Sonic the Hedgehog has had a large cast of villains throughout the series, some fantastic and some bad. Fans often debate which of the villains are amongst the best, and with the help of Reddit, there might be some clear distinctions.
Character is of course a huge factor in what makes a great villain, but in terms of video games it also comes down to design and the structure of the boss battles. Some villains in the Sonic franchise just do not live up to these expectations such as the Deadly Six in Lost World. It is the small details that truly make a great villain in the Sonic franchise, even down to the music. These are the villains that truly stuck out to Sonic fans on Reddit.
Black Doom
Introduced in the Shadow the Hedgehog game, Black Doom was very different than any other Sonic villain that had appeared. "Black Doom stands up at the top. He's not some rampaging beast or some angsty creature. He's cold, calculating, very goal-oriented, and unafraid of anything, even in the face of defeat," Redditor ShenValor stated.
Although not often a fan favorite, Black Doom does have some admirable qualities. He is ruthless, intelligent, and his plan either succeeds or almost succeeds depending on the ending the player gets. He is an excellent villain to go against Shadow in one of the few spin-offs in the Sonic franchise. Still, there was a lot of potential and he was a bit underwhelming compared to other villains.
Dark Gaia
Sonic Unleashed had a unique story and that came with a unique villain. "However, the villain that gets to me the most is Dark Gaia. They terrify me if I'm honest," Redditor thecaptainspidey said. Much of the game tried to play on horror aspects without really being scary, i.e. Werehog Sonic.
Still, Dark Gaia was a very formidable villain and rivals that of Iblis in terms of power level. The boss stage was not that unique but offered some of the best gameplay with excellent music. In terms of villains, there is not much to the character of Dark Gaia, but its design and gameplay were all fantastic.
Erazor Djinn
The storybook Sonic games were a great addition to the franchise. Still, many fans overlook the villains of these games especially that of Erazor Djinn from Sonic and the Secret Rings."Everyone sleeps on Erazor Djinn," Redditor sunstart2y said.
Djinn was absolutely ruthless and one of the few villains to truly get under Sonic's skin. There are not many villains that make Sonic tap into his dark powers, but Djinn can say he is one of those few. He is often compared to Ganon from Legend of Zelda and can be pretty one-dimensional, but he does make up for it with his ruthlessness and for having a fun ending boss battle as well.
Merlina
The other storybook game, Sonic and the Black Knight offered a bit of a twist with its villain. Merlina is that twist but she is not just another one-dimensional villain and does have some depth. "One of the only Sonic villains who actually has understandable reasons and isn’t just evil for the sake of being evil," Redditor LemonStains said.
This often puts her in the underrated category with Sonic fans. She is often overlooked since her design is not all that, but the character herself is fantastic. She is able to lead Sonic completely into her plan, which often does not happen since Sonic is cunning, unlike Knuckles who is tricked by Eggman often. However, Merlina successfully fooled just about everyone in and outside of the game. A great villain in an overlooked game.
Infinite
Sonic Forces is such a polarizing game and so is the main villain. Most fans often agree that Infinite has a lot of potential but was just not executed right in Forces. "My other choice is infinite because there’s so (many) good (concepts) that you can do with him.," Redditor TrainingConstant8425 said.
Despite that, there is not much going for the character. In Forces, Infinite was very one-dimensional, and simply just evil. It seemed as though the writers tried to create a villain to rival Mephiles, but did not quite capture the same energy. Still, there are a lot of interesting concepts and Infinite can definitely return to hopefully redeem the character. What also saves Infinite is having a cool design and some action-packed boss battles. Other than that, the villain is forgettable, but one of the unpopular opinions about the Sonic franchise is that Infinite is a great character.
Biolizard
More of a side villain in Sonic Adventure 2, the Biolizard still deserves mentioning. "Special place in my heart for Biolizard cuz that song is dope when you're boss fighting him as Shadow," one anonymous Redditor said. On top of that song, the Biolizard was also a nice twist in the game since it seemed as though Shadow was the true villain all game when in reality it was the Biolizard.
Although pretty much just a monster, the Biolizard is present in not just one but two boss battles, both memorable and fun. It was a quick limelight stealer in the endgame, and even without any lines stole the show. From the design to the build-up, Biolizard is definitely up there with the best especially when fans include the song choices for both boss battles. These songs are ranked among the best in the Sonic franchise.
Chaos
A villain with a fantastic design and several unique boss battles, Chaos is the gift that keeps giving. So much so, that fans wanted more of Chaos in Forces than they got. "I’d say chaos, the dude was in rage and literally vanished the Echidna tribe," Reddit user Hypefangirl said.
On top of that fan love, Chaos is just an overall formidable opponent with a huge power level. The being wiped out the Echidnas destroyed Station Square and held its own against Super Sonic. The implementation with Chaos and the Chaos Emeralds was also excellent, and the makeup of the character allowed for several different designs. The boss battles were all extremely fun and there is a lot of emotion displayed with the character despite not saying any lines.
Eggman
This is an obvious one. Eggman has been THE villain from the very beginning. "Eggman is the best imo because he has the charisma and crazy plans to carry such a long series like Sonic," Redditor JDMManga said. There have been several incarnations of Eggman, both goofier to more serious, but universally, fans love the character. This is especially the case since there were several campaigns for the character to appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Eggman is not just a great villain himself, but in supplying several awesome minor enemies and unique boss battles as well. Each of the mechs Eggman operates throughout the games is always unique and poses new challenges. Rarely are any Eggman boss battles the complete same. On top of that, Eggman often offers a lot of comedy to every game and is always in the center of the story, but fans never get tired of him.
Metal Sonic
A cool design and great stories can turn what might seem like a bland idea into one of the best video game villains. Sonic CD introduced the world to Metal Sonic, and then Sonic Heroes took the character to new heights. "Metal Sonic though remains my all-time favorite due to the fact that he always has untapped potential," Redditor PkmnDDLCNeptuniaRWBY stated. This is among the many reasons Sonic CD is often ranked as one of the best Sonic games.
Since then, Metal Sonic has appeared in countless Sonic games. Still, fans are wanting more of the character and there really is a lot of potential. Metal Sonic is such a useful villain, it also appeared in the Sonic anime movie that came out in 1996. Metal Sonic remains one of the best Sonic villains, and for good reason, it is a perfect match for Sonic in speed and power. Heroes also upped the design of Metal Sonic with Neo Metal Sonic. It is definitely a villain fans will not get tired of.
Mephiles
Although coming from a game that is filled with issues, one thing seems to stick out for fans, Mephiles. "Mephiles was a very good villain as well because of his intelligence and menace," Redditor JDMManga said. Arguably, Mephiles is the smartest villain that actually succeeds in his plan until Sonic is brought back to life like Snow White.
To add more, Mephiles also had some excellent designs and was a perfect matchup with Shadow. In a way, the story almost felt like Shadow the Hedgehog 2 with how well the story interacted between these two characters. Mephiles was very cunning and was easily able to trick Silver into aiding him. He also stole the spotlight in every scene he was in, with the excellent voice acting of Dan Green in the English dub.