It’s that time of year when Santa’s checking his list, and he’s checking it twice. Unfortunately for these characters, they won’t be on the Nice List, and are instead firmly among those who will be receiving nothing more than a lump of coal for Christmas. Ouch.
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While they might not be the most villainous of personalities, they may have committed some misdeeds that have landed them on Santa’s Naughty List, intentionally or not. No matter how much they bribe and beg, there’s no getting off the Naughty List this year.
8 Gulliver (Animal Crossing)
Gulliver regularly appears on your beach in Animal Crossing, absolutely conked out. You have to speak with him several times to get him to wake up, and then he reveals that he’s shipwrecked and stuck on your island or town. He calls his crew to rescue him, but it begs the question, how is he becoming shipwrecked so often? And why do you never see any of his crew?
The only logical explanation here is that Gulliver’s crew has been sending him off the plank, desperate to be rid of him. On the way, he hits his head, giving him amnesia and forgetting he was banished in the first place. Whatever Gulliver is like on the ship, it’s bound to net him a place on the Naughty List.
7 Cait Sith (Final Fantasy 7)
You first meet Cait Sith in Final Fantasy 7 at the Gold Saucer — nothing suspicious about a cat wearing a crown and riding a giant Moogle, right? Well, unfortunately for Cloud and gang, wrong. He’s secretly under the control of a member of Shinra.
While he redeems himself later in the story (though is it really him who’s changed, if it’s a different Cait Sith?), he’s sure going to need to do a lot of good deeds to make up for his traitorous actions. Maybe then Santa can consider bumping him onto the Nice List instead.
6 Gengar (Pokemon)
Gengar is naughty, no question about it. It’s lovable, yes, but the menacing grin on its face spells naughtiness. According to its Pokedex entries in Pokemon Black and White, some Gengar find delight in “casting curses on people”, and there’s no way Santa’s going to let that slide during the festive season.
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Gengar also love to hide in shadows, sneaking up on people and giving them the fright of their life. This is the perfect trick for Halloween, but not so much for Christmas.
5 Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Sora, the happy-go-lucky, kind hero who has nothing but light in his heart on the Naughty List? Yes, it’s more likely than you think. Sora comes face to face with Santa himself in Kingdom Hearts 2 while helping Jack Skellington, and Santa breaks the unfortunate news that Sora isn’t on the Nice List, which can only mean one thing: he’s on the Naughty List.
Santa even lets us know exactly why Sora didn’t make it to the Nice List — seven years prior, he told everyone that he didn’t believe in Santa Claus. That must’ve hurt ol’ Santa Claus a lot. He also reveals that it was Riku who told Sora that Santa wasn’t real, so, by extension, Riku must be on the Naughty List too. Looks like Kairi’s the only one getting presents this year.
4 Yuri (Tales Of Vesperia)
Yuri may be the hero of Tales of Vesperia, leading the party on a brave mission to save the planet, but he has some, to put it lightly, questionable methods of heroism. He takes things into his own hands when others won’t do what’s right, but that often leads him to make extreme choices — some that Santa might deem a little too naughty to let him onto the Nice List.
Yuri’s heart is in the right place, but Santa is very cut and dry when it comes to his Naughty and Nice Lists, and Yuri’s complicated morals firmly put him on the Naughty side of things.
3 Magus (Chrono Trigger)
Though Magus does act as an antagonist for the first part of Chrono Trigger, you can recruit him into your party later on, and Crono and the rest of the party seem to accept him into their ranks despite his villainous past. Let bygones be bygones, right? Perhaps Santa could make an exception for someone who’s making an effort to be good, and you know, save the world.
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However, Magus never truly apologises for mercilessly killing Glenn’s best friend Cyrus, and turning Glenn into a frog afterwards. Though Glenn seems to forgive him so that he can move on, he deserves an apology. Santa, I beg, keep Magus on the Naughty List for this alone.
2 Porky Minch (Earthbound)
Porky. The worst person in your neighborhood. How could he not be on the Naughty List? Even when you first meet Porky in Earthbound, he presents himself as rude, and quite frankly, insufferable to be around. Things don’t get much better, as he kidnaps Paula, intending to allow the Happy Happyist cult to sacrifice her. Yeesh. No way Santa is forgiving that in a hurry.
Some say Porky only wanted to be Ness’ friend, but he has some weird, weird ways of showing it. If he even gets a lump of coal from Santa on Christmas morning, he should count himself lucky.
1 Yoshiya “Joshua” Kiryu (The World Ends With You)
Joshua is the word mischievous personified. He has a permanent smirk on his face, and he constantly chides you in The World End With You. When he returns briefly in NEO, he keeps that same attitude — he doesn’t even need to be here, but he is, just so he can pester Neku with his presence.
For this alone, Joshua would make it onto the Naughty List; however, this barely touches the fact that he shot Neku, being the reason he entered the Reapers’ Game in the first place, and, you know, orchestrated the entire thing. Joshua’s probably right at the top of the Naughty List, with his name written in bold and underlined.
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