History DemonicSpiders / ActionAdventureGames

* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', at the end of each world is a fortress level. To get to the ultimate boss always requires passing through at least one room featuring the dreaded Eggplant Wizards, creatures who liberally toss eggplants around the screen. Being hit with an eggplant [[ForcedTransformation turns Pit into an eggplant with legs]], unable to fire weapons. Of course you can't defeat the boss in this state. The ''only'' way to remove the curse is to travel about a dozen rooms out of your way to a "Hospital" room, ''dodging'' enemies all the way since you can't shoot them...and then go ''back'' to the boss room, hoping you can avoid the eggplants ''this'' time.
** While Eggplant Wizards are the worst of the Demonic Spiders in Kid Icarus, they are by no means the only ones.
*** The vertical scrolling levels have Reapers, if they spot you they will summon 4 [[GoddamnedBats Reappetes]], accompanied with an alarming tune. The fact that they charge at you themselves upgrades them from {{Mook Maker}}s to {{Enemy Summoner}}s.
*** In the horizontal scrolling levels are Plutons. They are {{Invincible Minor Minion}}s, and if they touch you, you can say goodbye to one of your powerups. And since they come by the dozen, you need to be very good at dodging them or you'll lose them all. On the bright side, if they're stolen, you can buy them back at the black market if you're willing to pay up to ''700 hearts''.
* Pretty much any enemy in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKage'' is a demonic spider, due to the game's abundance of FakeDifficulty. Kage is a OneHitPointWonder, has a near-zero range sword and hard-to-aim ninja stars, and enemies randomly drop from the sky, making it nearly impossible to avoid running into an offscreen enemy or their projectile attacks. Thus, the whole game is mainly a LuckBasedMission.
* Hawks are ubiquitous in the later levels of the [=NES=] ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' games. They take away three squares of Ryu's life bar, more than bazookas and some bosses. They are small enough to require incredibly precise sword work and often mob the player. ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' also has a wonderful quirk: If you get hit, you have to sit idly by with a thumb placed somewhere convenient until Ryu lands. This means that, if you get hit by a hawk when attempting one of the games' innumerable deadly jumps, you're dead meat. And with other enemies to distract you, they are the cause of more than a few thrown controllers.
** Even worse, the NES games have no MercyInvincibility, and enemies can respawn if the screen scrolls far enough forwards ''or'' backwards. Imagine getting hit by the aforementioned hawk, and being knocked back, causing ''another'' hawk to spawn and attack, causing the ''original'' hawk to spawn and attack...[[CycleOfHurting Juggled to death]] doesn't even being to describe the infuriating circumstances.

** Or the Lawnmower Guys. They're fast, they're smart, and thanks to the lack of MercyInvincibility, one hit and you're ''dead'', no questions asked. As if that wasn't bad enough, they'll still follow you after you die, so once your after-death invincibility wears off, 9 out of 10 times you'll be dead ''[[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous again]]''. Cue several Genesis controllers being thrown against the wall in pure frustration.

* ''VideoGame/BangaiOSpirits'' has Longai-o, enemies who, like yourself, can unleash massive barrages of missiles capable of wiping their enemies out in an instant, and they will do it at every opportunity. Usually in response to your own missile barrages. And they like to attack in groups, launching terrifying walls of death at you faster than you can counter them. Have fun!

* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', at the end of each world is a fortress level. To get to the ultimate boss always requires passing through at least one room featuring the dreaded Eggplant Wizards, creatures who liberally toss eggplants around the screen. Being hit with an eggplant [[BalefulPolymorph turns Pit into an eggplant with legs]], unable to fire weapons. Of course you can't defeat the boss in this state. The ''only'' way to remove the curse is to travel about a dozen rooms out of your way to a "Hospital" room, ''dodging'' enemies all the way since you can't shoot them...and then go ''back'' to the boss room, hoping you can avoid the eggplants ''this'' time.

* ''VideoGame/Bomberman64'': Eleki, the flying enemies at Rainbow Palace. The only way to complete Rainbow Palace is to do bomb jumps with remote bombs, and Eleki can detonate the bombs by striking them with thunderbolts. They fly so high that only a pumped remote bomb detonated at the right can kill them, and they respawn easily if you move a bit away from where they were (which is likely if you mess up the bomb jump).

* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' has Primal Aspids, a variant of the less annoying Aspid Hunters that are found in the Kingdom's Edge area. Aspid Hunters attack by spitting an orb of infection at the Knight, and Primal Aspids are similar, but spit a spread of three orbs in a pattern that makes it very likely that jumping over one will just run you straight into another.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} Book I and II'', many of the monsters in the lower levels of the mine and upper levels of Darm Tower fit this trope. Especially bad in the mine with limited visibility. Also bad is the second [[TheMaze mirror warp maze]] in Darm Tower, which is full of EliteMooks which can kill you in two hits even if you have the Battle Armor.
** In ''Book II'', the Mine doesn't have limited visibility, but there's no way of knowing if there's a crowd of monsters on the other side of a doorway, which can lead to unavoidable deaths. Better SaveScum.

* Hawks are ubiquitous in the later levels of the [=NES=] ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' games. They take away three squares of Ryu's life bar, more than bazookas and some bosses. They are small enough to require incredibly precise sword work and often mob the player. ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' also has a wonderful quirk: If you get hit, you have to sit idly by with a thumb placed somewhere convenient until Ryu lands. This means that, if you get hit by a hawk when attempting one of the games' innumerable deadly jumps, you're dead meat. And with other enemies to distract you, they are the cause of more than a few thrown controllers.
** Even worse, the NES games have no MercyInvincibility, and enemies can respawn if the screen scrolls far enough forwards ''or'' backwards. Imagine getting hit by the aforementioned hawk, and being knocked back, causing ''another'' hawk to spawn and attack, causing the ''original'' hawk to spawn and attack...[[CycleOfHurting Juggled to death]] doesn't even being to describe the infuriating circumstances.
** The dreaded Stage 6-2 from the original has the Demonic Flying Ninjas who throw hard-to-see shurikens at you, in collaboration with the [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Hawks]]. ThatOneLevel has been the cause of many broken controllers and [=TVs=].
* The Boogie Men in ''VideoGame/ToejamAndEarl''. Invisible, faster than you, and they take off a good deal of health. Even worse in the sequel, where you have to catch them all, and they often come in packs of 3-4. Still invisible, meaning you'll think you've caught them all and then you'll walk forwards and suddenly hear "BOOGIE BOOGIE BOOGIE."
** The ice cream truck is fairly rare and technically outmaneuverable, but is normally much faster than you and can take half your health or more (depending on your max health) in one squish.
** Or the Lawnmower Guys. They're fast, they're smart, and thanks to the lack of MercyInvincibility, one hit and you're ''dead'', no questions asked. As if that wasn't bad enough, they'll still follow you after you die, so once your after-death invincibility wears off, 9 out of 10 times you'll be dead ''[[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous again]]''. Cue several Genesis controllers being thrown against the wall in pure frustration.
* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', at the end of each world is a fortress level. To get to the ultimate boss always requires passing through at least one room featuring the dreaded Eggplant Wizards, creatures who liberally toss eggplants around the screen. Being hit with an eggplant [[BalefulPolymorph turns Pit into an eggplant with legs]], unable to fire weapons. Of course you can't defeat the boss in this state. The ''only'' way to remove the curse is to travel about a dozen rooms out of your way to a "Hospital" room, ''dodging'' enemies all the way since you can't shoot them...and then go ''back'' to the boss room, hoping you can avoid the eggplants ''this'' time.
** While Eggplant Wizards are the worst of the Demonic Spiders in Kid Icarus, they are by no means the only ones.
*** The vertical scrolling levels have Reapers, if they spot you they will summon 4 [[GoddamnedBats Reappetes]], accompanied with an alarming tune. The fact that they charge at you themselves upgrades them from {{Mook Maker}}s to {{Enemy Summoner}}s.
*** In the horizontal scrolling levels are Plutons. They are {{Invincible Minor Minion}}s, and if they touch you, you can say goodbye to one of your powerups. And since they come by the dozen, you need to be very good at dodging them or you'll lose them all. On the bright side, if they're stolen, you can buy them back at the black market if you're willing to pay up to ''700 hearts''.

* ''VideoGame/CrashOfTheTitans'':
** Sludges, which come in large groups, are fast, do tons of damage with their attacks, have exceptional reach, and have a counterattack (basically, they turn into an unhittable puddle of goo and do a Shoryuken-esque uppercut) which is nearly impossible to avoid that they use nearly every time you hit them. Your best chance against them is to frantically try to nab one yourself and spam that counterattack yourself.
** Battlers, who constantly block, also come in large groups, and have a very painful special attack which they love to spam.
* ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant'' has [=TKs=], which have ranged attacks that are impossible to avoid, a annoying melee attack which they are invincible while using and which has a large area of effect, and can ''throw you off your titan,'' leaving you vulnerable while you try to re-jack your titan.
* ''VideoGame/ZombiesAteMyNeighbors'' has many. Take your pick:
** The Demon Dolls that show up in the third level. They're quick, hard to hit, have a projectile weapon, spawn like crazy, take several hits to kill, and have a 50% chance of lighting on fire and chasing you around ''after'' being killed.
** Blobs that shoot jelly globs into the air that, if they hit you, ''drain three bars of health while leaving you unable to use weapons or items.'' And they are '''invincible''' to anything except popsicles and fire extinguishers! Not even the [[GameBreaker Flamethrower/Monster Potion/Pandora's Box]] can touch them!
** The Chainsaw Maniacs, durable enemies that can chop through most obstacles and actually ''track you across the screen.'' It's possible to kill one, but it takes obscene amounts of damage to do so and most of your weapons can only stun them. Unless you have a monster potion, it's best to not bother, because you'll be fighting several. And to top it off, their ability to cut through obstacles means they can break through to victims other monsters can't even touch.
** Fishmen that like to leap out of the water and land right next to victims, then kill them. They're also infinite respawners.
** But worst of all are Werewolves. Not only do they pursue you across the level (which includes ''jumping through walls''), but most Werewolves are actually transformed tourists, ''who you're trying to rescue.'' In levels that turn to night, you must rescue all Tourists before it becomes night-time or else they'll become Werewolves and you lose one of your victims. The time limit for this transformation tends to be frustratingly short as well. At least you can one-shot them with the silverware. (In fact, 90% of all enemies in the game can be destroyed by one or two shots of the correct weapon).
** Vampires up randomly, take ''obscene'' amounts of damage, and can pretty much kill you at will, if it chooses to fight you rather than stand and soak up your ammo. Not to mention their annoying habit of flying away before you can finish them, resulting in a massive loss in weaponry with no reward. On top of that, their bat attack is pretty much unavoidable. It says something about the game's difficulty when the DemonicSpiders can throw GoddamnedBats at you.
** Giant ants climb over walls and can take a large amount of punishment from most weapons-- only the rare bazooka and rarer Martian bubble gun can one-shot them. They can pick up unclaimed ammunition and carry it back to their ant holes, never to be seen again. And like most enemies, they respawn endlessly.

** Their sorta-predecessors, the Guard bots from the third game, are this too. They have the same attack method---that is, two guns that More Dakka you into the pavement---and take buckets of damage.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'':
** Enemy ace squadrons are one thing, since at least in a fresh run (as opposed to a [[NewGamePlus SP New Game]]) you won't have a comparable plane until the late-game... it's another when they're outmaneuvering you, consistently getting on your six o'clock and seriously threatening you in the late-game ''[[WeakButSkilled with a starting plane]]''. (See Alberto Lopez, aka "Espada 1" in ''Ace Combat Zero''.) A "late-game" version would be the fact that planes like the YF-23, the F-22A, the F-117, and the F-35C have fade-from-radar stealth that greatly increases their deadliness when flown by the enemy... [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard but has no apparent effect when you pilot them]].
** Any planes that require more than the standard two missiles to shoot down. The most notable instance would be the C-50 cargo planes from ''Ace Combat 5'''s arcade mode, which require ''up to ten'' to shoot down and, unlike other similarly unarmed planes, don't give you any back for killing it.
* ''VideoGame/{{HAWX}}'':
** The hyper-competent, super-agile drones you have to dogfight in the fifth level, "OFF Certification", while in [[InterfaceScrew OFF Mode]]. Thankfully none of the fuckers can kill you since it's essentially a tutorial unless you drive into the ground like an idiot, but three drones that look like Global Hawks with satellite dishes can outdance [[CoolPlane a hyper-maneuverable experimental jet that never saw combat in real life]] and arguably give the most difficult dogfight in a game purportedly meant to be about air combat.
** The Su-37's from the 14th mission - highly agile and maneuverable planes that can avoid your missiles effortlessly and continue to launch at you, and then the mission's objective [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption forces you to ignore them entirely]] and go fly a complicated pattern through a wall of anti-aircraft fire, all while the Su-37's are still chasing and firing at you.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' has Klobbers, Kremlings that pop out of barrels and try bouncing into you. They're not so bad, but whenever the black ones bounce into you, a life balloon appears. They come from your total. They can end your game if they bounce into you enough. There's also the red ones with TNT barrels, which are a OneHitKill. The worst thing ever is the secret ThatOneLevel Klobber Karnage, filled with both of these and annoying, long sections with spinning barrels over SpikesOfDoom.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'' has Lurchins, sea urchins that absolutely blanket the underwater levels. In most cases, being underwater means you can't attack them at all, leaving you the sole option of getting out of the way (and in one level, they sweep upward from offscreen so fast that you have to know in advance where they are, or you ''will'' get hit). The only way to hit them is to ride/become Enguarde the Swordfish...and hit them at precisely the right moment; if you stab at them when their shell is closed, you get hurt, and their opening-and-closing speed ''varies from Lurchin to Lurchin''.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TIEFighter'', the A-Wings. Here's a quote from Website/GameFAQS: "The A-wing was a nasty little foe and the hardest rebel starfighter you could come up against in the original TIE Fighter (sans expansion packs). For those not well-versed on their ''Star Wars'' lore, the A-wing is a Rebel interceptor, a fast, dagger-like ship armed with laser cannons and concussion missiles and with engines unmatched by anything in the Empire's basic arsenal. In TIE Fighter, these little monsters were blindingly fast and incredibly maneuverable, capable of outrunning and outflying every player ship until the TIE Advanced found its way into the storyline. This incredible speed, combined with its compact chassis, made the A-wing incredibly hard to destroy. Even the anti-starfighter concussion missiles, usually a guaranteed kill, were useless against the A-wings, which would nimbly evade the missiles until they self-destructed. Not only were the A-wings difficult to kill, they were also dangerous, as the concussion missiles THEY packed could shred your unshielded TIE faster than you can say, "I'm your father"!"
%% * ''{{Supaplex}}'' has Snik Skans. If the game wasn't hard enough as it was. Administrivia/ZeroContextExample
* Near the end of ''VideoGame/PsiOpsTheMindgateConspiracy'', [[EldritchAbomination Aura Beasts]] begin appearing. These start out invisible and invincible, only becoming vulnerable when your character alerts them. They then appear at point-blank range and proceed to fly into your character's face at high speed while attracting a small swarm of others. While they are quite [[GlassCannon easy to kill]], they have a grab attack which takes a massive chunk of health off your character.
* Most enemies in ''VideoGame/TransformersConvoyNoNazo'', especially the flying ones; they randomly spawn, their bullets are nearly invisible, and Ultra Magnus is a OneHitPointWonder and gets sent back to the beginning of the stage every time.
* In ''Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou'', most enemies are like the ones usually found in the rest of the games. A short time you'll face larger "boss-like" enemies, including boss skeletons, which unlike the others can kill you if you aren't careful. However that's just the beginning, as soon after you'll find [[GoddamnedBats bats]] that instead of being annoyances are one-hit kill, actual spiders that show up spontaneously in the middle of a room and are ungodly fast and many other things that will kill you.
%% * The original NES ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' has a laundry list of examples, including Dive Bombers, Fire Freaks, Frogmen, Vulcan Bots, Splitters, and perhaps worst of all, the much-hated Laser Soldiers, which assault you in spades during the final approach to Shredder's lair.
* Pretty much any enemy in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKage'' is a demonic spider, due to the game's abundance of FakeDifficulty. Kage is a OneHitPointWonder, has a near-zero range sword and hard-to-aim ninja stars, and enemies randomly drop from the sky, making it nearly impossible to avoid running into an offscreen enemy or their projectile attacks. Thus, the whole game is mainly a LuckBasedMission.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'':
** The [[CatsAreMean cougars]]. They're insanely fast, agile (making it hard to shoot them) and aggressive, seem to hunt in packs, and can kill you and your horse with ease. There's a reason some people refer to the cougars in this game as modern-day velociraptors. This is particularly notable due to the fact that cops and outlaws can put an entire magazine of Colt semi-auto bullets into you and you're still fighting fit, but one swipe from a cougar puts you on your ass, and one more has you seeing (red) dead.
** The Mexican bobcats are cowards that more often than not run from Marston when you get close. But if they ''do'' decide to attack you...
* In ''Film/RoboCop2'' the arcade game, in the chemical plant stage, there are the mutants who run straight at you, electrocute you as soon as they touch you (so you can't "bodyslam" them like you can with other toughies), and take quite a few shots to kill, and appear with the same frequency of all mooks.
* ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' has the Parasites, which are very small, very fast, and spawn in massive numbers. This is already a formula for a [[GoddamnBats nasty enemy]], but what really sets them apart is their method of attack: They attach to and drain your health very quickly, and the only way to get them off is for TheMedic to spend some of their limited healing items on you. Did I mention there are loads of them? And they're so small and fast that hitting them is mostly [[LuckBasedMission down to luck]]? And there are [[ZergRush like a million billion zillion of them]]? Well, it bears repeating. To make matters worse, being killed by a parasite release several ''more'' parasites upon your death, making the situation go downhill VERY fast for the rest of the team. Once you've unlocked the flamethrower and the telsa gun, the parasites get a bit easier to deal with, but not by a whole lot.
* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage 3'' and the mohawked martial artists (Tiger/Leopard/Fabio). They move fast and hit hard with rapid series of kicks to the face and flying leaps. They sometimes arrive on the scene falling directly from above, feet poised to hit your face on the way down. They can (and often will) block almost any conventional attack you throw at them, including special attacks, with a mocking lack of visible effort. Their only weakness is their susceptibility to getting thrown or body slammed... if they are alone. When in groups, they exploit the stacking sprites as a team and form an unapproachable phalanx of forearm block and [[RapidFireFisticuffs Rapid Fire Footwork]] that is immune to most tactics and retaliates without pity from beyond melee range using leap-kicks.
* ''VideoGame/TheHauntedMansion'' has the gargoyles, which are really big enemies that could only be harmed with a fully ChargedAttack. Which is hard, because they are also {{Enemy Summoner}}s, and said enemies are much faster than you, and when they hit you your charge stops . Luckily, the Beacon of Souls gets more powerful, lowering the demonicness.
** The sequel keeps the Archers (and their faster [[PaletteSwap palette swaps]] the Freischutzes) while introducing Liliths and King Specters. The former will teleport away from you if you so much as ''start'' to move in their direction, and if not stunned as soon as they rematerialize (which requires you to anticipate where they're going), release a swarm of InvincibleMinorMinion GoddamnedBats from under their skirts. Also, they're invincible while doing this, and never appear by themselves. The latter surround themselves with their kids (which possess nearly as much health as the parents) before dive-bombing you repeatedly-and the approach to the last boss has you facing two of them at the same time.
* ''Franchise/TombRaider'':
** Any enemy who can poison you in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII''. If poisoned, you'll keep losing health until you use a medi-pack. The game has a good amount of enemies that can poison you, thus you may keep wasting your healing items just to cure poison. The future games still have poison effects, but done much less.
** The literal spiders, particularly in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderII'', are small and hard to hit, and typically come in swarms in dark areas, so you will often get nibbled within inches of death.
** Similarly to the poison example, any enemy that can set you on fire. Unlike poison, burning is a death sentence unless there's water in the immediate vicinity. Again, ''II'' has by far the highest amount of these, and they like to quietly sneak up on you with deceptively long range flamethrowers.
* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' features psychic, mutated rats on the upper floor of the Thorney Towers Home For The Disturbed level, which scamper directly at Raz and explode, not only causing impact damage but also leaving a cloud of harmful Confusion Gas. They come in swarms which home in on Raz wherever he happens to be, and by the time you hear the distinctive squeaking and scampering noise they're usually right on top of you. Shooting at them causes a chain of dangerous explosions and fills the screen with Confusion Gas. Since the gas messes up Raz's powers, it's almost impossible to stay shielded during a rat attack. On top of this the sound is glitchy, so half the time the warning sounds can be heard when there are no rats present--ParanoiaFuel if there ever was one.

* Hobbledy in ''VideoGame/{{Folklore}}'', especially when it appears in groups. It uses a continuous stream of electricity to damage you. This can also paralyse you, leaving you frozen in place and helpless as the group take turns blasting you, effectively keeping you paralysed and making it so all you can do is watch while your HP drops like a stone. Even if you manage to get one of their ids out, the others WILL NOT let you absorb it, standing in your way and blasting you if you even so much as THINK of pressing R1.
** The Ascidia and Agar-Agar have the distinction of being some of the odd folk that can both regenerate their own health and multiply if given enough time (thankfully capping at 4). While some players like to bring out their toughest Folk to deal with most situations, these things require constant attention with from smaller attacks lest they start regenerating again. This is far worse for Keats, who requires some SIXAXIS tricks to absorb their Ids, creating a pretty high chance of being interrupted (Ellen can just absorb them normally). They also appear to take massive damage from Keats' Fire folk, when in reality this will rarely be enough to kill them.
** The Bougainvaillea that Keats fights in the Netherworld Core are some of the most unforgiving Folk the game has to offer. Just one of them throws out a high-damaging, quick-moving, bouncing ball of fire that practically homes in on the player with sadistic accuracy, and they tend to appear in packs. More dangerously, their bodies will often project 3 of these projectiles when they've take enough damage, cheap-shotting you during your own offensive. No matter your skill at dodging, it's rare to walk away from an encounter with these creatures without losing at least some health.
** The Gladiolus, also found in the Netherworld Core can be exceptionally terrifying for the simple fact that when they come after you, ''nothing'' [[ImplacableMan you throw out can stop them]], and their damage-output is monstrous.
* ''VideoGame/{{Amagon}}'' has these in spades. Fast-flying birds that suddenly appear while you're jumping, erratically-moving wasps that shoot spreadfire, jumping mushrooms, Spiny-type things that drop from trees, [[TeleportSpam teleporting robots]], etc. In all cases, you die in one hit unless you're [[HulkingOut Hulked Out]].
* ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'':
** Any enemy with a level 3 Full Screen Tech, such as Wolf Devils, Dark Lords, or Nightblades. Which is a shame, because all of the final dungeons are crawling with them. There's a very real chance that a single Full Screen Tech coming from them can wipe your entire party in one shot, unless you've been doing some serious level grinding (and even then, it'd come close). The biggest problem about these multi-tech bastards is the fact that they seem to use those techs completely at random. If you have very bad luck, all 2 or 3 of them will use their multi-techs at once, giving you no time to heal in-between. This usually results in an instant kill, even with strong characters and "Defense Up".
** Wolf Devils would count even without Sky Dance: they're fast, strong and attack in numbers. Even with nothing but physical attacks, they can kill your characters—-especially your CPU-controlled ones-—before you even notice how low your health is.
* In ''VideoGame/BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'', it's not the [[GoddamnedBats bats]] you should worry about. Rather, it is the Goddamned Bees the Goddamned Roly-Poly Bugs, and the Goddamned Larpees: [[GiantMook giant enemies]] that can break your egg in one hit.
* ''Spawn: In The Demon's Hand'' has the shotgun-wielding skeletons in Boss Attack Mode. They're capable of taking off 80% of your health with a close range blast and appear constantly, sometimes in groups of three or four, while you're also attempting to keep an eye on the (usually dangerous) boss that you're expected to kill. Just to rub it in, they're small grey humanoids in largely grey levels, and as such are often hard to distinguish from the background. They are at least slow, but characters with low mobility can still have trouble escaping them.
* Bazooka, [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] and grenade launcher users in ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours''. All capable of {{One Hit Kill}}s.
* ''VideoGame/TheGodfather'' game has Tommygun and shotgun users who can shred you very fast, especially given that they first appear quite early on when your health is still quite pathetic. They can tear up cars rather quickly too, so tough luck if you encounter them without a nice sturdy wall to hide behind. Plus since you are only one man, they are likely to flank you. At least you can pick up their guns after you pop them with a BoomHeadshot... but still, prepare to die often.
* ''VideoGame/CaveStory''
** In the BrutalBonusLevel, you get the Buttes and the Mesas. The Buttes are tiny [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]]-looking things that either fly around randomly, shoot arrows, or wait on the ground and try to charge you. They do tons of damage, can quickly delevel your weapons, and the ones on the ground can block your attacks. Even the [[WaveMotionGun Spur]]. The Mesas are giant Buttes that throw blocks at you for a ton of damage and have far too many hitpoints.
** In earlier levels, there's the Sandcrocs, which deal huge damage, only pop out when you're standing right in the path of their waiting jaws, and slide back under the sand before you can get a chance to kill them. Until you lean how to tell where they are, expect a ''lot'' of Sandcroc-related deaths.
* ''VideoGame/GunBros'':
** The Elites. They're ridiculously fast and have shots which linger around for a while.
** From the [[ZombieApocalypse Bokor]] levels is the equivalent of the Elite, the Cuttles. They have the trademark ridiculous speed and powerful attacks of the Elite enemies, except they use melee attacks. Also, due to the different "wave" style of the Survival mode, they gain tons of health very fast.
* Flying [[MechaMooks MTs]] in ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' games pre-4 and For Answer aren't as predictable as fighter jets nor as slow as helicopters, both of which you can kill with a missile or two, charge at you guns blazing at a low altitude, fly in erratic patterns, frequently come in packs of up to three and drop other enemies for you to deal with. And they all have enough health to bar the player from just shooting a few missiles and scooting. If you aim up to engage the little bastards, you get blasted at by their ground support. Neglect aerial threats too long and you get shot at by them, plus the ground targets. They tend to appear in droves and one mission in Silent Line in particular quickly turns into ThatOneLevel because you must face a boss right after fighting them off, PLUS the KillSat that's firing at you while they're chipping away your health steadily.
* The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows''. Just... just about every single mook. Notable offenders include the shrieking ones found at the pier, anyone who can shoot those... those light-orb-things at you and, even worse, any mook found in the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Most of the above mentioned can knock you down, which is annoying since they can beat you up even while you're getting up again, while [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules you can't do the same with them]]. And it's a {{Metroidvania}} game. [[NintendoHard Yeah.]]
* ''Fester's Quest'': In the alien ship near the end of the game, you encounter the Beholders, cyclopean floating heads that can follow you through walls, take alot of damage, shoot volleys of fast projectiles, and fire back when hit. Better stock up on {{smart bomb}}s and other items before entering the ship, as it's a PointOfNoReturn.
* ''VideoGame/FortuneSummoners'' is basically made of DemonicSpiders. Each dungeon has ''at least'' one variety among its varied mook fauna (usually one of the mage-type enemies. If the mages are not that bad, it'll be the beefier fliers), sometimes two, and every time you enter a new dungeon, you have to be very careful, because there is ''always'' some kind of new enemy that can easily get you stunlocked to death in seconds. Special mention, however, has to go to Ghost Wizards. These guys usually come in pairs, can heal themselves and other monsters (including each other), can dodge by becoming immaterial, tend to fly just outside of your sword's reach, and can get through the walls... and pack a spell that does very respectable damage, is virtually undodgeable, and can be cast ''from inside the wall''. No, you can't really attack them while they're inside the wall. Yes, it is ''precisely'' as annoying as it sounds.
* The Flame Parasites from ''VideoGame/{{Evolva}}''. Not only do they have the ability throw huge fireballs towards you for massive damage, but they always catch fire after killed and ''[[TakingYouWithMe explode]]'' after a few seconds. Depending on the battle, you may not be able to get far from the explosion, since you may still be fighting the remaining enemies.
* ''VideoGame/{{The Hobbit|2003}}'' has literal spiders starting with the Mirkwood level. They come in two variations: the big tarantulas, which are actually less awful because they can't poison you, and the tiny green and slightly larger red ones, which can poison you. There is no way to cure poison except for an antidote, and they come in swarms. You will often exhaust your supply of antidotes after one fight with these things.
* ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'': Haunts. Undead enemies are already annoying since they can't be knocked out, and the weapons capable of killing them are extremely limited. But zombies are slow and ghosts are easily avoidable, not to mention rare. Haunts on the other hand are semi-common late-game foes, have incredible hearing, move much faster than anything else, and are even more skilled in swordplay than the human guards are. It's possible to beat them in a swordfight... theoretically. Almost all players prefer to simply run like hell if one spots them.
* The crawling titans from the ''VideoGame/AttackOnTitanTributeGame'' are even worse than their regular abnormal counterparts. Unlike regular titans, these things keep low to the ground (hence the name), making it tough for many players to target the neck and kill them. They are VERY fast on the ground too, making for an ''ugly'' time for any player caught on ground level with one and further making it harder to target the neck. Take to the air or get on a building? These things will quite happily leap up into the air to nom you. The only character who can take them out easily is [[spoiler:Eren in Titan mode]].
* In the video game adaptation of ''Film/TheCrowCityOfAngels'', every enemy with a gun is one of these. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Every. Single. One.]] Due to TheProblemWithLicensedGames, you are at a severe disadvantage because of the game's many faults. If you can manage to pick up a gun and shoot the enemies ([[FakeDifficulty a challenge in and of itself]] due to the game's clunky, delayed controls, terrible camera angles, and poorly done [=3D=] physics), you only get a few shots before you run out of ammo. The enemies, on the other hand, ''never'' run out of ammo and it's guaranteed that they'll hit you far more than you'll hit them because they don't have to deal with the aforementioned faults of the game. They can, and will, completely drain your health in literally two seconds.
* The serpents in ''VideoGame/OverlordI'' are just obnoxious. They take a lot of hits to kill, can kill multiple minions in one attack, usually hang out in the water where only Blues - your least impressive combatants - can go, and occasionally dive into the water and reemerge in a slightly different location, accompanied by the deaths of multiple minions. Thankfully, you fight very few of them.
* ''VideoGame/GodzillaMonsterOfMonsters'', while overall a fairly easy game, has two utterly ''horrid'' examples:
** The tri-missile launchers in the mecha city and headquarters stages. While their attack is weak, they have a very difficult to hit hitbox ([[HitboxDissonance that is higher than you would expect]], appearing just ''above'' the launcher) and they stagger Godzilla, making hitting them a chore. They also block Godzilla's progression, and battling them leaves you vulnerable to everything else on the screen as well.
** These things have ''nothing'' on the dreaded inferno craft however. Practically unkillable and slowed down by nothing, it sloppily homes in as it moves across the screen. It ignores mercy invincibility and inflicts constant damage as it slowly passes through its target, and is easily capable of killing even high level players in one shot if it lands a hit. To top it off, even when the screen ''isn't'' already swarming with enemies (which is a rare occurence), the inferno craft is tricky to dodge. Since it appears as early as Mars, it's also typically the first thing to kill Godzilla in the game.
* ''VideoGame/HauntingStarringPolterguy'': Some of the monsters in the underworld are very strong and hard to dodge. The arms/fists from the walls hit you very hard, and those from the pits suck you in, and your energy is very limited (you can only lose the game here).
* ''VideoGame/BangaiOSpirits'' has Longai-o, enemies who, like yourself, can unleash massive barrages of missiles capable of wiping their enemies out in an instant, and they will do it at every opportunity. Usually in response to your own missile barrages. And they like to attack in groups, launching terrifying walls of death at you faster than you can counter them. Have fun!
* The HeavilyArmoredMook enemies in the ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' series. These are mercenaries and soldiers clad head to toe in body armor who slowly advance toward you armed with either an assault rifle, or much more commonly, a shotgun, which will [[OneHitKill kill him instantly]] if they get too close. You cannot fight these guys hand to hand either, as they'll instantly knock you away. In order to take care of them, you must either unload multiple rounds of gunfire to kill them, or use multiple well-placed headshots to first knock their helmet off and then finish them. Even with those ways to kill them in mind, they can be very good at sidestepping away from your line of fire, and when they get to close you'll be forced to flee further away in the hopes of finding more cover (which just leaves you open to more gunfire)... unless of course you're backed into the very end of a corner and there's no where else to run, in which case you're effectively screwed.

* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' has Laser Shooters, which are the only enemy besides [[BigBad Kuro]] to possess a guaranteed OneHitKill attack, can only be killed by reflecting the fireballs they shoot in between laser sweeps, and make up the lion's share of enemy encounters in and near TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Good luck with them in [[FinalDeathMode One-Life Mode]].
** In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the [[MosquitoMiscreants Skeetos]], which are [[GoddamnedBats mere annoyances on Normal difficulty]], become this trope on Hard, where they are far more aggressive, hovering just out of melee range before dive-bombing Ori with their probosces, dealing 20 damage points per hit(Hard doubles the damage dealt by all sources), and often attacking in pairs or more. And they first appear in [[EarlyGameHell the early-game location Kwolok's Hollow]], well before you have a chance to significantly upgrade your stats and abilities.
* ''VideoGame/BlossomTalesTheSleepingKing'': The purple spiders in the final dungeon aren’t necessarily more difficult to kill than any other enemy, but they’re the only enemy that you can’t walk through during MercyInvincibility, which makes them surprisingly dangerous if they can pin you down while other enemies swarm.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Super C(ontra)]]'', the overhead alien hive stage (the final level of the arcade version, and sixth level in the NES version) is crawling with spider-like bugs, which are particularly hard to hit in the arcade version due to the [[ScrappyMechanic wonky aiming controls]], often shoot at you, and swarm you from all sides in the tunnel before the boss's lair, usually requiring you to use a SmartBomb to avoid [[ContinuingIsPainful losing a life and your weapon upgrades]]. The same level has floor mouths that randomly spawn and frequently lead to cheap deaths.

* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstone}}''
** Goblin Bat Riders and Giant Bats. Both are immune to all spells except fire based ones (and there are only 3 fire based spells), they're fast, they do a lot of damage, they infinitely spawn bats (including upon death). Luckily, they are rather rare.
** Mages, which attack in swarms, hurl fireballs, TeleportSpam, summon golems (fire and ice) ''and'' are completely immune to any form of magical assault. Luckily they are [[SquishyWizard fairly easily]] to kill with normal weapons... if the golems and fireballs don't kill you first or if you can catch them.

** In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the Skeetos, which are mere annoyances on Normal, become this trope on Hard, where they are far more aggressive, hovering just out of melee range before dive-bombing Ori with their probosces, dealing 20 damage points per hit(Hard doubles the damage dealt by all sources), and often attacking in pairs or more. And they first appear in [[EarlyGameHell the early-game location Kwolok's Hollow]], well before you have a chance to significantly upgrade your stats and abilities.

* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' has Laser Orbs, which are the only enemy besides [[BigBad Kuro]] to possess a guaranteed OneHitKill attack, can only be killed by reflecting the fireballs they shoot in between laser sweeps, and make up the lion's share of enemy encounters in and near TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Good luck with them in [[FinalDeathMode One-Life Mode]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Super C(ontra)]]'', the overhead alien hive stage (the final level of the arcade version) is crawling with spider-like bugs, which are particularly hard to hit in the arcade version due to the [[ScrappyMechanic wonky aiming controls]], often shoot at you, and swarm you from all sides in the tunnel before the boss's lair, usually requiring you to use a SmartBomb to avoid [[ContinuingIsPainful losing a life and your weapon upgrades]]. The same level has floor mouths that randomly spawn and frequently lead to cheap deaths.

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Super C(ontra)]]'', the overhead alien hive stage is crawling with spider-like bugs, which are particularly hard to hit in the arcade version due to the wonky aiming, often shoot at you, and swarm you from all sides in the tunnel before the boss's lair, usually requiring you to use a SmartBomb to avoid [[ContinuingIsPainful losing a life and your weapon upgrades]]. The same level has floor mouths that randomly spawn and frequently lead to cheap deaths.

*** The vertical scrolling levels have Reapers, if they spot you they will summon 4 [[GoddamnedBats Reappetes]], accompanied with an [[EarWorm annoying tune]]. The fact that they charge at you themselves upgrades them from {{Mook Maker}}s to {{Enemy Summoner}}s.

* ''VideoGame/SeikenDensetsu3'':

*** The vertical scrolling levels have Grim Reapers, if they spot you they will summon 4 [[GoddamnedBats Reaplings]], accompanied with an [[EarWorm annoying tune]]. The fact that they charge at you themselves upgrades them from {{Mook Maker}}s to {{Enemy Summoner}}s.

** The Y.E.T.I.s from ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'''s Planet Grelbin; they spawn from out of nowhere (and in large numbers, to boot), have no concept of MookChivalry (often ambushing you in groups of ''ten or more''), and are card-carrying members of the LightningBruiser club. You could try running from them, but they ''love'' spawning ''right in your path'' and often appear around Arctic Leviathans, which must be killed for [[ThatOneSidequest Moonstones]]. That leaves killing them, but there are a few problems with that as well: first, very few of your weapons are effective against them, the ones that are either have low ammo clips or have ammo that ''must'' be bought at a vendor, and for the weapons that don't, you're thwarted again by the fact that there are very few ammo crates lying around the massive ice field you must traverse. As a result, you'll find yourself making frequent trips back to the vendor, which often means running back into the Y.E.T.I. mobs you just fled from.

%% * ''{{Supaplex}}'' has Snik Skans. If the game wasn't hard enough as it was. ZeroContextExample

* The Boogie Men in ''ToejamAndEarl''. Invisible, faster than you, and they take off a good deal of health. Even worse in the sequel, where you have to catch them all, and they often come in packs of 3-4. Still invisible, meaning you'll think you've caught them all and then you'll walk forwards and suddenly hear "BOOGIE BOOGIE BOOGIE."

* Hawks were ubiquitous in the later levels of the [=NES=] ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' games. They would take away three of Ryu's life chunks (represented by squares), more than bazookas and some bosses. They were small enough to require incredibly precise sword work and would often mob the player. ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' also had a wonderful quirk: If one was hit, one had to sit idly by with a thumb placed somewhere convenient until Ryu landed. This means that, if a player got hit by a hawk when attempting one of the games' innumerable deadly jumps, he was dead meat. And with other enemies to distract the player, they became the cause of no few thrown controllers.
** Even worse, the NES games had no MercyInvincibility, and enemies could respawn if the screen scrolled far enough forwards ''or'' backwards. Imagine getting hit by the aforementioned hawk, and being knocked back, causing ''another'' hawk to spawn and attack, causing the ''original'' hawk to spawn and attack...[[CycleOfHurting Juggled to death]] doesn't even being to describe the infuriating circumstances.
** The dreaded Stage 6-2 from the original had the Demonic Flying Ninjas who throw hard-to-see shurikens at you, in collaboration with the [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Hawks]]. ThatOneLevel has been the cause of many broken controllers and [=TVs=].

* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', at the end of each world was a fortress level. To get to the ultimate boss always required passing through at least one room featuring the dreaded Eggplant Wizards, creatures who liberally tossed eggplants around the screen. Being hit with an eggplant would [[BalefulPolymorph turn the player character into an eggplant with legs]], unable to fire weapons. Of course you couldn't defeat the boss in this state. The ''only'' way to remove the curse was to travel about a dozen rooms out of your way to a "Hospital" room, ''dodging'' enemies all the way since you couldn't shoot them...and then go ''back'' to the boss room, hoping you could avoid the eggplants ''this'' time.

*** In the horizontal scrolling levels are thieves. They are {{Invincible Minor Minion}}s, and if they touch you, you can say goodbye to one of your powerups. And since they come by the dozen, you need to be very good at dodging them or you'll lose them all. On the bright side, if they're stolen, you can buy them back at the black market if you're willing to pay up to ''700 hearts''.
* ''VideoGame/DarkCastle'' had bats that would knock you off platforms to plummet to your death.
** *Sobs* ''Dark Castle'', where to start? The important thing to remember about this game is that you get paralyzed a lot. Run at a wall too quickly? You stand there teetering with stars in your eyes for ages. Walk off a half-foot ledge instead of hopping? You trip and end up flat on your face. Jump off a head-high platform? You're overcome with dizziness. While you're standing there wobbling around like an idiot, rats, snakes, imps and bats are happily chomping away at you every time they pass, and any larger enemies that were looking the other way or knocked out (you can't kill larger enemies) can kill you in a single shot. Plus, whenever you're in this state, you always '''have''' to stand up almost immediately and stay that way, regardless of the traps you are placing yourself in the path of. Honestly, Prince Duncan is HIS OWN demonic spider. *Sobbing*
* Not only does ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' have both the Goddamned Bats in the ice and fire stages and a heaping helping of Those Twelve (Give Or Take) Bosses, but there is one enemy in the Titania stage that is the bane of all existence: the red wizard. The standard wizards aren't that much of a problem; sure, they teleport around and can sometimes inflict status ailments, but just knock one of the floating swords from their sword spell back and you can finish them off quickly. Red wizards, however, are more resilient than that. They'll try to beat you down with every status effect under the sun, and because they teleport so much it can be hard to catch up with them before they use their sword spell or teleport again. Not to mention they can summon slimes, which only take one hit point damage from any attack that isn't magic-based and are capable of locking you in place and slowly draining your hit points until you are dead--and by the way, the first time you meet them, unless you've been warned in advance and stocked up on Napalms, ''you have no way to hurt them''. Oh, and red wizards often show up in groups of three or more. Between this and the mini-bosses, Titania is pretty much ThatOneLevel.

* ''VideoGame/CrashOfTheTitans'' has Sludges, which come in large groups, are fast, do tons of damage with their attacks, have exceptional reach, and have a counterattack (basically, they turn into an unhittable puddle of goo and do a Shoryuken-esque uppercut) which is nearly impossible to avoid that they use nearly every time you hit them. Your best chance against them is to frantically try to nab one yourself and spam that counterattack yourself.
** Also Battlers, who constantly block, also come in large groups, and have a very painful special attack which they love to spam.
** ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant'' has [=TKs=], which have ranged attacks that are impossible to avoid, a annoying melee attack which they are invincible while using and has a large area of effect, and can ''throw you off your titan,'' leaving you vulnerable while you try to re-jack your titan.

** The Chainsaw Maniacs, durable enemies that can chop through most obstacles and actually ''track you across the screen.'' It's possible to kill one, but it takes obscene amounts of damage to do so and most of your weapons can only stun them. Unless you have a monster potion, it's best to not bother, because you'll be fighting several.
*** It's actually BETTER to kill them, they don't respawn, but they CAN and WILL carve their way to victims that you and other monsters can't hurt normally.

** But worst of all are Werewolves. Not only do they pursue you across the level (which includes ''jumping through walls''), but most Werewolves are actually transformed tourists, ''who you're trying to rescue.'' In levels that turn to night, you must rescue all Tourists before it becomes night-time or else they'll become Werewolves and you lose one of your victims. The time limit for this transformation tends to be frustratingly short as well.
*** At least you can one-shot Werewolves with the silverware. (In fact, 90% of all enemies in the game can be destroyed by one or two shots of the correct weapon). Vampires, however... Show up randomly, take ''obscene'' amounts of damage, and can pretty much kill you at will, if it chooses to fight you rather than stand and soak up your ammo. Not to mention their annoying habit of flying away before you can finish them, resulting in a massive loss in weaponry with no reward.
*** Don't forget that their bat attack is pretty much unavoidable. It says something about the game's difficulty when the DemonicSpiders can throw GoddamnedBats at you.

*** The enemies are still cake when compared to the bosses.

* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' has red soldiers. If one pops up, you better shoot it ASAP or prepare to hide, because their first shot ''will'' hit you if you don't hide. Fortunately, in ''Time Crisis II'' onwards, their killing shots have a distinct circular mark on them (known as a "Crisis Sighting"), are colored red, and, in ''Crisis Zone'', are accompanied by a warning beep.
** Even worse are the ninjas of the series, which jump around all over the place, stay behind cover half the time, sometimes throw knives, and tend to pop up at close range and give you a facelift before you have time to react, especially in ''Crisis Zone''. And many times there's no warning before they attack.
* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'': enemy ace squadrons are one thing, since at least in a fresh run (as opposed to a [[NewGamePlus SP New Game]]) you won't have a comparable plane until the late-game... it's another when they're outmaneuvering you, consistently getting on your six o'clock and seriously threatening you in the late-game ''[[WeakButSkilled with a starting plane]]''. (See Alberto Lopez, aka "Espada 1" in ''Ace Combat Zero''.) A "late-game" version would be the fact that planes like the YF-23, the F-22A, the F-117, and the F-35C have fade-from-radar stealth that greatly increases their deadliness when flown by the enemy... [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard but has no apparent effect when you pilot them]].

* VideoGame/{{HAWX}} has the fifth level, OFF Certification, and the hyper-competent, super-agile drones you have to dogfight while in [[InterfaceScrew OFF Mode]]. Thankfully none of the fuckers could kill you since it was essentially a tutorial unless you drive into the ground like an idiot, but [[EpicFail three drones that looked like Global Hawks with satellite dishes were outdancing]] [[CoolPlane a hyper-maneuverable experimental jet that never saw combat in real life]] arguably gave the most difficult dogfight in a game purportedly meant to be about air combat.

* There are these Kremlings in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' that pop out of barrels and try bouncing into you. They're not so bad, but they have these undead-looking cousins that whenever they bounce into you, a life balloon appears. They come from your total. They can end your game if they bounce into you enough.
** There's also the red ones with TNT barrels, which are a OneHitKill. The worst thing ever is the secret ThatOneLevel filled with both of these and annoying, long sections with spinning barrels over SpikesOfDoom.
*** The third game introduces Lurchins, sea urchins that absolutely blanket the underwater levels. In most cases, being underwater means you can't attack them at all, leaving you the sole option of getting out of the way (and in one level, they sweep upward from offscreen so fast that you have to know in advance where they are, or you ''will'' get hit). The only way to hit them is to ride/become Enguarde the Swordfish...and hit them at precisely the right moment; if you stab at them when their shell is closed, you get hurt, and their opening-and-closing speed ''varies from Lurchin to Lurchin''.

** ...or appear repeatedly in the second half of the game on higher difficulties, even before the real thing appears. Including on stages with time limits.

** It got worse in the sequel, where they appeared as ninjas with even worse homing fireworks and a new firework bazooka which, unlike the old one, doesn't let you reflect the shell back for a free stun. So much for the ConservationOfNinjitsu

* In ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TIEFighter'', the A-Wings. Here's a quote from Website/GameFAQS: The A-wing was a nasty little foe and the hardest rebel starfighter you could come up against in the original TIE Fighter (sans expansion packs). For those not well-versed on their ''Star Wars'' lore, the A-wing is a Rebel interceptor, a fast, dagger-like ship armed with laser cannons and concussion missiles and with engines unmatched by anything in the Empire's basic arsenal. In TIE Fighter, these little monsters were blindingly fast and incredibly maneuverable, capable of outrunning and outflying every player ship until the TIE Advanced found its way into the storyline. This incredible speed, combined with its compact chassis, made the A-wing incredibly hard to destroy. Even the anti-starfighter concussion missiles, usually a guaranteed kill, were useless against the A-wings, which would nimbly evade the missiles until they self-destructed. Not only were the A-wings difficult to kill, they were also dangerous, as the concussion missiles THEY packed could shred your unshielded TIE faster than you can say, "I'm your father"!
* ''{{Supaplex}}'' has Snik Skans. If the game wasn't hard enough as it was.

* In ''Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou'', most enemies are like the ones usually found in the rest of the games. A short time you'll face larger "boss-like" enemies, including boss skeletons, which unlike the others can kill you if you aren't careful. However that's just the begining, as soon after you'll find [[GoddamnedBats bats]] that instead of being annoyances are one-hit kill, actual spiders that show up spontaneously in the middle of a room and are ungodly fast and many other things that will kill you.
* The original NES ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' had a laundry list of examples, including Dive Bombers, Fire Freaks, Frogmen, Vulcan Bots, Splitters, and perhaps worst of all, the much-hated Laser Soldiers, which assault you in spades during the final approach to Shredder's lair.

* The [[CatsAreMean cougars]] in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption''. They're insanely fast, agile (making it hard to shoot them) and aggressive, seem to hunt in packs, and can kill you and your horse with ease. There's a reason some people refer to the cougars in this game as modern day velociraptors.
** This is particularly notable due to the fact that cops and outlaws can put an entire magazine of Colt semi-auto bullets into you and you're still fighting fit, but one swipe from a cougar puts you on your ass, and one more has you seeing[[color:red:DEAD]].
** Also: the Mexican bobcats are cowards that more often run from Marston when you get close. But if they ''do'' decide to attack you...
* in ''Film/RoboCop2'' the arcade game, on the stage in the chemical plant, there are the mutants who run straight at you, electrocute you as soon as they touch you (so you can't "bodyslam" them like you can with other toughies), and take quite a few shots to kill, and appear with the same frequency of all mooks.
* ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' has the Parasites, which are very small, very fast, and spawn in massive numbers. This is already a formula for a [[GoddamnBats nasty enemy]], but what really sets them apart is their method of attack: They attach to and drain your health very quickly, and the only way to get them off is for TheMedic to spend some of their limited healing items on you. Did I mention there are loads of them? And they're so small and fast that hitting them is mostly [[LuckBasedMission down to luck]]? And there are [[ZergRush like a million billion zillion of them]]? Well, it bears repeating. To make matters worse, being killed by a parasite release several ''more'' parasites upon your death, making the situation go downhill VERY fast for the rest of the team.
** Once you unlocked the flamethrower and the telsa gun, the parasites get a bit easier to deal with, but not by a whole lot.

* ''VideoGame/TheHauntedMansion'' had the gargoyles, which were really big enemies that could only be harmed with a fully ChargedAttack. Which was hard, because they were also {{Enemy Summoner}}s, and said enemies were much faster than you, and when they hit you your charge stopped. Luckily, the Beacon of Souls gets more powerful, lowering the demonicness.

** Any enemy who can poison you in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII''. If poisoned, you'll keep losing health until you use a medi-pack. The game has a good amount of enemies that can poison you, thus you may keep wasting your healing items just to cure poison. The future games still had poison effects, but done much less.

* The upper floor of the Thorney Towers Home For The Disturbed level in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' features psychic, mutated rats which scamper directly at Raz and explode, not only causing impact damage but also leaving a cloud of harmful Confusion Gas. They come in swarms which home in on Raz wherever he happens to be, and by the time you hear the distinctive squeaking and scampering noise they're usually right on top of you. Shooting at them causes a chain of dangerous explosions and fills the screen with Confusion Gas. Since the gas messes up Raz's powers, it's almost impossible to stay shielded during a rat attack. On top of this the sound is glitchy, so half the time the warning sounds can be heard when there are no rats present, which is Nightmare Fuel in itself. Plus, they're ''deformed, kamikaze, exploding rats.''

** In Book II, the Mine doesn't have limited visibility, but there's now way of knowing if there's a crowd of monsters on the other side of a doorway, which can lead to unavoidable deaths. Better SaveScum.

* Any enemy with a level 3 Full Screen Tech in ''VideoGame/SeikenDensetsu3'', such as Wolf Devils, Dark Lords, or Nightblades. Which is a shame, because all of the final dungeons are crawling with them. There's a very real chance that a single Full Screen Tech coming from them can wipe your entire party in one shot, unless you've been doing some serious level grinding (and even then, it'd come close).
** The biggest problem about those multi-tech bastards is the fact that they seem to use those techs completely at random. If you have very bad luck, all 2 or 3 of them will use their multi-techs at once, giving you no time to heal in-between. This usually results in an instant kill, even with strong characters and "Defense Up".
** Wolf Devils would count even without Sky Dance: they're fast, strong and attack in numbers. Even with nothing but physical attacks, they can kill your characters—especially your CPU-controlled ones—before you even notice how low your health is.

* The later patches of ''VideoGame/{{Darkstone}}'' included Goblin Bat Riders and Giant Bats. Both were immune to all spells except fire based ones (and there were only 3 fire based spells), they were fast, they did a lot of damage, they infinitely spawned bats (including upon death). Luckily, they are rather rare.
** The later patches also included mages, which attacked in swarms, hurled fireballs, [[TeleportSpam teleport spammed]], summoned golems (fire and ice) ''and'' were completely immune to any form of magical assault. Luckily they are [[SquishyWizard fairly easily]] to kill with normal weapons... if the golems and fireballs didn't kill you first or if you could catch them.
* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'', for the most part, is relatively free of these. However, in the BrutalBonusLevel, you get the Butes and the Mesas. The Butes are tiny [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]]-looking things that either fly around randomly, shoot arrows, or wait on the ground and try to charge you. They do tons of damage, can quickly delevel your weapons, and the ones on the ground can block your attacks. Even the [[WaveMotionGun Spur]]. The Mesas are giant Butes that throw blocks at you for a ton of damage and have far too many hitpoints.

* From ''VideoGame/GunBros.'', there are the Elites. They're ridiculously fast and have shots which linger around for a while.
** And then from the [[ZombieApocalypse Bokor]] levels is the equivalent of the Elite, the Cuttles. They have the trademark ridiculous speed and powerful attacks of the Elite enemies, except they use melee attacks. Also, due to the different "wave" style of the Survival mode, they gain tons of health very fast.
* Flying [[MechaMooks MTs]] in ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' games pre-4 and For Answer weren't as predictable as fighter jets nor as slow as helicopters, both of which you could kill with a missile or two, charge at you guns blazing at a low altitude, fly in erratic patterns, frequently come in packs of up to three and drop other enemies for you to deal with. And they all have enough health to bar the player from just shooting a few missiles and scooting. If you aim up to engage the little bastards, you get blasted at by their ground support. Neglect aerial threats too long and you get shot at by them, plus the ground targets. They tend to appear in droves and one mission in Silent Line in particular quickly turns into ThatOneLevel because you must face a boss right after fighting them off, PLUS the KillSat that's firing at you while they're chipping away your health steadily.

* The Flame Parasites from ''VideoGame/{{Evolva}}''. Not only they have the ability throw huge fireballs towards you for massive damage, but they always catch fire after killed and [[TakingYouWithMe ''explode'']] after a few seconds. Depending of the battle, you may not be able to get far from the explosion, since you may still be fighting the remaining enemies.
* ''VideoGame/{{The Hobbit|2003}}'' has literal spiders starting with the Mirkwood level. They come in two variations, the big tarantulas, which are actually less awful because they can't poison you, and the tiny green and slightly larger red ones, which can poison you. There is no way to cure poison except for an antidote, and they come in swarms. You will often exhaust your supply of antidotes after one fight with these things.
* ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'': Haunts. Undead enemies are already annoying since they can't be knocked out, and the weapons capable of killing them are extremely limited. But zombies are slow and ghosts are easily avoidable, not to mention rare. Haunts on the other hand are semi-common late game foes, have incredible hearing, move much faster than anything else, and are even more skilled in swordplay than the human guards are. It's possible to beat them in a swordfight... theoretically. Almost all players prefer to simply run like hell if one spots them. What makes it worse is the extremely unnerving sounds they make: [[SinisterScrapingSound chains dragging]] and constant whispering about "flames around you... nothing but flames..." that turns into otherworldly [[EvilLaugh Evil Laughter]] should they actually see you.

* The serpents in ''VideoGame/OverlordI'' are just obnoxious. They take a lot of killing, can kill multiple minions in one attack, usually hang out in the water where only Blues - your least impressive combatants - can go, and occasionally dive into the water and reemerge in a slightly different location, accompanied by the deaths of multiple minions. Thankfully, you fight very few of them.

** The tri-missile launchers in the mecha city and headquarter stages. While their attack is weak, they have a very difficult to hit hitbox (that is higher than you would expect, appearing just ''above'' the launcher) and they stagger Godzilla, making hitting them a chore. They also block Godzilla's progression and battling them leaves you vulnerable to everything else on the screen as well.
** These things have ''nothing'' on the dreaded inferno craft however. Practically unkillable and slown down by nothing, it sloppily homes in as it moves across the screen. It ignores mercy invincibility and inflicts constant damage as it slowly passes through it's target, and is easily capable of killing even high level players in one shot if it lands a hit. To top it off, even when the screen ''isn't'' already swarming with enemies (which is a rare occurence), the inferno craft is tricky to dodge. Since it appears as early as Mars, it's also typically the first thing to kill Godzilla in the game.
* ''VideoGame/HauntingStarringPolterguy'': Some of the monsters in the underworld are very strong and hard to dodge. The arms/fists from the walls hit you very hard and those from the pits suck you in and your energy is very limited (you can only lose the game here).