Okeydoke guys, now we've finally reached the end section of my list, the bad (or evil, not sure about that) characters! Spoiler: there are three characters on this list; you might have guessed who they are by process of elimination. But the question is: how am I going to order them? Well, now let's find out!
Okay, first up is everyone's favorite warlock, Mesmeroth! Oh, Meth, I was very conflicted in giving you this spot. I was sorta thinking of giving you last place in the neutral area due to your good intentions of trying to stop Archimedes's plans of putting Gaia to the stars above, but the way you did it... is more than questionable. You see, Mesmeroth did create the Dark Army which did terrorize Arne Village and Submeria which endangered quite a lot of people, even though he claimed that it was only meant for Archimedes. But really what put him in the bad area, sadly, was his release of Sir Corbin's spirit which killed him. This is an evil moment because he just did it so he can have an assistant and resurrector. Also, while TRILOTH was probably less destructive than the Grand Core, it was still very devastating: it almost drove the Owrus to extinction for instance. Yeah, he was trying to stop Archimedes's destructive plans to completely destroy Gaia (he is probably called the Guardian of the Realm for that reason), which puts him above Archimedes in terms of my opinion, but there were better ways to do so, though this also gets complicated when taking the Shadow's influence into account. In my opinion, the Shadow corrupts him in a way that brings out his worst qualities, and it also probably influences him to go ahead with TRILOTH by using his resentment against Archimedes. However, Mesmeroth rightfully destroys the Shadow (probably another one of his more heroic actions), kinda proving himself to be in control of his own actions. However this does not invalidate the reasoning that the Shadow influenced his actions and probable mindset (but for pragmatic reasons, not to save the world; more on that later). This tones down Meth's villainy a bit, but not a lot. Despite him trying to stop Archimedes, it can also be argued that Mesmeroth also is a bit of a madman as well, as he marvels at how he can control the Streams of Creation with his own eyes, though this is probably more the Shadow's goal because they merged to create Shadow Mesmeroth, when the Shadow overtakes his soul. In the end, it is kinda unclear if Mesmeroth was a hypocrite who wanted to fill Archimedes's shoes or not and genuinely wanted Hero and Trin to become King and Queen. Argh, he is a nuanced, morally grey, complicated guy, but that's why we like him so much.
Okay, the silver medal of evil goes to none other than Mesmeroth's worst enemy and foil as well as a hidden villain of the game, Archimedes. Where Mesmeroth's moral case is of a flawed hero whose mindset changes due something involving the Streams of Creation occuring during the Direfolk War and becomes a bit of a villain, but a genuinely well-intentioned one, Archimedes is kind of a very similar case, though he sacrifices almost all his redemptive qualities at the end and goes insane. Even before his fall into insanity, he did some morally questionable actions, such as allowing the petrification of Ghost Town villagers (which he tries to cover up to the knights), and banishing Mesmeroth and the Mage Guild for literally no good reason but jealousy and probably irrational fear. But after his wife dies, he sets his mind on creating the Grand Core to carry his kingdom and wife to the Lunar Tear, a "star" on which he promised to take her one day. However, the course of the story reveals that doing so will destroy Gaia completely. While it is not outright stated that Archimedes knows that it could happen, his manipulation of his knights to follow along with his plan with not revealing his true purpose with the machine and his possession of the "Return" monolith pretty much confirms this, proving that Archimedes's promise to his wife was more important than Gaia's destruction in his opinion. His one good quality up to this point is that he probably wants his people to still survive, to take them to the "next level of existence", but nevertheless, the destruction of the planet will be achieved. At the end, his refusal to surrender is the final nail in the coffin for Mesmeroth to unleash TRILOTH, which would destroy his kingdom and make him at least partially responsible for his kingdom's downfall. Oh, and didn't I mention his war machines? They are illegal in the eyes of the gods, showing some kind of hereticism.
Okay, the gold medal of evil goes to... (drum roll) the Shadow. While we do not know much about it, it is undeniable that the Shadow is responsible for the events in the game and also OH1. Its Tarock card notes that it is responsible for the Direfolk spawn and Mesmeroth says that it created Shadowmaga, the perpetrator of the Direfolk War. While certain details are left ambiguous, it is undeniable that the Shadow wants to spread his influence throughout the world through his vessels. It firstly tried to join the Streams of Creation, then launched a war against Arcadia, then offered Mesmeroth the TRILOTH spell (his manipulation of him going against Archimedes was not with good intentions but only to grab power for itself) and then last but not least, overtakes Mesmeroth's soul to form Shadow Mesmeroth and control Arcadian machines and stuff on Gaia for a milennium. He is like the Devil and a dark messiah, so no one except him deserves the gold medal of evil on Gaia.
Well guys, I guess that's it! I hope you enjoyed my list. I encourage you to say your own thoughts in the comments and critique my thoughts and opinions. Have a good year, guys, and see you while editing! Bye!
