Here's one I've wanted to do for a very long time.
What is the work?[]
Jak 3, the third installment of the Jak and Daxter series. For those not familiar with the series, Jak is basically a game where you collect things called "Eco" and use them to kill enemies. I could go more into the gameplay, but that's not really important.
Jak 3 picks up some time after the events of Jak II, in which Jak and Daxter saved Haven City from the tyrannical rule of Baron Praxis as well as the Metal Heads attacking it. Despite having saved the city though, Jak winds up banished from it under charges of supposed treason and are left out in the wasteland, where they are eventually found by members of a settlement in the wasteland called Spargus City and taken in by the city's founder, King Damas. The two later find that Haven City is still under threat from the remnants of the Metal Heads and go on a quest to stop them as well as their allies, mysterious beings called the "Dark Makers".
Also I should say, MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE JAK AND DAXTER SERIES INCOMING.
Who is the villain?[]
Count Veger, the head of Haven City's Grand Council and one half of the Big Bad Ensemble in the game. Veger is a religious fanatic who worships the Precursors (the deities of the Jak-verse) and seeks to create a world of eternal light, abhorring anything to do with darkness. Since Jak also uses dark eco, Veger naturally dislikes him too and is in fact the one responsible for his banishment, but we'll get to that later.
What does he do?[]
In the past, Veger conspired with Baron Praxis (who is also a candidate for Pure Evil, just a heads up) to overthrow the original ruler of Haven City, King Damas. Once Damas was ousted, Veger allowed Praxis to tyrannize the city under an oppressive dictatorship. Taking notice of Damas' young son Mar, who had the purity needed to unlock the ancient artifacts of the Precursors, Veger kidnapped the boy and separated him from his father, planning to experiment on him to harness his Eco powers. However, at some point, Veger lost Mar and he was taken in by a resistance movement known as the "Underground".
Desiring to gain access to the Precursor catacombs below the Palace in Haven City, Veger staged a missile attack to destroy the Palace and blamed it on the Metal Heads, killing thousands of his own citizens just so he could open the catacombs. When Jak and Daxter return to the city to stop Veger, Veger reveals himself as the one responsible and claims he intends to allow light to rule the universe before siccing a Precursor robot on them.
Jak manages to catch up to Veger with help from Damas, but the Slam Dozer they're riding in crashes and leads to Damas being fatally wounded. As he lays dying, Damas tells Jak the story of his son Mar and pleads with Jak to find him. Jak soon realizes based on the clues Damas gives that he is Mar, Damas's son. Before he can tell Damas though, Damas passes away. It's then that Veger shows up and reveals the truth about how he kidnapped Jak from Damas, rubbing it in Jak's face that Damas died without ever knowing Jak was Damas' son. Veger knew Jak was Damas' son and could have told Damas or Jak at any point and he would have lost nothing for it. Instead he let Damas die without ever knowing his son was alive, purely out of spite. This may not be the most heinous or destructive thing Veger does in terms of body count, but hot damn it's definitely his most repulsive action on a visceral, emotional level.
At the very least, Veger gets a satisfying punishment at the end of the game when he attempts to become a Precursor, only to find the Precursors are in fact Ottsels, and for he himself to be turned into an Ottsel. It's definitely fitting for how much of a power-hungry, petty and sadistic bastard Veger was.
Heinous Standard[]
While he's not as destructive as Kor, Veger is in roughly the same league as Baron Praxis, who himself is an approved Complete Monster on TVTropes. For starters, it was Veger who enabled much of Praxis' crimes in the first place, conspiring with him to overthrow Damas. Veger also has a sizable body count thanks to his false flag attack on the palace, along with plenty of other minor but nasty moments that cement his vileness, such as banishing Jak for simply being infused with dark eco and the aforementioned scene with Damas, which may not be his most heinous act, but it's definitely the one where Veger really proves himself to be an utter irredeemable bastard.
Mitigating Factors[]
Alright this might take a bit since Veger does have a professed benevolent motive, he wants to obtain the Precursor technology so he can use it to save the world from the Dark Makers. However, given the lack of concern he shows his own subjects and the condescending edge his conversations with others are laced with, that can be interpreted as his own sense of self preservation cloaked in noble intent. He abhors darkness, but that's little more than personal bigotry on his part rather than any sort of rational wariness, as he banished Jak even after he saved the city. His scheme to have light flood the universe and "destroy all shadows" is more a front for his god complex than anything else. You'll notice in his monologue to Jak and Daxter after he says "Pure light will rule the universe" he follows it up with "I will be the bright light that shines to every corner of the world." In short, Veger doesn't want to create an ideal utopia, he just wants to be at the head of one.
Final Verdict[]
Very, very definite yes. I've said in the past that Tenjuro Banno was the first character who made me realize villains could be Complete Monsters/Pure Evil, but as a child Veger was the one who opened me up to how vile and repulsive villains could truly be.
If you don't agree that Veger should be Pure Evil, watch this scene. Any doubts about Veger being Pure Evil should be dashed by it.