Every RPG needs a good antagonist that players want to defeat. Whether it be due to how powerful or how evil they are, the main boss is important to a game's story. Square Enix has created some of the best RPG franchises of all time by making their villains so impactful.
Games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts, to name a few, not only give players awesome bosses to fight, but also write antagonists so well that fans care about them just as much as the playable characters. Throughout the years, these villains have been loved and hated by fans of the most popular Square Enix titles.
Games created prior to Square and Enix's merger will also be considered.
10 Mordegon
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is the newest installment in the series and has already been considered by many to be the best title.
Mordegon, the dark half of Morcant, is the main villain of the game. He caused a lot of destruction before the story began and has tried to kill the Luminary ever since the protagonist was born. Years later, Mordegon used the Luminary to achieve his goal. This villain is one of the evilest characters in the entire franchise.
9 Adam & Eve
Adam and Eve were the first antagonists in NieR: Automata. Though not really evil, they are the main antagonists for the first half of the game. Created by the machines, Adam and Eve were seen as enemies by 2B and 9S.
Adam wanted to learn how to act like a human and, wanting to make his brother happy, Eve did as Adam told him to. After believing that conflict is what drives humanity, Adam fought the androids that almost killed him. When he died, Eve was devastated and swore to avenge his fallen brother. He caused as much destruction as he could until the androids defeated the monster that they made. In the end, conflict was what led the machines and androids to fight each other.
8 Ardyn
Many fans were disappointed with Final Fantasy XV. The plot wasn't as interesting as many other titles, the gameplay was mediocre, and not all of the DLC that was planned was released. However, Ardyn was a very interesting antagonist.
For the first half of the game, players were unsure as to whether or not Ardyn was a villain as he seemed like an untrustworthy ally. Noctis and his friends didn't ever really trust him but worked with him for a little bit. Ardyn eventually revealed that he was their enemy, killed Lunafreya, and fought against Noctis.
7 Smithy
Nintendo has always been very protective of its franchises, but there have been a few times that the company has allowed other companies to make games with its characters. Smithy is from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. He is one of the greatest enemies Mario has ever faced.
Smithy is a blacksmith who wanted to conquer not only the Mushroom Kingdom but Mario's entire world. In order to stop him, Mario and Bowser had to put their rivalry aside and work with Princess Peach, as well as a couple of characters that were made for the game, Geno and Mallow. It is rare that a villain this evil goes against Mario and his friends.
6 Joshua
In The World Ends With You, people who die have the chance to fight for their lives in The Reaper's Game. Neku, the playable character, didn't remember everything that happened leading up to his death but knew that Joshua, a boy who seemed to be another player, was involved.
At the end of the game, Neku finds out that Joshua was actually the leader of the Reapers, the Composer.
5 Xehanort
Xehanort was the true leader of Organization XIII and the main antagonist of the Dark Seeker Saga in Kingdom Hearts. Though his intentions were good as he wanted to save the world, Xehanort failed to realize until the end of his story that he was hurting those he wanted to protect.
Xehanort ruined many of the heroes' lives, killed Eraqus and Kairi, manipulated and endangered other members of Organization XIII, and never learned from his mistakes. Xehanort always tried to control destiny and his goal eventually destroyed him as he couldn't accept fate.
4 Rhapthorne
There have been a lot of villains in the Dragon Quest series, and Rhapthorne is the evilest of them all. Being the main antagonist of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, which was developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix, this demon was trapped in the Godbird Sceptre until Dhoulmagus set him free.
Rhapthorne possessed Dhoulmagus, as well as other characters throughout the game. The villain's goal was to defeat the successors of the Seven Sages, the group that imprisoned him inside of the artifact.
3 Sephiroth
There are few villains in any gaming genre that are more popular than Sephiroth. The One-Winged Angel is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII and has played an important part in the games connected to it. He was originally one of Shinra's soldiers and Cloud wanted to be just like him.
However, after learning where he came from, Sephiroth only desired to become one with the world, by absorbing it and gaining the power of a god. Cloud and the other members of Avalanche fought against him to protect their planet.
2 The Master Of Masters
The Master of Masters is one of the most mysterious characters in Kingdom Hearts. Nobody knows his true intentions but every bad thing that has happened in the series is at least partially his fault. He trained Luxu and the Foretellers, giving each of them a role to fulfill after he disappeared. Their roles led to the Keyblade War, the greatest battle in the series.
The Master of Masters also led Xehanort to the dark road he walked on and used him, along with the other members of Organization XIII, as pawns in his game. As he has the power to see into the future, the Master of Masters knew all of the terrible things that would come from his actions and he decided to go through with it anyway. As his role has only just begun, he may end up being the greatest villain from any Square Enix game.
1 Kefka Palazzo
The only Final Fantasy villain that's better than Sephiroth also happens to be the best antagonist Square Enix has ever made. Kefka Palazzo is the main antagonist in Final Fantasy VI. Like Sephiroth, he was experimented on and turned against his creators.
Believing that there is no point in existence, Kefka hurt others for his own entertainment. He ruled the world for a year until he was defeated by the Returners.