The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console of all time and is home to over 4,000 games. Around 150 of those games are considered RPGs. Due to the genre typically having very large casts of characters, this leads to an incredibly large selection of villains.
There are many attributes that can contribute to a villain being entertaining, such as a charming personality, a complex backstory, or control over the narrator. This list aims to spotlight some of the best villains from the legendary PS2 era.
Beware! This article will contain major end-game plot twists for Persona 3 and 4! Descriptions of a few other entries will contain moderate spoilers!
10 Tohru Adachi (Persona 4)
Throughout Persona 4, Adachi is a serial killer who traps many victims inside a dangerous dungeon called the Midnight Channel. Adachi's character is fairly stereotypical for a mass murderer, but he constantly pushes the narrative forward.
Every party member's growth, character death, and a majority of the game's other plot points happen as a result of his actions. The enhanced Golden version gives him new optional dialogue, which slightly expands his depth, but not enough to rank him higher on this list.
9 Saya (Namco X Capcom)
Saya is part of an evil organization called Ouma, which has the goal of chaotically merging the worlds of many Bandai Namco and Capcom series together. Despite her relaxed personality, she's a multiverse-level threat, capable of single-handedly defeating numerous iconic characters from both companies at once.
Much like Adachi, she is a main driving force within the story, however, she actually accomplishes her goal. She's also more outgoing. Rather than hiding in the shadows, she's constantly trying to defeat the heroes before they can stop Ouma's evil schemes. Saya goes on to appear in many other crossover games, where she has similar goals.
8 Shuji Ikutsuji (Persona 3)
While Adachi mostly hid in the shadows and Saya took to the frontlines, Shuji had the heroes do his dirty work for him. For most of the game, he acts as the guide for the SEES team, telling them what they need to do to destroy Tartarus, however, he's actually deceiving them into setting up the end of the world.
Persona 3 doesn't, however, actually acknowledge his motivation. His careful planning and excellent plot twist reveal were shockingly good, but it's hard to rank him higher when there's still so much unknown about him.
7 Ansem (Kingdom Hearts 1, ReChain Of Memories, And 2)
Ansem may not show up in person until the end of the first Kingdom Hearts, but his impact on the series is immense. He appears in all three PS2 Kingdom Hearts games, and unlike Saya, his characterization actually changes with each new installment.
In 1, he is the main antagonist who wants to open the Door to Darkness, which leads to the Kingdom Hearts. In Chain of Memories and later installments, he is a key figure for Riku's character development. Almost every additional follow-up game vastly increases the amount of lore Ansem has.
6 Dhoulmagus (Dragon Quest 8: Journey Of The Cursed King)
This killer clown manages to swiftly kill a majority of sage descendants in the first half of the game. From murdering the family of multiple party members to cursing the royal traveling companions, his actions have intensely impacted the lives of a majority of the cast.
He is, however, only the main villain for half the storyline. Despite this, his personality and quick effectiveness leave a very maniacal impression that makes him more entertaining than the previously mentioned characters on this list.
5 Seymour Guado (Final Fantasy 10)
Seymour is the leader of a nation and high priest of the most followed religion in Spira. This combination makes him a very intimidating foe, as he was quickly able to turn a large majority of Spira against the party in an instant.
His mysteriously calm personality, desire to marry a party member, and ability to continuously come back after being defeated many times, contribute to his creepiness. Unlike Dhoulmagus, he stays relevant to the very end.
4 Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts 2)
Xemnas is a Nobody, a being that was never meant to exist. Nobodies show little emotion, which may seem like it would result in him being a boring villain, but he's actually quite entertaining. Much like Seymour, his very consistent tone can make it hard to comprehend if he's being sincere or manipulative.
Due to being the leader of Organization XIII, and since every enemy Sora defeats contributed to his plan, Xemnas feels like a much stronger threat than his counterpart Ansem. Also, his army of Heartless and Nobodies are much deadlier than the most average human strength followers that Seymour oversees.
3 Margulis (Xenosaga 3: Also Sprach Zarathustra)
While he does appear in the first two installments, his role in 3 is by far the most interesting. Margulis was a high-ranking knight for a religious group called Ormus, which he served almost his entire life. Once the leader of Ormus reveals that religion was a lie to control the masses for thousands of years, Margulis has a large-scale emotional breakdown.
He's an excellent example of what can happen to someone that is going through a massively negative change in their life. He gives up hope on everything except his desire to fight his long-time rival to death. With a large difficulty spike and an amazing battle theme, his final fight truly feels like a broken man fighting for the last thing he believes in. In doing so he has what many villains previously mentioned lack, a strong emotional viewpoint that players can sympathize with.
2 Manah (Drakengard 1)
A six-year-old cult leader possessed by angels is a standout concept. Manah's voice pitch constantly changing back and forth from what you'd expect her to sound like to a super deep older man's makes her extremely memorable. Almost every line of dialogue, chanting laugh, and cutscene containing the character leave a lasting impression.
Her biggest flaw is simply lack of screen time, as she's mostly only relevant to the second half of the game's first story route. Nonetheless, there isn't a single shallow moment that involves her. Manah appears in Drakengard 2, but as an ally, meaning that appearance will neither negatively nor positively contribute to her rankings on this list.
1 Albedo Piazzolla (Xenosaga 1, 2, and 3)
Albedo is an immortal biological weapon created to kill god, but instead focuses his efforts on looking for a way to die, because he doesn't want to live in a world without his mortal twin brother. He has almost every attribute that makes other villains on this list incredible.
One of the earliest cutscenes Albedo appears in involves him gruesomely ripping his own head off to scare a kidnaped victim, which is a good indicator of the insanely twisted journey he is preparing to force the party to go through. He's a driving force behind many plot lines, his immortality makes him nigh unstoppable, his backstory has a surprising amount of emotional depth, and almost every scene he appears in is unforgettable.