I once had a nemesis of the party go around and reincarnate the other villains the party killed. Good times. I suppose you could do the same with raise dead. There is an AP where a dead villain is sent back and rises as some sort of demon or undead, I can't recall which.
https://aonprd.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Remacera
For his "good" works, the goddess of plauges sends him back.
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Maybe they could come back as an actual Rat King, a lesser version of a Worm that Walks, made out of writhing, squirming rats?
They could have been one of several acolytes of pestilence. When their associates complete the (now weakened, thanks to the PC's efforts) ritual, he could be brought back as a sort of disease-riddled wight/revenant?
I'd rather have them come back in a changed way. That way the PCs still achieved something, even if they made them more powerful.
The focus on disease is actually very helpful - Core goddess Urgathoa stands for both diseases and undeath. So she might bring her favourite minions back, but likely as undead.
Undead. Have it come back as a mummy or vampire or revenant or ghost or the like. You'll have to dig through the catalogue for the right type, but essentially you want something motivated by revenge or unfinished business or something like that. Because he was disease-based, there might be a suitable disease-themed undead. If there isn't, make something up.
This could be helped along by his accomplice and mentor, a priest of Urgothoa (with plague and undead subdomains).
It was a Simulacrum and the real Rat King is a 14th level Sorcerer.
Edit: I was Slayer'd :(
And a slayer, we know you Scott.
Did somebody say Naruto Reference?
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By the rules of fiction, he's done for. The protagonists have defeated him. His threat is over. Now, if he's back as the henchman for a greater evil, that's another story...
If you want him to come back, he should be part of a bigger evil. Maybe he's stitched together, vomiting blood and warnings about his master (Juju Zombie template). Maybe he's been reanimated by fungus invading his corpse to benefit the colony (Fungal template). Maybe he made a deathbed deal with a greater power (Devilbound template).
The point is, if you want your old villain to server some sort of role in your new story, he's going to need to put over the new villain.
Maybe he a brother... or sister.
By the rules of fiction, he's done for. The protagonists have defeated him. His threat is over. Now, if he's back as the henchman for a greater evil, that's another story...
If you want him to come back, he should be part of a bigger evil. Maybe he's stitched together, vomiting blood and warnings about his master (Juju Zombie template). Maybe he's been reanimated by fungus invading his corpse to benefit the colony (Fungal template). Maybe he made a deathbed deal with a greater power (Devilbound template).
The point is, if you want your old villain to server some sort of role in your new story, he's going to need to put over the new villain.
I dunno, we had a recurring necromancer in the longest running campaign ive been in (spanned 2nd ed to 3.5 right before pathfinder came out) There was some old supplement where evil players could gain basically conditional immortality if they weren't killed in a specific way (similar to an artifacts destruction) We fought the same necromancer from like level 5 to 19. The first time he came back we figured his brother got him raised. The second time he came back was like level 11 and we disintegrated him (forget if it was a spell or scroll) The THIRD time he came back was around level 14, and we realized something was up and did research. We eventually killed him for good at like level 16. It was pretty great
My first thought, it would be straightforward to resurrect him and bring him back as a plague-ridden monster with Mythic Ranks. I still think that's a solid idea.
However, the point you made was that he was interesting. That makes me think about relationships. So what if he had a girlfriend, or an apprentice? They were young and powerless, but now they've had this whole time to hone themselves for revenge. Or what if he had a benefactor, maybe a cleric of some loathsome deity who resurrects him and helps guide and shape his plague scheme? Maybe he has gained some kind of gross template, and the cleric summons disease-themed fiends or rat-creatures. Or perhaps an evil druid encounters his rat minions and finds merit in doing a little population control of the local humanoids, and awakens a dire rat who becomes corrupted and gains some templates and class levels and stuff and reveres the NPC as its old master.
So what if he had a girlfriend, or an apprentice?
I had an evil wizard who a cleric fell in love with that had him resurrected when the rest of the party killed him over a conflict of interest. Villains have people who care about them too.
Those pesky Dread Necromancers Are all looking for a decent minion and sometimes the intelligent ones slip away.
Add the Bone Creature template, Say your character was made into a Bone Creature by an 8th+ level Dread Necromancer (HoH) with the Corpsecrafter line of feats (LM) in an area of Desecration with an evil altar present. This will get you the following permanent benefits:
+2 HP per level, +2 Profane bonus on attack rolls and saving throws, Desecrate plus evil altar.
+2 HP per level, +4 Enhancement bonus to Strength and Dexterity, Dread Necromancer's Undead Mastery class feature.
+2 HP per level, +4 Enhancement bonus to Strength (redundant), Corpsecrafter feat.
+4 Turn Resistance, Bolster Resistance feat from the Corpsecrafter line.
+1d6 Cold damage with all your natural weapons, Deathly Chill feat from the Corpsecrafter line.
+2 Natural armor, Hardened Flesh feat from the Corpsecrafter line.
+4 Initiative, +10 ft. land speed, Nimble Bones feat from the Corpsecrafter line.