Anti/Villain

Professional wrestling has portrayed clear-cut villains for over a hundred years. Colin Rowsell examines the history of faces and heels in pro wrestling and how its simple storytelling techniques inform videogames.

Almost every modern videogame with a story or plot has a major villain or boss to be defeated at the conclusion. Rowan
Kaiser pines for a time when this was not always so, such as the RPG masterpieces Ultima IV and VI.

The final boss of a platformer may be easily defeated while the combined pits, spikes and wall-traps leading to his chamber are stained with the blood of a hundred reloads. Kevin Hoole explains how the environment can be the harshest villain in videogames.

With the medium's special limitations, making an effective villain is hard to do in videogames. Richard Dansky is a master at the craft and he imparts his villainous wisdom on how to create the perfect adversary for the player.