Summary
Characters who areclassed as beingLawful Evilmay follow a set of rules that they are bound to, but this doesn’t mean that they aren’t still capable of committing some truly heinous acts in accordance with the law. A lot of the time, characters who fit this moral description will stretch the boundaries of these rules as far as they can go to enact as much chaos as possible, without actually looking “bad” as a person, since they’re still technically following the same laws as much as anyone else.
Breaking traditions and fighting against a corrupt status quo has always been a huge part of theFinal Fantasygames, so it only makes sense that they would also include a villain who goes to the extremes in an attempt to show how justifiable these systems can be. With that being said, while there are quite a few characters from theFinal Fantasyuniverse who fit this description, these individuals listed below are some of the most memorable and fascinating of the bunch.
Leonisthe Emperor’s right-hand maninFinal Fantasy 2,and while he is given plenty of free rein to rule over his subjects in any way he likes, he still ultimately answers to the commandments set out by his master. While there isn’t actually a lot of backstory given to Leon throughout the game, what is known is that he was there when the village of Fynn was attacked by Imperial Soldiers, and was the one who rushed to save his sister who had been injured during the evacuation.
After this tragic event, he surprisingly decides to join up with the Empire, seemingly to gain more power and become stronger. As a result though, he commits some pretty horrible acts while donning the title of the Dark Knight, such as ruling over the citizens of Bask with a tight fist and even brainwashing them using his dark powers. While Leon is somewhat redeemed by the end of the game, before this, he becomes an evil but lawful character who was spurred down by the feelings of despair he experienced after losing his village.
It’s made very clear to the player throughout the course ofFinal Fantasy 13that L’Cie, people who have been branded after being too close to a Fal’Cie, are considered to be enemies of Cocoon. Being a high-ranking officer of the Cocoon Army,Jihl Nabaatfollows this order to the letter by hunting down any L’Cie that she catches wind of, but she also seems to take a disturbing pleasure in breaking these people down on an emotional level.
Upon catching up toSazh and Vanille, for example, rather than arresting them right away, Jihl decides to turn them against one another by showing Sazh a video of Vanille being present when his son, Dajh, became a L’Cie. She admits that getting the two to kill each other would make her life a lot easier, and while it’s technically not against the “law” to do this, it still shows just how sick and twisted she is as an antagonist.
The Empire is made up of some incredibly despicable individuals,such as the likes of Kefka,who loves nothing more than seeing people suffer at his own hands. Unlike his maniacal subordinate,Gestahlis a lot more rigid and straightforward in his actions. While he’s still an incredibly evil individual who’s underlying desire to take over the world makes him truly unforgivable, he still manages to stay within the boundaries, albeit, the boundaries that he himself created when taking over the Empire.
His main plan is to abduct as many Espers as possible in an attempt to drain their powers, granting his Empire a near limitless amount of Magic. While many civilians were killed as part of his mission, these were ultimately casualties that were seen as “collateral damage” of people who were either trying to protect the Espers, or who were simply interfering with the Empire’s plans. Even when Gestahl meets his end at the hands of Kefka, he claims that destroying the world is not something he wanted, showing the subtle differences between a Lawful Evil individual, and someone who could instead be considered Chaotic Evil.
On the surface, it seems as thoughVayne, as the de-facto ruler of Dalmasca, simply seeks out the betterment of his nation and its people, but it’s soon revealed that he has far bigger ambitions than this.Vayne is a political mastermind, capable of swaying people to his side and taking out his opponents with ease, all without needing to use brute force or unnecessary violence. This is proven when he sets his sights on Princess Ashe, a loyal member of the Resistance, are an anti-imperialist force that have been a thorn in Vayne’s side ever since he first came into power.
Rather than killing her outright and making a statement, Vayne instead takes her away to be locked up in the Dreadnought Leviathan where she is held captive, while also throwing the other Sky Pirates in a dungeon. Vayne does an excellent job of hiding his true intentions of ruling the world and “freeing” humankind by following the laws set out before him and, as a result, manages to still look good in front of his own people, rather than seeming like some sort of maniacal psychopath.
As the leader of the Niflheim Empire’s political operations,Ardyndoesn’t get too much leeway to act out of order, since he still has a reputation to uphold. This hasn’t stopped him from dealing an immense amount of suffering to those who get caught up in his plans. Most of the time, Ardyn will carry out the Empire’s objectives, but will inject his own dose of cruelty into the mission, such as whenhe was sent to retrieve Leviathanand decided to stab and kill Lunafreya, all for the sake of traumatising Noctis.
He’s an incredibly layered and complex villain who’s underlying despair and loss of faith in humanity could have definitely turned him into a ruthless killer with no motivations, but instead, he joins the Empire to at least give some purpose to his harmful actions. While he does start to lose his mind by the end of the story, for much ofFinal Fantasy 15, Ardyn manages to present himself as an honorable and upstanding politician while still being incredibly cruel as an individual.
Galenth Dysley, also commonly known as Barthandelus, is the central Primarch of Coccoon, who’s promises of peace and security ultimately hidehow ruthless he is as a leader. Dysley was the one who gave the go-ahead for the Purge, an active migration of any individuals who have been in remote contact with the Fal’Cie, who are sent off to a different planet known as Pulse which is packed full of ravenous monsters.
Dysley claims that doing this is completely necessary since people who have been branded as L’Cie pose a danger to everyone else, but this is also just a ploy to herd massive amounts of people to their inevitable deaths so that he has an easier time controlling a smaller population. It’s also heavily implied that Dysley advises his Sanctum military to move into certain key positions where a rebellion could occur, in order to gun down Purge victims before they even manage to reach Pulse in the first place.
Yunalescaembodies the harsh and strict teachings of Yevon, the religion that most people living on Spira follow, since it provides the best explanation of Sin’s existence. The teachings state that, in order to keep the ravenous monster known as Sin at bay for a few years, a Summoner must retrievethe Final Aeonto drive it away. However, Yunalesca keeps the real truth hidden until the Summoner actually reaches the end of their journey, where she then states that the Final Aeon will actually become the next Sin, meaning there really is no end to the cycle.
Yunalesca is technically protecting the religion of Yevon and its teachings by trying to force Yuna and her friends to make the sacrifice, but she’s ultimately caused the deaths of numerous people because of this, and violently lashes out at anyone who tries to find a better solution, such as Auron. Her reluctance to find a more humane way of destroying Sin for good makes her an incredibly destructive villain who uses false hope to completely brainwash the world and its inhabitants.
