It’s been fascinating to watch the survival horror genre explode over the past decade. What used to be a relatively niche genre has turned into the home for some of the most popular video game series on the market. Right from the start, the Resident Evil series has always been at the forefront of the genre and responsible for some extremely scary video games.
The Resident Evil games have created many uniquely terrifying villains and monsters, and, while many of these enemies that disturbing designs, some of them are even more upsetting when their backstories and lore are also taken into consideration.
10 Lurkers
The Resident Evil series has done wonderful work with how each new game usually introduces a fresh and disturbing monster that’s treated as a standard enemy. Hunters and Lickers are a perpetual nuisance, but Resident Evil 0 brings Lurkers into the picture. Lurkers are a horrible mutation on frogs and while their presence is brief and random, they’re truly terrifying.
The Lurkers can actually swallow players, which will result in instant death. The idea of being swallowed alive is very grim, and it poses a larger problem to Resident Evil’s world than the typical mutated killing machines.
9 El Gigante
Resident Evil 4 marks a major turning point for the series, not just in terms of gameplay, but it’s the first game to move the characters outside of Raccoon City. There are many intimidating threats that plague Leon, but one of his biggest surprises is the humungous El Gigante.
Leon needs to resort to some quick thinking to overcome this danger, but this is a monster that could wreak serious damage in a metropolitan city. Resident Evil games feature giant snakes, crocodiles, and more, but El Gigante actually has a level of intelligence that’s even more problematic.
8 Nosferatu
Resident Evil CODE: Veronica is a bit of an unsung hero in the larger survival horror franchise, but it features one of the more disturbing stories from the series and brings Claire Redfield back in a big way. Alexander and Alexia Ashford are two of the most sadistic villains to appear in the Resident Evil series, and the monster, Nosferatu, is the direct result of them doing genetic experimentation on their father.
The tortured experiment is confined to a life of isolation due to its extremely volatile nature. Nosferatu’s backstory and the implications around him only make him more frightening.
7 Regenerador
The Los Illuminados use the powerful Plaga virus to create some devastating biological weapons in Resident Evil 4. One of the most terrifying and dangerous threats that Leon Kennedy faces is the Regeneradors. These monsters are covered with horrible quills, but they can also regenerate lost mass, which makes them highly dangerous in a larger picture sense.
These monsters are the result of numerous parasites being implanted into one individual in order to monitor the unstable consequences. The Regeneradors can also hibernate in the cold, which gives them a longevity that other monsters lack.
6 Mr. X
Every Resident Evil game brings a powerful, new biological weapon into the picture, but one of the earliest and best examples of this is Resident Evil 2’s tyranny, colloquially referred to as Mr. X. Mr. X is pure terror, and he’s a behemoth that will just smash through walls and demolish an environment in order to reach his prey. Extreme durability and strength already make Mr. X dangerous in a larger sense, but Umbrella was already using him as one of their most powerful tools. He could have been mass-produced around the world and systematically left everything in ruins.
5 Ustanek
Resident Evil 6 gets a lot of criticism within the series for embracing action over horror, but Ustanek is the most powerful and frightening beast from the game. Ustanek is a project from Neo-Umbrella that makes use of the new C-Virus. The mutation gives the host incredible power, but it remains unstable.
Ustanek gains a disturbing artificial arm which gives him increased capabilities. All of these factors, as well as Ustanek’s strong convictions and commitment to his creator, make him a beast that could destroy the world if given the opportunity.
4 Nemesis
Many Resident Evil games bring intimidating biological weapons into the fray, but Nemesis from Resident Evil 3 is the only one that also features an actual weapon. Nemesis’ arm is a rocket launcher—or a flamethrower, in the remake—which is like the ultimate version of a bear with a chainsaw. Nemesis continually transforms, evolves, and becomes a more severe threat. On top of this, Nemesis is also programmed to eliminate law enforcement, which gives it an unstoppable drive in addition to the literal cannon it brings along with it.
3 William Birkin
Resident Evil 2 is a game that throws many deadly enemies at the player, but William Birkin is the epitome of that chaos. Birkin’s situation is particularly tragic because he begins as a noble scientist who’s ultimately corrupted and transformed by the evil intentions of his employer.
Birkin is turned into a hideous monster, but, with each new encounter, he’s even more mutated and unstable. He’s the closest that the Resident Evil franchise has ever gotten to Akira, and, much like in that film, this is a monster that will consume the entire population if it’s not immediately contained.
2 Marguerite Baker
The Baker family are serious nuisances and are all liable to ruin the planet if given the opportunity. However, the matriarch of the family, Marguerite Baker, is the worst of the lot in Resident Evil 7. She’s unpleasant, even in her human form, but really awful once she’s transformed and crawling around.
The most important thing here is that she has the ability to control insects, which means she can devastate the world in a much more drastic way than most Resident Evil villains. She’s living pestilence.
1 Queen Leech
Resident Evil 0 has a creepy obsession with leeches that does the game a lot of good. These leeches are a crucial part of the genetic experiments that are going on in the game. The Queen Leech is the game’s final boss and it’s the end result of Dr. James Marcus’ t-virus experiments.
This creature consumes Marcus’ hippocampus, gains his memories in the process, and can control leeches at will. Most importantly, this creature views itself as the new Messiah, determines the planet to be wicked, and banishes the world to hell with the pestilence of BOW leeches.
NEXT: 10 Unanswered Questions About Resident Evil
