Summary
Vampiresare iconic monsters in pop culture, having been the heroes and villains of movies, shows, and video games. Typically, vampires in games present bloody, gory, action-oriented gameplay, such as in the upcomingVampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2.But occasionally, developers use them to incite fear in players.
From classic vampires to mutated monsters, the bloodthirsty creatures have been interpreted in many different ways across all gaming genres and gameplay styles. The scariest ones are usually enemies or even the main villains of a game, tormenting players with either their disturbing visage or supernatural abilities.
9Slezz (BloodRayne 2)
A Disturbing, Disgusting Brood Mother Of Monsters
The enemies are rarely scary inBloodRayne 2, since the game is more about hacking and slashing through enemies more than anything. However, Slezz is unlike other bosses in the game, due to her massive presence and almost-demonic design, sitting nude in the sewers waiting to be fed as Kagan’s brood mother.
Slezz is an old Shakab, a pure-born vampire, which makes her one of the more powerful bosses inBloodRayne 2. Rather than fear in the traditional sense, Slezz is memorable for being a disturbing, disgusting creature to battle. She has few-to-no human qualities, a haunting voice, and the ability to launch acid at the player.
8Nosferatu
The Enigmatic Villain Feels Like A Universal Monster
With surprisingly cinematic visuals for a game on the SNES,Nosferatufills the atmosphere with that gothic dread that feels directlyinspired by Dracula movies of the past. The opening cutscene shows an innocent woman being abducted by a mysterious vampire known simply as Nosferatu.
Similar to Dracula in theCastlevaniagames, Nosferatu’s presence is felt throughout the game, as if he’s watching the main character, Kyle, as he fights to save the woman he loves. Even though he only appears a few times inNosferatu, the titular villain’s face is always obscured by the shadows or the art style, keeping him shrouded in mystery while displaying his immense power.
A vampire in the Old West is already scary, given the era, but Lazarus Malkoth from Darkwatch makes it worse by being possessed by a demon. Lazarus is a powerful creature who unleashes an undead scourge across the Western frontier and happens to be the one who turns the protagonist, Jericho Cross, into a vampire.
Jericho Cross encounters Lazarus Malkoth throughout the Darkwatch campaign, fighting the monster witha mixture of guns and superpowers. The monster is constantly evolving and becoming more powerful. At first, he looks more human, but by the end, he is just a bloated monstrous being who nearly unleashes an apocalypse.
One of the antagonists inThe Order: 1886, Jacob Van Neck is a man with great power in the titular Order known as Lord Hastings. Later revealed to be a monster of many faces, he committed the infamous Whitechapel murders, thus earning him the name: Jack The Ripper. He is a vampire and the leader of The Company run byvillainous half-breeds like werewolvesand other vampires.
While Jacob is ghastly in his vampiric form, it is more terrifying that he is such a puppet master, playing both factions to get what he wants. He seeks to wage a war against the world, particularly by plotting to spread half-breeds around the globe for domination.
Geralt Of Rivia faces many terrifying monsters, including multiple vampires, inThe Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. However, no other vampire is as terrifying as the Alps, with their shark-like teeth and long red hair. They use seduction to lure victims to their deaths, transforming from stunning-looking humans to fast and deadly monsters that can drain any human of blood with ease.
The Alps inThe Witcher 3also happen to feature super speed and the ability to appear invisible to the naked eye. This makes fighting them, even with high-tier weaponry and upgrades for Geralt, a nightmarish encounter. Thankfully,with silver swords at the readyand the right spells and oils, they can be eliminated with enough patience.
She has had many names over the years, but The Red Queen is the name of the main villain inVampyrwhen she terrorizes London, England in the early 1900s. More than just a simple vampire, The Red Queen is viewed as a god among the bloodthirsty monsters, always resurrecting every few centuries to create new plagues to cause mass deaths among humans.
Vampyrdoes a lot to build up the Red Queen.The vampiric protagonist Jonathan Reiduses her to find a cure for not only him, but to save the people of England from the influenza that she let loose onto the city while creating lesser vampires and other monsters under her servitude. That’s not even getting to her appearance, appearing as an avatar comprised of blood.
Despite being a first-person shooter,Nosferatu: The Wrath Of Malachinever loses the horror element. This includes the main villain, Lord Malachi, whose design is inspired by Count Orlok fromNosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror.The video game version retains Max Schreck’s eerie visage and aura.
InNosferatu: The Wrath Of Malachi, the villain is another example of a satisfying payoff for many hours of build-up throughout the story. When finally encountering Malachi, his first form is the most fearsome, hovering at the player with long claws and mouth agape. His second and final skeletal beast form is also scary, catching first-time players off guard as it mixes gothic and eldritch horror.
While not ever labeled as a vampire, the Man-Bat featured inBatman: Arkham Knighthas the fangs, wings, and a bat/human hybrid appearance to qualify. Gamers and DC fans alike were introduced to Man-Bat withone of the scariest moments in the franchise, randomly appearing to screech at Batman while the player is grappling through Gotham City.
Man-Bat’s side mission inBatman: Arkham Knightleads the Caped Crusader to the monster’s origin, a secret lab where a kind-hearted scientist named Kirk Langstrom had fused his DNA with that of a vampire bat. It is shown through found footage that the man transformed into the creature and sadly killed his own wife, making the mission feel like a horror movie.
Lady Alcina Dimitrescu is a tall, pale woman who antagonizes Ethan Winters throughoutResident Evil: Village. Though she is not the main villain, she remains a memorable one. Behind her beguiling beauty is a bloodsucking creature that can kill the player fast with long claws, and that’s not getting into her actual monster form that she transforms into.
Along with her daughters and other family members, Lady Dimitrescu quickly cemented herself asan iconic villain in theResident Evilgames. Not only is she a unique take on a vampire for the bioweapon-driven universe with unorthodox powers and abilities, but unlike past villains, killing her is not possible without a special weapon. Until then, the only options are to run or hide.
