evil deeds way before the credits roll at the end of the story.

9 Superman

Injustice 2

When asked to think of an iconic comic-book hero, Superman is usually one of the first names to spring to people's minds. However, Kal-El isn't always playing the hero, with the Man of Steel having turned heel at numerous points over the years. One such example of this can be found in Injustice 2, where, for all intents and purposes, the Last Son of Krypton serves as the main villain.

Despite Superman being shown to have lost his marbles right throughout the course of the title's main story, players are given a chance to side with him come the game's epic conclusion. Siding with Superman instead of Batman and then winning the resulting fight will result in players getting the bad ending, with Superman brainwashing some of the other characters to do his evil bidding.

10 Abby

The Last of Us Part 2

The Last of Us Part II kicks off Ellie's story of revenge. Abby brutally murders Joel pretty early on in the game, instantly making her the primary villain of the story. At least it does for a while, anyway, but the narrative takes a pretty big turn a bit later on.

Eventually, control switches over from Ellie to Abby, allowing players to see the bigger picture from another side. Despite the game doing its best to make her an admirable character though, many fans of the franchise were unable to see her in a positive light due to the horrific manner in which she killed Joel.

11 Vito Scaletta

Mafia 2

There have been a few different playable protagonists throughout the Mafia trilogy, each with their own quirks and vices. The name of the franchise speaks for itself though, as criminal life is heavily ingrained across all three of the games and into all of their playable characters.

Vito Scaletta is a former soldier who now lives the life of an up-and-coming gangster who is hoping to rise up in the ranks of the Falcone crime family. In order to do this, Vito does everything that one would expect a typical mobster to do; intimidating, beating, and, in many cases, killing those who stand in his way.

12 Bull Shark

Maneater

Games like Goat Simulator and Untitled Goose Game opened the door to a whole new genre of games that allow players to control a host of misbehaving animals. While the aforementioned goat and goose were merely mischievous though, the bull shark that players take control of in Maneater is out for blood.

Though the game's evolution mechanic can at times border on ridiculous, it can greatly improve the proficiency with which this bloodthirsty bull shark can cause carnage and chaos. It could certainly be argued that it's in her nature to kill, but that doesn't make it any easier for her many innocent victims.

13 Bowser

Super Mario RPG

With Mario being one of the longest-running video game franchises of all time, it seems safe to say that the titular plumber's rivalry with Bowser is fairly well-documented at this point. The Koopa King is constantly kidnapping Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, forcing Mario and his friends to rescue her from the villain's clutches time and time again. However, there have been many games in which Bowser has been playable.

Outside of sports, kart racing, fighting, and party games, Super Mario RPG is perhaps the most notable example of this. The game begins with Bowser doing what Bowser does best (kidnapping Princess Peach), but he eventually ends up being an integral member of the player's party. Smithy may serve as the game's true villain, but Bowser remains the big bad of the series despite his temporary alliance with the good guys.

14 The Overlord

Overlord

The Overlord series has players controlling the titular overlord and his army of minions as they bid to take over the world. Like many other games of the era, each title features a morality system, though rather than good or bad, the scale tends to range from bad to flat-out sadistic.

Those who enjoy dark humor and satire will likely love what Overlord has to offer, as the games are full to the brim with both, and never take themselves too seriously. Granted, the most recent title, Overlord: Fellowship of Evil, is a bit of a dud, but the first few are top-notch and are definitely worth a look.

15 Unknown

Plague Inc.

It's not entirely clear who or what the player is controlling in Ndemic Creations' Plague Inc., but there can be no disputing that they are carrying out the role of the bad guy. Their aim is to create a virus that kills as many people as possible, which, although ridiculously morbid, has proven to be an incredibly popular premise with many modern gamers.

Players are able to dictate how their virus mutates and earn upgrade points by infecting new countries and killing their inhabitants. Though exaggerated to a certain degree, the game provides excellent insight into how a virus spreads throughout the real world and the kind of things that can make developing effective vaccines a challenge for humanity.

16 Alex Mercer

Prototype

Prototype allows players to unleash their unnatural powers on the civilians of New York City long before the final twist seals their fate as the villain. Alex Mercer is the playable character of the first Prototype game and has shape-shifting powers that can turn him into a deadly weapon.

Initially, Alex thinks that he is fighting for the right side and against the virus that is plaguing the city. Once his memory is restored, however, both he and the player realize that Alex was the one who unleashed the virus in the first place; making him the true antagonist of the game.

17 Wander

Shadow of the Colossus

Love can make people do all sorts of crazy things, but even the most lovestruck of fools would probably agree that destroying 16 towering colossi to free the spirit of an evil deity so that they may once again wreak havoc on the world is taking things more than a little too far. Unfortunately, grief is an equally powerful emotion and one that Wander allows to take control of him during the events of Shadow of the Colossus.

Though it could certainly be argued that Wander's motivation for helping Dormin is driven by his intense love for Mono rather than any kind of internal malice, his decision to willfully ignore the potential consequences of his actions goes far beyond him just being selfish. Despite what he and the player may tell themselves, Wander is every bit as much the bad guy in Shadow of the Colossus as Dormin is.

18 Martin Walker

Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line is a third-person shooter that was released in 2012 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The player takes control of Martin Walker, a soldier in an alternate reality version of Dubai that has been ravaged by war. The city is now controlled by oppressors and Martin is tasked with finding one of his fellow soldiers who has reportedly gone insane.

As the game's narrative begins to unfold around him, however, Walker becomes more and more unstable. His actions gradually switch from heroic to unholy, leading players to start to question whether Walker is really the person that he first appears to be. As it turns out, he really isn't; as it's revealed that it was he who was behind all of the tyranny engulfing Dubai.

19 Stubbs

Stubbs the Zombie

Much like a real zombie horde, the endless stream of zombie-related games, movies, and television shows in the early two-thousands was incredibly relentless. Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse managed to set itself apart though, by having players control one of the flesh-hungry creatures rather than fighting endlessly against them.

Though it was both short and linear, the game was a lot of fun and garnered something of a cult following as a result. A remastered version of the game was released for current-gen consoles in early 2021, which, although not the sequel that many fans had been hoping for, at least brought the original title a lot closer to modern-day standards.

20 Frisk

Undertale

There are plenty of reasons to love Toby Fox's Earthbound-inspired game, Undertale. For many, though, the way that the game encourages players to reevaluate their actions by highlighting the disturbing nature of traditional RPG tropes is what makes it stand out. The idea that enemies do not actually need to be killed was revolutionary at the time of the game's release, though it's one that the vast majority of players didn't really pick up on until after their first playthrough of the game.

As a result, most players will begin their Undertale experience by following either the Neutral or Genocide routes. By replaying the game and following the True Pacifist route, however, players will come to realize the cost and consequences of their actions, and, in turn, the playable character's true role in either of the aforementioned routes. It may even lead to players questioning the morality of other video game protagonists, many of whom share more than a few similarities with Frisk.

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