Ten video games share an uncomfortable closure: the antagonist gets what he was looking for. A ranking of CBR Games brings together those titles, from Far Cry 5 to Batman: Arkham Knight, and leaves on the table a simple and annoying question: What is considered winning?
The common thread appears fast: the games where the villain wins are remembered more for the defeat than for the final fight. The selection mixes titles of different genres and times with the same effect on the player.
The games where the villain wins: From Montana to Gotham
The unannounced gender list jumps: Japanese role, first-person shooters, open world, superheroes, and a Star Wars Space Opera. These are the ten titles and their antagonists.
- Far Cry 5: Joseph Seed.
- Final Fantasy VI: Kefka Palazzo.
- Halo: Reach: The Covenant.
- Red Dead Redemption: Edgar Ross.
- Person 2: Innocent without: Nyarlathotep.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: General Shepherd.
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: Darth Traya.
- Metal Gear Solid 2: The Patriots.
- Final Fantasy XIII-2: Caius Ballad.
- Batman: Arkham Knight: Scarecrow.
The range of games where the villain wins goes from the role to the war shooter, and in almost all cases the antagonist has a proper name and weight in history.
Red Dead Redemption, the most repeated ending
Edgar Ross kidnaps John Marston’s family and forces him to chase and kill his former bandmates. When the job is done and Marston believes he can go home, Ross shows up with a game of men and riddled him.
The epilogue occurs three years later and follows his son, who takes revenge on the agent. WatchMojo included this closing in its December 2024 list, and Gamingbolt had already done so in April 2019.
three rankings, three criteria and few coincidences
GamingBolt published fifteen entries in April 2019. WhatCulture signed ten in September 2020, with input from Sean Martin Moscardini, and WatchMojo did the same in December 2024 with Johnny Reynolds’ signature.
Whatculture adds singularity and maintains that its three endings leave the villain in command of the world. WatchMojo adds Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Dead Space 3 and For Honor, names that expand the catalog beyond the usual suspects.
Far Cry 5, dated 2018, and Halo: Reach, from 2010, appear in the WatchMojo selection alongside Red Dead Redemption, also from 2010.
The debate remains: which finals deserve to be on a list like this and which ones are sustained only by the blow of effect, without changing the way the title is played.
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Source: CBR Games
