Top 30 Final Fantasy Villains - #1

#1 - Ardyn Izunia
(Final Fantasy XV)

I understand that this choice may be contentious. I understand you may disagree with me. But not only did Ardyn leave a bigger impact on me than any other villain, but he’s the best in my eyes because while Kefka was the best in certain elements, Ardyn checks the most boxes of any villain on this list.

Long before the events of Final Fantasy XV, a plague known as the Starscourge spread across Eos, turning many into demons. Ardyn Lucis Caelim was a member of the royal family who possessed powerful healing abilities, and he went about relieving the suffering of many by containing the plague inside himself, along with many demons. However, when the time came for him to ascend to the throne and gain the blessing of the Astrals, he was deemed impure and corrupt due to containing the Starscourge within himself, and his brother ascended instead. Due to the demons within him, Ardyn became immortal, and already furious by his perceived betrayal, could only watch as his name was demonized and wiped from the annals of history. Now going by the name Izunia and working for the Nifleheim Empire, he plans to enact his revenge on the royal family and the world by not only unleashing the Starscourge, but also by destroying the current king, Noctis, and making his life a living hell.

Let’s start with his appearance. Ardyn’s design is just fantastic. Apparently his look was inspired by Al Capone, and it shows. He looks equal parts like a snazzy gangster and a hobo, making for areally cool aesthetic, and his scarf manages to homage Sephiroth without being too on-the-nose about it. That, and I’m a sucker for fedoras. His theme music is appropriately sinister and his voice acting is excellent.

His personality is a lot more subdued than Kefka or Kuja, but no less entertaining or intimidating. Every word he says gives off that really cool “if I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead” vibe, and he’s a huge troll, being cryptic and vague on purpose just to confuse and frighten people. He knows full well how much he creeps people out, and he clearly loves doing it. And despite not delving into the ham as often as some other villains, he steals every scene he’s in.

As I hinted at last time, while Kefka is compared to the Joker, Ardyn is closer in style to the Riddler, relying more on trickery. Don’t get me wrong, though, he’s just as cruel as Kefka, but in a different way. To borrow another comic book analogy, Kefka is analogous to Carnage while Ardyn is closer to Venom. Both of them are just as powerful and just as evil, but while one kills and destroys at random, the other aims it all squarely at one single person. It’s astounding how effective and personal a villain can be if they focus all their efforts to screw over a single person. He kills pretty much all of Noctis’s loved ones to give him motivation to seek the powers of the Royal Arms, and actively helps him just so he can kill him when he properly ascends and finally put an end to the Lucian royal family. Later, he uses illusions to switch places with one of Noctis’s best friends, Prompto, tricking Noctis into nearly killing him. Several other villains, Kefka included, have these sort of illusion powers, but never used them to such an extent.

Once Noctis does begin unlocking his latent powers, Ardyn no longer has a reason to hold back. He blankets the world in eternal night and swarms the world with demons, even transforming all the residents of the imperial capital into demons just because he felt like it, taking the time to mock Noctis over the PA system as he makes his way through. Once Noctis finally arrives to confront him, Ardyn does nothing but screw with him. He surrounds his lair with a force field identical to the one around Noctis’s home city that Ardyn destroyed to rub it in how Noctis couldn’t stop him from killing his father. And, just as one final kick in the teeth, he dangles the corpses of all of Noctis’s deceased loved ones from the ceiling of the throne room. That is a level of sadism rarely seen from this series. And while Kefka may have gotten more done, Ardyn’s brand of chaos is more personal and emotionally charged, and therefore, more effective.

Like I said, I think the reason I put Ardyn as #1 was because he exemplifies the best aspects of all the best villains in the series. Like Kuja or Caius, he has a backstory that makes him sympathetic despite the scale of his atrocities, but like Ultimecia, the specifics of said backstory are left to interpretation. It’s a really good balance that adds an element of mystery while still giving you a sense of what makes him tick. He has the charisma of Vayne, the constant hanging presence of Sephiroth, the dark comedy of Kefka, and the pettiness and horrific true nature of Exdeath. Also of note is that while Sephiroth had delusions of being a Messiah, Ardyn actually was that Messiah figure and he got screwed out of it. Or so he says.

Capping this all off is a final, one-on-one fight that, while not the best fight in the series, and it may have some mechanical issues, but it’s one of the most unique final battles in the series. He doesn’t get a fancy transformation, but rather has a one-on-one duel where he has demonic counterfeits of all of Noctis’s abilities. And, much like some other villains on this list, even in defeat he gets everything he wanted.

Only time will tell if he has the same impact on the series that Kefka or Sephiroth had. However, I get the feeling that as one of the most remembered aspects of this game, he’ll be the gold standard for Final Fantasy villains going forward. He exemplifies everything I love about villains- he’s entertaining, competent, intimidating, sympathetic, and just looks cool to boot. You may disagree, but I stand by my choice to rank Ardyn Izunia as the best villain in all of Final Fantasy.