Summary
- Villains in horror games can be scary through body horror, unpredictability, or creepiness.
- Some horror games fall flat with non-threatening villains, reducing the fear factor.
- Ramon Salazar from Resident Evil 4 acts more as comic relief than a mastermind.
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.
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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 the least scary villains from horror games that 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!
10 Eveline (Resident Evil 7)
The Creepy Girl Trope Didn't Pay Off
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Released
- January 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Psychological Horror, First-Person
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
There is no doubt that Resident Evil 7 is 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" trope has 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.
9 Josh Washington (Until Dawn)
Just A Prankster That Went Too Far
Until Dawn
- Released
- August 25, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Supermassive Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Platform(s)
- PS4
- Genre(s)
- Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Josh Washington is the brother of the dead twins Hannah and Beth in Until 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.
8 Ramon Salazar (Resident Evil 4)
Evil Mastermind Or Insecure Child?
Resident Evil 4
- Released
- January 11, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
Resident Evil 4 is a charming game for many reasons, two of which being the outlandish plot and constant injections of cheesy humor. Ramon Salazar is one of Saddler's puppets, infected with Las Plagas and responsible for keeping the kidnapped Ashley under lock and key.
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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 in the remake is much more sinister.
7 Claudia Wolf (Silent Hill 3)
Fear Nullified By Sympathy
Silent Hill 3
- Released
- August 6, 2003
WHERE TO PLAY
It's very apparent that Silent Hill 3's Claudia has been entirely brainwashed by The Order, with a history of being abused, which gave her a warped perception of the world. She fully believes in the motives of the deity they worship and 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.
6 Eve (Parasite Eve)
PS1 Graphics Aren't The Problem
Parasite Eve
- Released
- September 9, 1998
WHERE TO PLAY
Parasite Eve has become an iconic 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 with Eve are 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 alongside Resident Evil and Silent Hill as one of the scarier PlayStation titles.
5 Empress Tihana (Amnesia: Rebirth)
Underutilized Female Rage
Amnesia: Rebirth
- Released
- October 20, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Frictional Games
- Publisher(s)
- Frictional Games
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
In Amnesia: Rebirth, Empress Tihana is 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.
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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.
4 Mother (Prey)
Not A Very Intimidating Boss
Prey
- Released
- July 11, 2006
WHERE TO PLAY
Successfully mixing sci-fi and horror can be a difficult feat, but not an impossible one; titles like Alien: Isolation and Dead Space are good examples. While Prey manages 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. Mother is 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.
3 The Neighbor (Hello Neighbor)
Just A Suspicious And Oddly-Proportioned Man
Hello Neighbor
- Released
- October 8, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Dynamic Pixels
- Publisher(s)
- Tiny Build Games
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- Stealth, Survival Horror
As a survival horror, Hello Neighbor has a lot of unique things going for it. The topsy-turvy houses, the ominous deserted neighborhood, and missing children all add 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 than the Neighbor himself. 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.
2 Baldi (Baldi's Basics In Education And Learning)
One Of The Most Absurd Mascots
Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning
- Released
- May 27, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning is 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.
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Similarly to the Neighbor in Hello Neighbor, much of Baldi'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).
1 Skizzo (Days Gone)
Too Unlikable To Fear
Days Gone
- Released
- April 26, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Bend Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action, Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Days Gone has all the ingredients to cook up an interesting open-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 — see Outlast or The Hole, for example. Unfortunately, Skizzo doesn'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.
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