Though nearly all games created in the Mario universe are created for younger players, many adults find fun in the countless games for years to come. Still, some small easter eggs or mishaps seem a bit too dark for the original intended audience of children.
Especially one house from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. In the U.S version of the game there's a house in the back alley of Rougeport Main Square, in this house it appears as though someone has broken in and ransacked the place. This alone is enough to be unsettling to an extent, a break-in and robbery attempt is quite an adult concept.
However, the original Japanese version is even worse. There appears to be red stains covering the floor and walls, and there’s a chalk outline apparently in the shape of Toad. Obviously, this implies a heinous crime. Although the scene isn’t focused on, it is really dark for such an innocent game and is considered to be one of the most upsetting easter eggs in video game history, even all these years later.
14. The Infinity Killer
This easter egg is seen as more of a simple fact by some players, as it is so integrated into the game. Still the way everything is presented, makes for a great entry. In the GTA 5 universe in December 1999, 8 male joggers were murdered and buried in San Andreas.
These murders were deemed the Infinity Murders after the killers obsession with the number 8 and his infamous quote “8 is just infinity turned sideways”. Merle Abrahams was the psychopath responsible for this event and though he is never seen in the game, he is mentioned various times and nearly his entire backstory has been pieced together thanks to Easter Eggs and fan theories.
The clues to this character include graffiti on rocks, newspaper clippings, and a message left inside Merle’s own home. The simultaneous absence and strong presence of this killer is what makes his story truly creepy to players and fans.
13. Black & White 2: Whispered Names
The Black & White game series blends real time strategy and God game elements. It was originally released in 2005, though this Easter Egg comes from it’s sequel a few years later. When the game is played after 10:00pm the game will whisper your name in a very ghostly and disheartening voice.
The game uses an algorithm that takes a variety of stored names and then compares it to your screen name or profile name to correctly call out to you. This is certainly scary for first time players that do no expect the feature. Even worse is imagining this happening with headphones in as you play alone in the middle of the night.
12. Assassin’s Creed II, The Kraken
The Assassins Creed game series is best known for being historically accurate when it comes to general details and technology. Of course there are some fantasy features that makes the game far from perfect when it comes to history, but this detail was extremely unrealistic compared to most of the game, which makes it considerably scary to some players.
While solving a puzzle in a specific tomb of the game, a massive Kraken can be seen motioning through the water below. This game is set in Renaissance era Italy, so the mystical beast feels rather out of place. This isn’t the only time that the creature makes an appearance, either. In Assassin’s Creed 4, the Kraken is seen destroying a shark outside an abandoned ship. This location makes much more sense as the game features more pirate-like themes, still the fact that this hard to ignore creature is barely discussed or featured doesn’t help it’s case.
11. Animal Crossing & Harvest Moon
The community game Animal Crossing features villages where the players live with anthropomorphic animals and carry out various tasks like building items and decorating locations. The games have been known to be quite obsessive for players thanks to open-ended game play and the community interaction.
In the game, however, if you watch the TV at 3:33 am a small dark alien appears and suggests that it is watching you. In media, 3:33 am is often associated with evil, the spirit world, extraterrestrial abduction and more. Though the scenes are always short and relatively harmless, it’s still unsettling for what is supposed to be a childrens game.
In Harvest Moon, a game very similar to Animal Crossing, something similar happens with the TV. However, in this case it occurs at 4:44 am and instead of a little alien stalking you, you see the number 4 repeated over and over again in both English and Japanese lettering. In Japanese culture the time 4:44 am holds the same meaning as 3:33 am for American culture. Additionally, the number 4 is meant to symbolize death. A very morbid warning for such a light hearted game.
10. Half Life 2: The Standard Zombie
The Half-Life series began in the late 1990’s and features various mutants or zombie-like creatures. The Standard Zombie is the most common creature or monster in the game series and it involves a standard Headcrab attaching to a victim's brain and taking over their nervous system to essentially control their body.
The zombie’s are already a sore sight being grotesque and only partially human. However, to make them even worse they constantly create guttural noises of despair that sound uncomfortably human. Specifically when you set one on fire, their screams almost sound like words. Apparently a lot of players agreed with this notion because it was eventually discovered and shared by many that this dialogue was actual human speech reversed.
When edited to play forward, the zombie’s scream in pain “Help. God help me”, which makes the idea of these poor victims even more tough to get through. Many players obviously see them as mindless enemies but playing this human voice with the action gives a “real life” aspect that many were not prepared for.
9. Ratman Dens
Doug Rattman is a character from the game series Portal. Rattman began as an Aperture Science employee. After some conflict he eventually came to live in the Test Chambers and maintenance rooms of the facilities as his sanity quickly deteriorated. He spent much of his time scribbling on the walls of the chambers and the remains of his presence can be experienced by players as they travel through the long abandoned locations.
In Portal, his scribblings give information about his obsession with Companion Cube, directions and warnings for the player, and of course the popular phrase “the cake is a lie”. In Portal 2, the messages prove Rattmans survival and help guide the general story forward. Despite how useful the Rat Dens are to the player and story, they still provide a creepy aspect simply by demonstrating the insanity of a once brilliant man, as well as the horrible living conditions he was forced to endure.
8. Luigi’s Shadow
This one is also known as “hanging Luigi” and fans have debated for years whether it’s a true creepy easter egg, or just an inconvenient glitch. In the game Luigi's Mansion, this scene can be found just after the Boss Battle of Area 3. Luigi finds his way to the telephone room and answers two phone calls, during the second call a very cinematic lightning flash illuminates the room.
Luigi’s shadow, which is cast upon the wall, is distorted in a way that apparently shows Luigi hanging. Again, it’s still unconfirmed whether this is a true easter egg that comes off a little too dark for a child’s game, or a simple glitch that made for great lore years after the release of the game.
7. Fatal Frame Screensavers
The Fatal Frame game series is all about using film to fight evil spirits. The series has received acclaim over the years and even has various spin-off media related to the concept. One of the most memorable aspects of the series though, is the featured screensavers that double as easter eggs and jumpscares.
Basically, if the player leaves the game idle for more than 5 minutes, a screensaver appears to scare the player. In Fatal Frame 1, the image was bloody handprints. In the second and third versions of the game, effectively disturbing ghost faces are used. Considering the first game was released in 2001, this was new and unique for it’s time and helped create the idea of interactive horror games that step into the real world, even if only for a second.
6. World of Warcraft: Children of Goldshire
The World of Warcraft series is an online interactive gaming community with fantasy characters and endless quests. The WoW platform was initially released in 2004 and has had gamers hooked and interested ever since with expansion packs, updates and more. This Easter Egg has many layers to it which make it not only unsettling but intriguing as well.
The Goldshire Children are a group of 6 school aged children that travel together in a sort of pack. They can be found in and around Goldshire in Elwynn Forest but they never go far from their home in Stormwind City. The children’s names are Cameron, John, Jose, Lisa, Dana and Aaron. When they travel together they appear to not only walk in sync but also never breaking the shape of a pentagram which faces different directions depending on the day.
Theories suggest that the characters are inspired by Children of the Corn, a classic horror film based on Satan worshipping orphans. If you follow the children to their home, they form their pentagram shape and simply stare forward. Allegedly various sounds can be heard while in this setting. Everything from a banshee scream, and C'Thun saying, "You... Will... Die." to a ghost howling or a woman crying have said to be heard in this location.
5. Timesplitters 2: Mission Failure
Timesplitters is a first person shooter game released in the early 2000’s. Mission Failure is a mysterious easter egg that occurs in the second game of the series. When the player fails a mission either by losing their health points, falling into a bottomless chasm, or failing an objective in Story mode, Challenge mode, or Arcade League.
After the character “dies” if the restart screen is left unattended for a period of time, a slow, deep and unnerving audio track is played over the idle screen. Clearly, it sounds like something from a nightmare. Eventually fans became curious and sped up the audio track to find that it is actually Captain Ash's dialogue from the beginning of the Aztec Ruins level slowed down significantly to create this dreamy and spooky audio. While the backstory for this isn’t that creepy or even mysterious, the general presence of the audio before players were able to edit it caused a lot of debate and even fear.
4. Doom 2: Romero’s Head
This Easter Egg is seen as comical by some, and downright gross by others. The Doom series first began in the early 90’s and includes related novels, comics, board game, and film adaptations. In Doom 2, MAP30: Icon of Sin, the easter egg is planted as a final boss. Usually what is known as “The Icon of Sin” must be hit with a rocket and damaged significantly to finish the level.
In this case, the Icon is an image of John Romero’s head. Romero is a designer and programmer for the game. The only way to see it is to use the idclip cheat code and go behind the face of the final boss. Additionally, it’s not just an image of his head. It is clearly severed, dripping blood and placed upon a spike and features some disturbing audio of Romero’s voice in reverse.
3. Batman: Arkham Knight
When it comes to Batman, be it comics, animated series, movies or video games, the Joker provides creators with a perfect place to make things absolutely horrifying. One of the scariest scenes to feature the Joker comes from Batman: Arkham Knight. The game begins after the Joker has died and his body is being prepared for cremation. An already unsightly scene gets even better (or worse) as the game prompts the player to start the incinerator.
As flames engulf the joker he begins to scream in pain. Shortly after he jumps forward to expose crispy skin and his signature laugh. Prompting the player to interact truly brings them into the game and then serves a classic and detailed jumpscare that remains popular.
2. Undertale: Gaster
Undertale is a role-playing indie game released in 2015 that immediately grew a massive fan base. Created entirely by game developer Toby Fox, the detailed game takes the player on a creative, emotional, and often terrifying journey. This game is basically known for it’s lore, hidden details, alternate endings, changing levels and easter eggs. Gaster is a character discussed in the game that is almost an Easter Egg of his own, because while his existence is confirmed he is never seen and some factors of the game hint his is still alive.
Two of the most popular Gaster related Easter Eggs are known as “Gasters Theme” and “The Encounter”. Undertale has a hidden value in it's code called the 'fun value'. This value ranges from 1 to 100 and is set randomly by the game upon startup. This number determines certain events in the game. If the value is set at 65 while you're in the Snowdin level, you can access a new area which allows you to play “test” versions of songs from the game.
One of these songs is called 'Gaster's Theme'. Once you play it, it continues for the remainder of your presence here and you cannot change it. Of course this is an obvious reference to Gaster and the fact that the player loses control of the game here implies that Gaster has some power over the code of the game. Speaking of the code of the game, another popular aspect of Undertale is the players ability to alter the game by editing the code or save files.
One feature allows you to edit the save file and set the room you spawn into as room 264. When you arrive in room 264, a message is shared in the Wingdings font, which is known exclusively as Gaster’s font. Additionally, some disturbing music and audio is played over the message. When translated the message reads; “Entry 17: Dark, darker, yet darker. The darkness keeps growing. The shadow is cutting deeper. Photon readings negative.
1.Star Fox: Out of this Dimension
The Star Fox series is a classic, with it’s first release in 1993. In the game while flying through open space and shooting at asteroids, a very peculiar looking asteroid will cross your path. If you successfully shoot this, the game appears to glitch in a very trippy way and you are taken to what can only be described as another dimension. Coincidentally this location is known as “Out of this Dimension”.
While here, things move in a strange and fluid manner, the asteroids have faces on them, and the sound is distorted. The mysterious location is known to be infinite, though no other facts are clear. It is apparently outside of the games universe and “outside of existence as we know it”. Players have described the level as inescapable and many deem it the alternate ending of the game.
The dimension does not appear in any other Star Fox games, though it is similar to the later introduced “Warp Zones”. Aside from the general confusing vibe of the location, it is said to be unsettling because it focuses on the unknown and dangerous expanse of space and even reality.
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