We all know the pain and frustration of running through a level over and over again only to die to the same damn enemies. It’s the kind of thing that will drive even the most even-tempered person into a white knuckle rage.
There’s a fine line between difficulty and irritation, and the enemies on this list manage to cross it. Sometimes they have an unpredictable (or unfair) attack pattern. Other times they just have a stupid face. Regardless of the reason they irritate us, these are 10 of the most annoying enemies in gaming, the foes we love to hate.
Murlocs (World of Warcraft)
Which employee at Blizzard is responsible for the murloc noise? Because the unholy gurgling sound that these fishmen make can’t be erased from your memory. The murlocs might not be the toughest enemies in Azeroth, but they sure as hell make their presence known wherever they go. Between the sounds they make and their cold, dumb fish eyes, murlocs are essentially the Jar Jar Binks of the Warcraft universe. They’ve become mascots for Blizzard’s MMO, which has only given the developers license to use that dreadful gurgling noise even more. They may not pose any real threat, but murlocs safely secure their place as one of the most annoying video game enemies just by opening their mouths.
This post was originally written by Cody Mello-Klein.
Hunters (Halo)
The Halo series has a history of fantastic enemies. Elites are brutal and intelligent, while Brutes will fly off the handle and charge at a moment’s notice. Even Grunts have a special place in Halo’s universe. But every time one of the massive, shield-bearing Hunters shows up in a Halo game, it’s hard not to want to throw your controller at the wall.
Built like tanks with a shield on one arm and an alien grenade launcher on the other, Hunters will deflect anything that Master Chief throws at them. The best way to defeat them is to get behind them, but even that is difficult to do when one swat of a Hunters’ arm will send Master Chief flying. Hunters, like a lot of shielded enemies, delay the battle until you get frustrated and impatient enough to charge them. They are built to annoy you. The only thing that makes the Hunters more frustrating is the fact that they are essentially a swarm of worms inside a suit of armor. That’s right. The thing that’s been kicking your butt? It’s just a bunch of worms.
Creepers (Minecraft)
You’ve just spent countless hours gathering materials and building yourself a little cabin in the woods. You’re about to start on the last piece of your house, a small garden, when you hear a hissing sound coming from behind you. In the last seconds before the creeper detonates itself and destroys all your hard work, you wonder what you ever did to deserve this.
Almost every Minecraft player has a story similar to this. Creepers, Minecraft’s green walking bombs, don’t care about all the work it took to build a massive stone mansion or intricate road system. They only care about destruction. Seeing hours of work disappear in a second is infuriating and creepers only trigger when they’re close to a player, which makes their destruction personal. They’ll look you in the eyes as they destroy hours worth of work. That’s cold. Creepers aren’t just annoying; they’re cruel.
Zubats (Pokemon)
Zubats are everywhere in the Pokemon games. They’re in caves and tall grass and they will always appear when you don’t want them to. Didn’t bring a Repel? Too bad. Get ready to fight fifty Zubats on the way to finding the one Pokemon you really want. To add insult to injury, Zubats can prevent you from running away or use Confuse Ray to make your Pokemon hurt themselves. They won’t ever really offer a threat, but they’re the definition of pests, poking you with a thousand little bites until you give up out of frustration.
Bonewheel Skeletons (Dark Souls)
The Dark Souls series is known for its brutal boss battles, but From Software is also great at making the journey to the boss a challenge as well. The game teaches you to stay patient, time your attacks, and think tactically in order to succeed. Of course, there are also enemies, like the bonewheel skeletons, that don’t care at all about those rules and just do whatever they want.
Skeletons are the most basic enemy in any fantasy game, yet From Software manages to make them into frustrating opponents. These skeletons are caught in spiky wooden wheels, which they use to propel themselves at high speeds. Their movements are erratic and their attacks will deal ridiculous damage, break your guard, and leave you open to attack. Fighting them in groups is a guaranteed death. Basically everything about them sucks. After making the same boss run for the 20th time, the last thing anyone wants to do is fight a dumb skeleton. Beating a boss is already challenging enough. Unfortunately, wheel skeletons don’t care. Prepare to die.
Like Likes (The Legend of Zelda)
The Like Like is a big slug that has pestered Link across the Zelda series. It might not look like much, but the Like Like can suck Link up and spit him up without his shield or other items. If you’re fast enough, you can kill the Like Like and get your shield back but more often than not it’ll be too late. And shields also aren’t the only things they’ll swallow. There are other kinds of Like Likes that steal rupees or even drain Link of a few hearts. While these thieves are mostly harmless, they can inconvenience you or ruin your adventure in a variety of ways.
Your Nemesis (Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor)
You’ll have custom enemies, they said. It will make the game more personal, they said. The idea behind Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis System was to give the orcs more personality and craft personal quests of revenge and betrayal. Unfortunately, the Nemesis System worked a little too well because the enemies that players made during the game just wouldn’t go away. Orcs that you hurt or defeated in battle would hold grudges and come back to hurt you… over and over again. You could literally decapitate your enemy and he would come back to get you, but not before insulting your inability to finish the job.
And your nemesis wouldn’t just attack during free roam sections. Even inside side quests and main story missions, your nemesis would find you and attack you, which could end up ruining carefully laid plans or stealth assassinations. The Nemesis System definitely made enemies more personal but maybe a little too personal.
Marlboros (Final Fantasy)
Marlboros have been irritating fans of Final Fantasy ever since Final Fantasy II. Those who aren’t careful could find their entire party wiped out by one of these plant monsters. Marlboros look pretty disgusting, but their Bad Breath ability is what makes them so frustrating to fight against. Bad Breath seems like it was designed to annoy particularly confident players. Need more of a challenge? Here’s a monster that can breath on a party member and inflict any or all of the game’s negative effects. You can find yourself confused, blinded, poisoned and turned into a toad with just a whiff of the Marlboro’s breath. What’s worse is that Marlboros appears in almost every single Final Fantasy game, so it looks like they’ll will continue to plague fans of the series.
Hammer Bros. (Mario)
The classic status that Super Mario’s hammer-hurling turtles hold doesn’t make them any less of a pain in the butt. Whether Mario is two inches in front of their nose or 10 ten feet ahead of them, the Hammer Brothers always manage to toss their projectiles in a perfect arc that ensures they smack him right in the face. They never miss and since all it takes is one hammer toss to ruin a perfect run or slow your rhythm, the Hammer Bros are a constant annoyance. And if there are multiple Hammer Bros? Expect a hellstorm of hammers to come flying your way. If you can get close enough, these turtles can be dealt with, but their perfect aim and constant jumping will make sure it’s no easy ride.
Birds (Ninja Gaiden)
The birds in the original Ninja Gaiden are just straight up broken. They have to be broken because there’s absolutely no reason that birds should be this frustrating in a video game. It’s not the fast swoop attack that makes them such a pain to fight; there’s a serious issue with the game’s design and how these birds spawn.
For starters, they will always attack when you’re jumping across a pit. If they hit you, they will knock you straight into the pit, and if you try to avoid them you might jump in the pit anyway. But the worst part is that the game is designed to respawn any enemies you’ve defeated if you move even one inch to the left. That means that if you manage to kill the birds and back up to get a running start for the jump, BOOM! The birds are back and ready for round two.
