The most scary adversary in a story/game/movie.
- Thread starter Drof
- Start date
Chickens from Legend of Zelda.
Seriously though, I have yet to play a game with a foe that makes my heart stop. All horror games I've played are reduced to mere annoyance from the shear firepower of the protagonist, and all the games that place the protagonist at a low position of power just plain suck anyways (yes, this includes Condemned).
EDIT:
I just remembered something. The Torrasque from the Terran campaign on Broodwar... The first time I encountered it, I was about 9 years old and I didn't know any cheats for the game. It ravaged my base to no end and made me quit playing the game for about a year.
Seriously though, I have yet to play a game with a foe that makes my heart stop. All horror games I've played are reduced to mere annoyance from the shear firepower of the protagonist, and all the games that place the protagonist at a low position of power just plain suck anyways (yes, this includes Condemned).
EDIT:
I just remembered something. The Torrasque from the Terran campaign on Broodwar... The first time I encountered it, I was about 9 years old and I didn't know any cheats for the game. It ravaged my base to no end and made me quit playing the game for about a year.
First to spring to mind would be the chainsaw nutjobs from RE5 (yeah I know they were in RE4 first but I never played all the way through that one). They're not the scariest things by far, but I lost count of how many times I nearly pissed myself when he'd vanish from both my screen and my friend's and all we could hear was the chainsaw buzzing. I'd creep around wondering where the hell he vanished to and then either he'd jump up onto the platform I was on in front of me or I'd turn around and he'd be standing there with that stupid sack on his head.
~Game: Silent Hill 2 really draws you into the fact that the town itself is out to get you and uses very creative imagery and rather deep symbolism in the monsters and surroundings as puppets to torment James. Such is done as well in Silent Hill Origins but that's not as widely popular or as creative. Also the monsters aren't truly threatening if you've only played the game on easy before reading this. But if you kick up the difficulty (I did while replaying just to find out what the other endings were) you'll find that the monsters are alot tougher and that their presence truly is rather daunting. Rather than charging at them with guns blazing (I never did for fear that game mechanics were advanced enough that gunfire would attract more of them) or using the suddenly ineffective plank-w/-nail that just bounces off them while merely giving them a bad scratch, you find yourself experimenting with ways to sneak around them unnoticed. But really these are just puppets that the town is waving around you to give you a fright and revive bad memories for the protaganist before it becomes bored and does away with them which the poor bastard will receive and perceive it as just deserved punishment.
~Movie: Jason Voorhees, while not being very scary, holds a special place as being one of my favorites. The sheer number of kills and creativity make up for the lack of instilled fear in my opinion if you don't share it then don't read this >\ bugger off!
~Book: Well the Silence of the Lambs series had to come from somewhere, I'm counting Hannibal Lecter in the book category because he was there first damnit! Yes Dr. Hannibal Lexter M.D. (possibly Esq.) takes this spot for he seems to be able to pop in and out of public presence at will with astounding effeciency, is able to make a spectacle of any escape, and also because he eats people and wears their faces. A man of tastes (some of which I share) patricularly a taste for liver with a side of fava beans and a nice cianti.
~Movie: Jason Voorhees, while not being very scary, holds a special place as being one of my favorites. The sheer number of kills and creativity make up for the lack of instilled fear in my opinion if you don't share it then don't read this >\ bugger off!
~Book: Well the Silence of the Lambs series had to come from somewhere, I'm counting Hannibal Lecter in the book category because he was there first damnit! Yes Dr. Hannibal Lexter M.D. (possibly Esq.) takes this spot for he seems to be able to pop in and out of public presence at will with astounding effeciency, is able to make a spectacle of any escape, and also because he eats people and wears their faces. A man of tastes (some of which I share) patricularly a taste for liver with a side of fava beans and a nice cianti.
Tut. I was hoping someone would disagree with me on Silent Hill so I could argue my case.
I'll do it anyway.
The beauty of the series is that the monsters in themselves aren't scary, not at all. It strange to describe, but it doesn't feel like they are your enemies. I mean, you walk about the town with say, 4 pistol bullets and your radio starts to go off. You don't charge in with reckless abandon, you tihnk about whether you can skulk past in the fog, if you can take it with a melee weapon or if it's big enough to waste bullets on. Or in SH3, you can just run straight past them like a woman possessed (ba dum dum).
But you don't face them all the time, so it's not like a "oh mutants around the bend", you have to be on your toes at all times and that's when it starts to feel like you're fighting against the surrondings and locations rather than the monsters themselves.
That's what went wrong with Homecoming. They didn't recreate the suspense. That and fan service. You start the game watching a Pyramid Head eviscerate some poor tosser, then you run into the guy from Origins, then you go into the same hotel from SH2 at which point a Pyramidhead minces past and gives you a friendly nod. It's pathetic.
I'm finished now. Except I will now be changing my avatar to Heather. =]
I'll do it anyway.
The beauty of the series is that the monsters in themselves aren't scary, not at all. It strange to describe, but it doesn't feel like they are your enemies. I mean, you walk about the town with say, 4 pistol bullets and your radio starts to go off. You don't charge in with reckless abandon, you tihnk about whether you can skulk past in the fog, if you can take it with a melee weapon or if it's big enough to waste bullets on. Or in SH3, you can just run straight past them like a woman possessed (ba dum dum).
But you don't face them all the time, so it's not like a "oh mutants around the bend", you have to be on your toes at all times and that's when it starts to feel like you're fighting against the surrondings and locations rather than the monsters themselves.
That's what went wrong with Homecoming. They didn't recreate the suspense. That and fan service. You start the game watching a Pyramid Head eviscerate some poor tosser, then you run into the guy from Origins, then you go into the same hotel from SH2 at which point a Pyramidhead minces past and gives you a friendly nod. It's pathetic.
I'm finished now. Except I will now be changing my avatar to Heather. =]
the super hulk from Descent was pretty scary... especally when the music doesn't work and all you can hear is that mechanical looping growl.
mostly because it was huge and it could just pop up anywhere.
also bowser from super mario world used to scare the shit outta me whenever he'd come flying towards the screen... especally when you happen to get hit and die when he's right in front of the screen.
mostly because it was huge and it could just pop up anywhere.
also bowser from super mario world used to scare the shit outta me whenever he'd come flying towards the screen... especally when you happen to get hit and die when he's right in front of the screen.
When I was younger, the Redead in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time use to scare the piss out of me. They didn't even have to pop out of anywhere, just seeing them ahead filled me with dread because I knew the second I got close to it, it would screech at me and attempt to rape me.
In condemned 2 when you get chased by that bear through the cabin especially if you make a wrong turn and he corners you. Or even worse was the chainsaw guy from re4.
The Joker in Dark Knight was fairly unsettling. Ra's Al Ghul from Batman Begins was more frightening in the sense that he had an utter conviction that he was doing the morally correct thing by killing everyone, however.
I was genuinely chilled when I discovered what the chickens in Zelda do to you if you kick them too many times.
Also the butcher from Diablo. He stays in a room covered in blood in corpses, and when you open the door he comes trundling out saying "fresh meat!" and then he would kill you. Always, always, kill you. Urk.
And then there was that weird mummy thing from FFXII that would show up out in the desert every once in a great while. The first time I encountered it, I was too weak to beat it, so I was just gonna ignore it when suddenly it shot towards me so I headed for the exit but it was going so fast and I could hear a horrible hissing scrape as its dead flesh was propelled across the sands at speeds higher than my own and there's the exit but I'm not gonna maaaake iiiiit....(I did make it, but it scared the crap out of me, expecially when it was right there waiting for me when I went back a few minutes later.)
Also the butcher from Diablo. He stays in a room covered in blood in corpses, and when you open the door he comes trundling out saying "fresh meat!" and then he would kill you. Always, always, kill you. Urk.
And then there was that weird mummy thing from FFXII that would show up out in the desert every once in a great while. The first time I encountered it, I was too weak to beat it, so I was just gonna ignore it when suddenly it shot towards me so I headed for the exit but it was going so fast and I could hear a horrible hissing scrape as its dead flesh was propelled across the sands at speeds higher than my own and there's the exit but I'm not gonna maaaake iiiiit....(I did make it, but it scared the crap out of me, expecially when it was right there waiting for me when I went back a few minutes later.)