Top 10 Horror Characters in Gaming History

When you think of the horror genre, you think of great movies like The Shining and The Exorcist, but over the last few decades the gaming industry has caught up and grabbed a piece of the action. There’s something scarier about playing a horror game than watching a horror film, as you feel like you’re right in the midst of it. This article won’t rank the greatest horror games ever made, it will instead celebrate some of the scariest or most iconic horror characters I’ve experienced while gaming.

10. Big Daddies: Bioshock
Having never owned an Xbox, most of my ‘encounters’, if you can call them that, was watching my brother play this on his Xbox 360. The different types of Big Daddy all have something to offer, but they all have a strange creepiness about them. Their gait and the fact you couldn’t see their face made them scarier. The locations in the first Bioshock game were quite dank and oppressive, so any appearance from Big Daddy only heightened the feelings of fear.

9. Lisa: PT
Yes, this wasn’t a full game, nor was it ever released, but Lisa was that scary she just had to be included. Seeing her spectral aura at the end of that desolate and poorly lit hallway was the stuff of nightmares. You never knew when she was going to give you a great jump scare, but whenever she appeared slap bang in front of the screen, I defy anyone to tell me they weren't terrified. PT was utterly frightening and atmospheric, and I wish I hadn’t removed the game from my hard drive.

8. Jason Voorhees: Friday the 13th
In recent times, Jason Voorhees has made the seamless transition from the big screen to videogames. His role in Friday the 13th is as horrifying as you would expect. There are a multitude of Jason’s to choose from, each having their own perks and specialities. Playing as Jason is loads of fun, but having to run and hide from him is as exhilarating as it is terrifying. The premise of the game is simple, but its execution is sublime. Jason has finally been immortalised in the world of gaming.

7. Alma Wade: F.E.A.R
One of the most iconic horror characters in gaming history in the mid to late 2000s, this terrifying ghostly girl was seen on numerous occasions, and when you least expected it. In the early days of YouTube, I remember seeing loads of videos where people had been jump scared by Alma. What made her constant appearances scarier is that F.E.A.R wasn't a hardcore horror title. You had two genres colliding in this game, with Alma adding the horror element in some style.

6. Slenderman: Slender Series
This was a game I first discovered through YouTube, then by playing The Eight Pages. Having nothing more than a torch to illuminate a narrow path of light, the lack of peripheral vision made you think Slenderman was right behind you. After finding one of the pages, a white noise would make the screen jump and flicker, and Slenderman was never far away. Seeing his white face and elongated features in the distance was spine-chilling, but when he appeared right in front of the screen, he gave many a massive fright. As far as great jump scares go, he’s right up there in gaming history.

5. Grunty: Banjo Kazooie
She wasn’t scary, she wasn’t intimidating, but she managed to make just about every sentence rhyme, as she spouted poetic verse in a way T. S. Eliot would be envious. An omnipresent antagonist throughout the series, Grunty is a forgotten Nintendo 64 legend. Her pointy features, green skin and dark clothing were all instrumental in creating a brilliant enemy for Banjo and Kazooie. I know she shouldn’t probably make this list, but witches are a horror character after all.

4. Michael Myers: Dead By Daylight
When Dead By Daylight went from creating their own Killers to bringing real ones into the game, Michael Myers has undoubtedly become the scariest one. Having virtually no terror radius, his ability to jump scare people is unparalleled in the game. His white mask, with its emotionless and eerie features all create a vibe of true fear when trying to escape the map.

3. Jack Baker: Resident Evil 7
The Baker family aren’t your typical family; from the head of the family, Jack to the eerily silent Aunt, this family are pretty terrifying. The fact that Jack feels almost unstoppable makes him the scariest of the bunch. The scene in the garage where he was unrelenting in his attempts to track you down while ablaze was an iconic scene in the game. The claustrophobic nature of the most intense parts of the game added to the fear factor.

2. The Cannibal: Outlast: Whistleblower
This guy was just horrible, and for me, the scariest in any of the Outlast games. Hearing his buzz saw rev louder the closer he got, The Cannibal instilled fear into those who encountered him. Well, that along with his screams of “FEED ME! FEED ME!”. When Outlast: Whistleblower was announced, I couldn’t have imagined Red Barrels would have created such a great character who dwelled in the same location of Outlast; the foreboding Mount Massive Asylum.

1. Ganondorf: The Legend of Zelda
Obviously, the Zelda series were not horror games, but there have always been elements of horror in them. Take Ocarina of Time as a prime example: the spooky music of the Forest Temple, the hand shadows in the Shadow Temple, Dampe The Gravekeeper, the zombie-filled post-apocalyptic Market, and of course the main antagonist, Ganondorf. The first encounter with Ganondorf was so freaky it gave me the chills as a kid. After heading over to the drawbridge in Hyrule, the sky darkened as Ganondorf appeared. His powerful appearance and imperious horse introduced a truly foreboding character. You meet a ghostly version of him inside the Forest Temple, but it’s not until the epic final battle that you get to see him in his gruesome final form. Not only was Ganondorf a great horror character, he is undoubtedly a legend of the gaming industry.

There you have it, my list of the Top 10 Horror Characters in Gaming History. Anyone I’ve missed? Anyone who should be omitted? Write down your thoughts in the comment section below.