Top 10 Most Annoying Enemies in Souls Games
Here are the top ten most annoying enemies found throughout Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Dark Souls III, and Bloodborne. These are the enemies that tread that thin line of difficult and unfair, that are consistently aggravating and terrifying. Honorable mention goes out to the mosquitoes in Blighttown but those are more of an environmental hazard than an actual enemy. Enjoy!
Featured in Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls III
I guess when you've perfected one of the most universally annoying enemy designs, the only question that From Software needs to ask themselves is: Why wouldn't we put this in every game we make? Oppressively fast, dogs in Souls games are on you in seconds, leaping at you with jaws wide. When they strike, you'll almost assuredly be staggered, allowing whatever enemies are paired with the dogs to get in a free hit on you. Somehow, they're also masters at dodging your attacks with agile little side and back steps. But wait, the fun doesn't stop there! Have you ever heard of the Capra Demon boss fight? Cause the real bosses in that goddamned fight were his two pet pooches that bum rush you immediately upon entering the fog. Basically, for an in-depth and thorough examination of why dogs are and should be on this list, look no further than that one encounter in Dark Souls.
Featured in Demon's Souls
I'm well aware that there will be a fair few readers who have not played Demon's Souls and therefore are incapable of understanding the sheer level of frustration that these spear-spewing, flying mantas engendered within the community. Let me paint you a picture. You've just made it through the treacherous opening area of world 4-1 complete with deadly samurai skeletons and even a titanic mini-boss. In the distance, you may have even spotted the undulating wings of the storm beasts as they floated through the air and thought, "Wow, that's nice and atmospheric." BAM! A massive, jagged spear rains down you not only dealing heavy damage but also blasting the ground, knocking you off of your feet. So, now you're worried but you're ducking between building avoiding open ground with moderate success. But what's that? Too easy you say? How about the only way forward is a narrow cliff face obstructed by a samurai skeletons that the Storm Beasts spears easily knock you off of to certain death. Suffice it to say, I spent a lot of time cursing these creatures and whatever hellfire spawned them. The only reason that they're not higher on the list is the fact that there is a ring that helps to nullify their range.
Featured in Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls III
If this list was about the enemies that inflicted the most pants-shitting terror upon me then these enemies would certainly top the list. The absolute, gut-wrenching horror that these enemies spawn even in veteran players is practically legendary. This feeling owes itself to the original Dark Souls cursing mechanic where, upon being cursed, you not only died but lost half of your health PERMANENTLY until cured. That's right, this is evil at it's most inhumane. You wanted to progress? Ha! Time to waste your fucking day travelling all the way back to the beginning of the game, trying not to be killed with your halved HP, just so you can purchase an item to break your curse. While iterations of these enemies appeared in both sequels and were relatively dangerous in their own right, nothing compared to the utter horror of facing and total despair when dying to these enemies in the original. If they weren't so rare or easily missed, they would have placed higher on this list. Regardless, I will never forget these bulbous eyed monstrosities and how cruel game design truly could be.
Featured in Dark Souls II
While certainly the worst of the Souls games, Dark Souls II still had its share of mind-numbing, hair-tearing aggravations. Honestly, even mentioning the title of this area will send shivers down your spine. The Shrine of Amana. Ugh. Why was this area so horrendously irritating? One simple answer: Amana Shrine Maidens. You know, the ones who endlessly fired homing magic at you. Yeah, the same ones that could shoot at you from half a mile away and start spamming you before you even saw them. The ones that always came in pairs so that you were always getting pinged from multiple directions at once. Then, combine these pests with a flooded, swamp-like environment that cleverly disguises bottomless trenches next to solid ground and you'll know that you've hopped on board an infuriating, sadness-ridden, despair train through Painville with frequent local stops at 'You Died' and 'Loading Screen'. It's like From Software decided to ask the same guy who placed two archers on top of the narrow buttress in Anor Londo to take a crack at an entire level for Dark Souls II and this is what he came up with. "Looks like two of our QA testers quit after breaking their controllers." His Response? "Our work here is done."
Featured in Dark Souls III
Enemy design doesn't get much more insidious than the Jailers in Dark Souls III. All these enemies have to do to damage you is to look at you. Literally, if you are in their line of sight, then your health (and your sanity) will begin rapidly depleting. But was that enough irritation for From Software? I think not. Not only does your HP drain when one of these evil wenches looks at you but your overall health bar also decreases. That's right, you'll be fighting with a vastly diminished health pool if you're unable to kill them quickly or run away to relative safety to wait out the effect. Then when your pool finally regenerates, you'll still have to heal your actual health points with Estus. But the fun doesn't stop there. Lest we forget, they also have a melee grab that can incapacitate you while you're being drained by their dumbass stare, which is, essentially, a death sentence. Fighting groups of Jailers requires more than just simple patience but a natural sadomasochism that only manifests itself in long term Dark Souls players. Ever the traditionalists, From Software has utilized similar enemy tactics in some of their earlier work and, spoiler alert, some of them are going to make an appearance on this very list.
Featured in Bloodborne
One of the most grotesque creations that I have ever encountered in all of gaming, Brainsuckers are as disgusting as they are frustrating. The first time I encountered one of these fiends, I wasn't ready for what happened next, physically or psychologically. Immediately, it zapped me with a bolt of energy that immobilized me in place. I knew it wasn't going to be good when it then ran up on its spindly legs and grabbed me. But what happened next triggered some next level emotional scarring. A slimy, moist tube of pale flesh uncoiled out of this thing's head, convulsing and shivering, before burrowing into my character's skull audibly sucking brain material out before tossing my lifeless body aside. Dear sweet lord, what just happened. As it turns out, after you get over the utter revulsion that these things evoke, they become some of the game's most annoying culprits. They not only deal massive amounts of damage when they catch you but they also deplete some of your accumulated insight, a relatively rare resource that you can use to purchase new outfits and consumables. Furthermore, they're able to paralyze you from dizzying distances and they don't stagger easily so don't plan on just getting in close and spamming the attack button. These enemies are so formidable and debilitating that the Chalice Dungeons even feature a buffed version of one of them as a boss.
Featured in Demon's Souls
Everybody, please welcome the OG of immobilizing douchebags, the first in exacperation, the original in vomit-inducing aggravation: the Mind Flayers. Within the claustraphobic halls of the Tower of Latria, amidst the tortured screams of prisoners and players alike, roams the deadly, squid-headed Mind Flayer. From the tinny reverberations of their green lanterns to their squelching, tentacled faces, everything about these guys screams "Danger!" It's easy to tell that they laid the devilish groundwork for their future incarnations: The Jailer and Brainsucker. Except with less remorse. Emerald lightning would dart out from their lanterns and strike you, incapacitating you so they could shuffle up with unnatural speed. Taking you into their tentacles, a spike would burst through the back of your head, dealing immense damage. However, unlike their inspirations in Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, they would not relent just because you nearly died, they would fire off more paralyzing attacks in quick succession. Given the restricted confines of the Tower of Latria, a prison by design, the Mind Flayers quickly became one of the games biggest challenges, bosses included.
Featured in Dark Souls
Perhaps the most seemingly innocuous yet utterly devastating enemies in all of the Souls series, particularly on a first run, the wheel skeletons of Dark Souls became an enduring part of the series' trademark difficulty. Upon first encountering them at the bottom of the Catacombs, you're not sure what to expect. Then they prop up into wheel form and roll at you and you expect to take a little damage. But no, once they hit you, they will stun-lock you in place slowly grinding your health away until you die. The worst part of it is how long it all takes. They can't just kill you. No, instead they make you watch for ten seconds as they scrape away your health with each cycle of their wheel. Not to mention that they are always in a group and dodging more than one of them at a time is truly the definition of heart-racing. In From Software's sick tradition of creating borderline unfair circumstances, they also decided to put these lethal skeletons in a pitch-black, confined maze where there's nowhere to run from them. But the number one reason that they are so annoying is their speed. Even if you see them coming, you only have a split second to react before certain death. Turn the wrong corner? Dead. Miscalculate a dodge? Dead. Try and outrun them? Dead.
Featured in Bloodborne
Imagine the worst of both the Jailers and the Mind Flayers and you have the essence of the Winter Lantern. Utilizes line of sight damage? Check. Has an immobilizing grab attack? Check. Only has to see you once to trigger a damaging status effect that slashes over half of your health instantly? Wait what? Can see you from mile away even behind cover? Oh c'mon, really, what the heck? Winter Lanterns are the perfected killing machines diluted from nearly a decade of game design, condensing digital aggravation into a singular art form. The melodic, siren wails they emit are your only warning of their presence and, no matter the number of shiny items that you can see in the distance, it's not worth coming face to face with these twisted foes, essentially cutting you off from certain progression items. Then, as you begin to enter the late game, and just like any Souls game before it, you search how to find the Blood Rock, the elusive end game item that is needed to maximize your weapon's potential. There is only one in the entire game. It is guarded not just by one or two but by a legion of Winter Lanterns. Thus begins one of the most annoying sections in any game that I've ever played. That singular saga of gaming has cemented the Winter Lantern as the second most annoying enemy in a Souls game, beaten out only by an unforgettable adversary as iconic to Dark Souls as its difficulty.
Featured in Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls III.
Dark Souls without Mimics simply wouldn't be the same game. Like peanut butter without jelly or pancakes without syrup, something would just feel wrong without them. However, regardless of their necessity, they are, without a doubt, the most annoying creatures in all of the Souls games. Disguising themselves as helpful chests filled with untold loot, Mimics take what should be an exciting experience and perverts it into a wild guessing game where you only need to lower your vigilance once to get a one-way ticket back to the bonfire. The first time you encounter and subsequently are eaten by such an enemy, it feels like such a cheat, like the game deliberately tricked you into death. From Software is too clever for that though and you actually can tell if that chest is a simple wooden box or a vile, slobbering beast. Is it breathing slowly? Is the chain curled? Have I hit this chest? All of these questions can identify Mimics before they strike. But that's the genius of the design. To force you to be hyper-vigilant even when doing something as mundane as opening a chest; to add a level of tension to every aspect of the game. This requirement to search for signs of mimicry on every single chest is innately irritating not even counting the times that you forget and get gobbled up. Even when you do find a Mimic, they're no easy beast to take down, stalking about on slender legs, its slab of tongue swinging around, eager to grab you and finish you in one helping. Mimics are the very definition of annoying, requiring you to repeat your past actions over and over again, either by killing you and sending you back to the bonfire or by simply making you check each and every chest in the entire game to see if it is going to eat you. So, with confidence, I can say this: Screw you Mimics. Screw you.
Thanks for reading!
10. Dogs
Featured in Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls III
I guess when you've perfected one of the most universally annoying enemy designs, the only question that From Software needs to ask themselves is: Why wouldn't we put this in every game we make? Oppressively fast, dogs in Souls games are on you in seconds, leaping at you with jaws wide. When they strike, you'll almost assuredly be staggered, allowing whatever enemies are paired with the dogs to get in a free hit on you. Somehow, they're also masters at dodging your attacks with agile little side and back steps. But wait, the fun doesn't stop there! Have you ever heard of the Capra Demon boss fight? Cause the real bosses in that goddamned fight were his two pet pooches that bum rush you immediately upon entering the fog. Basically, for an in-depth and thorough examination of why dogs are and should be on this list, look no further than that one encounter in Dark Souls.
9. Storm Beasts
Featured in Demon's Souls
I'm well aware that there will be a fair few readers who have not played Demon's Souls and therefore are incapable of understanding the sheer level of frustration that these spear-spewing, flying mantas engendered within the community. Let me paint you a picture. You've just made it through the treacherous opening area of world 4-1 complete with deadly samurai skeletons and even a titanic mini-boss. In the distance, you may have even spotted the undulating wings of the storm beasts as they floated through the air and thought, "Wow, that's nice and atmospheric." BAM! A massive, jagged spear rains down you not only dealing heavy damage but also blasting the ground, knocking you off of your feet. So, now you're worried but you're ducking between building avoiding open ground with moderate success. But what's that? Too easy you say? How about the only way forward is a narrow cliff face obstructed by a samurai skeletons that the Storm Beasts spears easily knock you off of to certain death. Suffice it to say, I spent a lot of time cursing these creatures and whatever hellfire spawned them. The only reason that they're not higher on the list is the fact that there is a ring that helps to nullify their range.
8. Basilisks
Featured in Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls III
If this list was about the enemies that inflicted the most pants-shitting terror upon me then these enemies would certainly top the list. The absolute, gut-wrenching horror that these enemies spawn even in veteran players is practically legendary. This feeling owes itself to the original Dark Souls cursing mechanic where, upon being cursed, you not only died but lost half of your health PERMANENTLY until cured. That's right, this is evil at it's most inhumane. You wanted to progress? Ha! Time to waste your fucking day travelling all the way back to the beginning of the game, trying not to be killed with your halved HP, just so you can purchase an item to break your curse. While iterations of these enemies appeared in both sequels and were relatively dangerous in their own right, nothing compared to the utter horror of facing and total despair when dying to these enemies in the original. If they weren't so rare or easily missed, they would have placed higher on this list. Regardless, I will never forget these bulbous eyed monstrosities and how cruel game design truly could be.
7. Amana Shrine Maidens
Featured in Dark Souls II
While certainly the worst of the Souls games, Dark Souls II still had its share of mind-numbing, hair-tearing aggravations. Honestly, even mentioning the title of this area will send shivers down your spine. The Shrine of Amana. Ugh. Why was this area so horrendously irritating? One simple answer: Amana Shrine Maidens. You know, the ones who endlessly fired homing magic at you. Yeah, the same ones that could shoot at you from half a mile away and start spamming you before you even saw them. The ones that always came in pairs so that you were always getting pinged from multiple directions at once. Then, combine these pests with a flooded, swamp-like environment that cleverly disguises bottomless trenches next to solid ground and you'll know that you've hopped on board an infuriating, sadness-ridden, despair train through Painville with frequent local stops at 'You Died' and 'Loading Screen'. It's like From Software decided to ask the same guy who placed two archers on top of the narrow buttress in Anor Londo to take a crack at an entire level for Dark Souls II and this is what he came up with. "Looks like two of our QA testers quit after breaking their controllers." His Response? "Our work here is done."
6. Jailers
Featured in Dark Souls III
Enemy design doesn't get much more insidious than the Jailers in Dark Souls III. All these enemies have to do to damage you is to look at you. Literally, if you are in their line of sight, then your health (and your sanity) will begin rapidly depleting. But was that enough irritation for From Software? I think not. Not only does your HP drain when one of these evil wenches looks at you but your overall health bar also decreases. That's right, you'll be fighting with a vastly diminished health pool if you're unable to kill them quickly or run away to relative safety to wait out the effect. Then when your pool finally regenerates, you'll still have to heal your actual health points with Estus. But the fun doesn't stop there. Lest we forget, they also have a melee grab that can incapacitate you while you're being drained by their dumbass stare, which is, essentially, a death sentence. Fighting groups of Jailers requires more than just simple patience but a natural sadomasochism that only manifests itself in long term Dark Souls players. Ever the traditionalists, From Software has utilized similar enemy tactics in some of their earlier work and, spoiler alert, some of them are going to make an appearance on this very list.
5. Brainsuckers
Featured in Bloodborne
One of the most grotesque creations that I have ever encountered in all of gaming, Brainsuckers are as disgusting as they are frustrating. The first time I encountered one of these fiends, I wasn't ready for what happened next, physically or psychologically. Immediately, it zapped me with a bolt of energy that immobilized me in place. I knew it wasn't going to be good when it then ran up on its spindly legs and grabbed me. But what happened next triggered some next level emotional scarring. A slimy, moist tube of pale flesh uncoiled out of this thing's head, convulsing and shivering, before burrowing into my character's skull audibly sucking brain material out before tossing my lifeless body aside. Dear sweet lord, what just happened. As it turns out, after you get over the utter revulsion that these things evoke, they become some of the game's most annoying culprits. They not only deal massive amounts of damage when they catch you but they also deplete some of your accumulated insight, a relatively rare resource that you can use to purchase new outfits and consumables. Furthermore, they're able to paralyze you from dizzying distances and they don't stagger easily so don't plan on just getting in close and spamming the attack button. These enemies are so formidable and debilitating that the Chalice Dungeons even feature a buffed version of one of them as a boss.
4. Mind Flayers
Featured in Demon's Souls
Everybody, please welcome the OG of immobilizing douchebags, the first in exacperation, the original in vomit-inducing aggravation: the Mind Flayers. Within the claustraphobic halls of the Tower of Latria, amidst the tortured screams of prisoners and players alike, roams the deadly, squid-headed Mind Flayer. From the tinny reverberations of their green lanterns to their squelching, tentacled faces, everything about these guys screams "Danger!" It's easy to tell that they laid the devilish groundwork for their future incarnations: The Jailer and Brainsucker. Except with less remorse. Emerald lightning would dart out from their lanterns and strike you, incapacitating you so they could shuffle up with unnatural speed. Taking you into their tentacles, a spike would burst through the back of your head, dealing immense damage. However, unlike their inspirations in Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, they would not relent just because you nearly died, they would fire off more paralyzing attacks in quick succession. Given the restricted confines of the Tower of Latria, a prison by design, the Mind Flayers quickly became one of the games biggest challenges, bosses included.
3. Wheel Skeletons
Featured in Dark Souls
Perhaps the most seemingly innocuous yet utterly devastating enemies in all of the Souls series, particularly on a first run, the wheel skeletons of Dark Souls became an enduring part of the series' trademark difficulty. Upon first encountering them at the bottom of the Catacombs, you're not sure what to expect. Then they prop up into wheel form and roll at you and you expect to take a little damage. But no, once they hit you, they will stun-lock you in place slowly grinding your health away until you die. The worst part of it is how long it all takes. They can't just kill you. No, instead they make you watch for ten seconds as they scrape away your health with each cycle of their wheel. Not to mention that they are always in a group and dodging more than one of them at a time is truly the definition of heart-racing. In From Software's sick tradition of creating borderline unfair circumstances, they also decided to put these lethal skeletons in a pitch-black, confined maze where there's nowhere to run from them. But the number one reason that they are so annoying is their speed. Even if you see them coming, you only have a split second to react before certain death. Turn the wrong corner? Dead. Miscalculate a dodge? Dead. Try and outrun them? Dead.
2. Winter Lanterns
Featured in Bloodborne
Imagine the worst of both the Jailers and the Mind Flayers and you have the essence of the Winter Lantern. Utilizes line of sight damage? Check. Has an immobilizing grab attack? Check. Only has to see you once to trigger a damaging status effect that slashes over half of your health instantly? Wait what? Can see you from mile away even behind cover? Oh c'mon, really, what the heck? Winter Lanterns are the perfected killing machines diluted from nearly a decade of game design, condensing digital aggravation into a singular art form. The melodic, siren wails they emit are your only warning of their presence and, no matter the number of shiny items that you can see in the distance, it's not worth coming face to face with these twisted foes, essentially cutting you off from certain progression items. Then, as you begin to enter the late game, and just like any Souls game before it, you search how to find the Blood Rock, the elusive end game item that is needed to maximize your weapon's potential. There is only one in the entire game. It is guarded not just by one or two but by a legion of Winter Lanterns. Thus begins one of the most annoying sections in any game that I've ever played. That singular saga of gaming has cemented the Winter Lantern as the second most annoying enemy in a Souls game, beaten out only by an unforgettable adversary as iconic to Dark Souls as its difficulty.
1. Mimics
Featured in Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls III.
Dark Souls without Mimics simply wouldn't be the same game. Like peanut butter without jelly or pancakes without syrup, something would just feel wrong without them. However, regardless of their necessity, they are, without a doubt, the most annoying creatures in all of the Souls games. Disguising themselves as helpful chests filled with untold loot, Mimics take what should be an exciting experience and perverts it into a wild guessing game where you only need to lower your vigilance once to get a one-way ticket back to the bonfire. The first time you encounter and subsequently are eaten by such an enemy, it feels like such a cheat, like the game deliberately tricked you into death. From Software is too clever for that though and you actually can tell if that chest is a simple wooden box or a vile, slobbering beast. Is it breathing slowly? Is the chain curled? Have I hit this chest? All of these questions can identify Mimics before they strike. But that's the genius of the design. To force you to be hyper-vigilant even when doing something as mundane as opening a chest; to add a level of tension to every aspect of the game. This requirement to search for signs of mimicry on every single chest is innately irritating not even counting the times that you forget and get gobbled up. Even when you do find a Mimic, they're no easy beast to take down, stalking about on slender legs, its slab of tongue swinging around, eager to grab you and finish you in one helping. Mimics are the very definition of annoying, requiring you to repeat your past actions over and over again, either by killing you and sending you back to the bonfire or by simply making you check each and every chest in the entire game to see if it is going to eat you. So, with confidence, I can say this: Screw you Mimics. Screw you.
Thanks for reading!
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