Video games are no stranger to political intrigue. In many games, politicians are depicted as hilariously evil, mustache-twirling villains who highlight the dangers of power and influence over the masses. Other times, they’re positioned as do-gooders fighting the good fight. That said, some of the most memorable video game politicians are the ones who blur the line between good and evil, those whose rhetoric subtly moves us to sympathize or even relate with their cause.Plot-heavy games, such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem, frequently make politics a driving force of the narrative. Other titles frame their gameplay around either political events or offices. For example, Metal Wolf Chaos—a mech-shooter that sees the president at war with the vice president—hilariously parodies American politics. Regardless, a political leader’s presence almost always carries weight in the video game world. We’ve selected 12 memorable video game officials who stand apart from their peers due to their novelty, merit, or impact within their respective games’ narratives. Many of our picks fall under the mustache-twirler category, as these men and women pursue their goals with dogmatic, near-criminal tenacity. When you’re making the mother of all omelets, after all, you can’t fret over every egg. Scroll down for a look at some of video gaming’s most driven politicians, and shout out your favorites in the comment section.
Explore the Video Game Political Landscape
(Credit: Platinum Games)
Senator Armstrong has a passing presence throughout most of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. He only appears in a few short scenes prior to his big reveal at the game’s end. Still, the enormous impact he has on the game’s narrative cannot be overstated. He is a giant, campy, football-loving American, yet his viewpoints are uncannily prophetic. Armstrong believes the American people don’t care about whether or not information is right or wrong, only the spin it’s given by the media. Armstrong also expresses disgust for what America had become: bloated, ignorant, weak, and greedy. With no regard for morality, Armstrong leads his private military company, Desperado, to instigate skirmishes across war-torn countries. His mission? Fuel the war economy to provide funding for his mercenary organization and presidential campaign. He also uses his influence to kidnap, mutilate, and train orphaned children from third-world countries to that same end. His ultimate goal, however, lies in the opposite direction. Armstrong hopes to use war as a way to secure the presidential office and radically reshape America. The senator wants to make every sacrifice necessary to end war as a busines and reestablish the nation’s position as a world power. With his might-makes-right mentality, and equipped with state-of-the-art nanomachine technology, Armstrong is poised to take over America before protagonist Raiden cuts him down to size.
(Credit: Deep Silver)
2. The Boss (Saints Row 4)The games in the Saints Row series get progressively more outlandish. For example, you play as a street gangster in the original game and a pop-culture icon in the third. With Saints Row 4, you earn yourself a seat at the White House, because why not? After saving Washington, D.C. from a nuclear strike and being made President of the United States, The Boss (the leader of the Saints crew) deals with an extraterrestrial force. The alien army abducts the Saints, but you break free from their clutches with the aid of your newfound super powers to save humanity, as any good president would.
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Big Boss, also known as Naked Snake or simply Snake, is a fascinating military and political figure in the Metal Gear universe, serving as both hero and villain. He is a soldier of near-mythic renown, earning himself the moniker of Legendary Soldier and Legendary Mercenary. The death of Big Boss’ mentor deeply influenced his actions during the Cold War and beyond, driving him to create a world where soldiers would not be wantonly abused by world governments. To this end, he created the mercenary stronghold Outer Heaven in South Africa, and would later fight for the independence and control of Zanzibar Land.In the Metal Gear universe, Zanzibar Land is a former autonomous zone of the USSR, bordering an unspecified region between the Middle East and Central Asia. With its independence, Big Boss rises to lead the nation as president. The nation quickly and aggressively attacks nuclear weapons disposal sites around the globe, repurposing weapons that might still be functional. Zanzibar Land also belligerently pursues new energy technologies in the wake of global oil shortages. The young nation goes so far as kidnapping a bio-engineer for alternative energies, in an effort to monopolize and control the world’s fuel supply, with the threat of nuclear war. Despite his noble intention, Big Boss is perfectly willing to use unorthodox, even criminal methods to achieve his goal. This includes using a body double to further his military exploits, recruiting and raising child soldiers to his cause, and proliferating nuclear armaments to deter and intimidate other nations. Despite the evils Big Boss propagates as he pursues his goal, he is also thoroughly loved by the soldiers he leads, inspiring unshakable loyalty and confidence in the people he meets. Big Boss blurs the line between good and evil, delivering a tragic antagonist you can’t help but sympathize with, even if you don’t necessarily agree with him or his actions.
(Credit: Arc System Works)
4. Goldlewis Dickinson (Guilty Gear Strive) Guilty Gear Strive takes place in an alternate timeline that split from our own with the failure of electronic technology and appearance of the Universal Will 1999. In the wake of widespread panic, nations across the globe embraced magical technologies. The United States led the charge with the mass production of Gears, an artificial, magically-infused, and highly modified race of humanity designed to serve as slaves; slaves that eventually became weapons of war. After things go awry, the Gears attack humanity in a world war called the Crusades. It’s during this war that Goldlewis earned his pedigree.Goldlewis Dickinson serves as Secretary of Defense for the United States of America. He is a veteran of the Gear war, and remains active to this day. Thus, Goldlewis is the first active duty soldier to also serve as Secretary of Defense. With his extensive combat prowess, Goldlewis’s power rivals that of the entire White House Security Force, making him a dangerous opponent. Besides his supernatural strength and accuracy, Goldlewis slings around an Area 51 coffin with a seemingly living extraterrestrial sealed within. The entity’s arm slips out to assist Goldlewis during certain attacks, and provides support by materializing explosive mines or a gatling gun.
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5. Vincent Hadden (Syphon Filter)Vincent Hadden is the US Secretary of State during the events of the first three Syphon Filter games. He’s also head of the Agency, a CIA-like paramilitary and political organization within the American government. Hadden plays a critical role in the development of the Syphon Filter virus, a highly modified retrovirus that can be programmed on a genetic level to target specific cells. Naturally, this technology is used to create a deadly pathogen that can be manipulated to target specific people or ethnic groups. To this end, Hadden collaborates with the terrorist organization Black Baton, as well as the massive pharmaceutical conglomerate PharCom, to sell Syphon Filter on the black market for enormous profit. This leads to several attacks on US soil, ironically making Hadden a hero in the public’s eyes, as he leads them out of a crisis as Secretary of State. Of course, it is an assault of Hadden’s own making, unbeknownst to the general population. The conspiratorial rabbit hole goes even deeper after Syphon Filter 3’s events, but Hadden remains one of the franchise’s most ominous villains.
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6. Michael Haggar (Final Fight)Step aside Jesse Ventura. Michael Haggar captured our hearts as a wrestler-turned-politician in Capcom’s 1989 arcade brawler Final Fight. In it, Haggar vows to clean up Metro City, but the Mad Gear street gang tries to keep the ambitious mayor on a leash by kidnapping his daughter. With the help of a vigilante and a ninja, Haggar takes to the streets to slap around the street punks and rescue his child. Mike Haggar may be a small-time politician compared to others on this list, but he’s still a big-time American hero.
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7. Andrew Ryan (BioShock)In many respects, Andrew Ryan’s early life could be considered an American success story. He fled the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia to become a tremendously successful business tycoon in the United States. However, Ryan became deeply disillusioned by governmental and religious meddling within society. Likewise, his experience with communism and authoritarian Russia fueled a deep hatred for these forms of governance. Andrew Ryan withdrew from society, using his vast wealth to create a utopia where like-minded people could live and work exclusively based on merit. Thus, Rapture was born: a sprawling city under the sea where anyone could work and reap the fruits of their labor. Andrew Ryan was unflinching in his ideals, however. He created Rapture as a laissez-faire society that eliminated market restrictions, labor laws, and even charity. Naturally, cracks began to form, as a lack of oversight or supervision also meant a lack of social programs, unions, and ultimately altruism. Andrew deemed these concepts parasitic, and so the growing lower class within Rapture had no one to turn to for aid. Compounding the problem was ADAM, a DNA-scrambling drug that radically enhanced consumers, while introducing dire physical and mental degradation (and crippling addiction).It didn’t take long for a demagogue named Frank Fontaine to exacerbate Rapture’s decline by creating a criminal empire around ADAM. Rapture eventually descended into anarchy, with Fontaine and Ryan’s supporters fighting one another to a stalemate until you as the protagonist eventually make your way there at the beginning of BioShock.
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In Metal Gear Solid 2, ex-President George Sears strives to free the world from a memetic, information-controlling organization called The Patriots. While this may seem like an admirable cause, Sears is a ruthless soldier and leader. Like his sire, Big Boss, Sears has no qualms about exploiting child soldiers during his military career. Unlike Big Boss, however, Sears is cold and unforgiving, and not above sullying his brother’s name to get what he wants. He is also known by his alias, Solidus Snake, denoting him as the third clone of the legendary soldier Big Boss. Arming himself with a cybernetic power-suit and sword, Sears leads a terrorist attack on Big Shell in New York City as part of his grand scheme to destroy the Patriots and free America from the AI’s manipulative grasp.
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9. Rufus Shinra (Final Fantasy VII)Though the Final Fantasy VII Remake shines more light on his father throughout the game, Rufus Shinra makes quite a splash during the climax when he totes a nasty firearm and demonstrates supernatural shooting accuracy. Rufus takes up the mantle of President of the Shinra electric power corporation after Sephiroth shish-kebabs his father, the former President. Shinra has wide-reaching power and influence in the Final Fantasy VII universe, serving as not only an electric company, but also a military corps and political body. Despite Rufus’ youthful appearance, he is a ruthless leader that rules the company with an iron fist. He is much more active in his pursuit of Sephiroth and Cloud than his father was in the original game, becoming an excellent secondary antagonist for the plot. However, he still shares his father’s goal. He hopes to lead Shinra to the Promised Land, a legendary realm speculated to be rich in Mako energy, the source of Shinra’s wealth and power.
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Metal Wolf Chaos is about as parodic that a game can get in terms of American politics. Why debate over bills that politicians don’t even read, when you can duke it out in giant mechs? Michael Wilson is a veteran of the Arizona Insurrection, and 47th President of the United States, until his right hand man, Vice President Richard Hawk, betrays him. Hawk leads a second insurrection, ousting Wilson from the White House, taking over the military, and swaying public opinion against Wilson. Armed with a giant robotic power suit called the Metal Wolf, Wilson wages a one-man war against Hawk and the American military to clear his name, and protect the nation from a nuclear holocaust.
(Credit: Platinum Games)
11. Elizabeth Winters (Vanquish)In the Vanquish universe, Elizabeth Winters is the President of the United States of America, as well as the nation’s first female president. She is also a traitorous war hawk who collaborates with Russia to promote the war economy in an attempt to bolster America’s economic strength during an unprecedented energy crisis. To this end, she supports a Russian coup that topples the federation and props up the Order of the Russian Star. Unfortunately, the Order of the Russian Star proves far more unpredictable than she anticipated. Russia hijacks a solar satellite array, and repurposes it as a microwave cannon to immolate San Francisco and hold America hostage unless the nation surrenders. As a means of declaring war and retaliation, Winters orders her space fleet commander to aim the microwave cannon at Moscow when control is wrested from Russia. Her involvement and treason are eventually discovered, and Winters decides to snuff herself out rather than face the consequences of her actions.
(Credit: Rockstar Games)
12. Alfred Woden (Max Payne)Alfred Woden’s tale is as American as apple pie. After all, nothing is more American than tackling one problem by creating another problem. Woden was a United States Senator, member of the influential and secretive Inner Circle, and key figure in the development of the performance-enhancing super drug Valkyr. This drug, the product of a US military program called Project Valhalla, was canceled due to its volatility, which only pushed development underground. Nicole Horne, CEO of the Aesir Corporation, headed this illegal production of Valkyr and used violence and blackmail to keep the government and Inner Circle off her back.Woden had an antagonistic relationship with Horne, but couldn’t challenge her publicly due to a sex tape scandal she blackmailed him with. Still, he took action behind the scenes. Woden sent a Project Valhalla dossier to the NY District Attorney’s office to incriminate Horne. Horne countered by sending Valkyr-amped goons to take out the recipient, resulting in the death of Michelle Payne, wife of the titular Max Payne. Though this was not Woden’s intent, Max Payne’s subsequent rampage served as the perfect cover and helped further his plans. Woden assisted and coached Payne from the shadows, feeding him information about Horne while also promising immunity from the chaos and destruction he wrought.The elimination of Horne served a double purpose: not only would it stunt the production of Valkyr, but it would also remove one of Woden’s greatest rivals within the Inner Circle. Woden took control of the secret society following Horne’s downfall, but new rivals stood up to challenge him. In the end, Woden met his end during the bloody infighting, leaving the Inner Circle seemingly without a leader. For more video game analysis, check out PCMag’s Steam Curator page. And for in-depth video game talk, visit PCMag’s Pop-Off YouTube channel.
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