Nintendo is known for being the more family-friendly of triple-A game developers. However, across their many games and franchises, they don't shy away from having their lovable heroes face off against terrifying villains. In some cases, these villains are responsible for massive destruction, bloodshed, and calamity.
Some of these villains appear all throughout their particular franchises. Others only needed one game to prove that they were capable of truly inhumane things. These characters are among some of the most evil antagonists in their series' history, but leave it to Nintendo's greatest heroes to be the ones to put an end to them.
10 Andross — Star Fox
Andross is the main antagonist of the Star Fox series, sharing a long history with the game's central characters. He was once a scientist who experimented with biotechnology, before being exiled to the planet Venom. He has since become an unstoppable military commander and has waged war against the Lylat system.
Aside from his warmongering against cities and planets, Andross is responsible for the death of Fox McCloud's father, James. Few Nintendo villains are as mad and hungry for power as Andross. Thankfully, Fox and his Star Fox crewmates are driven by justice, and can be there to save the galaxy in no time.
9 Dimentio — Mario
There have been many villains across the Mario franchise, but few are as dark as the ones in the Paper Mario games. That's never been truer than with Dimentio, the main antagonist of Super Paper Mario for the Wii. Dimentio is one of Mario's most powerful adversaries, as he can manipulate and travel between dimensions.
What makes Dimentio such a menacing villain is that he spends most of the game in service of Count Bleck, lurking in the shadows. It's not until the game's final moments that Dimentio reveals his true motivations: to steal the Chaos Heart and recreate the universe in his image. But first, he has to dispose of Mario and his friends.
8 Tom Nook — Animal Crossing
Many of the villains on this list get their bad reputations from conquest and violence. However, Tom Nook inflicts a different kind of pain: economic devastation. Upon the player's entry into a new town at the start of every Animal Crossing game, they are welcomed by Tom Nook, though they should not trust the raccoon so easily.
Every Animal Crossing game begins with players accruing a large debt to Tom Nook. As they explore the island and help its development, they must slowly pay Nook's debt. It's unclear what happens if the debt is never paid, but some Internet memes speculate that players should lock their doors at night.
7 Lusamine — Pokemon
Lusamine made her debut as the main antagonist of Pokemon Sun & Moon. She first meets the player on Aether Paradise, where she's introduced as the head of the Aether Foundation, who focus on healing Pokemon. However, the appearance of Ultra Wormholes in Alola redirect Lusamine's attention towards Ultra Beasts.
Lusamine's obsession with Ultra Beasts causes her to grow distant from her children, Gladion and Lillie. She eventually travels through an Ultra Wormhole in pursuit of Nihilego. Lusamine's plan is to find her husband, who was lost many years ago in Ultra Space, though she hurts many people and Pokemon along the way.
6 Porky — Mother
In Earthbound, Pokey Minch appears as an antagonist to Ness, later becoming the right-hand man to the entity known as Giygas. However, it's not until Mother 3 that the effects of Pokey, now known as Porky, switching sides is revealed. In that game, Porky is revealed to be the king of New Pork City, home to the Pigmask Army.
While Porky is clearly just a kid lashing out at the world for being cruel to him, it doesn't justify a lot of his heinous actions. In Mother 3, Porky plans to awaken the Dark Dragon to rid the world of everyone but himself. His plans are luckily thwarted when Porky is trapped inside the Absolutely Safe Capsule and his tyranny ends.
5 Ridley — Metroid
No Nintendo villain has caused as much chaos and destruction as Ridley has. The Space Pirate captain first meets Metroid protagonist Samus Aran when she is a kid. Bloodthirsty and ruthless, Ridley kills Samus' parents, causing the child to be adopted by the Chozo, who train her to become a fearless bounty hunter.
Samus and Ridley meet many times throughout the Metroid series. In Super Metroid, players truly get to see how evil Ridley is when the Space Pirate attacks Ceres Space Colony while hunting the Baby Metroid. Because of Ridley, many innocent people across the galaxy have been killed, driving Samus's revenge against him.
4 Edelgard — Fire Emblem
The Fire Emblem series has featured many despicable characters, but none are quite as ruthless as Edelgard. Edelgard is initially one of the protagonists of Fire Emblem Three Houses, as the future heir of the Adrestian Empire. After a time-skip, however, Byleth's allegiances are tested when Edelgard inherits the throne.
Players get the option to join Edelgard's breaking of peace, resulting in a horrific war between houses. If players choose to side with Edelgard, they will experience an ending where they must betray some of their closest allies from the Academy. This character is truly merciless in her conquest, though Byleth isn't free of guilt themself.
3 Hades — Kid Icarus
No, not the Hades from the popular self-titled indie dungeon crawler. Kid Icarus: Uprising was developed by Masahiro Sakurai as a reboot of the franchise, which had been long dormant since the GameBoy days. Players control Pit, servant of the goddess Palutena, against the Underworld Army controlled by Medusa.
After defeating Medusa, players meet the real mastermind: Hades. Pit is then sent to war with Hades and his Underworld Army. At one point, Hades manipulates the humans into going to war, causing great devastation. Few Nintendo villains are able to cause as much chaos as Hades does throughout the second half of this game.
2 Ganondorf — The Legend Of Zelda
Ganondorf causes mayhem and devastation in almost every Zelda title. However, his evil plans in one particular game go further than most. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the most beloved in the franchise, and finds Ganondorf at his most powerful after he conquers Hyrule while Link is trapped in the Temple of Time.
Upon Link's emergence seven years into the future, Hyrule appears a lot bleaker. Zombies roam the streets of Castle Town, while Ganondorf rules from Hyrule Castle. It's only with the help of the Seven Sages that Link is able to confront Ganondorf, rescuing Princess Zelda and returning Hyrule to a time of peace...for now.
1 Tabuu — Super Smash
One wouldn't suspect a Super Smash Bros game to have a good story, but Super Smash Bros Brawl proves them wrong. The Adventure Mode of this game, known as The Subspace Emissary, finds an all-star cast of Nintendo characters fighting an army from another dimension. Their leader, Tabuu, serves as the game's final boss.
What makes Tabuu so powerful is the fact that, when Nintendo's army of heroes and anti-heroes faces off against him, he turns them all to Trophies. Seemingly, Tabuu's plan of Subspace conquering the Smash world has worked. Unfortunately, the survival of Luigi, Ness, and Dedede of all characters is what marks his downfall.