7 Awesome Video Game Ghosts
There are tons of monsters to celebrate at Halloween. But let’s face it, ghosts are by far the best and most terrifying…and there is no argument there because it’s my article and my word is law here!
THE LAW
Watching ghosts in movies or reading about them in books is scary enough, but in video games they are particularly effective. After all, in movies you can just close your eyes anytime a spirit leaps to the screen. In games, to look away is to court death itself.
Whether they are dripping with blood and wearing out your vocal chords with screams or making you laugh with their ghostly antics, ghosts have been providing games with great stories almost since games began. Here are some of the favourite ghosts that have been around over the years.
Oh yes, and disclaimers. This goes without saying but POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!
7. LeChuck- Monkey Island
I’m an adventure gamer through and through. So it’s sort of a crime if I don’t include every adventure gamer’s favourite villain on this list. I’m quite serious, I’m pretty sure it’s a crime.
Like most pirate ghosts (I assume), LeChuck’s obsessed with only two things: immense amounts of power and the love of a woman, governer Elaine Marley, who wants nothing to do with him. And as with many men who simply can’t take no for an answer, LeChuck’s idea of winning the woman of his dreams over is to kidnap her and force her to be his undead bride…at least I think that’s how most unrequited crushes go.
LeChuck is ruthless, cruel, intelligent, and driven, basically everything that makes both a good villain and a good ghost. Also he uses voodoo. Awesome.
6. Boo- Mario Bros.
Really, who DOESN’T know Boo by this point? He’s not only the most well known faces in the Mario games, but gaming in general. He’s also the only ghost on this list to NOT have a horrifying or tragic backstory. And there’s no need to! He’s a ghost. He scares things. He seems to be quite happy with that.
He may not be terribly scary these days, but think back to when he was first introduced. Oh, sure, looked harmless upon first entering the room, a innocent white blob covering his eyes. But the MOMENT you turned your back…
Basically, he was the predecessor (and in my opinion, inspiration) to the Weeping Angels of Doctor Who, some of the scariest creatures out there. He was the source of much of my video game stress as a kid, and still remains so to this day.
5. Aiden- Beyond Two Souls
Beyond Two Souls, in which Ellen Page is connected to a paranormal entity, is far from a perfect game. Okay, it’s not terrible, but it certainly didn’t meet the potential that developer David Cage built up. The dialogue gets cheesy, the choices matter little, the game tries to force you to fall in love with a jerk.
Here, fall in love with the most patronizing and boring character in the whole game! DO IT!
But thankfully there is one saving grace to the game: the ghost himself, Aiden. He has no voice other than the occasional otherworldly whooshing. You never physically see him apart from occasionally seeing the sparkly tether that keeps him attached to his human companion. But he is nonetheless not just a genuinely creepy and mysterious presence in Ellen Page’s life, but also more of a fully fledged character than some of the fully rendered characters we’re supposed to care about.
But what’s a ghost without ghostly activities? Aiden fulfills the role of creepy ghost admirably, and since the player controls him much of the time you get to experience all the classic ghost activity you’ve always wanted to try out: moving objects, possessing people’s bodies, going all out poltergeist on a party of jerk teens…
Is there any fictional universe where teenagers don’t turn out to be sadistic jerks?
All through this the mystery of who Aiden is and the tragedy of the characters’ circumstances still resonates and it’s one of the things that kept me glued to the game.
4. Lady Comstock- Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite is a lot of things: gorgeous, mysterious, mind-bending, confusing. But one thing it’s not is spooky.
That is until you somehow manage to conjure up the ghost of Lady Comstock, the long dead wife of the main villain of the game. Your job is to follow her and discover her backstory, but boy did I ever hesitate hunting her down upon hearing her record scratch of a voice emanating from down the street. She is a truly hair-raising presence with a past tragic enough to make even the most hardened of souls empathize.
Except for maybe these guys.
Then of course there’s the fact that she provides one of the most difficult and stressful fights of the entire game, and once all is said and done you’re still left feeling unsettled and watching your back. This tortured soul is definitely one that you hate to find yourself on the bad side of.
3. Ghostly Hand- Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
I know what you’re thinking. If I’m going with any Zelda game, why not put the Poes on here? Why put some random hand? What is so spooky about that? What makes one hand a better ghost than the creepy lantern throwing crazies of Hyrule Field?
You clearly have not played this little sidequest in Skyward Sword then. This one needs a bit of backstory (spoilers)
At one point in the game you, Link, the hero of Time, are wandering through the halls of the Knight Academy late at night, doing what you normally do: raiding people’s rooms, spying on your neighbours, and of course, making use of the bathroom.
Upon attempting to enter the bathroom though, a ghostly voice suddenly wails from within. And for some reason she is begging for paper. That’s right, this is the ghost of a person who did not have enough toilet paper.
Surprisingly, this is not the only Zelda game with a character like this.
There is a character who will give you paper, a little jerkwad who bullies Link, however it’s a love letter to a girl he really likes. You have the choice: you can deliver the letter for the jerkwad (and simply watch him get rejected) or you can completely ignore jerkwad’s wishes and give up the paper to Ghost Hand.
Ghost Hand, it appears, happens to read the letter before using it for…um…I don’t want to know what. So not only is she grateful for the century late toilet paper, but she has also found a new love. You might think to yourself “Huzzah! That bully will get what’s coming to him!”
Only when you find him again, he is writhing in agony while wailing Ghost Hand lovingly pets his head…
See his face? You’ve basically condemned a man’s soul to never ending torture. And it both sounds and looks incredibly creepy and disturbing. It’s a sound that has not left my ears easily, and so it’s the Zelda ghost to go on this list.
2. Alessa- Silent Hill 3
We’re getting into the scary ones now. The Silent Hill series is jam packed with psychologically crazed souls and make-you-poop-scary monsters. But none really put chills down my spine than when Alessa, the queen of haunted souls in Silent Hill, shows up to take down Heather, her blond counterpart.
Okay…while the jury may be out on whether Alessa even COUNTS as a ghost, there is no denying she is scary as all hell. Covered in blood, ruthless, and able to turn a slightly creepy seaside town into…a gory, fiery, screeching nightmare.
She can also turn a sink and a mirror into the MOST TERRIFYING THING EVER
Like all good ghosts, hers is a story that you can’t help but empathize with: a young girl caught up in a plot by scheming adults that couldn’t care less what they were doing to a child. You really can’t blame her for wanting to eviscerate anyone that tries to get close to her.
1. Sae Kurosawa- Fatal Frame 2
I have never played the Fatal Frame games. I will probably never play the Fatal Frame games. Because I need to be able to sleep in the next decade.
But when compiling ghosts for the list, it was obvious that Fatal Frame would have to somehow make the list. Fatal Frame, a game about defeating ghosts with the click of a camera button which is far more terrifying than it sounds, boasts it’s fair share of awesome ghosts.
I spent half an hour looking at ghost pictures and trying to pick one…and now I can’t sleep
But when looking through the plethora I could choose from, it was Sae Kurosawa from Fatal Frame 2 that really made an impression. Equal parts terrifying, eerie, creepy and downright tragic, Sae Kurosawa is yet another victim of satanic rituals gone wrong. The pain of her loss and the sincere longing for her sister though is what makes her a truly memorable ghost.
And the laugh. You cannot forget that laugh.
Honourable Mentions from Games I Have Not Played:
Sylvanas Windrunner (Warcraft III/WoW), Edward Roivas (Eternal Darkness), Cubone’s Mom (Pokémon Red and Blue), The Sorrow (Metal Gear Solid 3), Sissel (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective)
What are some of your favourite ghosts? Comment below! I’d love to hear!
