Summary
No action-packed or eerie video game would be complete without terrifying monsters, especiallycreatures from the strange depths of outer space. These extraterrestrial nightmares combine grotesque designs with frightening lore to create unforgettable encounters. These monsters embody the fear of the unknown, creating tension for players to overcome.
Some of these monsters are found in droves, forcing quick tactical decisions to survive, while others may be the very force behind the madness of their world. These arethe most terrifying monsters from outer spacethat video games have unleashed upon unsuspecting players.
One of the most iconic creatures from gaming are theHeadcrabs fromtheHalf-Lifeseries, and while they’re not technically from space, they’re from Xen, a Borderworld that connects two or more universes. These alien parasites are roughly the size of a pumpkin, but their four spider-like legs help them leap long-enough distances to be terrifying. Their underbelly is a large, jawless mouth with a hidden beak used for feeding and latching onto the skulls of victims.Players usually encounter these guys in packs, and they are often already attached to a human.
There are several Headcrab subspecies, like Fast Headcrabs, which are far faster than their standard counterparts and turn their host into a faster zombie. What makes these guys terrifying is their ability to kill and reanimate their victims as though it were a feeding process. Although they get points for being tameable; Doctor Kleiner keeps a “debeaked” Headcrab as a pet.
TheCrater Queensolemnly sits atop an elevator, a humongous, pale, fleshy body draping over the elevator like a thick cloak. The terrifying quality of the Crater Queen lies in the somber,body horror-styled environment. On her large, hunched back are open wounds/craters with creatures wandering around inside them. She has long skeletal arms and hands that are immobile, with barely anything functional.
When players interact with her, they extend walkways that connect to the elevator and in turn cause her to wail in agony and flail her head and neck. Each time she screams, it alerts nearby creatures to the player’s presence. Whether this is a deliberate tactic or just the creatures reacting to her cries doesn’t matter, as either scenario is terrifying and creates a sense of immense sorrow.
Subnauticaamplifies thalassophobiawith its environment, and the discovery of the loomingReaper Leviathans, massive sea creatures sprawling across the ocean-covered Planet 4546B, only make things worse. They are about as large as the submarine that players use, and they are capable of grabbing the smaller submarine and shaking it around using their muscular mandibles.
The Reaper Leviathan will circle its prey and strike from behind in a surprise attack. The horn on its head acts like a ram when it speeds forward. Its horrifying gaping mouth and pitch-black eyes are the last thing its prey sees before it rushes in for the kill.
The Typhonare hostile aliens kept on the Talos I space station by scientists to study their neural patterns and inherit their powers through Neuromods. However, as the events ofPreyplay out, the Typhon seem to have broken free and infested the space station. The Typhon’s physiology is incomprehensibly alien—formed from a shiny, shimmering grey-black substance that seems to morph between solid, liquid, and gas all at once. Their shapes vary between small arachnid-like creatures, floating orbs, and glitchy humanoids.
Their impossible structure andunknown origin make them terrifying, especially considering the aftermath of the space station that they have taken over. They possess different abilities, such as mimicking matter, teleportation, and telekinesis, but can generally be taken care of with blunt trauma.
The Metroid is a species of alien from the planet SR388, andMetroid Primeis an extremely mutated and sapient Metroid of unknown origin infused with huge quantities of Phazon, a highly radioactive substance known for its extreme mutagenic and energy-producing properties.Metroid Prime guards Tallon IV’s Leviathan, one of the “Phazon Meteors” responsible for propagating Phazon.
What makes Metroid Prime truly terrifying is its size, biomechanical design, and adaptability in combat, shifting forms and tactics in a multi-phase encounter. The Chozo, an elder alien species, had a prophecy that foretold their adopted world of Tallon IV would be infested by a great evil, which they called the Worm. This is oddly fitting, as Metroid Prime’s presence is burrowed into the planet and Phazon Meteors travel through wormholes to spread their mutagens.
TheIcon of Sinfirst appeared inDOOM 2, and was given a backstory inDOOM (2016), and its full terrifying form was revealed inDOOM Eternal. The Icon of Sin is a world-eating super-predator, a demonic alien lifeform capable of tearing open dimensions and unleashing Hell’s legions upon Earth. It was slain as the final boss inDOOM 2, only to be resurrected by Khan Maykr inDOOM Eternal.
The Icon of Sin perfectly resembles thebrutality of theDOOMuniverse, a towering monstrosity that is visceral in its hellish annihilation. As the final boss inDOOM Eternal, players must navigate several stories of a building in order to take chunks out of its hulking body, all while fighting the onslaught of demons that it summons.
The Harbingeris the ultimate Reaper, a highly advanced machine race of synthetic-organic starships. It resides in dark space with the rest of the Reaper fleet and is the mastermind behind the Collectors, a race of human-sized insects genetically modified to collect humans for harvest with the ultimate goal of creating a Human-Reaper hybrid.
The Harbinger reveals itself during the final battle in London and launches a devastating attack on the allied forces attempting to reach the Citadel, where Shepard has apivotal choice to makein theMass Effectnarrative. The Harbinger’s terrifying power and motives are so great that it requires an ancient and highly complex superweapon to match it.
Many aspects ofthe Zergare so terrifying that it’s hard to point to a specific monster, especially since they are a ruthless amalgamation of biologically advanced, arthropodal aliens operating under a hivemind. The Zerg relentlessly hunt down and assimilate advanced species across the galaxy, and inthe events ofStarCraft 2, their pursuits are amplified with the help of Sarah Kerrigan, a psychic terran infested by the Zerg Swarm who eventually becomes a cosmic power.
The Zerg, or the Swarm, emerged from an ancient quarrel between the xel’naga, a highly advanced race older than the main factions seen in theStarCraftuniverse. After the massive expansion of the Overmind-controlled Zerg, they became highly militarized and dispatched hordes of different creatures upon their enemies.
The Flood fromtheHaloseriesis one of the most iconic and terrifying alien threats in gaming, a parasitic hivemind capable of consuming and transforming entire civilizations. The Flood is driven by a desire to infect any sentient life of sufficient size; anything considered infected by the Flood is also called The Flood.
These parasitic organisms were so deadly that the ancient Forerunners built ringworld superweapons, known as Halos, to contain it. As a last resort, these weapons would kill all sentient life in the local galaxy in an effort to stop the Flood’s spread by starving it. The fact that a single Flood spore can extinguish a species should cause anyone to take desperate measures.
The Necromorphs, while similar to the Flood and the Zerg in terms of parasitic assimilation, are possibly the most horrifying versions of the concept. The Necromorphs fromDead Spaceare reanimated corpses and other dead tissue reshaped into new forms by an infection derived from a genetic code etched into and transmitted by alien “Markers.”
These double-helix shaped obelisks of unknown extraterrestrial origin appeared near Earth and generated Necromorph outbreaks until a Convergence Event was triggered, forming a “Brethren Moon” from the assimilated masses of flesh. TheNecromorphs and Brethren Moonare more terrifying than the spore-based Flood because the Markers always reanimate dead tissue, no matter how infected it is; the Markers and the Necromorphs always find a way to regenerate.
