Analysis: Nemesis

Nemesis

This subject came up a while back when I was watching the Game Trailers’s retrospective special on the Resident Evil series. When the series covered Resident Evil: Nemesis, a collaborator and I began to brainstorm about the word, good examples, and what it is that makes a good one. Out of all the examples we came up with, we noticed a running trend.

The idea of a nemesis, the good ones, at least, fall into themes, or categories. There’s the multiple encounters, which are used to build a relationship with the player character. Other good nemeses can sometimes duplicate the same powers as your character. Some nemeses are obscenely more powerful than you, or possibly cheat, or who are otherwise unfair or cheap, arrogant, or invincible. The nemesis can be involved in some kind of traumatic act, making it personal. That act could be a betrayal or selling out a former ally. This usually puts them in the position to be the toadies or sidekicks of the main villain.

Sometimes a nemesis can be the main villain, but it appears, from the list we came up with, a majority of them are not. One perfect counter-example to this would be GlaDOS from Portal. She/It serves as both nemesis and the main antagonist. So, it’s possible, just not frequent.

I’m not sure how to continue the article, weather to approach it by theme or by specific instances.

First off, I’ll analyze an oldie, one of the first ones that came up when we were brainstorming, from Super Mario Bros. Goombas, Buzzy Beetles, even Spineys were easy enough to get past. The likes of Lakitu, I just ran away from until he left me alone. Even Bowser was a pushover so long as I could run past or underneath him. Though nothing made me freeze in my tracks and make me feel apprehensive faster than when I saw the Hammer Bros. Super Mario Bros 3 really toned them down, along with every game after that. They were never as intimidating or as frustrating than in their first appearance. If I didn’t have a fire flower, or a star, I’d certainly die, or at least have to take a hit. The timing and patience required to wait for them to jump and run beneath the hammers was more than my young mind could handle at the time.

The Hammer Bros, the original Bros, probably caused the strongest emotional response from me out of any other creature in the game. That’s a good sign. It’s frustrating and traumatic, but it’s a sign they were effective. Hammer Bros violate the traditional rules of a Mario monster. Jumping, or attempting to jump on them almost never works. Sure, the Spiney and Piranha Plant are the same way, but they’re just not as powerful as the Hammer Bros. The Hammer Bros have a power that Mario, at the time, didn’t have. They’re recurring in the later stages of the game. I don’t recall when they first appear, I usually take the warp zones from 1-2 to 4-1 and 4-2 to 8-1, bypassing most of their appearances. They can jump through blocks, something else Mario can’t do.

In Mario’s second American adventure, I’m talking about Super Mario Bros. 2, the mod of Doki Doki Panic, we see Birdo. Birdo is the boss of just about every level that isn’t a world boss. Sometimes you’ll even find him/her outside of the end room. Beating Birdo requires a specific sequence of evasion and attacks, taking eggs and throwing them back at Birdo. Sometimes Birdo shoots the occasional fireball, sometimes it’s all fireballs. Like Boom-Boom from Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario 3D Land, they are each recurring mini-bosses. They’re never really truly defeated, since you know you’ll be seeing them again sometime. I didn’t develop any hatred towards them, but their frequent occurrence set them up to become a solid rival. No matter how many of them that I beat, they did still get the better of me when I grew overconfident. They don’t make the top of the list, but they at least deserve mention.

In Mario’s second Game Boy adventure, Nintendo plays the “evil twin” card by creating Wario. Later, Luigi’s evil twin, Waluigi, is introduced. Wario never really achieved great nemesis status, at least according to the pattern that I’ve seen. He’s a dark reflection, but he’s never really evil, traumatic, cheap, betraying anyone, or seen as anyone’s sidekick. His personality is developed in later games and his existence is tied less and less to Mario, becoming independent, appearing in games without Mario like Wario’s Woods and Wario Ware. Waluigi is even less developed.

In the Metroid universe, there are multiple, effective nemeses. In the Metroid Prime trilogy, Dark Samus is a creature that commits the offense of mimicking the player’s character. This is a unique offense, copying, stealing someone’s identity. The duplicate is a dark reflection of the player character, doing things that the player could probably never dream of doing, yet they’re watching their specific power set be used for evil. That’s a particular form of trauma. There’s really no parallel for this trauma outside of fiction and literature, it’s a horror, thankfully, we’ve never had to face. Not unless you really do have an evil twin.

In Metroid: Fusion, the SA-X is a biological copy that stole Samus’s power suit while she was in the emergency room. It has all of her powers and at every encounter, you are forced to run rather than fight. SA-X is a reoccurring, overpowered, doppleganger, with all your old powers, and a thief to boot.

Lastly, probably the one most people immediately thought of, didn’t get their real Nemesis title until the third game. Mother Brain is the final boss, but it’s Ridley that made Samus’s hunt so personal. It’s not until a decade after the original Metroid that we learn Samus’s colony was destroyed by Ridley, and he personally murdered her parents. Ridley continues to haunt Samus by kidnapping the baby Metroid hatchling that had imprinted itself to her. Even though Ridley is eventually killed, his form is resurrected multiple times by the X parasite in Fusion, in mechanical form in Prime, and a mindless feral clone in Other M. Mother Brain has appeared multiple times, but I’ll bet Samus never felt as much satisfaction than when she kills Ridley.

Nintendo really seems to love pulling the evil twin card. In the Legend of Zelda series, Dark Link has made multiple appearances, first in Zelda II, then again in Ocarina of Time, and in Four Swords Adventure. Dark Link features the same powers as Link, but not many of the other common traits in nemeses. He might also present the traumatic trait, like the Hammer Bros, since he served as the final boss in Zelda II, he probably prompted many Game Over screens, breeding an unhealthy level of hatred for him.

Besides the Dark Link copy, my own personal nemeses from the rest of the series include Darknuts and Iron Knuckles. They’re pretty much the same thing, I’ve never seen them in the same game. They’re identified by a sword and shield. They’re the most intimidating in their first and second appearances. Link’s standard means of attacking, run up and hit it with your sword, is suddenly rendered useless. Your power is taken away from you and are forced to adapt or perish. In a room full of blue darknuts in the first Zelda game, there’s about a 50/50 chance. I don’t like fighting them, I don’t even like getting near them. I prefer to set bombs down and let them blow themselves up. Still, that doesn’t always work. To me, they’re the Zelda version of The Hammer Bros. They’ve killed me enough times to create an irrational fear. Also like the Hammer Bros, their power has been diluted over time.

Zelda II’s palace guardians, the Iron Knuckles, hit hard and have high defense. I always increased my attack first, just so I wouldn’t have to deal with them as long. They appear to possess a preternatural ability to predict where your strikes will land and block them in advance. They’ve done me in more than any other enemy in the game.

Aside from those two, there is one other personal nemesis for me in the Zelda series. When I first saw it in Ocarina of Time, I didn’t need Navi to tell me what it was or what it’s weakness was. I knew. After causing me so much grief in the original game, I knew it no matter what form it took, Like-Likes. No other creature could cause me to leave the dungeon, cost me 90 rupees, and have to start all over again after it just ate my shield. It’s unpredictable. Sometimes when you stab it, it recoils and is sent flying. Other times it keeps on rolling along, as blobs do, and sucks you in, devouring your primary means of defense. No other enemy can do that, setting them apart from the rest.

Star Fox, the mercenary pilots of the Lylat system, were given a nemesis in Star Fox 64 in the form of Star Wolf. They appear twice in Star Fox 64, and several games afterward, including Star Fox Command. Their ships are just as agile and have just as much firepower as Fox’s Arwings. The crew are arrogant, which is probably necessary for a career as a mercenary pilot. It’s not like Star Fox is exactly humble either. I actually like them in Star Fox Command, they seem to have buried any animosity and can respect each other as colleagues. That shows some real character growth, yet, they will always be rivals.

Sonic the Hedgehog’s collection of games is no stranger to mimics. Knuckles, first introduced in Sonic 3, has a similar power set to Sonic, being able to speed dash and spin jump, plus flying. Though, further on, he’s not portrayed as fast. Sonic’s other rivals include Metal and Mecha Sonic, these metal abominations were built to copy Sonic’s skillset, but always end up in the scrap heap. They show the hero what he could be, if he wasn’t “good.”

In Sonic Adventure 2, the character of Shadow is first introduced. He’s a hedgehog, like Sonic, able to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds. He continually harasses Sonic, making multiple appearances, displays the same powers, and shows supreme arrogance by believing himself to be perfect. Arrogance is another common nemesis trait. Knuckles also develops a rivalry with Rouge the Bat, a treasure hunter (thief), that is out to steal Knuckles’s Master Emerald. Rouge, like Knuckles, displays the similar gliding and digging powers that Knuckles showcases.

In the original Prince of Persia, long before The Two Thrones, there is a puzzle segment where you run into a mirror. In order to pass it, you have to run full speed and leap through it. The mirror shatters and a shadowy duplicate comes out the other side. As the game progresses, this duplicate takes on a life of its own and will be seen from time to time, snagging health potions from you long before you’d be able to get them yourself. Not only is this creature a dark reflection, encountered numerous times, he steals from you that which you need to finish the game. Eventually you get to put him in his place.

Mega Man has battled many robot masters in his long career, but the ones that stick with him are the ones that become great nemeses. Sniper Joe has been a thorn in Mega Man’s side in just about every game. Joe is an even bigger nemesis to Protoman, who sees them all as abominations, that dark reflection concept I mentioned again. Little guys like the Mets, those hard hat wearing bad guys, as frustrating and reoccurring as they are, just don’t fall into the same categories as overpowered, betrayal, sidekick, arrogant, or having the same powers as you.

Bass, who appeared in Mega Man 7, 8, Mega Man & Bass, and the arcade games, was built by Dr. Wily with many of the same features as Mega Man, including that weapon copy ability. Bass can also jump higher, run faster, and his weapon can fire faster, and in more directions. In Mega Man 7, Bass stole the upgrades Dr. Light was building for Mega Man and Rush. Bass displays a great amount of arrogance, believing himself to be the only robot that Dr Wily needs, and going so far as to destroy Dr Wily’s 8 robot masters to prove he can defeat Mega Man.

Many years in Mega Man’s future, there is a great cataclysm and Mega Man’s replacement, X is activated. X follows in his ancestor’s footsteps, fighting for humanity. In his first battle, he is nearly destroyed by the rogue Maverick robot, Vile. Vile was chased off at the last moment by Zero. When X and Zero confronted Vile again, Zero was destroyed and X destroyed Vile. Vile has been rebuilt again and again, with more and newer enhancements, believing himself to be better than that “weakling” X. Vile fills the slots of being reoccurring, stronger, arrogant, caused trauma by killing Zero, betrayed humanity when he turned Maverick, and is the frequent sidekick or lackey to the greater villain, Sigma.

In the old NES version Punch-Out, my own personal nemesis was Soda Popinski. No matter what, I could never get past him. He caused enough anger and frustration that I began to hate him. He was much stronger, I faced him and lost many times, and he took cheap shots at me. Everyone else probably has a different nemesis in that game, whoever they couldn’t get past, like Bald Bull or Sandman.

In the first generation of arcade machines, many young gamers’ first nemesis was probably Blinky, the red ghost from Pac-Man. Once you’ve eaten a certain percentage of dots on a level, or reach a certain level, Blinky speeds up. His AI instructions are at every intersection, to always take the shortest path to reach Pac-Man. So he’s always on your tail, too, relentlessly pursuing you. If you’re not cut off at the pass by Pinky(his AI instructions are to make a turn that will aim for two spaces in front of Pac-Man), you Blinky will come up behind you, and you’ll know you’re doomed, for a long enough time to let the feeling sink in. Blinky is faster than you, which is unfair, invincible most of the time, he’s in every level, and is most likely to be the one that ends your game. Eff you, Blinky… Eff you.

Squaresoft RPGs are good at creating memorable nemeses. Final Fantasy seems to like throwing in Gilgamesh in some form or another. He’s never a push over. There’s almost always some form of Bahamut, the king of dragons. With the exception of Final Fantasy XIII, Bahamut is usually the toughest boss in the game, and you’re not meant to beat him. Beating Bahamut is a challenge and a badge of honor. Like Birdo and Boom-Boom, I look forward to seeing them and facing them in each game.

Final Fantasy IV had Golbez as the “main” villain for 99% of the game, but the biggest nemesis was probably Cain Highwind the Dragoon. He started out as the player’s best friend, but quickly betrayed him and kidnapped the player’s significant other. He appears from time to time to deliver messages, and you don’t have the chance to take him down. This personal attack is enough to breed a healthy level of contempt for your former ally.

Final Fantasy VI had several nemeses. Siegfried was a swordsman that appeared from time to time, stealing treasures from your party. He’s never really beatable when you finally find him in the Colosseum. He knows he’s strong, and flaunts it. His arrogance is not without reason. If they don’t have the power to back up their claims, then their character is not likely to appear on this list.

There is a strange purple octopus called Ultros that just likes to throw wrenches into the plans of the player characters. He’s threatening and menacing, but never really part of the overall plot. He comes off as kind of inept, yet very challenging.

Final Fantasy VI’s main end boss is a coin toss as to weather or not to include him. He beings the first half of the game as just a toadie of the Emperor, before killing him. Kefka appears many times, usually to do something horrible like mass murder or poisoning a castle’s drinking water. By the end of the game, everyone has a personal reason to see him dead. He’s arrogant, ridiculously powerful, caused many characters a personal trauma, betrayed his emperor, and shows up many times. Yet in the end he serves as the final boss, which usually Nemeses are dealt with before the end. Perhaps he’s just a different kind of nemesis.

Fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat have created some of the strongest rivalries and nemeses on the list. Sub-Zero’s original murder of Scorpion, and Scorpion’s quest for revenge is one of the most memorable. Sonya’s hunt for Kano is a close second after Kano murdered her former partner. Kitana vs Mileena is the extreme form of sibling rivalry. None of these characters act as the final boss of the game, but they mark a significant personal trauma for these characters.

Street Fighter, as the games progressed, created similar, but less intense rivalries. Just about everyone had a reason to hate and hunt M. Bison. Ryu and Sagat had a personal rivalry that just cooled over time as Sagat learned to let it go. Akuma has something against Ryu, it’s like Ryu seems to piss the most people off.

My personal favorite fighting game, One Must Fall, created a company where the employees were participants in a giant robot fighting tournament. So, everybody knew each other, but not necessarily liked each other. Then there were the other tournaments outside the story mode. This was a fighting game that allowed rematches. If you humiliated one character sufficiently enough by beating them by a wide margin, on a certain difficulty, and performing scrap/destruction(fatality) moves on them, someone related to them would challenge you to a much more difficult rematch. Even winning the tournament, a prior champion can challenge you. They’re usually faster, there’s a chance they will pick the same robot as you, so they could mimic your same powers, they’re arrogant, believing you “stole” something from them, and they’ll likely hassle you again. Killian, Iron Claw, Raven, and Ice are the ones I remember strongest from OMF: 2097. In the sequel, OMF: Battlegrounds, the “rematch” theme returns, often pitting you in the very unfair one vs many grudge matches. I’d love to see Scorpion from Mortal Kombat suddenly interrupt one of Sub-Zero’s fights and make it a 2 on 1, or get a chance to play as Liu Kang and fight Quan Chi and Shang Tsung simultaneously.

In the game Mirror’s Edge, there is a world with a secret network of street running couriers. Most of the missions involve evading non-trained runners, but there is one level where you had to chase and face a particularly arrogant NPC, Jackknife, possessing all the skills and capabilities that you possessed. Jackknife was popular enough to receive an unofficial Half-Life 2 mod spin-off showing his own adventure, like the running nemeses before him Shadow or Knuckles.

Now, the list has gone on long enough, I still have many more nemeses to explore. I thought I knew where this article was going. I analyzed the long list that my friend and I had made and we saw the qualities that good, memorable nemeses have. The enemy being incredibly stronger than you, nigh invulnerable, cheap, unfair, multiple encounters, arrogant, being a traitor, being a sidekick tot he villain, or copying your powers exactly.

What I didn’t see until I began typing this article was that the majority of the best nemeses we came up with came from the early generations of gaming, when the Japanese dominated gaming, in an era before many games were being sold on graphics alone. This isn’t to say that American companies can’t write good villains or nemeses. It’s just greatly weighed in the Japanese’s favor. Maybe it’s because they’ve had more time to work on it, we may never know. When we tried to isolate our efforts to American made AAA games, we just came up short. I invite someone to prove me wrong. The best we could come up with was Blizzard and Valve nemeses. What’s another good American company that’s created a memorable nemesis?

I’d like to know the thoughts of the readership. If I hadn’t covered your favorite nemesis, what stands out in your mind? Or if I neglected a feature, speak up. My viewpoint can’t be the only one. What are the qualities of a good nemesis? What makes a bad nemesis? What makes a bad nemesis rarely came up in the initial list, because they’re easily forgettable.

The rest of the list included Abobo from Double Dragon, Donkey Kong, Carmen Sandiego, Manneroth from Warcraft III, Riku, Axel, and Pete from Kingdom Hearts, Lynx from Chrono Cross, Jackel from Illusion of Gaia, Psycrow from Earthworm Jim, Wesker from Resident Evil, G Man and Dr Kliner from Half-Life, Ocelot in his many forms from Metal Gear Solid, Players 2, 3, 4 and yourself from Magicka, Multi-shot Lightning Enchanted bosses in Diablo II, Ozzie, Flea, Slash, Magus, Dalton, Azala, and Yakra from Chrono Trigger, Arcturus Mengsk, General Duke, and Infested Kerrigan from Starcraft, Shamir Shamazel from King’s Quest VI, and Pokey from Earthbound. Honorable Mentions go to Metroids, level 3 of Battletoads, Terminators(if there ever were a good game with them), and Scar from Battlestar Galactica(if they ever were to let us fight him!).