Horror games, like good horror films, are adored and played for the thrills they give us and the jump scares we experience when confronting their frightening and ugly creatures. Games, unlike movies, make us feel like we’re a part of the plot, and we’re more likely to relate to them. Naturally, the terror factor increases by an incredibly large factor.
While the large, bad monsters make you jump out of your skin, the regular but relentless monsters maintain the adrenaline. Even though most monsters and creatures seen in games are simple to defeat with a little strategy, the notion that they live in the same virtual environment as the player is frightening. We’ll take a deeper look at some of the deadliest monsters that have ever appeared in video games in this video.
Rat King from The Last of Us Part II
In the year 2013, a fungal infection that alters the brain started to spread. Twenty years later, in 2033, almost sixty percent of the population gets infected by the disease named Cordyceps Brain Infection. Looking at the pandemic, the US government disbands the elected officials and bureaucrats, only to impose martial law in the country, with the army and homeland security calling the shots.
But there rose a paramilitary group named Fireflies that sought to check the spread of the pandemic and also attempted to get back in place the lawful and elected government. Five years after these events and around twenty-five years from the beginning of the outbreak Ellie and Joel start to live in Tommy’s Settlement but are faced with mortal threats from the infected and hostile survivors.
The Cordyceps Brain Infection manifests in four stages. After getting infected, a person transforms into runners, who have increased speed but land sluggish attacks on their victims. After two weeks of the infection, the runners transform into stalkers, who close in on their targets with tactical abilities and have the speed and strength of runners. After a year of being infected, the stalkers transform into clickers, who have further increased strength and stamina.
Their faces get completely disfigured, and they move through echolocation. The fourth and final stage is that of a bloater. As the name suggests, bloaters are huge humanoids who hardly resemble anything human. They have superhuman strength and possess the same abilities as clickers and stalkers. However, there’s another stage or rather an anomaly named the Rat King, which is the combination of several stalkers, clickers, and a bloater.
The Rat King is an incredibly strong and resilient creature that can annihilate parts of buildings and destroy vehicles like ambulances. Killing it is difficult and time-consuming because it can absorb heavy damage before finally succumbing. As it is an amalgamation of various creatures, some of them may break off from the main body and attack individually. It is assumed that the Rat King was created by the first-ever infected and is supposedly the result of 25 years of infection.
Volatile from Dying Light
Dying Light is an FPP survival game in which the player takes the role of Kyle Crane. The game is set in a world full of monsters and an infected populace that has become hungry and mindless due to a plague. As Crane, who is an undercover agent, the player is expected to salvage supplies and weapons during the day so that those supplies can be used during the night when the infected become stronger and more aggressive. Kyle Crane will have to survive till dawn and complete the mission of retrieving a file from a rogue politician. However, Kyle must choose between continuing on his mission and helping the survivors against the infected.
One of the most dangerous infected monsters in Dying Light is Volatile, who emerges only at night. These nocturnal beasts have broad shoulders and are taller than most others infected as found in the game. Furthermore, they have exposed muscles and bones and yield a mandible jaw.
While the other infected that the player confronts can be killed with some persistence, Volatile is a different breed that can take immense damage and still not die. So, if you don’t have enough offensive supplies to finish off the Volatile, or god forbid, a group of Volatiles, the best option is to flee and reach a safe zone. Volatiles are agile and quick creatures, which makes it easier for them to catch up with the player.
Their pounce attack is almost impossible to escape from, but a UV flashlight helps when the Volatiles are pouncing. Furthermore, if a Volatile is in such a position that it can not reach its victim, the Volatile uses a spit attack. For instance, if a player is climbing, spit attacks work best for the Volatiles. However, Volatiles are incredibly vulnerable to light; they often run to dark places like tunnels and caves when the sun comes up, and some of them usually die in the process.
But then the player must be extra cautious of the Blue Volatiles, which are an evolution of the regular Volatiles. They are arachnid humanoids with prominent fangs, black protrusions, and spiky carapaces. These are faster and stronger than the regular Volatiles and have more resilience towards melee weapons because of their strong external armor. Yet, Blue Volatiles are as vulnerable to light and UV light as regular Volatiles.
Pyramid Head from Silent Hill
The Pyramid Head or the Red Pyramid Thing is one of the recurring monsters of the Silent Hill franchise and made its first appearance in the 2001 game Silent Hill 2. As many of you would already know, the Silent Hill games are based on psychological horror, the Pyramid Head’s red helmet and butcher’s clothes actually resemble an ancient executioner of Silent Hill, but the Pyramid Head itself is the manifestation of James Sunderland’s desire for punishment and guilt.
Whenever James commits a murder, another Pyramid Head comes to life, for instance, the murder of Eddie Dombrowski in self-defense. The Pyramid Head’s weapons of choice are his Great Spear and his Great Knife. In the game Silent Hill Homecoming, his character was revisioned as someone who inflicts punishment on the sinners to bring justice and exact vengeance.
The town of Silent Hill in Maine is plagued with a supernatural entity that manifests the unconscious elements and feelings of the mind. Centuries ago, the natives used this power to contact their dead and nature. Eventually, colonizers came to Maine and took away their land. Soon, there came into existence a cult of sorts that worshipped Valtiel, the angel of rebirth. Furthermore, they performed ritualistic sacrifices to please Valtiel. Now, the attire of the executioners that carried out the sacrifices was similar to what our Pyramid Head wears.
Laura from The Evil Within
Detective Sebastian Castellanos goes to the Beacon Mental Hospital in Krimson City to investigate a mass murder. With him are his partner Joseph Oda and a junior detective Juli Kidman. The three cops hear a strange noise and somehow get transported to an unreal world. Soon, Sebastian gets separated from his colleagues and is hunted down by a chainsaw-wielding man. He manages to meet his colleagues, and they attempt to escape, but a high-magnitude earthquake dismantles the city.
All sorts of monsters now surround Sebastian, but there’s also a mysterious apparition of a man in a white hood stalking Sebastian. One of Beacon Mental Hospital’s doctors named Marcelo Jimenez, tells him that the hooded stalker is called Ruvik. Ruvik was born Ruben Victoriano, an intellectual but challenged kid who was very close to his sister Laura Victoriano.
Both of them were burnt when someone burned the family barn as an act of revenge. Laura seemingly died, and Ruben got disfigured, due to which his father banished him to the basement of the manor. But Ruvik killed his parents and took over the estate. Since then, Ruvik started experimenting with reality so that he could practically live in his memory with Laura.
Laura was essentially a figment of Ruvik’s imagination stemming from a tragic death and his desire to exact vengeance. As the cause of her death was fire, she is vulnerable to it but remains immune to gunshots, etc. she screams constantly, which may be a reference to the screams she lent out while burning in the barn fire. In the game, Castellanos meets her in chapter four when Laura bursts out of corpses from a morgue-like room.
He decides to run with his life as she seems to be a formidable enemy, but she shows up again in many other instances. As far as her abilities and powers are concerned, she can teleport, apart from tunneling into any given surface. She’s quick and practically a sink for damage from ammunition. Beware if you find her lurking behind you. Interestingly enough, Laura’s design and appearance are inspired by the Jorōgumo, an arachnidian creature from Japanese folklore that can transform into a beautiful woman.
Necromorphs from Dead Space
What happens when an alien infection starts reanimating corpses? Well, we get Necromorphs. As the name suggests, they are morphed or transformed dead bodies and the prime antagonists of the Dead Space games. These creatures are extremely hostile and attack anything that moves or rather anything that breathes. They have a one-point agenda of acquiring more and more corpses to convert and spread the infection till the time not even a single organism is left alive. The Brethren Moons control the Necromorphs through devices called Markers.
Brethren Moons are giant otherworldy Necromorphs and at the final stage of their life cycle as they are created only when every living being comes in contact with the Markers, only to be infected and killed. It is the helix-shaped Markers that begin the generation of these grotesque monsters. The devices emit concentrated electromagnetic waves that alter tissues and muscles on a cellular level. When all the tissues of a dead organism are altered, a Necromorph is born. Furthermore, the electromagnetic signals also affect the brain and intelligence of the morphed corpse.
These beasts come in all sizes, ranging from barely humanoid creatures to elephantine monsters. Necromorphs can either infest dead bodies or kill living humans or other organisms so that new Necromorphs can spawn from them. There are well over 35 different kinds of Necromorphs depending upon their function, appearance, host body, and type of attack.
Some may believe that these are mindless creatures that attack out of instinct, but the Necromorphs show signs of tactical and strategic thinking when they attack in packs. They also use intelligent tactics like playing dead, stealthily waiting for victims to enter the striking range, etc.
As discussed earlier, their sole purpose is to kill all living organisms and convert their corpses into Necromorphs to create a Brethren Moon. Furthermore, they share a collective intelligence that helps them to coordinate their attack and share information. The central mind is probably that of Brethren Moons that can control other Necromorphs from far ends of the galaxy. A similar trait is witnessed in the case of the Xenomorph Queen Mother. Also, they can be compared to the monsters from the 1989 film Leviathan as well as to the alien from John Carpenter’s The Thing.
If you wish to deep dive into John Carpenter’s The Thing, check out our video titled The Thing – Anatomy, Real Form, Timeline, And Future Of The Franchise Explained In Detail. We’ll leave a link in the description.
Nemesis from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
The first installment of Resident Evil begins with a group of commandos tasked with a mission in a mansion somewhere in the woods. They find that the Umbrella Corporation has been experimenting and researching to create the T-Virus and other mutagens that transform humans and animals into zombies and other deadly monsters. The sequel takes place in and around a fictional city called Raccoon City.
STARS or Special Tactics And Rescue Service is the police tactical unit that seeks to check the nefarious activities of Umbrella Corporation and its evil plans. Later, this bio-terrorism is spread across the globe, and heroes like Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Rebecca Chambers stand firm against humans and monsters alike. With guns, zombies, beasts, politics, conspiracies, and some unforgettable characters in gaming history, Resident Evil Series simply takes your breath away.
Umbrella Corporation create bio-weapons and sell them to the United States Army, with the money earned, they’d carry out their own sinister experiments and research. However, a major flaw in their bio-organic weapons was that they were hostile and took almost no commands on the battlefield. They needed to create a BOW with a human-like intelligence level so that it would take orders.
Umbrella then developed the mighty and vicious Nemesis Tyrant-Type as its most advanced and intelligent BOW. It could take complex direct orders and wield a range of weapons. Of course, these skills came along with the usual superhuman strength, stamina, and speed of other BOWs. The Nemesis served as a major antagonist in the 1999 game Resident Evil 3 and then resurfaced in the 2020 remake of the same game. Like other BOWs, the Nemesis went through a series of chages only to become a nearly undefeatable monster.
Initially, he was a humongous humanoid figure with spotty smeared skin and a lipless mouth. Later, Nemesis developed tentacles on his limbs and would skewer and drill his victims to death using them. His final transformation made him anything but humanoid. It mutated into a large mass of flesh with tentacles growing from all parts that could kill even the strongest of enemies. He was created with the Nemesis Alpha parasite and is considered by many publications as one of the most intimidating and terrifying monsters of the gaming world.
Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th
Notorious super serial killer Jason Voorhees was born on Thursday the 13th of June 1946. Jason was not born a criminal or a crazed killer, but his tragic past made him one. Born to Elias and Pamela Voorhees, young Jason was diagnosed with several diseases like Hydrocephalus, a brain disease in which the body produces excess cerebrospinal fluid, and this condition led to other ailments in Jason like a deformed face, an enlarged head, stunted mental growth, etc. He would be the subject of abuse and bullying at the hands of the other kids.
So, Pamela kept him within the confines of their home and isolated him from the entire community. Jason obliged every single one of his mother’s commands without questions and with obedience. This unquestioned and unconditional love for her mother would ultimately become the reason for Jason’s gruesome crimes. Everyone thought that Jason had drowned, but he was a better swimmer than perceived.
In 1957, Mr. and Mrs. Christy owned a summer camp near Crystal Lake, and they recruited Mrs. Pamela Voorhees as the camp’s cook. Mrs. Voorhees took her 11-year-old son to the camp. Jason’s unusual face brought him to unwanted spotlight, and his white hood was not helping either. A swarm of bullying kids surrounded Jason; he panicked and reached the dock, but the kids caught up with him.
In a desperate attempt to save himself from his little tormentors, Jason jumped into the lake and presumably drowned. And, where were the camp counselors all this while? Well, they were busy making love instead of keeping a strict eye on the kids. He started living the life of a hermit in the nearby woods and grew up to become an adult. However, it is very much a possibility that he had help.
While young Jason grew up presumably by himself, his mother was busy slashing young men and women. From a lonely child, Jason had transformed into a recluse adult with a crude lifestyle. Eventually, he witnessed his mother getting killed and losing whatever little sanity he had left in him. His only goal became slaughtering camp counselors before they escaped. In the game, however, he must kill the people in less than twenty minutes. Like the films, he has supernatural powers and abilities. One of the most crucial ones is his ability to morph and teleport anywhere in the playable map.
Banshee from Mass Effect 3
Banshees are a corrupted form of the Asari, who are an ancient race of super-intelligent feminine aliens. The Banshees lead the Reaper forces. Now, Reapers are basically billions of minds that are integrated into mechanical bodies. The Reapers created the Banshees by enhancing an Asari’s powers, but this made the Asari a black widow. Banshees are surprisingly strong and can withstand huge levels of offensive attacks from their opponents, although they may seem to lumber as if they are in constant pain.
When regenerating after an attack, they emit shockwaves and can throw deadly balls of pure energy. Furthermore, they can teleport during combat, making them a formidable opponent. Like the Predators or Yautjas, when the Banshees die, they invariably cause a severe biotic implosion so that they are not captured.
As far as their offensive capabilities are concerned, the Banshees charge at their opponents when they are within a radius of five meters. But if the enemy is in closer range, the Banshees grab them and impale them with their hands, causing instant death. The arms can also be used as a melee weapon. Furthermore, their biotic projectiles serve as heat-seeking weapons that track their targets and destroy their defensive measures.
Wendigo from Until Dawn
Whenever a human resorts to cannibalism as a last resort to survive, an ancient Native American spirit named Wendigo possesses the cannibal. The curse was placed on the Blackwood Mountain area and the most notable and infamous Wendigo has to be Hanna Washington, who was forced to eat her own sister after being stuck in the mines for days. These possessed humans to have a lean physique, arachnidian limbs, and pale skin.
They are rarely visible unless they choose to attack by pouncing. These monsters have incredible agility and speed, along with outstanding stamina, as they don’t get tired while chasing their prey, even if they have to cover long distances. Furthermore, their vision is sensitive to motion, so they can home in on a target that’s escaping. Despite their lean bodies and frail outlook, the Wendigos are surprisingly strong and durable.
They can not just crush human skulls with bare hands but are resilient enough to withstand bullets shot straight into their skulls. These sadistic killers prefer brutal modes of eliminating their prey, such as gouging out the eyes or tearing off the jaws. However, Wendigo’s motion-sensitive eyes become their weakness as they fail to see a stationary opponent.
Killing a Wendigo is only possible with the help of fire, but doing so releases the spirit that possessed it, which means that it is ready to possess someone else. It is noteworthy that Wendigos retain some memory from their human form, but this doesn’t mean they’d let you live. And, god forbid if you met a Wendigo whose human form you’d messed with.
The Witch from Left 4 Dead
Like many other games, Left 4 Dead is a survival game that puts four players into a world that’s plagued with an infectious Green Flu.
The Witch is an infected human who remains dormant and docile unless attacked or triggered, after which she will definitely incapacitate or, in the worst cases, kill the victim. In the game Left 4 Dead, she’s a non-playable character. She’s extremely susceptible to light or being in the close vicinity of uninfected humans. In either of the cases, she initially hurls a growl at the human as a warning sign.
If the human backs off and puts away the source of light, she resorts to her usual state of wailing. Otherwise, she uses her incredible speed and strength to incapacitate the uninfected, after which, she attempts to slash her victim and stops only if either of them dies. Her figure is that of an extremely skinny young girl with pale skin, razor-sharp teeth, red eyes, and foot-long claws.
The Witch doesn’t seem a formidable opponent at first but beware because she packs more power than many other hulking monsters from other games. The best way to kill a Witch is to turn off the lights and then use a shotgun or some similar weapon against her. You don’t have to be worried about being in the dark as you’ll be able to see her glowing eyes.
Botchling from The Witcher
As repulsive as the Botchlings might seem, their creation and backstories are equally dark and moving. The Botchlings are formed when unwanted babies are discarded, and they die without a proper burial. This is why they look like decomposing fetuses with flesh that is spliced with malice, fear, and hatred.
Like vampires, they feed on blood, but because of their history, the blood has to be that of a pregnant woman. This hunger which is insatiable often leads to the death of the woman. It is important to note that the Botchling is a small monster and doesn’t have the strength to overpower the victim when it has to feed.
Naturally, it makes sure that the victim gets weak and frail before it sticks its fangs into her. It emerges through the shadows in the depths of night and lurks around the bedside of unwitting and expecting mothers. It slowly drains her strength as she sleeps, makes her see nightmares, and induces fever to make her weak and defenseless.
After a few nights, when the Botchling is sure that the woman will not be able to defend herself, it begins to feed on her blood, killing both her and her unborn in the process. However, if threatened by someone, it can transform into a humanoid figure to attack with its sharp claws. The Botchling is inspired by a Slavonic mythological creature resulting from an improper burial of a still-born child.