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[Gamer79]

For those who don't know and (MASS EFFECT SPOILER WARNING)

The Reapers are by far the most Advanced Race in the galaxy. They are Machine/organics Starship like entity that wipes out all of life in the galaxy. (most life) They have a cycle of knocking the whole galaxy back in to the stone age by killing almost everything and everybody.

Thet destroy entire society's that are thousands of years more advanced than man kind. In fact, the only way to travel the galaxy *mass effect* is reaper tech.

Most villains want to conquer a land, county, or even the world. The Reapers have destroyed the entire Galaxy multiple times.

 

[Arachnid]

Stellaris has multiple similar galaxy level threats. One of the major antagonist factions in the game a group called the Prethoryn Scourge. They're a hive mind intelligent monster type enemy (think Necromorphs or Halo's flood, except without the undead part, and able to communicate and spacefaring). Their galaxy and species were wiped out by a unknown enemy they refer to as The Hunters, and they ran to the players galaxy to escape them. At one point after capturing a queen, the player gets the horrifying message below:

So, at minimum, The Hunters that made the biggest threat the players galaxy has ever seen (the Scourge) look like punk bitches are either powerful enough to to simultaneously snuff out an entire galaxy from existance or big enough to blot the galaxy out in pursuit of the Scourge. Horrifying. I'd say that beats out the reapers a bit.


There's also The Great Attractor. Basically, the players scientists get a vision of a construct of artificial origin that's bigger than galaxies. Also, the players galaxy is heading straight for it. I'm assuming it also has the ability to snuff out an entire galaxy.

 

[Yoboman]

Kirby stomps

 

[March Climber]

The thing I liked the most about Reapers was the fact that they weren't trying to be antagonistic. They were just a matter of fact type of being, existing in a way where they can be seen as an inevitability, much like death itself. It's what made them so scary, because the games made it seem like fighting them was fighting nature itself and the natural order of things.

A part of me would have preferred if they made Saren the actual trilogy villain and just have the reapers be a background entity that would ravage a random set of planets like a natural disaster(or like planet eaters from Marvel).

Much like Sin from FFX, they sort of ruined this really cool mystique for the Reapers the minute the protagonist was able to interact with it and not instantly die.

 

[BrutalTruth_]

This thread just makes me miss Mass Effect, haven't played the latest remastered trilogy but it's tempting... I haven't touched that franchise in about 8 years. (forgot andronema existed)

 

[Danjin44]

The Watchers in Drakengard series

Spoiler

They successfully extinct entire humanity

 

[itshutton]

I can think of a few Universe destroying entities, but nothing with the feel of the Reapers. Whenever a villain wants to destroy the Universe, I don’t ever feel their motivation is realistic or justified or even clear.

The Reapers destroy and civilisation advanced enough to challenge them. It makes sense. It also gives Mass Effect one of the longest timelines in video games. There are potentially billions of years of history of the Reapers taking civilisations back to zero. Such a menacing villain that does just feel unstoppable.

The only problem is, they are so inevitable, that the only way you could possibly defeat them is the Deus Ex Machina that they had to end with. The writers cornered themselves to the point where I actually wish they had gone with the indoctrination ending that people have theorised.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I can think of a few Universe destroying entities, but nothing with the feel of the Reapers. Whenever a villain wants to destroy the Universe, I don’t ever feel their motivation is realistic or justified or even clear.

The Reapers destroy and civilisation advanced enough to challenge them. It makes sense. It also gives Mass Effect one of the longest timelines in video games. There are potentially billions of years of history of the Reapers taking civilisations back to zero. Such a menacing villain that does just feel unstoppable.

The only problem is, they are so inevitable, that the only way you could possibly defeat them is the Deus Ex Machina that they had to end with. The writers cornered themselves to the point where I actually wish they had gone with the indoctrination ending that people have theorised.

The exchange with Sovereign in ME1 was peak RPG writing. Perfect scene.
Same as last clip of ME2 with Chief Collector and Sovereign.

 

[ViciousAgenda]

I enjoyed the way they chilled while
I was doing side quests.

 

[The Cockatrice]

haven't played the latest remastered trilogy but it's tempting...

You should.

 

[STARSBarry]

I mean... from a western game stand point I guess... but from a Japanese standard where teenagers have been killing god for decades when you start going into galaxy ending threats you get stuff like.



3:53 for the big attack, I was thinking EDEN from FF8 too, but she was never an antagonist (unless you count the raid in FF XIV) and only sort of blew up the Galactic core vs this BS.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

We literally have gods in games and we include video games based on boardgames then the scale changes drastically.

 

[SCB3]

I vote the Vex in Destiny, can literally delete you from the timelines to the point where you never ever existed

We've also never even seen their fighting forms yet

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Jubileus the creator, may she grace you.

 

[k_trout]

and they went from eon spanning mechanical gods to angry little aliens pew pewing and thought that would play out well for them

 

[Fart Knight]

 

[Shubh_C63]

Sometimes I wonder...will I ever play anything as good as Mass Effect.

It came at the perfect time perfect place.

I vote the Vex in Destiny, can literally delete you from the timelines to the point where you never ever existed

We've also never even seen their fighting forms yet

Bungie better pull their shit together with Final Shape because goddamn Vex has been a mystery for way waay too long. Longer than darkness I think.

 

[bbeach123]

There a trend of creating way too powerful enemy/villain to the point of the writer had no idea how to defeat them logical.

So you're left with a half ass unsatisfied ending .

 

[Wildebeest]

The most deadly villain is the one that kills you if you get in their way, even if they are just some random dude with a beer gut and receding hairline.

 

[Lone Wolf]

The Covenant would wipe out the Reapers rather easily. Shit the UNSC would too.

 

[thegame983]

I though the Reapers were cool...until they arrived.

Oh, they're just big ships shooting lasers.

 

[NiiloPielinen]

Tyranids

 

[kuncol02]

Tyranids

They aren't deadliest villains even in their own universe.

 

[NiiloPielinen]

They aren't deadliest villains even in their own universe.

Isn't the consensus that Tyranids in wh40k are just a small scouting fleet and a massive swarm, capable of destroying anyone, is on the way ?

 

[skit_data]

Possibly the most deadly, no doubt.

But I lost all respect for them with the introduction of the Mecha-HumanSkeleton2000-shoot-my-eyes-plz-model Reaper.

 

[kuncol02]

Isn't the consensus that Tyranids in wh40k are just a small scouting fleet and a massive swarm, capable of destroying anyone, is on the way ?

Necrons have reality altering weapons, humanity in age of technology had weapons that were making holes in fabric of reality (literally), chaos gods are well gods.
And that's not even taking into consideration War in Haven eldars and orks. Oh and Necrons literally destroyed their own gods by breaking them into pieces and using them to power their devices.
In scale of W40k Tyranids are just cockroach infestation.

 

[darth.shrimp]

Necrons have reality altering weapons, humanity in age of technology had weapons that were making holes in fabric of reality (literally), chaos gods are well gods.
And that's not even taking into consideration War in Haven eldars and orks. Oh and Necrons literally destroyed their own gods by breaking them into pieces and using them to power their devices.
In scale of W40k Tyranids are just cockroach infestation.

And let's not forget the Necrons have stuff like the Celestial Orrery, or the World Engines. The only reason they're not the "biggest" threat, is that they chose not to be yet.

Well, and GW writers being idiots, of course.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

I think it will always be the FLOOD. The idea of a parasitic entity floating around the galaxy ready to consume all organic matter in the universe.

 

[Draugoth]

• Flood/ Precursors
• The Combine
• Brethren moons
• The Deadra Princes
• Chakravartin (Asura's Wrath)
• Chaos Gods (Warcraft)

etc

The Covenant would wipe out the Reapers rather easily. Shit the UNSC would too.

In Space, very likely yes.

On the ground? They would be wiped.

 

[ahtlas7]

Craig Chad says no

 

[Husky]

In the Dead Space series, the reason humanity hasn't found extraterrestrial life is because the necromorphs have already wiped out all other life in the universe. Humans are the last ones left. The Reapers can be seen devastating cities, but a Brethren Moon, the currently known final stage of the necromorph life cycle, is capable of devastating a planet.
The necromorphs have a lot in common with the Reapers. Same sort of unstoppable galactic threat, both indoctrinating inferior life forms to prepare for their arrival. The ground-level necromorphs fought throughout most of each game are just the beginning.

 

[AGRacing]

They were an incredible idea for a science fiction villain.... But Sovereign wrote an amazing cheque his buddies didn't cash.

Most wasted villain potential... Possibly ever for me.

 

[Loke]

Weren't the Reapers just essentially a ripoff of the Shivans from the Freespace series? Though at least Mass Effect had an ending where Freespace 2 ended on a rather frustrating cliffhanger that was never resolved.

 

[intbal]

Well, the game ended in a cliffhanger, but the Chaos species from Anachronox were in the process of wiping out all of reality by preventing it from ever existing in the first place.
I'm not sure it can get any "deadlier" than that.

 

[Trogdor1123]

They aren't deadliest villains even in their own universe.

I don’t know, they seem to be kind of a plot device right now but if the imperium is right about them, they are by far the worst in the galaxy. Even chaos has issues with them

 

[Sentenza]

One of the most nonsensical, if nothing else.

 

[Fbh]

There's some like Chakravartin from Asura's Wrath that could easily give them a run for their money

But the Reapers are still an interesting concept and one of the deadliest out there.
Chakravartin ultimately gets punched to death by the protagonist while the interesting part of the Reapers is that they are so beyond what the protagonists are capable of that it presents this interesting scenario of "how do you stop the unstoppable"

 

[LordOfChaos]

They're up there as a large threat, but technically if 40K games make the 40K Universe threats a part of video games then they don't even rank among multigalactic threats, the smallest races in there would probably rofflestomp them since there's so much overdone rule of cool

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

• Flood/ Precursors
• The Combine
• Brethren moons
• The Deadra Princes
• Chakravartin (Asura's Wrath)
• Chaos Gods (Warcraft)

etc



In Space, very likely yes.

On the ground? They would be wiped.

Right, Deadra Princes they are up there too

 

[FoxMcChief]

I think so. They’re built up so much, and in a great way. The Flood in Halo also come to mind.

 

[March Climber]

and they went from eon spanning mechanical gods to angry little aliens pew pewing and thought that would play out well for them

That’s because of the true big bad who can kill Reapers and anything else in the Mass Effect Universe with the snap of a finger.

Spoiler

The writers

 

[Grizzled Ghost]

They were beaten by one man and his small cadre of sexual conquests.

 

[jaysius]

I mean... from a western game stand point I guess... but from a Japanese standard where teenagers have been killing god for decades when you start going into galaxy ending threats you get stuff like.



3:53 for the big attack, I was thinking EDEN from FF8 too, but she was never an antagonist (unless you count the raid in FF XIV) and only sort of blew up the Galactic core vs this BS.

On a slightly random note, but Anime related, Wicked City is free to watch on Tubi, and it's VERY 80's anime. I don't want to ruin anything, but if you want old school ANIME ass ANIME, watch it.

 

[vodka-bull]

Up until the end of ME1 they were, yes, but then they turned out to be just a bunch of weird cockroaches with lasers. I liked the idea behind them, the final product was meh.

 

[Husky]

• Brethren moons
• The Deadra Princes

First off, very cool for listing Brethren Moons.
I'm not all that familiar with Daedric Princes outside of their more benign appearances in Skyrim. Can you elaborate on the threat they pose?

 

[Draugoth]

First off, very cool for listing Brethren Moons.
I'm not all that familiar with Daedric Princes outside of their more benign appearances in Skyrim. Can you elaborate on the threat they pose?

Immortal Reality Warpers

 

[Fuz]

They were cool in ME1.

Then the writers ruined their sense of menace.

 

[Madflavor]

The Reapers certainly had the potential to at least be one the scariest and most interesting villains in gaming, until ME3’s writing took a giant hot shit in our eyes and mouths.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

IMO they have some of the best sound design in gaming

 

[struggler_guts]

Master Computer AM from I have no mouth and I must scream. Dude erased all life and kept only a few just to toy with