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Favorite Villain/Antagonist in the Baldur's Gate Series?

LadyEibhilinRhettLadyEibhilinRhett Member Posts: 1,078
edited November 2012 in Archive (General Discussion)
  1. Favorite Villain/Antagonist in the Baldur's Gate Series?145 votes
    1. Sarevok
      33.10%
    2. Irenicus
      48.97%
    3. Bodhi
        9.66%
    4. Melissan
        2.07%
    5. Other
        6.21%
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Comments

  • styggastygga Member Posts: 467
    0/2/0/0/0 I'm gonna call it for Irenicus.
  • ARKdeEREHARKdeEREH Member Posts: 531
    I thought Yaga-shura and Balthazar made better villains than Bodhi, Irenicus, and Mellisan. Sarevok was okay, but I think the premise of Yaga-shura and Balthazar was executed better. Their motives as villains were realistic since people like them exist in real life (warlords and murderous religious nuts) and were such that I did not sympathize with them even a little bit. I had sympathy at least on some level for Irenicus, Bodhi, Sendai, and Sarevok, so it was harder to really want them dead. I was much more interested in seeking some kind of an alliance with them or at the very least helping them avoid getting killed.
  • LadyEibhilinRhettLadyEibhilinRhett Member Posts: 1,078
    @ARKdeEREH

    I admit they were certainly more realistic in the sense you are talking about, but at the same time, I more prefer sympathetic villains because not even evil should be pure evil. It's like, more complicated than that and stuff. Though I do admit to liking a really nasty villain I don't have any sympathy for once in a while too. There's the guys you pity and then there's the guys you love to hate. Both are pretty great.
  • HaHaCharadeHaHaCharade Member Posts: 1,644
    "I will be the last - and you will go first!"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYoRmGHIxA4
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,344
    I also like Balthazar a lot. Sarevok feels a bit too brutish for my taste in villains in BG1 (not that he's stupid, he just doesn't get enough screentime to develop much of a personality), but it gets better when he returns in ToB.

    And I agree with @LadyEibhilinRhett, making villains one-dimensionally "all evil" just seems like a cheap way to make the player hate them without having to develop much of a character for them.
    In general I like the concept of facing your opponent several times throughout the course of the game and engaging in conversation as much as battle, which SoA delivers both with Bodhi and Irenicus. Lawful evil tends to make for better villains than chaotic evil.
  • theJoshFrosttheJoshFrost Member Posts: 171
    I wish Balthazar was in the game more. Actually, I wish he was the main villain. Melissan was awfully bland in my opinion, I called that twist after a couple scenes with her. But Balthazar was way more interesting.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    Sarevok for sure. Bodhi wasn't bad at all though, she would get my vote next. Anyone is better than Melissan though.
  • ARKdeEREHARKdeEREH Member Posts: 531
    I agree that villains are more interesting when they're multi-dimensional. I just wish that there were more ways to interact with them when that is the case. Being required to kill them every time just seems to simplistic and unrealistic, especially when I'm roleplaying an evil or neutral character. I have no qualms with killing Balthazar and Yaga-shura. They both clearly deserved it and were also not the kind of character that would make sense to negotiate with.

    While I disagreed with Irenicus and Bodhi's methods, I thought their plan to become gods was an interesting idea and a worthy cause for my party to pursue. I would have found it much more satisfying to have the option to join them against the elves than being forced to kill them. I similarly would have liked to resolve the situations with Sendai and possibly Sarevok peacefully through some sort of mutually beneficial alliance. Melissan was just annoying and hopelessly transparent.
  • badbromancebadbromance Member Posts: 238
    Bodhi. Mmmmmmm
  • CheesebellyCheesebelly Member Posts: 1,727
    Irenicus for *obvious* reasons!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80af7iSGiIk
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    I kind of thought Irenicus was cool for a while, because he's a bloody powerful spell-caster, and his voice acting is great.

    Then you find out his actions are like 90% motivated by a temper tantrum. Seriously. "Wahhh, my elven brethren cast me out for being a power-hungry douche, NOW I'LL KILL THEM ALL!! VENGEANCE!!" You sound like an eight-year old, bro. Grow up and get over it...
  • AnduinAnduin Member Posts: 5,745
    edited November 2012
    Well... Saveoursock is your average, look at me in my armor, kinda bad guy. The type who had no real friends at school because everyone was frightened of him. It made him not care for others as they did not care for him... A sad story :( Glad we get the chance to put thing's right and give him some brotherly / sisterly love :)

    Irennickerless, is just your common, I wan't to live forever, kinda guy. I mean, who doesn't?
    How would you feel if all your friends kicked you out of club immortal... Pretty peeved...

    Body is someone that does not live up to her name. If your a young girl and your parents decide to call you the Body and you end up looking like Ugly Betty with even worse teeth, your gonna get upset. I blame the parents here all the way. It was just a matter of time before she lashed out.

    Melissan is the type of woman you find in the echelons of power in all offices and governments in the western world. Pure power hungry, uncaring, ball breaking monsters. Big shoulder pads, bigger heels and an even bigger case of penile envy. The kind that think that being cruel is what a man would do so they do it even crueler. Never has Fearun been under such threat...

    EDIT: I am so scared of Melissan, I couldn't even make fun of her name!
  • RenulanRenulan Member Posts: 109
    Best villain ever.
  • GM1984GM1984 Member Posts: 14
    I've played BG2 a lot more than the first so it has to be Iranicus. Still think the fight against him in Hell was the hardest part of the series.
  • xLegionxxLegionx Member Posts: 197
    Jon Irenicus is the spitting image of the kind of evil mage I've always wanted to play as. A very genius villain that stand near Darth Vader in my opinion. His voice, attitude, and his goals and motivations all fit together into this one super-mumbo jumbo epic villain who takes every opportunity to fulfill his objective no matter the cost and as long as that choice doesn't bring him trouble in the future.
  • JaxsbudgieJaxsbudgie Member Posts: 600
    Bodhi was ace.
  • salierisalieri Member Posts: 245
    Irenicus is basically a good voice and not much else. I liked Serevok not so much for his personality but because, even though you knew he was the villain from the start, the way that you slowly find out who he was and what he'd been up to were really exciting in a fairly understated way. Irenicus was a bit more panto and, of course, the whole bhaalspawn bomb had already gone off which left him without much mystery. The bit of mystery they gave him was not really that interestng.
  • Talin_SilverbaneTalin_Silverbane Member Posts: 34
    Serevok while awesome loses point for becoming a hero (In my play though at least) later.
    Bodhi was pretty much a mid-boss, not really impotent or really interesting...aside from her outfit.
    Melissan: ...Eh I never found her interesting and aside from getting you to murder other Bhaalspawn never really seem to do much till the end.
    Others: The Six could of been interesting villains but they sort of just a collection of mid bosses with little to no personality that made them rememberable.

    So that just leaves Irenicus, who has one badass voice, an interesting backstory and was pretty involved in your story (Ok even if the dream version of him was not really him, I still count it) and he was the sort of person you could still feel sorry for but still want to kick his ass to the Hells. So yeah, I vote Irenicus.
  • BrightNightBrightNight Member Posts: 36
    Although Irenicus is a far more complex and interesting character, i have to go for Sarevok. Purely out of nostalgic reason. I will never forget the moment first seeing Sarevok in the opening scene back in 1998, thinking he was really scary and left me staring at the screen after the blood filled the stones into the BG Logo. My first RPG and first real villain!
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    Sarevok. I always enjoy the final battle against him. With Irenicus killing him just seems like a chore, but even though I've beaten Baldur's Gate 1 probably ten times more than BG2, I still enjoy beating Sarevok more.
  • gesellegeselle Member Posts: 325
    My vote would go to Sarevok, since his intentions come from pure malevolence but since Melissan is only slightly behind and she really knows how to manipulate the bhaalspawn and she gets no votes, she wins.
  • ajwzajwz Member Posts: 4,122
    What about Prat? I'm certain he was the brains behind the iron throne outfit
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • KirkorKirkor Member Posts: 700
    Sarevok all the way! The Darth Vader of Forgotten Realms! ;)
  • JaxsbudgieJaxsbudgie Member Posts: 600
    Kirkor said:

    Sarevok all the way! The Darth Vader of Forgotten Realms! ;)

    "Luke ... I am your half-brother"

  • EudaemoniumEudaemonium Member Posts: 3,199
    Sarevok got better once he joined your team in ToB, but I foudn his characterisation in the original BG to be rather bland. I liked Irenicus' story arc the most at the time. Mellisan was just kinda pathetic, IMO. I sadly can't remember much about Balthazar - I only played ToB once when it was released!

    Honestly, the best villain in the series is CHARNAME.
  • MortiannaMortianna Member Posts: 1,356
    BG1: Aec'Letec
    BG2: Kangaxx
    ToB: Demogorgon

    I'd say these three are the biggest "baddies" of the series. They all had the desire to cause the devastation of Faerun (or at least a good portion of it). Shouldn't defeating them at least get you free rooms and drinks anywhere you went?
  • mercyfulfate1988mercyfulfate1988 Member Posts: 43
    Sarevok was SUCH a classic fantasy villain I loved it the whole time. Also, it made it so much better not seeing him the whole game and just hearing about all the evil stuff he was doing. When I finally saw him at the end it was great!
  • colonel_burgercolonel_burger Member Posts: 279
    Neb the demented murderer. That NPC gave me the chills so bad on my first playthrough.

    If we're talking major game opponents, Irenicus hands down.
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