Top 10 Greatest Nintendo Villains

The Top Ten
1 Bowser Bowser is the main antagonist of the Mario Bros. Franchise. From kidnapping Princess Peach to simply destroying a fun game between Mario and Friends in the Mario Party spinoff series, this king of the Koopas has set up a certain hatred towards himself amongst the large cast of Mario Characters. He first appeared in the 1985 popular videogame, Super Mario Bros., in which he was responsible for kidnapping... read more

Bowser is probably the most iconic villain of all time other than Darth Vader. He also has a lot of personality and style that a lot of characters don't have. You think the words video game villain and Bowser is the first one to pop into your head!

Aside from having some intimidating moments, like trying to destroy the entire universe in Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, as well as some nice achievements like defeating Mario twice (Paper Mario and Super Princess Peach), Bowser is one of those villains who has a personality that shows that he is not a complete monster, like feeling guilty when he was going to tell Bowser Jr. That Peach was not his mother as well as being somewhat caring about his army, the Koopa Troop. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowser can be seen crying for the loss of his home and Koopa Troop to Smithy. Also, in Paper Mario, it is hinted that Bowser's motivations for attempting to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom or the entire galaxy is for having revenge against those who treat Koopa Troopas poorly(Kammy Koopa claims this is the motive for the Koopa Troop).

In the RPG's Bowser is one of the main sources of comic relief if not THE. The RPG's also shows a side of Bowser which is rarely seen, like in Super Paper Mario when he sacrificed himself to save Mario & co..

2 Ganondorf Ganon (Referred to as Ganondorf in human form) is a fictional character and the central antagonist of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series. He is a power-hungry Gerudo who possesses the Triforce of Power and aims to conquer Hyrule with the remaining Triforce parts.

Ganondorf is one of the strongest villains in video game history. He has the triforce of power which makes him practically invincible. He also is cunning and smart. He is not just raw power. He has quite a bit of style and charm especially in twilight princess. All in all deserves to be No. 2

Well, turning Hyrule into an apocalyptic wasteland in seven years deserves some merit... And becoming so powerful (god-like himself) and unstoppable (in Link's absence) that the 3 godesses were forced to flood the place afterwards, killing the majority of the populace in order to foil Ganon's nefarious schemes does seem to me a good reason for putting this guy in at #1...

There is no way you can put this guy lower than the top three villains in the series. He broke into the sacred realm and seized part of the triforce. He manipulated a powerful twili sorcerer as his pawn. He can turn into a demonic beast at will. He ruled hyrule for seven years. At one point, he was so powerful that the gods themselves had no choice but to flood hyrule.

3 Dimentio Dimentio is an evil harlequin magician and the main antagonist of the 2007 Nintendo Wii video game known as "Super Paper Mario". One of his notable features is that he has created his own Dimension, known as Dimension D.

I think most of the other villains on this list *cough cough* Bowser *cough cough* have to little personality, don't believe me? Look at his quotes "Master of dimensions... Pleaser of crowds... I am... Dimentio! ". Dimentio is the definition of a villain with personality. He literally sends Mario, Peach, Bowser (yes you can play as Bowser in super paper Mario) and even Luigi to hell. He literally has his own dimension. I don't get how Bowser and Dedede are on this list. Bowser is good at kidnapping the same princess a million times. What does dimentio do? Have you played super paper Mario? If not, watch a lets play, you will know why he is a great villain.

What has Bowser ever done? Kidnap a princess without ever formulating a backup plan, despite how often he gets beaten.
What has Dedede ever done? Steal food from DreamLand and be possibly the WORST villain in existence.
What has Dimentio ever done? Manipulate the villain and the heroes, kill off said heroes, take possession of the Chaos Heart after Bleck's defeat, and cause universal genocide.

4 King Dedede King Dedede is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the Kirby series of video games owned by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.

King DeDeDe is amazing because he has no evil goal like Bowser, Ganon, or Ridley. He just happens to get possessed a lot by more devious villains like Dark Matter, Yin-Yarn and Taranza. He helps Kirby in some games and fights him sometimes just for the fun of it. Also, his boss theme is much better than Bowser's or Ridley's(In my opinion anyway) even if he's not the hardest to defeat.

DIMENTIO!?
I mean... he's not a bad villain, but how can you put THE Dedede behind?
Dedede is more popular for a good reason; he has more appearances in games (like SSBB and SSB4, for example) and a better impact on gameplay or story since he can be an ally or an enemy/adversary. He's more versatile as a character and honestly has a better design (whether it's his SSB4 design or in Kirby Star Allies, with Macho Dedede).
I really liked Super Paper Mario, but again...
It's just ONE game.
(My opinion: don't judge me, but I find Dimentio really annoying, and he doesn't have as much personality! I seriously think that Fawful is way better, but as much as Dedede!).

5 Ridley Ridley is a villain from the Metroid series and a character from the Super Smash Bros. series. He's Samus Aran's archenemy and has been fighting her since day one with the first Metroid game in 1986. When Samus was three years old, Ridley murdered her parents in front of her. He is a member of the Space Pirates and works for Mother Brain.

I have a couple of reasons for Ridley being one of my favourite video game characters of all time

1. His appearance. He looks just intimidating. What better arch-nemesis to have than a fire-breathing space pirate dragon with a spear for a tail.

2. Unlike most Nintendo villains, he has killed and tortured millions of innocent lives.

3. He never stays down. He is so persistent and determined to kill Samus that he has come back from the dead multiple times. (I wonder if has his own collection of phoenix downs)

4. He has a history with Samus before the actual games. When Samus was three, Ridley murdered basically everyone she knew and loved (with the help of his space pirates).

5. Did I already mention that he looks incredibly cool

6. his boss fights are epic and fun.

7. He looks incredibly cool

Personally, I think Ridley is the best Nintendo villain ever. And there are a couple of reasons why:

1: He is easily the coolest looking villain of Nintendo. I mean, look at him, he's a ' dragon. And dragons are already awesome. And that appearance is pretty intimidating...

2: Unlike Bowser and Ganondorf (Even though I love those villains too), Ridley has a relationship with Samus even before the series started or before she even started her journey. He raided Samus's home planet and murdered her mother right in front of her. I mean, wow!

3: He is the most efficient villain. Rather than take over a planet, Ridley, in spite of being a Space Pirate commander leaves that job to his forces and instead decides to prevent Samus from completing her missions. Many of his battles are downright amazing (With the battle in Prime being one of the, or maybe the greatest battle in a Nintendo game). His battles are engaging, atmospheric, equal and challenging.

4: This bastard always finds a way to return, even after being defeated by Samus countless times. Samus brutally injures Ridley, but then he returns as Meta-Ridley in the Prime games. He is defeated again, but returns in Prime 3 as Omega Ridley. He later reappears in Super Metroid in his normal form where Samus finally kills him. But guess what, he comes back alive in Other M! Even after being killed by a Queen Metroid, he returns in Fusion. Overtime, you will start to wonder if he will ever be completely dead.

5: His abilities are brilliantly displayed in battle. Flying around and attempting to either bomb you, roast you with his fire breath or lashing his tail at you makes Ridley a really tough opponent. You'd be thinking that the battle would be easier without his wings, but you'll be surprised when Ridley shows how smart he is. He crouches down to protect his vulnerable chest whiles using multiple attack that are strong and swift. It makes the fight somewhat of a puzzle and challenge... more

6 Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr., or sometimes simply Jr., is a video game character who appears in Nintendo's Mario franchise as the secondary antagonist. He is the youngest son of the series' primary antagonist, Bowser.
7 Wario Wario is a character in Nintendo's Mario series who was originally designed as an antagonist to Mario. His motives are driven by greed and he will take the side of whoever will give him the most pay. Although he may seem like just a mean man with no heart, he does have a very tragic past.

He's a thief and a mercenary who only cares about money, but I don't see him as a hard villain. If being one of the good guys paid even a cent more, he'd join that side.

A great villain who deserves more recognition as one.

8 Marx

Marx is my favorite Nintendo character of all time along with Skorupi and Pit and Kirby.

9 Dark Samus

It seems like nobody here knows Dark Samus' capabilities. Dark Samus, or formerly the Metroid Prime, is an incarnation of Phazon (The most dangerous radioactive substance in the universe), Samus' Phazon Suit, and the essence of the Metroid Prime thus granting Dark Samus an insane arsenal and skill set. It took Samus many attempts to kill her. Heck, Dark Samus is invulnerable to almost all forms of damage most of the time. Dark Samus can even regenerate after losing her physical form. She even caused a huge issue for Samus in Metroid Prime 3 by almost killing her and corrupting her right at the beginning. That slowly corrupted her through out the game until the end where Samus was extremely close to losing.

Do ANY of you people know who Dark Samus is? A monster whose life goal is to control EVERYTHING. Not kidnaping a princess. Not ruling a kingdom. Not stealing food. By spreading phazon. She's literally a person who doesn't take damage from anything except phazon. Plus, all of Samus's abilities, plus the fact that she is a metroid, and by sending phazon meteors to places, and being directly responsible for the deaths of billions and corrupting a lot more. Plus she beat SAMUS, RUNDAS, GHOR, and GANDRAYDA in a fight all at once!!!!! And also turned Rundas, Ghor ,and Gandrayda into supervillians, almost did the same to Samus herself. and later killed Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda in front of her! That is a LOT of greif to deal with in one game. In that game she took over four worlds! And in the game before, She survived the collapse of a universe in an injured state. Bringing that to a fight, and let me tell you, NONE of these villains can do ANYTHING against her. In a villain battle, their death or enslavement is inevitable.

10 King Boo In the Super Mario series, King Boo is the leader of all the Boos and a major antagonist. He is an ally of King Bowser. He is depicted as a large white Boo with a crown similar to that of Princess Peach.

In the Luigi's Mansion series, King Boo serves as the main antagonist and Luigi's arch-nemesis. He is depicted as gargantuan, even larger than his Super Mario counterpart, with darker eyes,... read more

That purple lighting is ridiculously awesome plus has captured Mario twice

If he destroyed a radioactive moon he could also probably crush the dire moon

The Contenders
11 Eely-Mouth
12 King K. Rool King K. Rool is a fictional anthropomorphic crocodile and the main antagonist of Nintendo's Donkey Kong video game franchise, as well as the archenemy of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.

Why... Why is this not at least at number 7? And why didn't he return in the new Donkey kong game or in Smash? I don't know... Maybe as DLC in Smash?

For me, this guy is definitely on the top 5, the way he to drastically change from one game to another is probably my favorite ability!

A villain who tries something different in every entry he' been in, and twisted to boot. He should be higher.

13 Birdo Birdo is a dinosaur that is well known for her (or his) confused Gender. It was originally stated that Birdo was a male who believed he was a female, but this was changed in later games. Birdo is commonly referred to as a girl, however, they are in a relationship with Yoshi. Birdo first appeared in ...read more.
14 Mewtwo Mewtwo is a psychic-type Legendary Pokémon from Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise. Designed by Ken Sugimori, it made its first appearance in the games Pokémon Red and Blue. It was created by Dr. Fuji using gene splicing in an attempt to clone Mew. In the Pokémon games, it's infamously known as the most powerful Pokémon among all species. Mewtwo is capable of evolving into two... read more

Mewtwo deserves higher. He is easily the strongest pokemon of all time except maybe Arceus. Also if you think about it. Mewtwo has never been defeated canonnly-in Mewtwo Strikes Back, he just gives up because he realizes he is wrong. He also has his own charm and he is hilariously grumpy sometimes. So with all of his psychic powers and his pure malice, he deserves at least #5.

The most popular Legendary pokemon and the 3rd most popular nintendo series.

15 Pokey Minch

I may be one of the only few people who doesn't hate Porky. Maybe because he is a villain and villains are supposed to be jerks. And I kinda felt sorry for the kid. His brother hated him, his parents were abusive, and he had no friends. No wonder he became evil. Then in Mother 3 Porky comes back as the main villain with his own pig themed army. His only goal is to destroy the world so he can be alone. Then after he is beaten Porky is given a fate worse then death. Eternal imprisonment in a indestructible capsule forever.

Bowser: kidnaps Princess Peach, only to be defeated by Mario and Luigi once again.
Porky: spreads terror to the only remaining land of the world, reforms humans and animals as chimeras and cyborgs, tears Lucas' family apart (his mother was killed and his brother, who also ended up dead, was brainwashed) and tries to destroy planet Earth (and was really close to doing so)!
I dread to think of what would've become of the world, had Lucas not pulled the final Needle!

16 Giygas

Giygas is no doubt one of the most powerful video game villains.
Giygas isn't just an ordinary antagonist. Because of Giygas' influence on the world, many people were driven insane and good people committed terrible crimes!
This monster is the definition of evil itself. So evil that even its own body and mind were destroyed! If that doesn't sound scary, then what does? Jeez, and they call Nintendo a kiddy company!
If you lose in its Earthbound fight, you can't get a second chance. Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo are the only ones who can stop its evil intentions. Without them, Giygas will be able to dominate or even destroy the entire universe!

Without a doubt the strongest and most terrifying boss in Nintendo history. The alien Giygas, destroyed by his incredible power and reduced to this horrifying Eldritch Abomination... it's a terrible fate. And made worse that he drew Pokey to his cause. Poor Pokey had abusive parents, and because of them he got their snide and cruel mannerisms. And Giygas just corrupted him to the point of no return. Giygas is definitely a monster worthy of merit.

17 Fawful Fawful, known in Japan as Gerakobits, is a fictional character appearing in the Mario & Luigi series of role-playing video games developed by AlphaDream.

This funny guy makes him one of the best Nintendo villains ever he is so funny and has funny catchphrase like I HAVE FURY! And I HAVE CHORTLES! So far he is the funniest Nintendo villain

With Fawful's funny lines and great intellect its hard not to love this guy.

With his funny dialogue and great intellect its hard not to love this guy.

18 Wolf O'Donnell

Wolf is very cool and sadly has not have a lot of games with him in it but is popular. This should have made 10th to 12th or something. I'm so glad they are making a new Star Fox game!

Wolf is my favorite villain. My favorite animal, best quotes and is my favorite character in brawl.

I need to watch starfox. I main him in smash

19 Ghetsis Ghetsis Harmonia, or simply Ghetsis, is the main antagonist in Pokemon Black and White and the direct sequels, as well as the adoptive father of N, Concordia, and Athea.
20 Petey Piranha
21 Gooper Blooper

You torture him by squirting him with water and ripping his legs off. Seriously, Sunshine should by rated teen for 'Violence towards squid'.

22 Shadow Queen The Shadow Queen is the overarching antagonist and final boss of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. She is widely considered one of the most difficult bosses in the Paper Mario series.

Beth2050 have you ever even played thousand year door. Shadow Queen possesses Peach and isn't a clone noob

This Boss took me a year to beat! She is one tough but awesome boss!

A challenging final Mario boss for once plus complements the story line very well

23 Hades

First of all, Hades is a God, which already makes him awesome. He is an expert strategist, starting a full scale war between humans in order to use their souls grow his army. He also possesses the ability to turn himself into a living tornado, fire huge lasers, and provides amazing comic relief.

Hades the God of Trolling. Man do I love this guy. Not only is his insanely powerful he has a pretty cool evil plan. One of the best traits of this guy is his humor. He almost always never serious.

Hades is a damn evil villain. Killing huamns and eating souls. But what makes him an incredible villain is just how likeable he is. Making jokes and cracking wise remarks towards Pit.

24 Waluigi Waluigi is a lanky self-centered, brusque young lad as he is considered evil and the main rival of Luigi. Waluigi is shown causing local havoc in most games he appears in alongside his partner Wario. Waluigi is not instinctively evil or the antagonist (not counting DDR), as a matter of fact, he shows great compassion for his fellow peers, typically for characters Daisy and Wario. Waluigi is also described... read more

The only game he was the antagonist was in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix. So technically, he is a villain.

I wouldn't exactly call waluigi a villain but that doesn't mean he isn't awesome.

25 Meta Knight Meta Knight is a fictional character from the Kirby series of video games owned by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory. He is one of Kirby's rivals, but occasionally teams up with the pink puffball to defeat a common enemy. Meta Knight is known for his powerful slashing attacks and flight in the Super Smash Bros games, and is widely considered to one of the best characters to appear in the series.
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