Video games have all manner of obstacles and enemies to block your way to victory. Naturally, you’re not going to let any of those things stop you. Well, maybe some enemies might stop you in your tracks.
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While there are difficult bosses that claim your life try after try and blood-boiling villains that you may’t wait to knock down a few pegs, there are plenty of basic enemies meant to be fodder for players. It’s part of the whole package but, sometimes, there comes a basic enemy you just can’t help but feel a little guilty about having to unalive.
8Super Mario - Goombas
To say thatMarioregularly curb stomps Goombas is an understatement. The man literally jumps over and lands with his full weight on these little mushroom dudes. He does so with so much force that they completely flatten and just warp out of existence.
It’s hard enough trying to live your life with short stumpy feet and no other limbs, but then a plumber with a temper comes barrelling through. Technically, they are the native species in the lands that Mario goes through. Sure, they are traitors to the Mushroom Kingdom, but they’re so tiny and weak! Couldn’t we just jump over them instead of mowing entire Goomba families with a Koopa shell?
7It Takes Two - Literally Every Enemy
It Takes Twois all about the wonders of co-parenting and the mistakes that come with it. Throughout the game, you seeamazing and unique levelswith their own play styles and types of enemies. As you go through, these mistakes become increasingly darker, and- oh god, why are we killing the elephant?!
From the moment you have to make your abandoned vacuum literally suck its own eyes out, it’s clear that none of these fights are going to feel too good to beat. Cutie begging for her life as you drag her to the edge of her completely harmless castle just to make your daughter cry? If you’re a monster and you know it, clap your hands.
6BioShock - Big Daddies
InBioShock, Big Daddies are imposing figures that roam the lands of Rapture. Considering how powerful they are, it can feel like a bad idea to provoke them. Technically, you have to kill them if you want to liberate the children that are essentially being forced into living as harvesting machines. You also have to defeat them in order to get ADAM for upgrades.
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That said, the fact that Big Daddies will not harm you at all as long as you don’t attack first makes the guilt bubble up. They will even be helpful against violent splicers and can do your bidding if you have the Hypnotize plasmid. Even without aiding you, though, the game makes it clear that these Big Daddies feel very attached to their Little Sisters and simply live to protect them. Sorry, Dad.
5Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - Nightbrothers
Nightbrothers are not inherently sympathetic figures. They look intimidating, they attack on sight, and they basically goad you on to attack them with all your might. With all their taunts and the mission at hand, no one can really blame you if you get fed up and just Forceyour enemies to fight each other.
That said, we meet the Nightbrothers at a point inFallen Orderwhere their homeland has been ravaged by outside forces. They pose pretty much zero threat to the galaxy at this point. Their Nightsisters have been almost completely wiped out, so you can’t really blame them for simply protecting their home. There are plenty of moments when fighting on Dathomir that can really make you feel like a colonizing invader, especially as you strike down more Nightbrothers while promising them that you mean well.
4Portal - Turrets
As you go through the Aperture Science facility inPortal, you must often get rid of deadly Turrets that are in your way. These turrets are only set to kill because of the machinations of GlaDOS, though. Can they help their programming?
You’ll often hear turrets speaking to each other innocently, and they will react accordingly when you go for the kill. Anytime a seemingly sentient being says “Don’t shoot” or “I don’t hate you”, it feels kind of icky to go ahead and off them. It’s odd to feel bad for blowing up a machine that has been trying to shoot you relentlessly, but here we are.
3Shadow Of The Colossus - Colossi
It’s you. Hi. You’re the problem, it’s you.
InShadow of the Colossus, you fight - you guessed it - the Colossi. They are imposing beings that put up a fascinating fight, so it’s satisfying whenever you take the victory. Or is it?
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Wander isn’t necessarily an evil person, but the corruption becomes ever so clear the more Colossi you kill. And for what, really? While a few of these gargantuan enemies will attack on sight, the Colossi are generally peaceful and won’t attack unless provoked.
2Breath Of The Wild - Bokoblins
Breath of the Wildis one ofthe best Zelda games, hands down. It also heavily features the Bokoblins, who you really have no reason to feel sorry for, but somehow do anyway. If you watched the Monster Maze “documentary” on this species, you’ll only feel worse about raiding their camps.
They get gloomy when the weather is bad, they hang out at camp, and they hold barbeque parties with their buddies! They also scream when you kill them. It’s hard not to feel bad about offing these Bokos when they’re just living it up day to day. Of course, it gets a little easier when they go full aggro at you just for existing.
1Mutant Babies - The Forest
It’s bad enough having to kill the local inhabitants ofThe Forestwho are just scared of an unfamiliar figure, but you’re able to still kind of justify that because they’re cannibals that likely ate the innocent survivors of the plane crash you were in.
Mutant babies, though? That’s just their nature, and it’s not like they asked to be born. Considering how deadly they are in numbers, you have no choice but to put them down. It’s horrifying and uncomfortable, but this is the part where you nervously laugh and say “It’s just a game.”
