Summary
With the huge number of horror games out there comes an even bigger roster of villains, be they monstrous beast or monstrous human. These foes can be scary in various ways; some rely on body horror to evoke feelings of repulsion, while others are unhinged and volatile, with their actions and behavior creating fear from their unpredictability. Some are simply creepy.
While many horror games nail their respective villains, some fall flat and aren’t scary at all. This can take away from the apprehension of the experience, with no real threat to overcome or avoid. These are some of theleast scary villains from horror gamesthat fail to get players' hearts racing, sometimes to a comical extent.
This list focuses on main villains, rather than regular enemies.
Spoiler Warning: some of the entries on this list contain narrative spoilers relating to villain identities and actions!
There is no doubt thatResident Evil 7is a scary game,chock-full of Southern Gothic imagery. From the cannibalistic family to the decaying environments, pretty much the whole experience is dread-inducing. As such, it’s a shame that the game misses the mark with the overarching villain,Eveline.
The “creepy girl” tropehas been done many times before, so in order to pull it off, it needs a fresh twist or perfect execution. Unfortunately, compared to other villains of the franchise, she falls into the trap of being cliché, and her tragic narrative as a lonely child only takes more of the fear factor away.
Josh Washingtonis the brother of the dead twins Hannah and Beth inUntil Dawn.He is also revealed to be the masked “Psycho” who has been playing some over-the-top pranks on his friends in revenge for his sisters' deaths. Without the mask, though, Josh loses his scary villain status.
Players eventually get to see his vulnerable side,mentally disturbed and wrapped in grief, and just as afraid as everyone else. Josh is not the real threat in the game, and the Wendigos quickly undermine whatever perceived threat he posed, potentially even making him suffer the same fate.
Resident Evil 4is a charming game for many reasons, two of which being the outlandish plot and constant injections of cheesy humor.Ramon Salazaris one of Saddler’s puppets, infected with Las Plagas and responsible for keeping the kidnapped Ashley under lock and key.
Despite his maniacal ego and control over the Los Illuminados cult, Salazar acts more as a comic relief, with the witty back and forth between him and Leon taking center stage. Ultimately immature and prone to temper tantrums, many players feel that Salazar inthe remake is much more sinister.
It’s very apparent thatSilent Hill 3’sClaudiahas been entirely brainwashed by The Order, with a history of being abused, which gave her a warped perception of the world. Shefully believes in the motives of the deity they worshipand the lengths that are needed to manifest such a God.
Because of this, Claudia is somewhat of a sympathetic character. She is able to do her bidding indirectly, always pulling the strings but never posing a direct threat to the player. Compared to the previous High Priestess, Dahlia, Claudia barely scratches the surface of what pure evil means.
Parasite Evehas become aniconic horror title of PS1-era gaming, an iconic combination of sci-fi, mystery, and body horror rolled into one neat package. The game follows rookie police officer, Aya, as she tries to prevent the titular villain from completely destroying humanity.
Encounters and battles withEveare somewhat lackluster. This is in part the fault of the primarily turn-based combat style, which massively slows the pacing, and in part Eve’s odd floating. That said, the game is still considered alongsideResident EvilandSilent Hillas one of thescarier PlayStation titles.
InAmnesia: Rebirth,Empress Tihanais the ruler of the “Other World,” infected by an ailment that can only be kept at bay with human blood-sourced vitae. Her main motive is taking the protagonist Tasi’s child, appearing throughout the game as a Will-o'-the-wisp-like orb or a spectral human.
She is manipulative, indeed, but compared to the moments where the player is thrust into darkness and attacked by hideous beasts, Tihana’s appearance, and boss battle, are underwhelming. Players expecting an enraged, desperate mother instead get a ghost and some inconvenient mobility debuffs.
Successfullymixing sci-fi and horrorcan be a difficult feat, but not an impossible one; titles likeAlien: IsolationandDead Spaceare good examples. WhilePreymanages to pull off the genre combo in some areas, there are also a few moments that take a backseat from the horror.
The game centers around a group of humans abducted by an organic spaceship, the Sphere, and their attempt to escape.Motheris the main antagonist of the game, keeping the Sphere alive and controlling its Keepers. With such influence, it’s a shame that her aura doesn’t quite match the intimidating nature of her position — or the body horror of the other aliens.
As a survival horror,Hello Neighborhas a lot of unique things going for it. The topsy-turvy houses, the ominous deserted neighborhood, and missing children alladd to the game’s air of mystery. Players need to use strategy to solve the puzzles and uncover what’s really going on.
A lot of the game’s horror comes from the concept — and the anxiety of being caught — rather thanthe Neighborhimself. At the end of the day, he is a cartoon guy, and replacing him with another model would likely make little difference to the effect of being chased down.
Baldi’s Basics in Education and Learningis an absurdist horror experience, disguised as an educational game. What begins as a simple hunt for notebooks to answer math questions quickly becomes a race to escape the school while the titular teacher chases the player down with a ruler.
Similarly to the Neighbor inHello Neighbor,much ofBaldi’s intimidation comes from the inherent scariness of being chased. Other than that, Baldi is simply an abstract cluster of shapes with an aggressive passion for math (or a hatred for those who don’t have one).
Days Gonehas all the ingredients to cook up an interestingopen-world zombie game, with fun action mechanics like horde shooting and biking mingled with an interesting story and moments of horror. For all the zombie decimating and dicey encounters, the game also explores community and politics in the post-apocalypse.
It’s not impossible to make a human villain scary or intimidating — seeOutlastorThe Hole,for example. Unfortunately,Skizzodoesn’t hit this mark; he’s a creep, a traitor, and an all-around slimy character that’s less threatening and more unlikable. Despite this, it seems like an intentional characterization, and the developers successfully made most players hate Skizzo.
