Video game villains who refuse to die

Key takeaways

• Villains like Orochi, Bowser, and Heihachi are resurrected many times to maintain the stories.
• The resurrected villains continue to appear in various forms, furthering the overarching story in their respective game series.
• Developers bring in villains not only for fan service but also to shape the roles they play in different game scenarios.

Villains are, often, a narrative necessity. Whether they're controlling or just benefiting from a situation a hero wants to undo, their continued existence or power keeps some stories going. However, some villains don't die. In video games, the exact reason behind this fact may be different.

Often, the need to resurrect a villain, ironically, stems from the status quo imposed on the series by the developers. This is especially prevalent in certain genres of games, often where the villain is one of several playable characters in a coherent roster, who need to live and die to perpetuate the story.

5 Orochi (Warrior Orochi Series)

A Miasma-Muddled Mystic

Primarily serving as a crossover between the two Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, Warrior Orochi The warriors of these two periods intersect in a dimension of their own creation of the title. Various warriors band together to fight Orochi, kill him and return them to their respective time periods. This Orochi is not exactly the legendary Yamata no Orochi, but a composite entity that establishes its own lore from various forms of mythology. In each subsequent game, Orochi constantly dies and is reincarnated in various capacities, the first being Orochi being reincarnated as X. Warriors Orochi 2.

Orochi has been shown in various forms Warriors Orochi 3His identity is assumed by the Hydra, a creature that represents the raw will of the Orochi dimension. Hydra is particularly disliked by many of Orochi's former subordinates, Da Ji, Keiji Maeda, and Masamune Det went into the alliance due to technically not being original Orochi. Shuten Doji, a monstrous creature who is also an offshoot of Orochi, joins the alliance, slowly remembering his past as Orochi, but longing to carve his own path. Orochi's own history as Yinglong, a mystical general, is also revealed ultimate expansion of Warriors Orochi 3. Yinglong was a heroic but unconscious mystic who became an Orochi after being tricked into believing that the late emperor was secretly trying to banish demons.

Orochi is briefly resurrected along with Orochi X (who is again a form assumed by Hydra). Warriors Orochi 4Reincarnated from the bodies of two Shuten Doji. The pair eventually fight each other, eventually dying at the hands of the Alliance. After this, they return to Shuten Doji, who presumably remains Orochi's current form. because of Samurai WarriorsThe title is being rebooted, one of the two primary series involved in the future Warrior Orochi Unclear, but if it gets another sequel, Orochi will be reborn, one way or another.

4 Bowser (Super Mario Bros. Series)

Giant King Koopa

Bowser is Mario's ever-present enemy, serving as a boss in many traditional platformers. Super Mario Bros series. Most of his defeats involve less than desirable outcomes that would otherwise be fatal. Sometimes, he remains invisible after they appear, signifying death. However, he is always ready to return, vandalizing, stealing and even kidnapping the princess on occasion.

Bowser's frequent returns can be explained out of some level of resilience or immortality, given the larger context. was killed series. Miyamoto compared the cast of characters to a group of actors in the vein of old cartoons. The game determines the exact role these characters fill, whether it's a platformer or a sports show, with the characters serving to fill whatever role is planned for them in the current script rather than working within an overarching story. To this end, Bowser's very implied death can be seen as an extension of his “role” in each game. Perhaps the same can be said for Mario, considering his own multiple lives.

3 Heihachi Mishima (Tekken series)

A fear-mongering fighter and a failure of a father

Fighting games are famous for resurrecting their big bads. Seeing as they are often among the most popular playable characters in their respective series, fans don't want them dead for too long. One such villain is Heihachi Mishima, one of the more widespread villains in the Tekken series.

Heihachi specifically threw his son Kazuya off a cliff, the exact reason being to determine whether he had the Devil Gene or if he was strong enough to be his successor. This made her son vengeful and he threw his father off the same cliff, presumably killing him. However, he survives and takes revenge, throwing Kazuya into an active volcanic crater, which the younger Mishima survives again. Heihachi himself would later be thrown into the magma by Kazuya in revenge. It was assumed that he might have died.

but, Tekken 8 The DLC revealed this to be a trick, as Heihachi was rescued by the Tekken monks, albeit with severe amnesia. The Tekken monks believed him to be of sound body, mind and spirit. However, after destroying the meteor, Heihachi regains his memories, and with them, his old sinister ways. He wiped out the Tekken monks and now once again wants to defeat Kazuya for good.

2 Vile (Megaman X Series)

A rebellious reploid opponent

Vile is a reploid that is a constant thorn in X's side. He was defeated by X and Zero at various points but the title was destroyed by X after his final battle. Megaman X. He returns as Vile MK II Megaman X3 After being resurrected and given a new body by Sigma. This will not be his last appearance once again, as he will return as Vile V Megaman X8Sporting a new color scheme and a more unhinged personality than before. He appears once again as a recurring enemy, before his proper boss battle, which ends in his defeat.

Outside of canonical appearances, Vile has been resurrected several times Project X area series, where he again has an ax to grind with X, and brings him together with several video game characters, including Heihachi Mishima. Tekken. The second game has him reincarnated as Vile MK II and appears alongside Sigma, who was responsible for this revival in canon material.

1 Dracula (Castlevania series)

A vengeful vampiric villain

broad Castlevania The series features the villain Dracula as the final boss in most of its installments. His origins are revealed Lamentations of Innocence. Chronologically, he was formerly a strategist named Matthias who tragically lost his first wife to illness while he was engaged in campaigns elsewhere. His untimely death cursed him to God and motivated him to become immortal.

This led to a cycle of death and rebirth, where he fought against the Belmont family in many lifetimes, with his former friend Leon Belmont, swearing that his clan would challenge him each time. In the distant future of the series, after his presumed final death, he is reincarnated as the heroic Soma Cruz. However, Death, Dracula's former right-hand man, tries to bring his master back to life. Like every other past attempt, this revival ultimately ended in yet another defeat for Dracula. More Castlevania games are likely to continue Dracula's life-death cycle and his endless quest to defy God and destroy humanity, as Dracula believes their evils will keep him coming back.