Article On Why Hojo Is The Best Final Fantasy Villain Ever

[jazzflower92]

https://cultureofgaming.com/why-professor-hojo-is-the-best-final-fantasy-villain-ever/

The reasons they give are:

1. He subjected his wife and son to experiments.

2. He caused the main characters to suffer.

3. He intentionally put the planet at risk to get results.

4. He's the most evilest man in the entire Final Fantasy franchise (That can be up for debate)

However, one thing I do agree is the fact what makes him such a great underappreciated villain is the fact that there is nothing that you can call likable or sympathetic. He's a cold dick, who screwed many people over and was almost going to destroy the world so his son (or better yet great experiment) could blossom.

 

[Roger]

Being the most evil=/=being the best. And if not having any redeemable qualities is what makes Hojo so good, why not apply the same to Chaos, Emperor Palamecia, Cloud of Darkness, Zemus or Barthandelus? There are actually very few FF villians that would be unwilling to do any of the stuff Hojo does, that's not what makes him stand out.

The article claims that Hojo wanted to be the best at everything he did which is ould not be more untrue. The Shinra father and son duo are richer, have more power and authority, same kinda goes for Heidegger, Hojo has always seemed perfectly fine with that. Sephiroth is stronger and more famous, he's perfectly happy with that too. Hojo's quite willing to do die along with everyone else to see his experiment succeed when he's certain it is his greatest experiment. Hojo is a villain that goes as far as a villain can while only being interested in the science of it all.

Pretending it's his masterplan that makes everything happen is inaccurate too. President Shinra would have killed the planet through the consumption of Mako Energy with or without him. Gast and Lucretia would have gone through with the Jenova Experiment and mutilated an unborn child to get the results they wanted with or without him. Aerith and her mom would have been hunted for being Cetras with or without him. Barret's AVALANCHE's doomed mission of revenge for Corel would have gone underway with or without Hojo. Refusing to acknowledge that Hojo is only one of many villains really misrepresents what makes FFVII exceptional.

 

[Gary Caelum]

Yeah I'd pretty strongly disagree with that. I don't think just being consistently evil makes for a good villain. I remember debating this with a friend one time and I came to the conclusion that I think there are 3 different types of good villain (and obviously some manage to do several of these things at once, which makes them even better):

1) The Intimidating Villain. This is the simplest one. They just have to be quite scary. You have to feel like they completely dominate everyone around them so anyone who goes up against them is likely to lose. Good examples of this are Darth Vader, Thanos, Metal Face (first half of XC1).

2) The Machievelian Villain. They're just really smart and scheming so you feel like they're always going to outsmart the heroes. Good for stories because it leads to a lot of twists and you never quite feel like you know who's on top. Good examples are Emperor Palpatine, Cersei Lannister or Littlefinger in GoT.

3) The Sympathetic Villain. They have a sincere and genuine reason (or at least think they do) for opposing the 'good guys'. They make you think more about what you're being told or why you've come to the conclusion that something is good or bad. Good for story telling because you can give them much deeper and complex personalities than the pure evil types. Good examples of this are Ardyn, Caius, Thanos (sort of, although his motivation is dumb)

 

[Castiel Strife]

It's an interesting thought, but I wouldn't put him up there as the "best" either. I do agree that there are no likeable qualities in him, and that is partially why I can't say he's the best. What I mean by that is there's, in my opinion, no personality there.

With villains, I feel to be the best you have to either be extremely hated or charming enough that people overlook your villainous ways and actually build a liking to you. There are plenty of villains that I shouldn't like but I cant help it. You know they're good at what they do when you know they're evil but you just can't help but to have a soft spot for them.

Then of course there are villains that I absolutely can't stand. With both of these scenarios, it creates one major component and that is making them memorable. At the end of the day, I don't consider Hojo extremely memorable. Obviously I will remember him and so will all of you, but I'm not sure a casual FF7 fan who has only played the game once would.

With all that being said, Sephiroth became memorable for one reason - burning Nibelheim to the ground. I played FF7 as a kid, as I am sure many here did, and holy cow what a memory. That moment was haunting for me as a kid. From that day forth, I knew I would never forget Sephiroth or who he was. The music, the cutscene, the look in his eyes... Square really captured that moment and I can't wait to see what it looks and feels like in the remake. I never had that moment with Hojo. That's all just my opinion, though, and it's all entirely subjective.

 

[leadmyskeptic]

Hojo at the controls of the Sister Ray, where he's essentially "losing his religion" (despite the chaos he causes, he operates upon a very structured set of beliefs, in science as a kind of infallible, moral-less system that in theory can predict/achieve anything, his own ability to utilize science more masterfully than anyone else, etc) by admitting that Sephiroth goes beyond both it and his own understanding, begging for his lost son to "just....show me" has always been one of the most striking moments in the OG for me. Often, whenever people are talking about why they don't like, or usually outright hate him, they list the same attributes that are why I think he's such a great, underrated villain. The disturbed, intelligent weakling, whose labcoat and shuffling awkwardness make him 'invisible' when compared with asteroid-riding aliens and silver-haired, samurai sword-wielding demigods, but who actually sets most of the plot's events in motion from that shadowy corner.

 

[Clement Rage]

I'm really bad at ranking stuff, but Hojo has always been very entertaining to watch. He's always able to get what he wants despite everyone hating him and not even bothering to lie or put up a facade about his motivations.

 

[jazzflower92]

You know these days I can't help but compare Hojo to Shou Tucker. Someone who is willing to use his wife and child in experimentation, while being so nonchalant about it. Since Hojo came out before him, one could say Shou is an even more mundane version of Hojo.