The 50 Greatest Video Game Villains Of All Time

Greatest Video Game Villains – #26 Dr. Wallace Breen

Game(s): Half-Life 2

Background: Dr. Wallace Breen was the former head of the government research corporation Black Mesa. After the infamous Seven Hours War, Breen negotiated a peace treaty with the antagonistic, inter-dimensional organization Combine that saved the planet but resulted in the enslavement of humanity. Breen is then given rule over Earth, working directly with the mostly distant Combine to keep order on the planet. Propaganda videos dubbed “Breencasts” featuring The Administrator can be seen throughout the city during the game. After the player (Gordan Freeman) raids his Citadel in Half-Life 2, Breen falls during an attempt to escape via teleporter. He is assumed dead, but his true fate remains unknown.

Why He’s One Of The Greatest Video Game Villains: Dr. Breen is a truly spineless wartime villain. His selfishness led him to sell out the entire human race in his last-ditch effort to avoid conflict with the Combine. While it is likely that humanity would have been wiped out had he not come to this agreement, it is debatable that he might be the ultimate cause of the invasion in the first place. But that does not excuse his motives in the aftermath of the invasion. He sits smugly in his role as leader of Earth that was not earned by merit but through cowardice, watching as humanity suffers enslavement. He makes no attempt to win the Earth its freedom back and is more concerned with his own self-preservation all the way up until the very end of Half-Life 2. His unpleasant and self-righteous personality paired with this cowardice make him easy to hate. Most would be happy to see him officially dead, and maybe if Half-Life 3 is ever released (please Gaben!) we can get closure on this spineless villain’s fate.

Next: 25- Kerrigan