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There have been a lot of evil characters in video games over time — after all, every story needs an antagonist, and some include anti-heroes or morally questionable allies. It is important to note that while villains in video games are by definition, evil, not all evil characters are villains. Some examples include Cole McGrath in the Infamous series, Wander in Shadow of the Colossus, and Kratos from the God of War series.
With that being said, it is also important to keep the first part in mind that if a character in a video game is a villain, then they are most certainly capable of being evil. Evil does not discriminate based on age either, for there have been evil children in many games as well. Some of them appear in the most iconic games in video game history.
10 Bowser Jr. — Mario
Bowser Jr. is an example of an evil child who is also a villain. Making his first appearance in Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser Jr. is the son of the most iconic Mario villain of all time, Bowser.
Bowser Jr. was the first in the line of many in Bowser's family tree to make an appearance in the Super Mario franchise. For the most part, Bowser Jr. is more or less the same as his fatherly counterpart. He tries to prevent Mario and his friends from reaching the end of the world and saving Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, whoever else might be in danger.
9 Alma Wade — F.E.A.R.
One of the most iconic children in all of video games is Alma Wade, the main antagonist of the F.E.A.R. series. Alma was a child who was granted psychic powers, however, these powers took a toll on her. She suffered from nightmares and focused on the negative emotions of people around her.
Armacham Technology Corporation subjected Alma to various experiments to discover the source of her powers. Alma ended up fighting back and eventually began to enact her violent revenge against the company that treated her like a guinea pig.
8 Gary Smith — Bully
Rockstar Games' Bully is about a kid dealing with the hardships of a private boarding school in England. Jimmy Hopkins, the protagonist, interacts with a lot of people throughout the game, but one that stands out the most is the main antagonist, Gary Smith.
Everyone in Bullworth Academy, the fictional school in Bully, is well aware of Gary Smith and the reputation he possesses. Characters describe Gary Smith as a sociopath and a fan of torture. He is also narcissistic and paranoid, not unlike an empirical ruler of a civilization. He backstabs and manipulates Jimmy throughout the game in order to remain on top.
7 Aventus Aretino — Skyrim
The Dark Brotherhood is a secret organization within the world of Elder Scrolls that takes on contract killings for those who call upon them. In Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Aventus Aretino is a child in Windhelm who calls upon the Dark Brotherhood for the murder of an orphanage headmistress who mistreats children.
While the cause for him to want the headmistress, Grelod the Kind, was just and understandable, the means he went through to kill her were questionable. The Black Sacrament is the method used to call the Dark Brotherhood, and it requires someone to make a human effigy made of human body parts. One can only imagine how Aventus acquired those materials.
6 Lucius Wagner — Lucius
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Lucius is a horror game that centers around a child possessed by a demon. Lucius Wagner, the main character, gains demonic powers as a result of this possession. He even receives guidance from his "real" father, Lucifer himself.
Lucius does some truly evil things throughout the series. He murders numerous people in his mansion, in the hospital in which he was born, and in the town of Ludlow. What makes Lucius especially evil is his urge to kill a nurse even after Lucifer leaves him, and he loses his demonic powers.
5 Chara — Undertale
Undertale was the indie game that took the world by storm in 2015. The aesthetic of Undertale is that of a tame 2D-scroller; however, players quickly discovered that the game has dark themes.
Other than the main character, Chara is the only human child that players physically come across. They are the first human that fell into the Underground. Chara attempted to kill all humans, and in the Genocide Route, it is revealed that they feel no love for the world of Undertale and want to eradicate the entire world.
4 Tiny Tina — Borderlands
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The Borderlands franchise has a large and colorful cast of characters throughout its games. One of the most popular characters in the series is Tiny Tina. Unlike most evil children in video games, Tiny Tina is actually one of the good guys.
However, she has violent tendencies — Tiny Tina is a fanatic for explosions and bombs, and uses them to kill many bandits and criminals on Pandora. In one of the player's first interactions with Tina, the player must kidnap a man who sold his parents into slavery and witness a "tea party" where Tina electrocutes him to death.
3 Little Sister — BioShock
The appearance of Little Sisters in the BioShock series is unsettling. Little Sisters are genetically altered children who were kidnapped, conditioned, and experimented on in order to gather ADAM from corpses in Rapture.
While Little Sisters are only a product of their environment and were not originally evil, they have no issues with approaching dead bodies, sticking them with large needles, and extracting ADAM from them. Sometimes, they are seen skipping in different areas of the game where there are a lot of dead bodies. Big Daddies always accompany Little Sisters, and will kill anyone who seeks to harm the little girls.
2 Betty — Fallout 3
Betty is technically not a "real" child, because players encounter her in a simulation within Fallout 3. The real person controlling Betty is the scientist, Stanislaus Braun. With that being said, many players were still rattled by the disturbing nature of Betty within the experiment of Vault 112.
When players first enter the Tranquility Lane simulation, Betty meets them in the playground at the center of the neighborhood. She then begins to task them with doing evil things. What makes Betty even more unsettling is when Braun's adult German accent replaces the original child-like voice.
1 Eveline — Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil 7 was CAPCOM's journey back to the horror elements that made the series' early games so popular. After playing through Resident Evil 7, players find out that the Bakers are not the true enemies of the game, but instead they are the unfortunate victims of a child named Eveline.
Eveline was a genetically modified child who was birthed by The Connections to become a bioweapon. Her main motivation is her desire to have her own family. While this desire on the surface does not seem like an inherently bad thing, she was willing to do and has done very terrible things to people in order to have this family. She killed many people and agonizingly destroyed the Baker family.