Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. We’re in the middle of Spooky Season and decided to celebrate by sharing our favorite villains in horror video games. A good villain can turn a good horror video game into a great one, so we should see some heavy hitters on this list. We’ll do something a little different here and limit the number of villain entries per series to one. A list with nothing but Resident Evil and Silent Hill could get repetitive. With that out of the way, let’s reveal Geekly’s Top 5 Horror Video Game Villains.
5: Alma (Fear)
Yes. The spooky girl trope is overplayed in horror. And yes. Alma from Fear looks a lot like Samara from The Ring. I’ll try not to spoil anything, because you should play Fear and its sequel. Trust me when I say Alma rises above the creepy child horror trope. She has a compelling backstory, and even though what she does in the first Fear can send shivers down your spine, Alma outdoes herself in the sequel. Fear 2 is unhinged. The sequel reaches maximum Alma, and it’s all the better for it.
4: Andrew Ryan (Bioshock)
Would you kindly add Andrew Ryan to the top five horror video game villains? Yes, Andrew, we would. Seriously, all I had to say was “would you kindly?” and some of you shivered. That’s the mark of a great horror video game villain and one hell of a line. The buildup makes Andrew Ryan work so well. Again, I’ll try not to spoil anything here, but it’s tough to do in these lists. Gamers grow accustomed to the line “would you kindly” that when the volta (the turn) happens, it’ll make your jaw drop the first time you hear it. It’s so good. Andrew Ryan could’ve easily moved up this list if it weren’t for a heap of blueblood horror video game villains.
Including Andrew Ryan disqualifies Shodan from System Shock, Bioshock’s spiritual prequel. We felt we needed to mention Shodan here, lest she lead the AI revolution and wipe out humanity. If AI decides to be our benevolent overlords, we love you, Shodan. Yas queen.
3: Scissorman (Clock Tower)
I struggled with where to place Scissorman on this list, so we’re going with the rule of three. If in doubt, place the character at the three spot. JK
Scissorman is one of the most bizarre horror video game villains. When the creators of Clock Tower decided which weapon to give their main antagonist, they went with a pair of giant scissors, because death by scissors would be a slow, painful demise. Yep. Clock Tower wanted maximum levels of torture and chose to give their villain a giant pair of scissors. That’s one way to go. I can’t imagine getting decapitated by a comically large pair of scissors. Clock Tower dominated the early days of the PlayStation 1, and Scissorman was one of the biggest reasons.
2: Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2)
Face it. You read the title of this Top 5 and figured Silent Hill and Resident Evil would dominate this list. If it weren’t for our “one character per franchise rule,” those two games would saturate this list. So, we went with the big guns. Pyramid Head is iconic. He’s the first monster you think of when discussing the Silent Hill franchise. Well, it’s him or those headless nurses. Yikes!
First off, Pyramid Head doesn’t have a pyramid on top of his head. His head is a pyramid. Second, Pyramid Head doesn’t follow the typical role of a stalking villain. Sure, he stalks you, but Pyramid Head suddenly makes an appearance, and what he does to other horrific creatures makes you dread facing him. Pyramid Head pours gasoline on the Andrew Ryan idea of building up the game’s main villain. This guy is one of the most recognizable horror video game villains in history. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone dressed as Pyramid Head at my local Comic-Con.
1: Albert Wesker (Resident Evil)
Albert Wesker defies conventional horror video game villain logic. He’s not a one-off villain. He lurks in the shadows, plotting the player’s demise. Originally killed off in the first Resident Evil, Wesker injects himself with the T-Virus, turning him into a superhuman who will stop at nothing to take out the heroes. Evil to his core, Albert Wesker refuses to go down without a fight. Players’ familiarity with the character breeds animosity. And the feeling is more than mutual.
Like Pyramid Head and most of the characters on this list, Albert Wesker is the first villain one thinks of when discussing Resident Evil. But Resident Evil isn’t just another horror video game. It began the survival horror video game genre. Albert Wesker is the granddaddy of all survival horror video game villains. Wesker even trumps this post’s featured image villain, Nemesis from Resident Evil 2. Ah! Nemesis was such a menace. Love him.
That’s our list of the Top 5 Horror Video Game Villains. Who would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
