This article contains major spoilers forKingdom Come: Deliverance 2andRed Dead Redemption 2.
There is no shortage of compelling villains in gaming, but some of the best are often considered so because they are sympathetic or tragic. However, games with villains that really make players hate them can be just as effective as those that earn players' sympathy, andKingdom Come: Deliverance 2features both sides of this spectrum. One character is particularly despicable and conjures comparisons to the infamously hatedMicah Bell fromRed Dead Redemption 2.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2constantly asks players to grapple with moral choices, often around whether to kill a foe in the name of revenge or spare them and embrace forgiveness. For as awful as characters like Istvan Toth and Markvart von Aulitz are, their villainy is much more palatable since they make their intentions clear from the start. However, the betrayal of Vauquelin Brabant makes him so much more loathsome since his two-faced nature seems to stem from a selfish place, rather than one of ideals, showing a clear parallel toRed Dead Redemption 2’s Micah.
Micah Bell is One of Gaming’s Most Hated Characters
Red Dead Redemption 2players are likely well acquainted with the villain of Micah Bell, whose misdeeds throughout the course of the game paint him as one of the most treacherous characters in gaming. WhileMicah is an ally of the Van Der Linde Gangfor most of the game, red flags start appearing before he takes a hard left turn toward betrayal. With a suspicious background and questionable behavior shown in the Strawberry Massacre, it’s not surprising that Micah ended up as an informant for the Pinkertons, selling out the gang’s whereabouts for personal fortune.
Traitors are already some of the easiest characters to hate in any narrative, especially those who sell out their comrades for personal gain. What makes Micah an even more despicable traitor is the fact that he manipulated Dutch’s paranoia to drive a wedge between him and Arthur so he could secure the money from the Blackwater job for himself. The finale ofRDR2’s epiloguecan be one of the most cathartic experiences in the game, where players finally get to kill Micah as John Marston and put an end to his villainy.
Brabant’s Betrayal Solidifies Him as Another Micah Bell
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Vauquelin Brabant follows a similar character arc to Micah, and plays a nearly identical role in the game’s narrative. Players will first encounter him as a prisoner of Otto von Bergow alongside Hans Capon whenHenry sneaks into Maleshov fortressto rescue his liege. Despite having reservations about taking Brabant along in their flight from the fortress, Capon assures Henry that Brabant is an ally, having led the defense of Kuttenberg against Sigismund’s army before being captured.
However, it’s clear that Brabant is only an opportunist after he attempts to run off with the silver Zizka, Henry, and the gang stole from the Italian Court, killing Adder in the process. Although Brabant claims to be a French Baron, a quick look at his history reveals he is a charlatan who stumbled his way into nobility and jumps at the chance to manipulate whoever he can for personal gain. The final twist of the knife comes when it is revealed that Brabant is commanding the Prague troops laying siege to Suchdol castle, and after he captures and tortures Samuel during theReckoning main quest mission, players can make the easy choice to kill him in the Praguer camp.
If players choose to spare Brabant here, he will immediately call for guards and blow the player’s cover, further demonstrating that he will go to whatever lengths necessary to save his own skin.
It’s not often that players are confronted bytruly evil villains in games, and Micah Bell and Vauquelin Brabant are the poster children for these types of traitorous scoundrels. Neither is driven by anything other than their own self-interest, going so far as to sacrifice the lives of the ones they call allies if it helps them achieve their goals. With how detested Micah Bell has become in the gaming community since the release ofRed Dead Redemption 2, it’s only fair that Brabant is elevated to the same notoriety in the wake ofKingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s release.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
WHERE TO PLAY
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is an exhilarating Action RPG, set amidst the chaos of a civil war in 15th Century Bohemia.You are Henry of Skalitz – an ordinary man doing extraordinary things – caught in a gripping tale of revenge, betrayal, and discovery as he embarks on an epic journey, ‘from a humble blacksmith’s forge to the court of Kings’, searching for purpose in this beautiful but brutal medieval world.From bustling city streets to lush forests, explore this open-world Medieval Europe through an unforgettable adventure filled with action, thrills, and wonder.
Red Dead Redemption 2
America, 1899. The end of the wild west era has begun as lawmen hunt down the last remaining outlaw gangs. Those who will not surrender or succumb are killed. After a robbery goes badly wrong in the western town of Blackwater, Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him. From the creators of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an epic tale of life in America at the dawn of the modern age.
