10 JRPG NPCs We All Love To Hate (2024)

Everyone knows that it takes a lot of skill to create a fictional character that is universally beloved.

However, it takes an equal level of skill to make a character that is universally reviled.

It’s one thing to have a character that’s just kind of lousy, but another thing entirely to have one that’s so immensely hateable that doing so becomes kind of fun.

As JRPGs have a naturally high concentration of characters in general, they’re also a great place to look for the absolute worst of the worst.

If you’re lucky, you get to pummel these characters in a combat encounter, but just ruining their days is pleasant, too.

10 Sugimura

Persona 5

8.5/ 10

JRPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:94/100 Critics Recommend:98%

Franchise

Persona

Platform(s)

Nintendo Switch , PC , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

March 31, 2020

Developer(s)

Atlus , P-Studio

Publisher(s)

Atlus

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary Engine

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

100 Hours

Metascore

95

PS Plus Availability

N/A

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

See at Playstation StoreBuy on Amazon

Every Confidant in Persona 5 has a minor antagonist that’s making your friend’s life difficult, usually necessitating a change of heart in Mementos.

All of these people are pretty awful, but the worst by far is Sugimura, the arranged fiancé to your friend Haru.

Okumura planned to marry Haru off to Sugimura to bolster his business and political power, and Sugimura was into it because, and we quote, having a high school fiancé is a “turn-on.”

You only get to beat up his cognitive doppelganger in Okumura’s Palace, unfortunately, but at least the real one gets firmly jettisoned from Haru’s life at the end of her Confidant.

9 Folie

Bravely Default 2

JRPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:78/100 Critics Recommend:69%

Platform(s)

Switch , PC

Released

February 26, 2021

Developer

Claytechworks

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

ESRB

T for Teen: Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence

See Also

The 7 Bleach Characters Who Hate Ichigo The Most

How Long To Beat

50 Hours

Metascore

83

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

See at Official Site$55 at Amazon

Midway through Bravely Default 2’s story, you encounter the mastermind of the mysterious occurrences in the city of Wiswald: Folie, wielder of the Pictomancer Asterisk.

For Folie, her art is paramount over quite literally anything and everything else, up to and including the well-being of everyone in Wiswald.

Folie arranges a series of tragedies throughout the cities, killing innocents and driving men insane, all just so she could get some fresh paints for her artwork.

Her callous indifference to her own crimes is so severe, it drives Elvis to his breaking point, solidifying his resolve to end her threat once and for all.

8 Prince Charmles

Dragon Quest 8

JRPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:85/100 Critics Recommend:89%

Franchise

Dragon Quest

Platform(s)

PS2 , 3DS , Android , iOS

Released

November 15, 2005

Developer(s)

Level-5

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Engine

Unity

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Suggestive Themes

How Long To Beat

62 Hours

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

See at Amazon

In Dragon Quest 8, Prince Charmles of Argonia was engaged to Princess Medea before Dhoulmagus turned her into a horse.

His name is pronounced “Charm-Lay,” if you were wondering, though we wouldn’t blame you for assuming otherwise.

He’s a textbook spoiled prince, having lived life with everything handed to him. He has little-to-no sense of right and wrong or non-material value, and will run screaming at the slightest provocation.

He’s also terrified of lizards, which is ironic given his kingdom’s lizard-centric culture, and needs the party to get a large lizard heart for him as part of a royal test, which he ultimately fails by cheating.

7 Hojo

Final Fantasy 7

Fighting

Action

Adventure

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:88/100 Critics Recommend:95%

Franchise

Final Fantasy

Platform(s)

PlayStation 5 , PlayStation 4

Released

April 10, 2020

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

ESRB

t

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Professor Hojo is the head of the Shinra Electric Power Company’s science division in Final Fantasy 7, and quite possibly one of the most universally hated anything to come out of the whole franchise.

To say Hojo lacks scruples would be putting it mildly; the concept of ethics couldn’t be further from his mind as he performs his deranged scientific research.

Hojo is directly responsible for the events of the game, as it was his research that gave rise to the Jenova Project, SOLDIER, and Sephiroth.

Unlike the other Shinra execs, who at least have the excuse of being greedy, Hojo nearly drives the planet to extinction for literally no other reason than scientific curiosity.

6 Seymour Guado

Final Fantasy 10

JRPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:83/100 Critics Recommend:87%

Franchise

Final Fantasy

Platform(s)

PC , PS3 , PS4 , PS Vita , Xbox One

Released

March 18, 2014

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Engine

PhyreEngine

ESRB

T For Teen due to Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

See at Playstation Store$21 at Amazon

Maester Seymour Guado is a prominent figure in the Yevon religion in Final Fantasy 10 and one of the game’s most stubborn antagonists.

He seems like a pleasant enough chap at first, but it’s quickly made clear that under his public face lies a seething nihilist.

Seymour effectively hates the concept of life itself, believing that if everyone in Spira were to just drop dead, they’d all be free from suffering.

No matter how many times the party beats him down, he keeps popping back up, even defying death as an Unsent if it means “saving” (i.e. destroying) Spira.

5 Sota Kume

Yakuza: Like A Dragon

9.5/ 10

JRPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:86/100 Critics Recommend:91%

Franchise

Yakuza

Platform(s)

PC , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

November 10, 2020

Developer(s)

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

Publisher(s)

Sega

Engine

Dragon Engine

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol

How Long To Beat

45 Hours

X|S Optimized

Yes

File Size Xbox Series

39 GB (November 2023)

Metascore

86

PS Plus Availability

N/A

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

See at Playstation Store$40 at Amazon

In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, a recurring antagonistic force is Bleach Japan, an NPO focused on removing the country’s legal gray zones.

The head of Bleach Japan’s Yokohama branch is Sota Kume, a thoroughly unpleasant man who seems to be perpetually perched atop his high horse.

Kume regularly causes trouble for Ichiban and his friends, harassing businesses with illegal protests and covertly hiring thugs to intimidate them.

Despite the organization’s supposed moral high ground, Kume very clearly cares more about seeming morally superior to other people rather than actually being a halfway decent person.

4 Porky Minch

Mother 3

RPG

Systems

Platform(s)

Nintendo Game Boy Advance

Released

April 20, 2006

Developer

Brownie Brown, HAL Laboratory

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Engine

M4A sound/music engine

ESRB

e

How Long To Beat

25 Hours

Originally introduced in Earthbound, Porky Minch (or Pokey, if you prefer) is Ness’s annoying next-door neighbor.

He’s bratty, greedy, unintelligent, and just an all-around lousy kid. Somehow, though, he manages to schmooze his way to being the right-hand man to Giygas.

After Giygas is defeated, Porky escapes through time and space, eventually finding himself on Mother 3’s Nowhere Islands to establish the Pigmask Army.

The time-traveling process has severely aged Porky, leaving him ancient and bedridden. In spite of that, he still remains the exact same bratty, irritating child at heart.

Xenoblade Chronicles

RPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:89/100 Critics Recommend:97%

Franchise

Xenoblade Chronicles

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

May 29, 2020

Developer(s)

Monolith Soft

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Engine

XC2/Torna

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Blood, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence

How Long To Beat

58 Hours

Metascore

89

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

See at Nintendo eShopSee at Amazon

Metal Face is the first Faced Mechon to appear in Xenoblade Chronicles, a mysterious, seemingly sapient offshoot of the Mechon forces immune to the powers of the Monado.

Metal Face is a recurring threat to Shulk and company, wanting to seize the power of the Monodo for himself while inflicting as much pain on them as he possibly can.

In actuality, Metal Face is Mumkhar, a Homs soldier who fought alongside the Monado’s previous wielder, Dunban.

The majority of Mumkhar’s actions as Metal Face stem from his jealousy of Dunban’s use of the Monado, a jealousy which he extends to Shulk.

2 Preceptor Seluvis

Elden Ring

9/ 10

RPG

Action

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:95/100 Critics Recommend:98%

Platform(s)

PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC

Released

February 25, 2022

Developer(s)

From Software

Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment , From Software

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

How Long To Beat

58 Hours

X|S Optimized

yes

Metascore

96

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PS4 &PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

PS Plus Availability

N/A

Steam Deck Compatibility

yes

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Cross Save

no

Cross-Platform Play

PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

See at AmazonSee at Playstation Store

The majority of those who have pledged loyalty to Ranni the Witch in Elden Ring are brave-hearted and honorable individuals. Preceptor Seluvis is the exception, and a big one at that.

Seluvis is a scholar with an affinity for puppetry magic, using magic potions to transform innocents into his unfeeling marionettes.

Despite being one of her servants, Seluvis has designs of doing the same to Ranni, and isn’t shy about showing his gross excitement about the prospect.

Amusingly, no matter how you handle Seluvis’ questline, he draws the short straw, ending up dead on Ranni’s order.

1 Harvey

Octopath Traveler 2

RPG

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews

Top Critic Rating:85/100 Critics Recommend:95%

Franchise

Octopath Traveler

Platform(s)

Switch , PS4 , PS5 , PC

Released

February 24, 2023

Developer(s)

Square Enix , Acquire

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

ESRB

Rated T for Teen for Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, and Use of Alcohol and Tobacco.

How Long To Beat

60 Hours

Metascore

84

PS Plus Availability

N/A

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

See at Playstation StoreBuy on Amazon

Harvey is the antagonist of Osvald’s story in Octopath Traveler 2.

Like Osvald, Harvey is a scholar in pursuit of the One True Magic, though his pursuits became a bit more… open-ended.

Out of jealousy of Osvald’s progress, Harvey burns down his home, kills his wife, and frames him for it so he can steal his research and pass it off as his own.

Apparently, Harvey knew Osvald would come for him if given the chance, which is why he bribed the judges of Osvald’s sentencing for imprisonment instead of death just so he could lord his treachery over him.

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