Videos games can be terrifying in ways that films and TV shows are incapable of because they put you in the shoes of the person making all the bad decisions and turn the threat of things that go bump in the night, personal. I remember the first time I played the original Resident Evil on PS1; walking down that long yellow hallway past a row of ominous glass windows positive that something was going to pop out but confident that I was somehow untouchable and safe on the other side of the TV glass. I wasn’t.
Of course, we all know how this story ends; zombie dogs leaping through the windows, gnashing their bloody fangs as I made a mad, hopeless dash for the door to the soundtrack of pounding drums! It was one of the defining moments of the genre and a scene many gamers look back on fondly as the moment when games got “scream out loud” scary. For me, personally, that moment was actually in Police Quest 2 when I discovered a hand behind some rocks while diving in a lake, but we all have our individual freak out moments and the monsters which became the reason we kept the lights on at night.
To celebrate this spooky season and how it shapes the hobby we love, we at Handsome Phantom have picked some of our favorite frightening beasties in video game history. Read on to find out what monsters scare us most.
BOO’S PICK
If video games had an HR department I would file sexual harassment charges against The Ogre in Dragon’s Dogma, the whole lot of them. These creepy, hulking cave-dwellers have wild mood swings and the leaping, flailing attacks to match. They meet your feeble attempts to climb them, as you’ve been conditioned in-game to mount a cyclops, by falling on their back with a splat. They’re badass enough to be one of the most challenging regular monsters in the game when attacking normally, but show up with any females in your party and they become enraged exponentially as soon as they pick up the scent. You can practically hear their Ogre boner pop as their telltale squeal of delight at discovering women in their subterranean home becomes a bone chilling announcement of your party’s impending doom.
And wouldn’t you know it… I played as a fiery red-haired female ranger traveling in the company of a brute of a female knight bodyguard and a cutesy female mage and every time my girl squad came upon an Ogre, we got wrecked. Ogres live in deep, dark caves, in lairs littered with bones. But, as in much of Dragon’s Dogma, you only really know when you’ve found one when it’s already too late. Not only is an aroused Ogre preternaturally quick, the low light levels of the cave mean they come tearing out of the darkness already mid swing. And if you’re unlucky enough to be in front of them, there’s a possibility they will snatch you up to make a quick snack of you. The only saving grace is a detail that would be funny if the whole thing weren’t so utterly nerve wracking… their rear ends glow bright red, giving you a sense for where they are as they dart amongst the shadows.
Dragon’s Dogma, being a sword and sorcery tale, doesn’t get nearly enough credit for how scary it is. If you find yourself under leveled and lost in an unfamiliar forest as the sun sets, the whole thing turns into a thrilling haunted attraction, channeling the player through barren woods, dank caverns, and haunted castles all the while dodging ghosts and ghastlies. The Ogre is like that one overly enthusiastic employee of the attraction who makes it their personal mission to dog your every step and traumatize you good. If you plan to fight them, consider bringing some dudes along.
KEVIN’S PICK
“That’s the Big Daddy.”
Why do they call them Big Daddy? Cause they’re big. They also take care of little sisters, but calling them Big Brother would be too on the nose in a game so concerned with themes critical of objectivism, capitalism, aestheticism, and the almighty power of the common wrench. These Frankensteinian father figures come in several varieties, each just as deadly as the last. Lumbering Bouncers come equipped with a mining drill for a right hand. The Rosie variations come equipped with a rivet gun (speaking of on the nose) and an inexhaustible supply of explosives (never leave home without ‘em.)
Their presence in Bioshock is only one of dozens of iconic moments in this dark masterpiece. The first encounter with a Big Daddy in the game is wonderfully crafted. In a city of horror, players watching the Big Daddy savage one of Rapture’s genetically and physically mutilated Splicers find themselves hoping to avoid these metal hulks. It’s a vain hope.
The Big Daddies certainly bear favorable comparison to their more organic cousin, Frankenstein**. Big Daddies aren’t monsters, but they are terrifying monstrosities that are working exactly as intended. God save any unfortunate fool to cross them.
You can read more about our love for Bioshock by checking out this list of great openings in games. Would you kindly?
** Before you start, it’s okay to call the monster Frankenstein. It’s his father’s last name, you snobby piece of shit.
BEN’S PICK
Among my childhood fears is the Pig Cop from Duke Nukem 3D. This wild boar looking mutated police officer was, at the time, not only one of the most terrifying pixelated sights I had seen, but it also literally haunted my dreams. This included a recurring nightmare that I was, in fact, Duke Nukem – only I had no guns or way to protect myself.
The Pig Cop was/is a commentary on police officers but, as a kid, I only saw it as an enemy in a video game that scared me to death. They could shoot me with their shotguns, but they could also lay down prone, collect a variety of other weapons, and even fly with the help of various apparatus inside the Duke Nukem universe. If one variety of the Pig Cop wasn’t enough, they manifested in other more powerful ways as well.
They were fast, ruthless, and dangerous. Finding a pig copy on top of a building or around the corner from you wasn’t just a possibility in Duke Nukem 3D, it was a certainty. And if that wasn’t bad enough – they could also teleport at a moment’s notice, appearing behind your character and rushing you with their giant boots.
While most bad guys in the Duke Nukem games were alien in nature, the Pig Cops were actually mutated humans hellbent on enforcing their own rule of law and entrapping the babes your hero was attempting to save in a bit of a masochistic fashion. The Pig Cops were a thing of nightmares for Duke Nukem – and myself.
PHIL’S PICK
When Dying Light came out, this console generation was still in its infancy and, at the time, games which released in the first few months of the year were never expected to be good, let alone great. Dying Light came out of nowhere and completely flipped this idea on its head. Since then, countless AAA titles have released in January/February to critical and commercial success.
Dying Light was the follow up to Techland’s cult hit, Dead Island, and in a way was its spiritual successor. Not only was the game good, it was terrifying as well. With hoards of zombies coming at you from all directions you were forced not only to fight them, but to run. The game’s parkour elements made it stand apart from the crowd and even though there were masses of enemies coming at you from all sides, the most terrifying thing in the game was the darkness itself.
Biters, Walkers, Infected, Goons etc. might be a nuisance in the daytime, but when the sun set all bets were off. Not only would they come at you hard, they were more powerful and came in greater numbers in the dead of night. In the dark, you must seek cover or prepare for the worst. While the enemies that came out at night were more dangerous than the ones that roamed around during the day, it was the darkness that made it all possible. Say what you will about hoards of zombies coming at you, but nothing is more terrifying than the dark.
DAVE’S PICK
When you first enter the Grand Cathedral that holds Vicar Amelia, you are greeted with a sense of sorrow. We can sympathize with the Vicar as she sobs over the Gold Pendant in her final moments. Being the last Vicar of the Healing Church, she and her prudence have failed Yharnam and the world has fallen to rage and horror brought on by abuse of the Old Blood.
Amelia knows her transformation to beasthood is imminent and our sorrow for her is quickly replaced by terror as she turns from innocent survivor to a clumsy and lumbering monstrosity. We probably could have filled this list with any number of entries from the SoulsBorne series, but what stood out for me about Vicar Amelia in Bloodborne was the blood curdling screaming that she belts out throughout the fight.
I’ll never forget when I had my first encounter with this fight. A loved one was in the house and within earshot of the television. She pleaded with me to turn the sound off or put headphones on – not because it was too loud or it was causing her to lose focus. It was because the sound of the Vicar’s screams were far too disturbing to hear for any period of time without wincing in discomfort. It’s the type of noise that remains ringing in your ears for days. It’s the sort of sound you have nightmares about hearing in the distance alone in a forest at night. Not often are noises memorable, but this one does it for me, and for all the wrong reasons.
Like most bosses in Bloodborne, this is not an easy fight. The Vicar appears as though she’ll be slow and easy to dodge, but her attacks are lightning quick and deal huge amounts of damage. And most terrifying of all, she can heal herself.
DUNCAN’S PICK
Let’s preface this by saying not everyone enjoys horror games. I will fully admit that I am a wuss and scare easily. Honestly, when asked what video game character scared me the most, the second character that came to mind was the Abominable Snow Man from Ski Free, the 1991 release that was less remembered for it’s excellent skiing dynamics and more for the inevitable demise of its protagonist. But Resident Evil 3’s Nemesis left a 12-year-old me quivering in his boots.
Let’s look at this from my perspective. As a 12-year-old, the scariest media I’d been exposed to was Jurassic Park. I was excited with my new PSX, and ready and willing to play anything under the sun. So, when I was handed a copy of Resident Evil 3 as a Christmas gift from a family friend, I was all in. Sure, I had no idea that there were 2 prior Resident Evil games or that being in Raccoon City was about as safe as being a tourist in the aforementioned dinosaur movie. But hey, I was 12. While exploring the city as the game’s protagonist, Jill Valentine, I jumped at every undead body that slowly crept towards me. Every time, I pumped way more rounds than necessary into every corpse near me to avoid being jumped. So, when I first met Nemesis at the Raccoon City Police Department and watched him kill a S.T.A.R.S. officer by impaling his face with a tentacle, needless to say, I was a little spooked.
Nemesis towered over Jill, at 7’3”. He was essentially created as a “Smart Tyrant.” He followed orders. Let that marinate for a moment. A massive zombie that is smart enough to follow orders. Essentially, when the Umbrella Corporation created him, they wanted a relentless, intelligent, killer to hunt 
own all the members of S.T.A.R.S. He was so focused on this, they named him Nemesis, after the Greek god of revenge. In addition to his intelligence, he was covered in tentacles that he could use to infect anyone nearby with the T-Virus or penetrate their head like a melon. He never really flinched when you shot him and even when you perforated his body enough to put him down, he’d show up later, stronger, just to mess up your day. He could follow you from screen to screen unlike other enemies in the series who were impeded by doors and, oh yeah, he also had a rocket launcher. Yup, a rocket launcher. If this character was available in an online FPS it would be nerfed in the first patch.
To this day, I’ve never finished Resident Evil 3. Too traumatized by the 7-foot 3 monster appearing out of nowhere, trying to put a tentacle through my head, or shooting a rocket launcher missile down my throat. I’ve heard it was a good game...
we’ve saved the best for last…
DUSTIN’S PICK
Perhaps you haven’t heard of MissingNO from Pokemon Red and Blue. You might then be confused as to why, on a list filled with monsters and beasts, this blocky mess is here. MissingNO may be just a glitch, but it was super freaky to me as a kid and its ominous vibe still lingers.
MissingNO must be summoned through a strange ritual. Find the old man who teaches you to catch pokemon in Veridian City and speak with him. Once you’ve had a chat, fly directly to Cinnabar Island and surf along the coast. After a few short treks up and down the coast, the ritual is complete and he is awoken. At this point, you can run, fight, or even catch the hellish abomination if you dare. If you choose to take the creature into your party, it can grant you riches beyond belief. An infinite supply of rare candy, or even endless Master Balls. Beware though because, like Midas’ touch of gold, MissingNO also puts a curse on the trainer.
Greed must be punished. MissingNO will haunt the player’s game, ruining their finest moment by corrupting their Hall of Fame once the Elite Four has been completed. The severity of MissingNO’s other curses can vary, but some have reported their entire save file becoming corrupt. Shaking the curse can be as simple as releasing MissingNo to wander the Earth in search of a new victim, but sometimes he refuses to leave. When asked about how to restore corrupt games even after releasing MissingNO, Nintendo officially responded by saying “If the problem persists, the only solution is to restart your game. This means erasing your current game and starting a brand new one.”
Back when I was six in 1999, the stories and legends of MissingNO were a popular topic among Pokemon fans. Whispers across the lunchroom and school bus told of his riches and of his curse. Could MissingNO be a secret cursed pokemon that was meant to be found in the game? We were kids with wild imaginations and helplessly obsessed with the fresh new world of Pokemon. Of course now we now MissingNO is simply a glitch, but I still look back fondly to feeling my heart race in mystery the first time MissingNO appeared on my screen.
So that’s our list of scariest monsters in video games. What did you think? Did we miss any? What would your picks be? Let us know on Twitter.
