For decades now, video games have delivered some of fiction’s most memorable and iconic villains. There is a lot of debate about thebest villains in video game history, but a new study attempts to settle things.
The study, conducted by SolitaireBliss, generated its list of the 10 most popular video game villains by analyzing Google search data, ranking the villains by the average monthly searches they receive. According to this data, the 10 most popular video game villains are, in order, Mewtwo fromPokemon, Donkey Kong, Bowser from theSuper Marioseries, Waluigi, Wario,Final Fantasy 7’s Sephiroth, Akuma ofStreet Fighterfame, Pyramid Head fromSilent Hill, SHODAN fromSystem Shock, and Goombas.
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Right off the bat, there are some problems that gamers may have with the results of this study. Google search data is not really a great way to determine the popularity of video game villains, as there are different factors that may go into why people are searching things about specific characters. For example, it makes sense that Mewtwo would have the most Google searches as people may be searching forways to catch Mewtwoin variousPokemongames or how to counter the powerful legendary inPokemon GO. Another issue one might take with the study is that it considers Donkey Kong a “villain,” and while Donkey Kong was a villain in the original arcade game, he’s spent most of his existence as a hero. The vast majority of games featuring Donkey Kong present him as the playable protagonist, not as a villain, so labeling him as such is quite the stretch.
Most Popular Video Game Villains
Luckily, the data includes the other most-searched villains besides just the top 10. If Donkey Kong was removed from the lineup, it appears as thoughMetal Sonicwould be bumped into the top 10. It’s odd that mainSonic the Hedgehogvillain Dr. Robotnik wouldn’t crack the top 10, yet Metal Sonic apparently would, but there could be a number of explanations for why that would be.
It’s also pointed out in the study that somemajor villains like Darth Vaderand The Joker weren’t included in the study. This is due to the fact that they did not originate in video games, and their heavy presence in other media would have likely skewed the results.
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