Summary
Most ofNintendo’s characters are usually known for being veryfun, bright, and vibrant individuals, but this doesn’t mean that they’re all without their faults. Whether it’s Luigi’s cowardice, Mario’s naivety, or even Samus' stubbornness, almost every character in theNintendouniverse has at least something that could be considered a bad personality trait, and for some, this comes in the form of selfishness.
These types of characters care little about the people around them, and would instead prefer to hog all the attention in any way they can, as if they are the only person who matters in the world. Usually, these individuals will take the form of themain villain, but there have even been some heroes in Nintendo games who have also shown signs of selfishness throughout their journeys too. It’s time to take a closer look at the most self-obsessed Nintendo characters to uncover why they act the way they do, and if they ever manage to grow out of this mindset.
Though Groose isn’t a villain by any means, he still proves to be a real thorn in Link’s side for much ofSkyward Swords’story. Groose isa bully in every sense of the word, and he loves nothing more than humiliating Link, all so that he can look good in front of his so-called “friends”. In reality, Groose is actually deeply in love with Zelda, but rather than allowing Link and her to hang out together as friends, Groose is always trying to remove Link from the picture so he can have the princess all to himself.
In fact, Groose even suggests that one day, he would want Hyrule to be renamed as Grooseland; not that he’d really done anything to deserve an entire area being named after him though. After being dropped on the surface with Link, Groose gradually starts to shake off his selfish habits and begins caring a lot more for those around him, but there’s no denying he’s a pretty nasty piece of work during those first few hours.
Similar to Groose, Falco from the long-runningStarfoxseries isn’t an evil person by any means and is actually a highly valued member of the Star Fox team.He’s a deadly pilotwho’s more than capable of taking on any enemy forces who dare to stand in his way, but his one Achilles' Heel always ends up getting him into trouble and has even come close to ruining an entire mission’s success, is his selfish nature.
Rather than hanging back with the team and practicing patience, Falco will also take it upon himself to charge head-first into an aerial dogfight, even when he’s being told not to. Falco simply loves the thrill of the fight, but this can often cause him to abandon his allies for a few moments of excitement. Though he does try to keep this on a lid, by far Falco’s biggest shortcoming is how selfishly he can act when cruising through space.
As far as major villains go, Ashnard isn’t too ambitious or complex in his goals. All he wants to do is destroy the world and rebuild it into a new society that is entirely based around power as opposed to class, and of course, he would be the one at the very top of the food chain. While his backstory does imply that he somewhat believes in this twisted version of Social Darwinism, it’s clear he also simply wants to have full control over everyone and everything that exists, to the point where he even starts a full-scale war to put his plan in action.
Ashnard even goes as far as to murder his own father and attempt to revive the Dark God who he hoped would help out with his maniacal plan. Ashnard is one ofthe most brutal and vicious villains ever seen in aFire Emblemgame, and while he’s obviously incredibly selfish, it’s the fact he also possesses so much power and authority that makes him truly dangerous.
Despite appearing in nearly every singleMariogame since the series' inception, there’s not actually a whole lot known about Bowser,considering that he can barely speak. However, one thing that’s been made crystal clear from his many appearances is that he’s incredibly self-obsessed and is willing to commit some downright horrible crimes to get what he wants, which most of the time, is Princess Peach herself.
Peach has expressed numerous times that she doesn’t want to be with Bowser, yet he will always still try to steal her away, seemingly to live out his fantasy of marrying the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser’s selfishness has even caused him to stop other villains in their tracks, just so he can get all the spotlight, with a prime example of this being when he double-crosses Antasma inMario and Luigi: Dream Team. Sadly, it doesn’t look like Bowser can ever become a selfless character within theMariouniverse, but then again, this is part of the reason why he’s such an excellent antagonist, so maybe it’s best if things stay that way.
The central antagonist ofPokemon Sun & Moon, Lusamine, is arguably one of the most well-written and fascinating villains in the entire series. At first, Lusamine is described as being a kind-hearted andmotherly figurewho simply wishes to protect Pokemon from harm all around the world, but it doesn’t take long before her facade slips to reveal someone entirely different. After the tragic loss of her husband to a mysterious Wormhole, Lusamine started becoming obsessed with the idea of Ultra Beasts, and this, paired with the influence of Nihilego, completely changed how she began acting as a person.
Not only did she neglect her own children, but she would even begin to blame her own family for why she became such a selfish human being, and would only appreciate those who gave her positive attention. Lusamine’s passionate affection for Pokemon also transformed into something much more ugly as she began forcefully storing them within her secret trophy room. With the help of her daughter Lillie, Lusamine eventually starts to realize the error of her ways by the end of the story and comes to realize how drastically a simple obsession can change a person’s view of the world.
Despite barely showing up in the story ofXenoblade Chroniclesuntil the very end, Zanza is still a crucially important character to the lore who was actually the creator behind Shulk’s Manado. The truth is though, Zanza was once a human who was granted godly powers, which eventually corrupted his mind into becoming a selfish and egotistical being who feels that he should be worshiped by all the lowly humans who occupy the world around him.
Zanza’s power depended on a resource called Ether, which he would collect from the deceased life forms found on the back of Bionis. When his supply ran out, Zanza would simply use his otherworldy powers to restart existence itself, giving him a brand-new batch of beings to kill, just so that he could continue playing god. He’s a despicable villain whose selfishness truly knows no bounds, After his power is taken by Shulk, the young man decides to live in a world which is free of gods entirely, to prevent another Zanza from popping up in the future.
