Pixels Make Them Seem Less Scary
Video games give players plenty of opportunities to encounter terrifying characters without having to worry about what would happen outside the screen. Their exaggerated abilities, strange appearances, and complete disregard for normal rules become much more unsettling when you imagine meeting them in an actual neighborhood. If these 20 characters suddenly stepped out of their games, you probably wouldn't stick around to see what happens next.
Victoria Romanova a.k.a. Milligan Vick on Wikimedia
1. Nemesis, Resident Evil
Nemesis is scary enough in Resident Evil, but he’d only get worse if he were real. He can take incredible amounts of damage and keeps pursuing you no matter what. Add in the fact that he talks and likes to shout out your name, and you’ve got one messed-up nightmare.
2. Pyramid Head, Silent Hill
Pyramid Head looks scary before he does anything, thanks to his massive stature and creepy appearance. He’s slow and deliberate, which only amplifies how intimidating he is when he’s approaching you down an empty hallway. Hearing that giant sword of his scrape along the floor in real life would likely cause you to immediately drop the subject.
3. Mr. X, Resident Evil 2
Mr. X is one of those horror villains that scares you because he just… doesn’t stop. He’ll keep on creeping toward you no matter what you do. Seeing an enormous, silent man in a trench coat calmly following you down a real hallway would be deeply unpleasant.
4. The Hunter, Bloodborne
Hunters already look kinda grotesque, but they’re made even worse by their actions. They’re incredibly fast and move like light on legs, all while sporting some ridiculous weapons. Imagine meeting one on the street corner one day, and you’ll instantly have no desire to ask him what he’s hunting.
5. Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village
Lady Dimitrescu would stand out from a crowd anywhere, even if you somehow didn’t notice her height at first. She’d seem harmless at first thanks to her elegant appearance. You'd probably reconsider your decision to explore that mysterious castle after seeing her walk toward you.
Victoria Romanova a.k.a. Milligan Vick on Wikimedia
6. Ganondorf, The Legend of Zelda
Ganondorf is scary because he’s not just big and strong. He’s typically depicted as a supernatural warlord with magical powers and decades, if not centuries, of experience under some iterations. If he appeared in the real world, dealing with him would require considerably more than calling the police.
7. The Doom Slayer, DOOM
The Doom Slayer would instill fear for the opposite reason as most entries on this list. He's essentially a relentless supernatural warrior who has spent his existence fighting armies of demons without showing much interest in stopping. Watching someone like that casually walk through an ordinary city would raise some very serious questions about what exactly had gone wrong.
8. Kerrigan, StarCraft
When Sarah Kerrigan transforms into the Queen of Blades, she earns command over an army of huge alien creatures. She also commands things like Ravagers that are scary enough on their own. Throw in an intelligent coordinator in charge of that entire army, and you’ve got yourself a world-threatening crisis.
9. The Butcher, Diablo
Diablo series villain The Butcher is iconic for his involvement in one of the most messed-up encounters in gaming. Between his size, disturbing looks, and overly aggressive nature, the Butcher would scare anybody. Put him somewhere without game mechanics protecting you, and finding a place to hide suddenly becomes your top priority.
10. Scorpion, Mortal Kombat
Scorpion would break several laws of physics if he were real, making him scary for that reason alone. He can summon fire, survive supernatural attacks, and use his signature kunai to pull opponents toward him. Even before considering the teleportation and other powers associated with him, meeting a supernatural warrior who announces himself with a flaming attack would be alarming.
11. Shao Kahn, Mortal Kombat
Shao Kahn combines enormous physical strength with years of experience conquering other realms. His armor, hammer, and supernatural abilities would make him intimidating enough without the army behind him. The fact that he's usually interested in ruling whatever territory he encounters doesn't exactly make him a promising new neighbor.
Nikita Kachanovsky on Unsplash
12. Vaas Montenegro, Far Cry 3
Vaas is scary because he doesn’t need any powers to be terrifying. He's unpredictable, violent, and capable of switching from calm conversation to extreme aggression without much warning. In a real-world situation, his unpredictability would arguably be more frightening than any monster because you wouldn't know what he might do next.
13. Handsome Jack, Borderlands 2
Handsome Jack would scare you with his mind. He’s crafty, extremely manipulative, and wields technology far beyond what we have in real life. Not to mention, he can have an entire company of people along with advanced robots chase you instead of having to do it himself.
Tim Bartel from Cologne, Germany on Wikimedia
14. GLaDOS, Portal
GLaDOS can scare you without even having a physical body to back her up. The AI can control an entire facility filled with dangerous traps and bears a disturbing penchant for tormenting human test subjects. Say an AI gained that much control over an actual building, and you wouldn’t want to be the test subject it picked.
15. The Xenomorph, Alien: Isolation
The creature in Alien: Isolation is frightening because it hunts using senses that make ordinary hiding strategies unreliable. It's fast, intelligent, and designed by evolution to be an extremely effective predator. Encountering one in an actual building would turn every dark corner and ventilation shaft into something you definitely wouldn't want to investigate.
16. Clickers, The Last of Us
Part of what makes Clickers so scary is the fact that they were human, too. Like many horror villains, their attacks are centered around sound, which only amplifies how creepy they are in silent rooms. Hearing strange clicking noises from somewhere nearby would be enough to make you reconsider walking down that hallway.
17. The Enderman, Minecraft
The Enderman may not look as intense as a lot of horror characters, but its capabilities would be weird if they were real. It can teleport, manipulate blocks, and become extremely dangerous when provoked. You'd also have to worry about accidentally making eye contact, which is an unusual problem that nobody wants added to everyday life.
18. The Necromorphs, Dead Space
Necromorphs terrify because they used to be human. They move unpredictably and don't respond to injuries the way normal living beings would. Encountering even one in an abandoned building would be terrifying, while discovering an entire outbreak would be a completely different level of disaster.
19. Bowser, Super Mario
Bowser is typically portrayed in a colorful light, causing us to forget he’d be horrifying if he existed. The guy can fly thanks to wings on his back, breathe fire, and command an entire castle full of enemies. If a creature that size suddenly appeared downtown, nobody would care that he normally spends his time kidnapping a princess.
20. The Reaper, Overwatch
The Reaper can become essentially a shadow version of himself at will. He's an experienced combatant who can appear and disappear while carrying powerful weapons. Knowing that someone could seemingly pass through attacks and vanish whenever he wanted would make any encounter extremely difficult to predict.
