Shin Megami Tensei has had several people like this. The developers seem quite aware of the fact that since most of the Big Bad-caliber villains are gods, demons, and angels straight out of the great myths, you're more likely to be in awe of them rather than wanting to throttle them, so they sprinkled in a number of supporting antagonists throughout the series you can hate to your heart's content. They tend to be completely human, either ignorant or apathetic toward the designs of the real villains, and hold a rivalry with the given game's Chaos Hero. They include...
Main Series
- Shin Megami Tensei I: Ozawa may be a mere human, but is as loathsome as YHVH himself, and far more so than Lucifer. A Yakuza punk who extorts money from the townspeople, he is introduced beating the Chaos Hero before working with General Gotou's military coup to become powerful. After the thirty-year Time Skip, he grows from an asshole teenager to an asshole middle-aged man ruling Shinjuku with an iron fist, making a pact with the god Minakata to be able to do those same deeds on a wider scale. Visionary Items reveals that he also betrayed his original boss before taking over Shinjuku. Ruling using fear and brainwashing against dissidents, Ozawa was hated for almost everyone who met him.
- Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: The Law and Chaos leaders may be evil, but these two manage to be much worse:
- Mitra is an Evilutionary Biologist trying to find a way to induce the perfect insanity in humans. Experimenting on multiple human soldiers in front of Zelenin and the protagonist, Mitra also keeps them as decorations in his room. Once the protagonist defies him, Mitra says that humans should be grateful to him for his attempts to "reshape them" and declares that humans are pointless creatures, promising to reshape the world instead. Returning from death to work for Mother Tiamat, Mitra declares that human experimentation is over and that "Now, it's time for atonement and death". A particularly nasty demon even among the misanthropic demons of the Schwarzwelt, Mitra was the main reason behind Zelenin's hate towards demonkind.
- Captain Jack, the vilest member of the Big Bad Ensemble, is a mercenary whose purpose in the story is to bring attention to the potential for humans to be just as depraved as demons and angels, if not moreso. Introduced as an uneasy ally, it's later revealed that like Mitra, Jack conducts a variety of unethical experiments on living beings. In Jack's case, he tears demons apart and tries to fuse them together, the results being not horribly painful but also ineffective. Once he catches Jimenez, a longtime ally of the protagonist, Jack tortures him and his demon partner Boogaloo before fusing them, intending to use the creature as his slave. When finally confronted by the protagonist and Jimenez, Jack's only action is to scold them for costing him valuable men and equipment before engaging them in a final battle. A man who will commit any crime for money and earns Jimenez's utter hatred, Jack is the catalyst for Jimenez's alliance with demonkind.
- Shin Megami Tensei IV: Tayama, though ultimately a Big Bad Wannabe, is more detestable than any of the main threats. A ruthless crime boss, he controls the post-apocalyptic Tokyo through blackmail and by threatening to stop producing Red Pills, drug demons can feed off of instead of eating humans, if his authority is ever challenged. However, he also runs a human farm where Magnetite is extracted directly from the brains of people he has kidnapped and children he has bred for that purpose, which is the secret ingredient of the pills. On top of that, an NPC implies he engages in Wife Husbandry. Disgusting and horrifying everyone who discovers his secret, Tayama tries to claim that he's trying to protect the peace between humans and demons in Tokyo, but his obvious ambition and lack of empathy make it obvious that he's just trying to preserve his power at all costs.
- Shin Megami Tensei V: The two unnamed girls who bullied Sahori Itsukishima definitely qualify. They are both shown to torment Sahori all because of an unspecified accident that happened in the school lacrosse team and they go as far as shoving her into walls, beating her up, and destroying her things. All of this causes Sahori to be resentful and depressed to the point where she unintentionally attracts the demon Lahmu into Jouin Academy and then fall victim to its manipulations. These girls are indirectly responsible for the hostage crisis in the school that occurs later in the game all because they put Sahori in a state that made her vulnerable to malicious demons.
Persona sub-series
- Persona 3: Of the major villains, Nyx herself is being forced to destroy the world by Erebus, who himself is too animalistic to hate, and even Takaya Sakaki has a Pet the Dog moment near the end. These two, however, are nothing but loathsome:
- Kouetsu Kirijo is the Greater-Scope Villain of the game. The head of the Kirijo group, he researched Shadows as a source of energy, and in the process became obsessed with bringing about the Fall, the end of humanity. To this end, he experimented on children, gave machines sentient life only to treat them as weapons and killed many of them, and corrupted his scientist subordinates into embracing his philosophy of death. Despite not appearing in the actual game due to his death, Kouetsu Kirijo casts a dark shadow over the events of the game.
- Shuji Ikutsuki, Chairman of S.E.E.S., initially appears to be a benevolent mentor, but in truth is the true mastermind behind the first half of the game. He uses the player as his personal pawn to revive Nyx, and to make matters worse, once the party catches on to the truth, he forcibly takes control of Aigis and crucifies the party with the intent of sacrificing them to Nyx. Mitsuru's father then shows up to confront him, and in the ensuing confrontation, both men end up dead, but with Nyx unleashed, who becomes the antagonist of the second half. His crimes get even worse in the Persona 4: Arena duology, in which it's revealed that Ikutsuki was responsible for experimenting on Sho Minazuki just as he did on Takaya and the other members of Strega, so much of the hardship and tragedy in the games involving the P3 cast is his fault. Willing to aid the destruction of the world to appease his God of Evil, Shuji Ikutsuki eclipses even said god in villainy and despicableness.
- Mitsuru's unnamed fiance, despite appearing only in Rank 8 of her Social Link, establishes himself as a nasty piece of work despite being nothing more than an Upper-Class Twit. His interactions with Mitsuru reeks of thinly-veiled misogyny, viewing her as nothing more than a Trophy Wife while speaking ill of her deceased father in front of her face. The only reason why Mitsuru doesn't execute him on the spot is because the marriage is for the benefit of her company. But when her fiance crosses the line by insulting the Protagonist for being of lower social standing, she proceeds to put him in his place with a scathing yet satisfying "The Reason You Suck" Speech that sends him running for the hills. Even more satisfying is that Mitsuru manages to negotiate a settlement with the man's family despite calling off the marriage, proving that her would-be fiance is nothing more than a Paper Tiger.
- Persona 4: The highly unstable and insane Mitsuo Kubo murders Mr. Morooka and takes credit for two prior murders merely to get attention. Once confronted by the Investigation Team about his supposed crimes, he gloats and laughs to himself, completely disgusting the main cast. The anime adaptation expands on his character more, showing Mitsuo going on a power trip after killing Mr. Morooka and threatening harm upon Nanako. Lacking the charisma and noble qualities of the actual killer Adachi and the good intentions of the goddess Izanami, Mitsuo Kubo is nothing but a pathetic Big Bad Wannabe.
- The Shady Reporter from Yukiko's Social Link not only badmouths the Amagi Inn and the town of Inaba, but is a sexist sleazebag who condescendingly tries to get Yukiko to work for him and proposes having the inn's waitresses prostitute themselves. He spends so much of his limited screentime being a Jerkass that it's quite awesome to see Yukiko snap and verbally lay into him.
- There's also the two girls from Yosuke's Social Link refuse to work weekends despite having promised to do so, expect Yosuke to take advantage of his being the manager's son in order to change things to their favor, and worst of all, repeatedly badmouth the deceased Saki. Like the Shady Reporter did with Yukiko, they drive Yosuke to his Rage Breaking Point, and even the Player Character can tell them to "Shut up!"
- Much of Persona 5 is about "stealing" the hearts of rotten people who are too irredeemable to change on their own, so this trope shows up in droves. The crimes done by these rotten people also tends to 'hit too close to home' for many players who might have been a victim of similar people in real life, so making them meant to be hated and be as rotten as possible works well to boost the game's popularity by giving them obviously big Catharsis Factor when they triumph over these people.
- Your team's first target is Suguru Kamoshida, a gym teacher and volleyball coach of the protagonist's school. He lusts after and sexually harasses the female athletes and other students, in particular the quarter-white party member Ann Takamaki, and physically abuses his male athletes. He also deliberately broke Ryuji's leg, ending his career as a track athlete, after coercing Ryuji into punching him, ruining Ryuji's reputation and getting the track team disbanded, all because Kamoshida wanted his volleyball team to be the only good team at the school. In spite of all this, the heroes are still not entirely sure whether stealing Kamoshida's heart is right, so Kamoshida confirms that he's a monster by raping Ann's friend Shiho in retaliation for her spurning his advances, thereby causing Shiho to attempt to commit suicide. He then tries to get the school to expel the protagonist and Ryuji the moment they confront him about his misdeeds. Once the team realizes that both the school and the legal system will continue to protect Kamoshida no matter what unless he outright confesses, they're finally convinced to risk stealing Kamoshida's heart (and possibly cripple him for life), rather than let him continue these kind of acts in perpetuity. A disturbingly realistic depiction of sexual predators, Suguru Kamoshida is the first look into the awful kinds of people that abuse their power to get away with it.
- The third target, Yakuza boss Junya Kaneshiro, isn't much better. He's a pimp and drug dealer who blackmails high school students into doing jobs for him and even tries to force Makoto into prostitution. He succeeds in the bad ending of his arc.
- The targets who make your Confidants' lives miserable are mostly an utterly despicable lot, ranging from a couple who've been blackmailing your homeroom teacher to the point of forcing her to overwork in a degrading maid-service job (said couple also literally worked their adoptive son to death), a prominent doctor who ruined a brilliant medical researcher's reputation and forced her into back-alley work solely to cover up his own medical malpractices, an obstructive mother who leeches off her brilliant shogi-playing daughter's achievements while forcing her to pursue a gravure modeling career, and your Mission Control's abusive uncle who's constantly trying to exhort money from her (and your) current caretaker, to just list a few. You'll have to steal the hearts of these assholes if you want your Confidants to have a happy ending, and while doing so (by confronting their Shadows in Mementos), you will have a lot of opportunities to tell them that they're absolutely horrible people and that they're going down.
- The last Mementos request you get that isn't tied to a Confidant is for Shiro Asakura, a corrupt idol manager who is by far the most wretched of your non-storyline targets, putting some of the Palace rulers to shame. How, you ask? He's been molesting his charges, succeeding where Kamoshida failed for god knows how long. His Shadow's transformation only reinforces the heinousness of his crimes, as he turns into none other than Mara. You may find yourself thinking how the hell this guy didn't create a Palace of his own by the time you beat him into submission. He's also one of the few mandatory Mementos bosses note , is the Ascended Extra main antagonist of the Mementos Mission manga, and in the original game is the only S-Rank target.
- Masayoshi Shido is seemingly made to be as unlikeable as possible to make you wonder why people want him to lead Japan. He embodies every single negative stereotype associated with a Corrupt Politician; hypocrisy, Lack of Empathy for others, abusing the justice system to his own ends, and disposing of anyone after they've served their purpose all for the sake of satisfying his ambition on becoming the next Prime Minister of Japan. Among his many crimes include: Stealing someone else's research on the cognitive world and having them murdered by making it look like a suicide, and then pinning the blame on her child which caused said child to become withdrawn and suicidal. Having the father of one of the party members killed and pinning the blame on the party to divert them away from himself. Abandoning his mistress and their illegitimate son because they weren't useful to his ambitions, and then later manipulating said son into becoming his main assassin. Having you arrested and falsely convicted of a crime simply because you tried to stop him from harassing a woman, and coercing said woman to give false testimony. For many players, taking him down is one of the most satisfying moments in the entire game. Eclipsing all the other villains, only because Yaldabaoth himself is literally Made of Evil, Masayoshi Shido is the embodiment of the corruption Inherent in the System and the public apathy that the Phantom Thieves oppose.
- The SIU director is the primary face of Shido's conspiracy for much of the story. An arrogant and deeply corrupt man, he sucks up to Shido while gleefully approving whatever atrocities are necessary to secure Shido's rise to power. While initially strict but not completely unreasonable toward his subordinate Sae Niijima, he intends to use Sae as bait to lure in the Phantom Thieves. He turns out to have a fair number of skeletons in his closet, so no one mourns him when Akechi has him suffer a mental shutdown to clean up loose ends.
- While not as monstrous as Kamoshida or Shido, Haru's fiancé Sugimura is definitely made with this trope in mind. As an Upper-Class Twit, he's designed to be extremely unpleasant, misogynistic and abusive, flaunting his 'superiority' over others because he's just damn rich. He views Haru as nothing but a plaything that is more likely to be discarded once he gets bored with her. Clearly he's made like that to show that Haru's life will be horrible unless she takes charge of her own life. Unlike most of the other bastards making your Confidants' lives miserable, you don't even fight his Shadow in Mementos; instead, maxing Haru's Confidant results in the interim executive of her family's company annulling the Arranged Marriage deal off-screen, even though you'll probably wish by that point that you could punch Sugimura in the face every time he appears on-screen.
- Yamauchi from Ryuji's Confidant, who's fittingly described as a "mini-Kamoshida." He plans on becoming track team coach, although he intends to have an advisor do all the coaching while he takes the credit. He spreads rumors to turn the track team against each other, such as accusing Nakaoka (who'd be in favor of the previous coach returning) of doing Kamoshida's bidding, and while he plans on making Takeishi captain to curry favor with his mother, Yamauchi knows Takeishi isn't all that good of a runner, so he plans on having him suffer a training accident after a while. The only reason why Yamauchi isn't a Mementos target is Ryuji believes he's the track team's problem, so Ryuji exposes his true character to the team, and Takeishi's mother helps thwart Yamauchi's plans offscreen.
- Persona 5 Strikers:
- The Monarchs are more sympathetic than most of the Palace rulers, but each of them has a truly detestable individual responsible for their trauma, from school bullies to editors who see their writers as cash cows to corrupt city officials to an abusive father. The Phantom Thieves have some sympathy for the Monarchs, even if they don't think their pasts excuse their actions, but they have nothing but contempt for the individuals responsible for said Monarchs' trauma.
- While all of the keepers are awful, the special mention has to go to Konoe's father, who arguably rivals Kamoshida and Shido in how utterly detestable he is. The man is a pathological liar who killed his own wife and constantly abuses his own son, even trying to kill him.
- Jyun Owada is a Corrupt Politician much like Shido above, but worse, he's also responsible for killing Zenkichi's wife while driving drunk, blaming his secretary for it, and blackmailing Zenkichi not to investigate the incident lest Akane be harmed, thus driving a wedge between Zenkichi and Akane. Even the Big Bad Akira Konoe has nothing but contempt for Owada, and plans on disposing of him as soon as he can.
- The Monarchs are more sympathetic than most of the Palace rulers, but each of them has a truly detestable individual responsible for their trauma, from school bullies to editors who see their writers as cash cows to corrupt city officials to an abusive father. The Phantom Thieves have some sympathy for the Monarchs, even if they don't think their pasts excuse their actions, but they have nothing but contempt for the individuals responsible for said Monarchs' trauma.
Other Spin-Offs
- Digital Devil Saga: In the harsh, brutal world of the Junkyard where Might Makes Right and devouring your enemies is a means of survival, most rival Tribes have good reason to fight you, and you can at least respect their loyalty. Enter Bat, a crazed underling of the Maribel who has little power of his own, yet is a constant thorn in your side for much of the game after soundly thrashing him in his first fight. Displaying no loyalty to anyone but himself, he regularly backstabs and betrays any group he's a part of to reach Nirvana, and will make deals with or bargain with anyone who'll give him the time of day, only to then leave for greener pastures. From trying to convince Heat to kill Serph, to bragging to Argilla about his former leader's corpse as food, to the encounters, where he'll stall out the fight as long as possible and drain the party's health when weakened, Bat's all of the worst things about the Junkyard with none of the morality, power, or loyalty of other antagonists. You'll cheer when the Embryon successfully lure him on a ship and burn him to hell with timed explosives.
