Gaming can be such a wonderful thing. It offers an escape from the day to day, allows us to enjoy and experience narratives unseen elsewhere, and – in some cases – can even save people’s lives. However, while developers and designers go to increasing pains, year-on-year, it doesn’t always translate well into the final product. Very often, we can be subjected to unknowable horrors which were never intended to be so, as this list will seek to highlight. Here is PS1 Hagrid and four other unintentionally horrifying character models in gaming:
1. LA Noire: Suspects
While striving for realism and authenticity when making LA Noire, it seems that Team Bondi went a little too far in the wrong direction. While the characters are supposed to instill trust and mistrust in equal measure at different times, due to their ‘uncanny valley-esque’ digital make-up, they often just horrify you and leave you sleepless and without a solution to the case at hand anyway.
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: ‘PS1 Hagrid’
Ah Hagrid, that lovable oaf from the Harry Potter series. His dim-witted demeanor. His raspy and booming grandfatherly voice. And a hug that could snap a titan in half: He really is the whole package when it comes to a character we should be immediately endeared to. Unfortunately, we are not. Due in no small part to the horrendous rendering capabilities of the PS1 when it launched, Hagrid’s usual soft and fatherly features are replaced by jutting sharp edges, and his warm comforting eyes by portals to hell that stare not at you, but into your very soul. Absolute nightmare-fuel that no-one was ready for.
3. Parappa the Rapper: Chop Chop Master Onion
Ah Parappa the Rapper. Was there a better rhythm-based game in its time? Sure, Guitar Hero brought new life into a dying sphere and Dance Dance Revolution (and its million clones) will always have a place, in anyone’s heart. But Parappa The Rapper, was a rhythm game before rhythm games. The soundtrack was brilliant, the controls were easy to use, and the characters…well, they were certainly a mixed bag.
The vast majority of Parappa the Rapper’s characters were endearing and charming in their own way, but the character of Chop Chop was horrific, in every way. Obviously an allegory for villains in martial arts movies, while also being our teacher, or ‘sensei’, if you will.
With his deliberate movements, severe eyebrows and rigid stature, he has claimed his place in the annals of our nightmares for many decades to come.
4. Starfield: Everyone
Bethesda have always had a an issue with animating faces during the talking parts of their games. Fallout suffered with it from the moment it entered the 3D space and Skyrim was notorious for it with many of its NPCs. It should come as no surprise then, that Starfield continues this tradition. Every character in Starfield looks as is they don’t understand the emotion which they are attempting to convey, or as if they don’t actually know what humans look like. Attempts have been to explain the reason for this by character artist, Delaney King, as seen here:
Whatever the reasons, the characters still make the playing experience an unsettling one, even in the small moments of joy, which Starfield has to offer.
5. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Kids
Aren’t kids adorable? I think even if you’re not necessarily a fan of children yourself, it is difficult to argue with their munchkin-esque stature and cute and lovable voices. Why then are they on this list? Because the children in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla are the stuff of insomnia.
The kids in the Assassin’s Creed series have always held a place in my heart. Whether it be Ezio’s little brother in Assassin’s Creed 2 or the adorable little urchins in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, they are just so darn cute. Not the case with Valhalla. I am not sure whether there was an internal reason as to why the children in Valhalla look like they do, or whether the dev time have just never met a Scandinavian child, but one thing is for sure. Their eyes will steal your innocence and rob you of any vestige of sanity. Most horror games would love to create characters this unsettling, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla did it without the burden of being a horror game.
And there we have it: PS1 Hagrid and four other unintentionally horrifying character models in gaming.
While millions of dollars can be spent on making a game terrifying through lighting-trickery, atmosphere building and compelling narratives. Often, the scariest and most unsettling experiences are the ones which we never intended to begin with. I think we can safely say, we wouldn’t want to bump into any of the ones we just discussed down a dark alley, right?
