History DemonicSpiders / ShootEmUps

* The first ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'' had Switchblades, who are as fast as you and attack with deadly wheel spikes, and the boat segments had Dr. Torpedos, who fire constant streams of well... torpedoes. The NES-only [[DolledUpInstallment dolled-up sequel]], ''Super Spy Hunter'', had the [[MolotovTruck barrel trucks]], who dumped loads of ExplodingBarrels in your path that left flaming debris, and the MadeOfIron bullet-spamming jets in the plane shmup level.

* In the special "Endurance" stage of ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/RogueSquadron II'', one was required to destroy 999 TIE Fighters and then Darth Vader's special fighter. By itself, this was somewhat doable; but the most frustrating thing was when a TIE Fighter would crash into your ship, destroying both of you. While this is an effective strategy, fans figured the game AI didn't do this intentionally, and referred to this TIE Pilot as the dim-witted "Darth Bob."

** [[KnifeNut Knife]] soldiers ''never'' have Crisis Sightings, and knives that will hit you are marked with a red tail is far too subtle to easily see in a fast-pasted LightGunGame.

* Any target in ''VideoGame/PointBlank'' that the game instructs you not to shoot [[HostageSpiritLink takes off a life if shot]], but bombs are by far the worst offender due to how frequently appear, and will launch in ways intentionally designed to make shooting relevant targets more difficult. They're at their worst in ''Point Blank 2'', where one stage requires you to shoot the parachutes off of parachuting bombs so that they can be caught in a basket, where the usual life penalty for shooting bombs still applies.

* The aliens in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series. Not only are they considerably tougher than the standard soldiers (who usually go down in one hit), but their shots are either homing to an almost infallible degree or very fast and hard to dodge.

* Certain enemies in the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' games will fire massive swarms of bullets when killed, most notably in ''Perfect Cherry Blossom'' stage 4 and ''Subterranean Animism'' stage 5. This gets so bad, that it's actually a better tactic to simply not shoot during the majority of these stages.

* ''VideoGame/SpheresOfChaos'' has Tidddlers. While most common aliens either are all over the place or chasing player, these manage to do both while being rather fast too. This results in many deaths.
** Bacteria and Daisies which are left unkilled can replicate so fast that they cover pretty much most of the screen.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}'' series and its spinoffs ''Viper Phase 1'' and ''VideoGame/RaidenFighters'', not to mention several of the Creator/{{Toaplan}} games (like ''VideoGame/FireShark'') that inspired ''Raiden'' in the first place, exist what the fanbase calls "sniper tanks": tanks that come from unexpected places (under a tree, from a garage, from inside a hut) and immediately shoot at you. Their "dead zone" where they don't fire is exactly as big as their sprite. As the DynamicDifficulty increases, their shots become faster and more prescient.
** And if you think you're safe over the ocean where there are fewer Sniper Tanks, we have [[AquaticMook Sniper Gunboats]], which perform the same role.
* ''Star Force'' (at least the NES incarnation of it) had a strange enemy shaped like a diamond with an eye in the center. It moved slowly, but followed your ship everywhere. Of course you can't shoot backwards, so you have to hit it from below. Doing so would cause it to fragment into indestructible shrapnel which would hit your ship about seven times out of ten (moreso if you WERE NOT at a great distance). Even worse, this enemy would appear in groups of three to five.
* The parasites in ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' look like the facehuggers of ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' fame. They're hard to spot, hard to shoot, they always spawn in groups, and if they latch onto you, they'll sap all your health away. The only way to get them off is to get to some sort of healing, so if you don't have a dedicated Medic on-hand, you're pretty much screwed. Oh, and more than one can jump on you at once.
* In the special "Endurance" stage of ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/RogueSquadron II'', one was required to destroy 999 TIE Fighters and then Darth Vader's special fighter. By itself, this was somewhat doable; but the most frustrating thing was when a TIE Fighter would crash into your ship, destroying both of you. While this is an effective strategy, fans figured the game AI didn't do this intentionally, and referred to this TIE Pilot as the dim-witted "Darth Bob."
* The most literal and one of the oldest examples were the spiders from the video game ''VideoGame/{{Centipede}}'' for their tendency to come out of nowhere and erratic patterns.
* Certain enemies in the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' games will fire massive swarms of bullets when killed, most notably in ''Perfect Cherry Blossom'' stage 4 and ''Subterranean Animism'' stage 5. This gets so bad, that it's actually a better tactic to simply not shoot during the majority of these stages.

* The first ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'' had Switchblades, who are as fast as you and attack with deadly wheel spikes, and the boat segments had Dr. Torpedos, who fire constant streams of well... torpedoes. The NES-only [[DolledUpInstallment dolled-up sequel]], ''Super Spy Hunter'', had the [[MolotovTruck barrel trucks]], who dumped loads of ExplodingBarrels in your path that left flaming debris, and the MadeOfIron bullet-spamming jets in the plane shmup level.
* The phoenixes in the penultimate stage of ''VideoGame/{{Abadox}}''. Fireballs gather in the middle of the screen and then fly straight up in the shape of a bird. If you shoot any of these fireballs to try and prevent that from happening, the other fireballs will home in on you relentlessly, and trying to shoot them without powerups is like trying to throw a pebble through a doughnut that's being thrown at ''you''.

* ''VideoGame/ChimeraBeast'':
** Literal demonic spiders appear in stage 4. These come in huge numbers, fire loads of {{spreadshot}}s, and have a very good amount of health. Worse still, they swing about, causing easy CollisionDamage. And there's also a giant tortoise to annoy you when you face them.
** The [[http://bbh.marpirc.net/chimerabeast/cb7.png small rockets]] in the final stage. An instance of BulletHell considering your Eater's large hitbox, these rise from the bottom in large numbers and shoot an 8-way spread of shots ''very'' often. If you don't eat them and their shots, you'll get overwhelmed.
* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'':
** The series' signature red "marksman" soldiers, whose first shots are guaranteed to hit if you are not behind cover. While subsequent games give out red "Crisis Sightings" to alert you to a shot about to hit you, you may not be able to react fast enough to avoid damage at times. They're at their worst in ''Crisis Zone''; even though the Crisis Sighting is accompanied by a warning beep, they fire faster than ''any'' other variant of red soldier in the series.
** [[KnifeNut Knife]] soldiers ''never'' have Crisis Sightings, and knives that will hit you are marked with a red tail is far too subtle to easily see in a fast-pasted LightGunGame.

* ''VideoGame/{{Do|nPachi}}DonPachi Dai-Fukkatsu'' has the rings of spinning turrets in Stage 5 that spew out bullets or lasers and are [[InvincibleMinorMinion indestructible]] except in Arrange A of the Xbox 360 port. Often cited as the most hated part of the game, even more than [[TrueFinalBoss Hibachi]].
* ''[[VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo 19XX]]'s'' fourth stage has an enemy that resembles a grey missile which enters the screen from the top and ''almost immediately'' fires a huge spread of multiple shots. Even if you can manage to kill it (it's not too durable), those shots will make avoiding the other enemy attacks tricky.
* Any target in ''VideoGame/PointBlank'' that the game instructs you not to shoot [[HostageSpiritLink takes off a life if shot]], but bombs are by far the worst offender due to how frequently appear, and will launch in ways intentionally designed to make shooting relevant targets more difficult. They're at their worst in ''Point Blank 2'', where one stage requires you to shoot the parachutes off of parachuting bombs so that they can be caught in a basket, where the usual life penalty for shooting bombs still applies.

* In ''Project Root'', the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Executor]] [[EliteMooks heavy fighters]], which start appearing in the second mission, are the bane of beginning players, even on Easy difficulty. They can take loads of punishment, fire [[MacrossMissileMassacre barrages]] of hyper-accurate {{homing projectile}}s that deal heavy damage, and typically attack in groups.

** There is the infamous Option Thief in ''Gradius II'' and beyond. In many situations, trying to dodge it will get you killed. Better to lose a couple options than to die and lose everything. At the beginning of ''V'''s final stage, there's ''four'' of them.

** [[KillSat Romanov Attack Satellites]] make [[DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound irritating sounds]] and will instantly fry the player with their {{deathray}}s if they fly over the player while firing it. To avoid getting vaporized, the player is forced to fire at them to push them away so they don't fire their laser over them.

** [[KillSat Romanov Attack Satellites]] make [[MostAnnoyingSound irritating sounds]] and will instantly fry the player with their {{deathray}}s if they fly over the player while firing it. To avoid getting vaporized, the player is forced to fire at them to push them away so they don't fire their laser over them.

* While a good number of the Red Star forces in ''VideoGame/HeavyWeapon'' pose a threat, three of them stand out, mainly by being able to [[OneHitKill instantly destroy the player regardless of shielding]] in a game where ContinuingIsPainful. Worse still, these mooks have a good bit of health and require the player to focus attacks on them in order to survive, drawing attention away from the other mooks they always appear alongside:

* In ''Project Root'', the Executor heavy fighters, which start appearing in the second mission, are the bane of beginning players, even on Easy difficulty. They can take loads of punishment, fire [[MacrossMissileMassacre barrages]] of hyper-accurate {{homing projectile}}s that deal heavy damage, and typically attack in groups.

* In ''Project Root'', the Executor heavy fighters, which start appearing in the second mission, are the bane of beginning players, even on Easy difficulty. They can take loads of punishment, fire hyper-accurate homing projectiles that deal heavy damage, and typically attack in groups.