Top 10 Video Games Rulers!

"Destiny: The Taken King" (2015)
It doesn't bode well when a being named God-King is angered. The Guardians find this out the hard way as Oryx, the much-feared leader of the Hive sought his revenge for the death of his son Crota. With an appearance akin to the devil, Oryx wastes little time making his presence known as he destroyed an entire Awoken fleet with one blast from is massive vessel the Dreadnaught leaving a massive hole in Saturn's ring. Skilled in both sword fighting and magical attacks, Oryx has lived for centuries, amassing a universe of followers and forming his own fighting force, the Taken.

"The Elder Scrolls" series (1994-)
Since the beginning of the Elder Scrolls series, Uriel Septim, emperor of the continent of Tamriel proved to be the lynchpin that held most of the series together. Rescued from his wrongful, decade-long imprisonment in Arena, this manipulative Chessmaster of a ruler sought to aid and stabilize his empire in Daggerfall and Morrowind. Maintaining a period of peace, he discovered that his children were being slain by assassins, realizing he was next. Having nightmares of Tamriel's impending destruction, Septim is killed by the Mythic Dawn cult, but not before giving the Amulet of King to the man from his dream. This last selfless act saw the Emperor ensuring that his empire was defended from Daedra invasion.

"The Legend of Zelda" series (1986-)
Despite not being the protagonist of most of the games the feature her name, Princess Zelda is still an icon in her own right. While she started off as the standard distressing damsel, which sometimes still happens, the princess of Hyrule proved to be quite formidable as the series progressed. As the guardian of the Triforce of Wisdom, it is her duty to protect the three-sided MacGuffin from anyone who seeks to misuse its power, usually the wicked wizard Ganondorf. Among Zelda's other amazing attributes, she's a skilled magician, archer, sword fighter, and shapeshifter as she adopts the guises of Sheik and Tetra. Even as a child, Zelda proved to be wise beyond her years and a benevolent royal on the side of good.

"Mortal Kombat" series (1992-)
From the purest soul to a dark force that likes to eat souls for mid-morning brunch comes Shao Kahn the Konqueror (with a k). Once a mere advisor to Onaga the Dragon King, Kahn poisoned his master and through mortal kombat or sheer force, gained completed control over several weaker realms, becoming the Emperor of Outworld. Leading with fear and fighting with sheer brute force, Kahn has killed and enslaved many of his victims with Earthrealm being his next target to the point of obsession. Despite having many races of killers to do his bidding, Kahn lusts for battle and while he hates losing, he'll make it clear when "You Suck!"

"Mass Effect" series (2007-)
From Krogan Battlemaster to leader of his of his people, Wrex saw it all and done it all. Since the beginning of the genophage's effect on the Krogan civilization all Wrex wanted was to make his people survive throughout the sterilization methods of the bioweapon. After being betrayed and undermined by his father, however, the proud warrior left his people, disillusioned by what they had become. After three centuries of working as a bodyguard and gun for hire, his encounter, and subsequent alliance with Commander Shepard changes his destiny. Starting with reforming Clan Urdnot, Wrex worked to cure the genophage and restore glory back to his people.

"World of Warcraft" (2004-)
Once the noble prince of Lordaeron, the riggers of fighting the Scourge in the Third War progressively broke down Arthas Menethil. In an act of desperation, he wielded a powerful sword, the Frostmourne that consumed his soul forever changing him into a Death Knight. Becoming the leader of the Scourge, Athas slaughtered his laid waste to his kingdom and killing his father the king. Eventually, he would become the Lich King, merging with the spirit of the original, Ner'zhul with his own. As brave warriors storm his Icecrown Citadel in attempt to defeat him, he proves unforgiving with his myriad of spells and summons. Menethil suffered greatly to become Lich King; he won’t be bested so easily.

"The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" (2016)
Emperor Emhyr var Emreis has an impressive title, which in Elder speech is the "White Flame Dancing on the Graves of his Enemies." As the ruler of Nilfgaard, it gives an indication of what he was willing to do whatever it took to expand his empire and his pursue his goals. He will kill or befriend whomever he chose to conquer depending which way got the best results. The calculating monarch is responsible for Letho the Kingslayer's actions in the Witcher 2. He also is revealed to be Cirilla's birth father because he wanted a successor to his throne and wanted to take advantage of Ciri's magical abilities. He may be a successful ruler, but it's doubtful he'll be heralded as a decent human being.

"Super Mario" series (1985-)
He’s a vicious monarch, a serial abductor, and a fire-breathing menace. Bowser is the evil Koopa King who kidnaps Princess Peach in an attempt to rule the Mushroom Kingdom with an iron claw. These plans are usually thwarted by the Mario Brothers but setbacks like that don't keep him down for long. He commands a loyal and lethal kingdom of koopas, goombas, and other crazy creatures that follow his beck and call. Of course, with his strength, spiked shell, and weaponry it's in their best interest to obey. Time, however, has softened the turtle tyrant; he'll help Peach and the Mario’s with a common enemy and has even shown a diplomatic side by go-karting or playing games with his foes without (too much) incident.

"Katamari" series (2004-)
When it comes to style, this ruler of the universe has it in spades, too bad coordination didn't come with it. While the King of All Cosmos is flamboyantly fabulous, his carelessness has caused the destruction of islands on the planet Earth, all the way to entire stars and planets. The size-shifting king responsibly sends his young son to roll up people and objects like snowballs to replace what he destroyed. Should the Prince or later his cousins fail to fix in their duty, he gets a tad bit salty. It's had to get mad at the guy, mainly because he loves his family, love to roll Katamaris, and has the craziest powers from flight to the Royal Rainbow.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Asgore Dreemurr
"Undertale" (2015)

Chrom
"Fire Emblem Awakening" (2013)

Queen Zeal
"Chrono Trigger" (1995)

"Final Fantasy IV" series (1991-2011)
For good or for evil, the Final Fantasy series will never see a shortage of memorable rulers. With Cecil, his situation takes a unique turn. Initially the Captain of the Baron Empire Red Wings air fleet, Cecil was a Dark Knight with all encompassing black armor to match. Being commanded to kill and pillage without provocation by his king, Cecil questions this and rebels. In his quest to atone for his transgressions, Cecil becomes a Paladin with his black duds and darkness powered attacks with and all white uniform and White Magic. Once he and his allies saved the world from a mass extinction plot, Cecil became the much revered and trusted King of Baron with his childhood friend and ally as his Queen.