500 Scary Scenes from ALL Video Games

#361

329. Cultists' Tower (Final Fantasy VI)

Once you get your new airship in the World of Ruin you can find and visit this location. It's a tower housing some of the most powerful magical enemies in the game, tended to by a cult that arose out of pure fear of Kefka and endlessly marches in a circle outside. Strago, believing his granddaughter to be dead, is so overcome with grief that you find him among the worshipers.

Also, the music:
[spoiler][MEDIA=youtube]Cw4ObN9wCNo[/MEDIA][/spoiler]

#362

I can't remember, could you even talk to Strago without Relm in your party? I could have sworn that you couldn't interact with him at all and it added a real creepy tone.

#363

^ Yeah, I think unless you're bring Relm he'll just walk right through you like the other cultists.

330. American boss music (Sonic CD)

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Whereas the Japanese/PAL boss music is a fairly upbeat track (that samples the 1981 Xavier song "Work That Sucker to Death"), the American song that replaced it is... terrifying. As a kid it made me dread every encounter with Robotnik.

#364

331. Stage 2 (R-Type)

Most games tend to ease you into its gross imagery. Usually it's the last stage of the game where the final boss is a abomination of all things logical. R-Type doesn't give you that.

Here's Stage 1.

Makes sense. You're infiltrating an alien fortress. Mostly robotic. Most have seen this song and dance before. But then you face the first boss.

This is all the warning you get for stage 2.

Horrible maws, meat in tubes, half formed monsters jumping out at you and the boss of this stage is some kind of fleshy worm colony

You think I'm joking?

Hilariously, the next stage goes back to machines and never gets back to anything nearly this weird until two stages after. Has there been worse? Yes but to have it come up to you so suddenly with no warning can be a shock to the system.

Sim Kid · #365

332. Failure (Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?)

The penultmate mission is set in 1961 and you are assisting Yuri Gagarin into being the first person in space. To do this, you must put punchcards in the right order.

If you mess up, it shows you some rather scary imagery of what would happen if it failed - such as if Yuri's oxygen isn't turned on (meaning you hear a fake suffocation sfx), can see the rocket going too fast if it isn't stabilized...

#366

333. Gyorg (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)

The boss of a very long and difficult dungeon, Gyorg dwells in a dark, water-filled chamber. His main method of attack is to ram the platform you're standing on in hopes of knocking you into the water, where you'll have to make a mad swim back towards dry land before he snatches you up in his jaws. His entry cinematic even features first-person underwater stalking, reminiscent of Jaws.

Sim Kid · #367

334. The Introduction (Carmen Sandiego: Word Detective)

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#368

335. Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)

Since SMB3 Bowser's appearance has been a bit more rounded around the edges, but in his debut he was just a big scary lizard. Look at that freaking grin, man.

#369

336. Crime Doesn't Pay (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening [DX])

I've mentioned this before, but I started Link's Awakening when I was 4 and somehow missed the hallway going left (ie, to the dungeon-required Roc's Feather) in Tail Cave for 4 years. That meant that (a) I spent an utterly absurd amount of time in the introductory areas and (b) I eventually hit seemingly unremovable barriers in every direction and became convinced I'd have to do something really weird to get through. So I repeatedly smashed all the bushes in the world and bought a bow for 600 rupees. Then the shopkeep replaced it with a shovel for 999 rupees, so I went back to grinding to get that, too. Right before hitting that total, I ran out of bombs (very cheap in LA) and decided to go buy some more. I had a ritual of trying to walk out the door with whatever I was buying, which normally resulted in the shopkeep stopping you and demanding money. This time, I took the long way and waltzed out of the store with free bombs. I went back to the field, gathered up the last few rupees I needed, went back to the shop prepared to (somehow) solve the mysteries with a shovel, and...

...Died horribly when the shopkeep turned out to be Aganhim in disguise. Now-five-year-old me was traumatized, and to make matters worse, I'd saved between stealing the bombs and reaching 999 rupees. No shovel for me.
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On a side note, there's a neat homage to this in Twilight Princess. You can take potions from the bird without paying, resulting in him chasing after you and doing a bit of damage. Alternatively, you can underpay (even just 1 rupee) and he'll just call you a cheapskate.

#370

337. Headless Goddess Statues (Seiken Densetsu 3)

Goddess Statues serve as save points in this game. Often found in proximity to Mana Stones, these statues were erected to honor the benevolent Mana Goddess. As you approach the endgame, however, you'll encounter statues which have been (literally) defaced. You can still save with them (and the golden ones still restore your HP and MP), yet it's still chilling to come across one of these mutilated sculptures.

#371

#338 Yamamura's Death (Sweet Home)

Now, this game? Can get pretty gorey. This is by far the worst of it.

As you play through the game, trapped in a manor by an evil spirit that wants you dead, you run into an NPC named Yamamura. He is the only non-dying human you meet for a good part of the game. That is until you past some weird ghost butler and the ghost pushes you into a wall. Yamamura appears and leads you to a barrier set up by the ghost. Yamamura decides to combat the barrier with his own body. Then you watch him melt to death.

[MEDIA=youtube]bMQUg42nRr0[/MEDIA]

Yaaaaaaaaay-

#372

339. Chemical Plant Zone's "water" (Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

Many a player's first encounter with the game's dreaded drowning music. I remember one part that would fill me with anxiety as a kid: near the beginning of Act 2, you run down a slope that takes you from high in the level down to skimming the surface of the water before taking you back up, as if to tell you "yes, it's there, and you're going to drown in it later."

#373

340. Zable Fahr (Seiken Densetsu 3)

Appropriately for the God-Beast of Darkness, Zable Fahr has a lot of powerful magical attacks as well as debuffs and an instant-kill spell. It's also a giant, three-headed demon clown thing that you fight in a void, so there's that.

#374

341. Timber TV Station (Final Fantasy VIII)

When you first visit the TV station in Timber, you will find a giant screen broadcasting red text on a black background. If you look closely you can make out "IAMALIVE", "BRINGMEBACKTHERE", and "IWILLNEVERLETYOUFORGETABOUTME". These creepy messages don't make much sense at first, though later on it's implied to be Adel sending signals from her orbiting prison.

#375

342. Hands (Eversion)

These awful things appear on higher levels, shooting up from below with a loud shriek. They're good at catching you off guard, and of course one touch is instant death.

luizzeross · #376

343 - Draygon (Super Metroid)

I had a damaged Super Metroid cartridge back there that wasn't able to save my game. Everytime I tried to beat the game I would end up dead by this cursed boss. The first time I played a fully working cartridge I defeated this boss on the first try.

#377

344. Helping the Business Along (Cave Story)

The gravekeeper is an unique enemy that, fittingly, appears only in the graveyard near the very beginning of the game. He's fairly aggressive and completely immune to damage from the front, which can make a nasty surprise for first-time players.

Also, he's a creepy dude who hangs out in a graveyard with a massive knife and doesn't quite match any of the game's species. That too.

#378

345. Scarfy (Kirby series)

Scarfies are uncommon recurring enemies in the Kirby franchise. They float around harmlessly and look **** adorable like 99% of everything on Pop Star. Try to inhale one however, and it will morph into a monstrous cyclops with a fang-filled mouth that will begin to chase you around relentlessly. Unless you have an alternate way of attacking them, it's best to keep the hell away from them.

#379

346. Deep Sea Research Center (Final Fantasy VIII)

This location is pretty far off the beaten path, and is not required for beating the game at all, although it does house the two most powerful GFs in the game. The Deep Sea Research Center is an artificial island lying far out in the middle of the ocean. It was originally used by scientists researching a new method of drawing magic; by the time you reach it however it's a derelict.

The main attraction on the upper floor is the flickering core that houses Bahamut. Moving so much as a step while the core is glowing will result in an instant encounter with a fiendishly powerful Ruby Dragon. Once you reach the core you will be greeted by Bahamut's growling, demonic voice. Answering a few questions correctly (and battling a few more Ruby Dragons) will lead to the actual battle with him.

Once Bahamut has been beaten, you can travel deeper into the excavation site. At the very bottom is a winch. Activating it leads to a very suspenseful scene where something is being slowly pulled up from the bottom of the sea. It turns out to be Ultima Weapon, the second most-difficult boss in the game, and apparently the cause of all the researchers' demise.

Oh, and the eerie music doesn't help at all.

#380

347. Long Legs From Out Of Nowhere (Pikmin Series)

You can usually tell when a boss is about to show up in most games. Usually it's the end of the area, or it's a large arena made for something the size of a tank, but even then you usually expect some build-up for said boss. If not a cut scene then you at least get some sign it's about to appear.

The long legs family doesn't do this as you only get two seconds of shadow before it lands right over you like it enjoys stomping on things smaller than it. In fact that's what it does. It is one of the few creatures that just kills Pikmin for fun. What a dick family. At least it pops open like a party ball when it dies.