Whenever you’re starting a new game of any given city builder, your goal is usually the same: you want efficiency in design. When you’re playing Tropico, that efficiency translates into the total subjugation of an entire island populace. Sure, Tropico plays this off in a humorous fashion, but it’s a dark humor that puts players in some pretty grim company. If you’ve played any shooter with a rebellious hero over the years, you’ve probably run into at least one character that El Presidente would have over for brunch.
To coincide with the imminent launches of both The Division 2 and Tropico 6, here are the worst dictators gaming has to offer. Just Cause‘s Rico Rodriguez is probably somewhere taking notes on this gallery.
So, from Queens to Administrators, gaming has tons of powerful figures with total authority. As you might imagine from fiction in general, most of them don’t see the end of their own stories. Gaming generally tells stories of corrupt individuals getting their just desserts. The entire medium is wonderful at letting people escape the real world, with these heroic tales just being an aspect of that. Especially in 2019, tales of heroic forces retaking what’s theirs can be inspiring to the everyman. One just has to look at the news to see why.
When you sit down to relax with Tropico, it’s a power fantasy for sure. This is a different form of escapism, one you don’t take so seriously. Still, why not try to be nice to your populace, or at least as nice as possible? Maybe lower the prices on rations for one game, or hold off on building a fleet of secret prisons. You could set a good example for whatever real-life authoritative figures with delusions of grandeur might be watching through an FBI spy camera.
Gaming Dictators
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Tropico 6 and the worst dictators in gaming
When you're loading up any Tropico game, you're looking for efficiency. You want to be the tyrant that they'll remember, the perfect foil to some musclebound hero. In case you need some inspiration for your bad deeds, we've gathered the top minds in malicious ruling across all of gaming. -
Alexander Romanov
The leader of the USSR during World War 3 in the world of Command & Conquer: Red Alert. After watching the allies crush his hometown during World War 2, he vowed to personally take the Soviet Union back to prominence on the world stage. -
Andrew Ryan
The industrious founder of Bioshock's underwater city, Andrew Ryan isn't a dictator in the traditional sense, but he did have the authority of one. With the help of his friends and compatriots, he ran the city of Rapture for a prosperous decade before leading it into a nasty fall. -
Arcturus Mengsk
The ruler of the Terran Dominion in StarCraft, Emperor Mengsk oversaw what was once a confederacy of worlds. Mengsk led the Terran forces to war against the Zerg in the Second Great War, a bloody string of battles that eventually cost him and his people everything. -
El Presidente
The long-running player character of the Tropico franchise, El Presidente is modeled after several real-world rulers of men in promotional art but is otherwise fully customizable. Tropico 5 introduced a feature that lets you play through a history of Presidentes, ruling your island throughout the generations. -
George Washington
In the Assassin's Creed 3 DLC expansion The Tyranny of King Washington, the American forefather gives in to his baser instincts. Seizing the empty throne of a burgeoning nation, King George and his disciples wage war against a group of rebels led by Thomas Jefferson and a certain would-be Assassin. -
Hiram Burrows
Hiram Burrows (or as he'd prefer you call him, Lord Regent) is the slimeball at the top of the pile in the original Dishonored. Orchestrating the death of Dunwall's Empress, he blames Corvo for the murder, setting the events of the rest of the game into motion as he seizes power. -
Pandak
One of a line of dictators taken down by the legendary Rico Rodriguez in Just Cause, Baby ruled over the island of Panau. Over the course of Just Cause 2, he sent every possible force against the vigilante with the superpowered grappling hook, but he also just couldn't stop storing his fuel in gigantic and easily breakable metal spheres. -
Queen Myrrah
The leader of the Locust forces in the original Gears of War trilogy, she inspires her forces to retake the surface world through emergence holes and open warfare. While the title of "Queen" was self-bestowed, she wields all the powers of any other royal ruler with no line of succession. -
Scolar Visari
The Autarch of the Helghan Empire in Killzone, Scolar Visari was also the creator of the empire and leader of the Helghast forces. He's a dictator in the traditional sense, rising to power due to his high levels of charisma and innate speaking abilities. -
Wallace Breen
Half-Life 2's "Welcome to City 17" is probably one of the most iconic lines in all of video games, and it's uttered by this opportunistic businessman. After The Combine crushed humanity in The Seven Hour War, Wallace negotiated the surrender of humanity, leading to a grim future for anyone still remaining on Earth.
