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Next tier will start tomorrow, but here's a Skit to hold y'all over until then.

Skit - Top 10 Antagonists
This was actually kind of a tough one to put together. As well as Tales does playable characters, a lot of the antagonists are fairly unremarkable outside of a few tremendous standouts. But there's definitely quite a few that either amuse me consistently or that I really look forward to taking down, so here's their time to shine.

10. Chlorseraph (Hearts)
Theres nothing particularly special about Chlorseraph; hes just a really well-executed minor villain. Hes a serious threat and does some damage, but it always feels like he can be overcome. I enjoy how nuts he is, his design is fairly cool, he has a bit of depth in being the only mechanoid thats actually afraid of dying, and his somewhat inadvertent role in the final downfall of Incarose was a fun twist I didnt see coming.

9. Grand Maestro Mohs (Abyss)
Its kinda funny to consider how Ions faction in Abyss, which is trying to stop a war, would be considered the radical side in the Order of Lorelei where Mohs and his cohorts are the traditionalists. The Score is an awesome storytelling device that Ill have more to say on in some character writeups, so I dont want to get too into it here, but Mohs is a really vital part of fleshing that all out, and his being such a slimy asshole through it all makes it really satisfying to take him down later on, even if its almost pitiable that he truly cant comprehend that the Score wont lead to prosperity as he believes.

8. Kurt Bessel (Graces)
Kurts primarily on this list because of how fondly I remember his boss battle. Its so dang tough, especially on higher difficulties, that it really forces you to get good at the amazing Graces battle system. I distinctly remember having much more fun with the game on my first playthrough after fighting Kurt, because I finally got it. Hes got a cool design and weapon to back it up, too, and he ends up being one of the only Graces antagonists that leaves any kind of impact.

7. Dhaos (Phantasia)
Besides the fact that everything about him is just plain pretty damn cool, Dhaos is arguably the deepest antagonist in the series. Hed be much higher up on this list if any of that actually came across through playing Phantasia itself.

6. Agria (Xillia)
Agrias the fun kind of unhinged. Kate Higgins clearly had a lot of fun in this role, and it makes things super entertaining whenever shes onscreen. Her backstorys interesting, her mannerisms are delightfully creepy, and her proverbial flipping of the bird to Leia as she falls to her death was a pretty memorably creative way for a villain to get one over on her enemy. The Fractured Dimension in Xillia 2 where she actually let Leia save her and they grew to be pretty close gives her some nice depth, too.

5. Forcystus (Symphonia)
Cool design aside, Ive always enjoyed the shade of grey that Forcystus occupies in comparison to a lot of the Symphonia villains. They actually pay some lip service to the fact that, as much as hes a plague in the eyes of humans, hes a hero to half-elves, which plays into the theme of the game pretty well. And its always interesting how, even though he tortures the people at his ranch, hes the only Grand Cardinal who isnt actively trying to ruin the lives in the nearby village on a daily basis. I wish hed been developed a little more, but theres a lot of interesting things about him.

4. Van Grants (Abyss)
Tales sometimes has a really bad problem with the main antagonists plan not making a whole lot of sense. I love how Abyss went straight at that problem with Vans discussion with the party before the final battle. He puts up a good argument, but they pretty much tear his ideals to shreds by the end, and he more or less has to eventually acknowledge the possibility that everything hes doing ultimately amounts to nothing. But he sticks by it anyway because thats the path hes chosen. Its a really cool examination of the entire theme of the game, and with the final battle itself being one of the most memorable in the series, he really leaves a lasting impression.

3. Shigure Rangetsu (Berseria)
Hes a cat person, so he gets some easy points there. Hes also probably the most badass antagonist in the series all things considered. His dynamic with Rokurou is fun, the elements of his backstory that we get reveal him as a richer character than one would think at first glance, and his role in the story, though somewhat small, is a pretty cool one considering hes the only person thats more or less neutral in a conflict thats more clearly between two opposing sides than most Tales games.

2. Yeager (Vesperia)
They really got the perfect amount of mystery with this guy. We know just enough about his backstory, the way he runs his guild, his general demeanor, and his relationship with Gauche and Droite and their orphanage to develop some real interesting theories about the full picture of the man he was without ever being able to know for sure. Past that, hes entertaining every second hes onscreen, has an awesome weapon, and his fight is pretty memorable (even if thats partly because his secret mission is so damn frustrating).

1. Sync the Tempest (Abyss)
Its kind of incredible just how much of a bastard this guy is, and also how its kind of understandable by the end. All of the important replicas in Abyss bring a different perspective to the whole idea of what life really is, and his all-encompassing hatred for the universe and everything in it, himself included, is really compelling. Impersonating Ions voice to Anise after Ion dies may be the cruelest thing anyone ever did in Tales, which is no small feat. It just feels good to hate this guy. And he backs it up by being a really fun enemy, too, with a couple of pretty awesome Mystic Artes.

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