History DemonicSpiders / MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineGames

** Pretty much any named mob was much tougher then any other monster of it's type and level, capable of handily defeating many players at it's level. Even when the game was telling you you could easily beat it because of the level difference, they still often would kill you. At least ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' had the elite tag to warn you. People learned this lesson very quickly, and yet it would still catch you by surprise again 10 levels later, because the overpoweredness of named monsters increases as their level does.
** They would also have enemies that are 5 to 10 levels higher then the surrounding ones that had a slightly different name. classic examples include "an orc warrior" (what you are planning to kill) vs. "a orc warrior" (will mop the floor with you if you are after the "an orc warrior"s) and "will'o wisp" vs "Will'O Wisp". You would only know about the level difference if you targeted the enemy and types /con to judge it's level after.

** For non tank characters, anything with the summon ability is a demonic spider. The monster will periodically teleport the person on the top of it's aggro list directly in front of him, and follow it up instantly with a strong melee attack (think Scorpion from Franchise/MortalKombat except that it can't be blocked or dodged), which would disrupt your spell and take a huge chunk out of your life. There is no way to resist it ever.
** And then we have an NPC only ability known as deathtouch. It is insta cast at range (no interrupting it or silencing it), and kills it's target, no save, no defense against it, period. Many higher level bosses have this, and will open combat with it. The player who started the battle is dead. Period. Late ones will cast it at regular intervals, and at random player targets, possibly even ones not on the aggro list yet. The ultimate in unfair abilities. It's use cannot be stopped, and every use of it kills a player character. Naturally players never get this. The shadowknight player class (also an npc class too) got a once a day ability called harmtouch that did massive damage instantly, but it could be resisted by targets above the player's level.

* Listing all the DemonicSpiders Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic has would take it's own planet segmented page to fill, so it's far easier to point out certain Demonic Ability's (that many, many different mobs share).

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has Monstrous Kaliri in Skettis. They're fast patrolling aerial monsters that, once locked onto your ass will chase you down, slow you down, and eventually knock you off your flying mount unless you have immunity from daze, and only tank specced characters with sufficient defense will have this blessing. If you can't escape them, then your only hope is to land somewhere safely so you can kill them at your leisure, and 'safe' landing points are rare enough as it is in Skettis. Blizzard even upgraded their AI, changing your chances to escape from "low" to "extremely slim".
** Also the trolls of Zul'Mashar. One type will immediately run for help, making it pretty much impossible to fight one at a time. Even the murlocs have the decency to wait until they've been damaged. The other turns you into a frog, and uses a Life Drain on you as you helplessly hop around on the floor. If you're playing the wrong class the only way to kill them is to ''wait until they run out of {{mana}}''.
*** Similarly, Kurzen Medicine Men in Stranglethorn Vale. If you had no way of stopping a heal spell from going off or couldn't do a lot of damage quickly you pretty much had to wait for them to bleed their mana dry, as they could heal to practically full health with each heal.
** Let's not forget those basilisks in Zul'Farrak that like to stun you in the middle of fights. Or all of those hostile elite mobs that are overpowered for their zones and like to come out of nowhere and attack. You know... the Sons of Arugal in Silverpine, the devilsaurs in Un'goro Crater, the fel reavers in Hellfire Peninsula, ''et cetera''?
*** In Un'goro crater, those Pterrordaxes too. One variant will randomly cast fear on you once in a few seconds which makes you run around like an idiot and there is a good chance that you will aggro more monsters.
*** Alliance players will remember their own version of the Sons of Arugal, Mor'ladim in Duskwood falls under this category. He may have been nerfed, but players who have been playing for long enough will remember him. Looks like many of the other skeletons in the area, moves incredibly quickly, and will kill you in two hits if he gets close enough. Many a high level player would come back to this area when they could kill him and murder him over and over again. Another honorable mention from Duskwood is Stitches, mighty quest-summoned abomination. Nerfed into oblivion as of now, but he used to be so strong he devastated Darkshire on his own.
** The assorted Defias thugs near the Human starting area. They aren't, but unlike every other starting zone enemy, they are hostile, and will swarm you to death unless you very carefully pick their groups apart. Oh, and they run and call for help. They have, however, been made nonaggressive in a pre-Cataclysm patch, so this no longer applies.
** Defias Pillagers, level 14ish spellcasters that were located in Westfall and in large numbers in the town which contained the first dungeon most Alliance players would go through. Prior to the 2.3 patch, these guys would cast Fireballs that hit immensely hard for there level, so much so that they frequently were on the list for the top 10 most dangerous mobs (Mobs that kill the most players). They only nerfed them by just a tiny bit, though, as they still hurt like hell for appropriate player level.
** The Void Reaver trash from Tempest Keep qualifies. All it takes is for one of your locks to miss a banish for a couple of seconds and the next thing you know, half the raid is face down on the floor from that damned sawblade spam.
** Mobs with elemental immunity probably apply for most caster classes, since nearly all casters will be focusing on spells of one element. Run into an enemy (or three) that's immune to that element, and you're stuck with the spells you've been neglecting and may not even keep on your action bar. And if you rely too much on "crowd control" (read: if you're a mage) there are mobs that are immune to that, too.
** Note that most of the above examples have been nerfed into oblivion with the ''Cataclysm'' expansion, which overhauled a majority of the old content and gave considerable power boosts to most classes in the early levels. Most modern instances of this trope turn up in the level 80+ zones, generally due to wonky respawning issues and mob density. The cultists in the "gauntlet" section of Twilight Highlands leading up to the entrance of Grim Batol deserve special mention. The packs are huge, the melee'ers hit like trucks, and the casters love to snare you with frost spells.
** Stonecore Earthshapers in the Stonecore. If the player doesn't interrupt a certain spell, they transform into a Force of Earth, and start using AOE attacks that devastate the party.
** The Firelands has quite a few, from groups of five or more Flamewalkers immune to Crowd Control, to scorpions that explode when killed, to turtles that are so strong and difficult to tank that not even trash raids that form for reputation and chances at sellable epic items will kill them.
** The trash in the Lost City of the Tol'vir pitches in on this as well. Oathsworn Skinners have a very unpleasant Fan of Knives that they will keep throwing out just as often as they see fit. The Neferset Plaguebringers and Torturers can also be rather unpleasant. The first does decent damage and, much more worryingly, likes throwing out rather lengthy fears VERY liberally. The same applies to the Torturers, except theirs is a silence and will almost invariably be thrown on the healer.
** Murlocs are a borderline case. Wherever they appear, you can bet there will be at least twenty of them. The DemonicSpiders part of it is that murlocs tend to run when their health gets low. Unless you kill the little bastard quickly, that one murloc you were fighting can turn into three or four.
*** The Mists of Pandaria version is the Virmen, literally rabbit-men where murlocs were fish-men. Come in groups, have several different versions (three small weak ones that leap at you, medium sized ones that stun from a distance, large ones that burrow/teleport and stun you, and which run off at about 1/3rd health to aggro ''more'') and are nearly impossible to pull one at a time. Every one on one fight turns into a family reunion mosh pit. Hozen are almost as bad, in many of the places they appear.
*** Special mention goes a particular type of Springtail Virmen in Valley of the Four Winds. namely the Springtail Gnasher. Attacks in packs? check. Has a bleed that deals approximately 17,000 damage a tick at maximum stacks? Check. Are they everywhere in the cave you're supposed to save a quest target? Check. These guys pose a threat even to a Level 90 player.
** In the Timeless Isle, the Molten Guardians, as well as the KingMook, Cinderfall, count. They often use a frontal cone attack that can be dodged, but will sometimes spew fire all around them, which is almost impossible to avoid for melee classes and can be dangerous if you're just passing through. To make matters worse, griefers like to pull them to where the rival faction is fighting Ordos.
** Siege of Orgrimmar has a few. There are the Lingering Corruption adds before the fourth boss, which apply a debuff on a random player when they die that damages them and everyone close to them after a few seconds or when it's dispelled; too many stacks, and a player '''will'' die. Kor'kron Shadowmages have a Mind Spike that can potentially one-shot players, while the Treasury Guards hit quite hard. The trash before Garrosh is also very difficult, particularly the slimes that heal ones nearby when they die.
** ''Legion'' presents a few in the first set of dungeons. They become especially dangerous on higher levels of Mythic Plus runs.
*** Rockbound Pelters in Neltharion's Lair ignore tank aggro and spam a ranged attack on whatever player takes their fancy. As an extra bonus they have Retreat, which lets them disengage from melee range, potentially landing right next to and activating other mobs or even a boss.
*** Blazing Imps in the Court of Stars are, on their own, easily dealt with. They are of course never alone, traveling in large, fast-moving packs with long patrol routes. Each member of the pack can channel Drifting Embers inflicting party-wide damage; if not interrupted or killed quickly, this can easily wipe a party.
*** The most feared enemy in the Eye of Azshara is not an elite mob or even usually hostile -- it's the neutral Cove Seagull. It's not the damage they can deal that is the danger either but their long disorient ability. Accidentally pulling a Seagull during a boss fight can result in the tank being disoriented, allowing the boss to randomly attack and likely kill other party members. Many players consider them more dangerous than even the bosses.

*** In the same vein as Armada Dragoons and Tengu Sorcerers are [[HerdHittingAttack Saytrs and Ophidian Flame Dancers.]] They may cause some trouble when there's only one pirate, but a four player group is going to result in a bloodbath. This is especially true with Ophidian bosses like [[ThatOneBoss Mari]] and [[BonusBoss Chryssida.]]

** Komazli are much like Gaozorans, but with [[StandardStatusEffects Grants]] and the ability to heal themselves.

* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', the Malta Group's Sappers, whose signature ability can completely [[ManaDrain drain your endurance]] unless you have some protection against it (none of which is quite 100% as it is). And the Sappers are just minion-ranked enemies.
** The Malta group in general is extremely aggravating to fight. Whether it be their 30 second stuns (no... seriously), their [[strike:auto-turrets]] flying gun drones, their Gunslingers, and their Zeus Class Titans that can decimate you if you're at juuuuust the right distance. And let's not forget their sister organization, Knives of Artemis. They are an utter '''nightmare''' to fight in large groups. They all use caltrops, they all have long-duration tranquilizer darts which stack and put you to sleep for a second (detoggling everything), and they all use the same sort of stun grenades as Malta. In a large group, you're basically fixed in your location, stunned (even if you have a resistance ability, it will get taken off by tranquilizer dart stacking), and just waiting for the psycho bitches to slaughter you. They are the ultimate demonic spiders.
*** Electric Armor Brutes are nigh-immune to endurance drain by the level Malta appear at and laugh at Sappers. None of the stun grenades or tranquilizer darts are unresistable, but they have such a long duration that you can easily run to the next group and get detoggled because their darts/grenades stacked with the effect that was still on you from the previous group.
*** Malta lieutenant and boss level stun grenades last forty-five seconds against Heroes or Villains of the same level. These enemies can kill a player character in less than ten.
*** Stone Armor is basically immune to stun/sleep and resistant to endurance drain, thanks to Rooted. Unfortunately, you're also [[MightyGlacier ground-bound and slow as molasses,]] which is a problem once the sappers start to ''teleport'' and ''fly.''
** The Tsoo are hardly slouches, either. You encounter them at relatively low levels, and they're presented as being little different from the fire- and darkness-themed beginning gangs, or the elemental- and superstrength-themed gangs of the next tier—threats, to be sure, but nothing special. Then you actually meet them. Their basic minions will attack in swarms, throw Caltrops (slowing you dramatically and placing a [=DoT=] on you for as long as you are standing on them... also, AI-controlled pets will go berserk trying to escape them), put you to sleep, lock you down completely, stun you (and doing obscene amounts of damage), lower your defense, siphon off your attack power so that your damage output is crippled and their own is sent through the roof, and siphon off your speed so that you're reduced to a desperate crawl while their buddies pound you to mush and THEY'RE zooming around the level at seventy miles an hour screaming "Yipa, yipa, andale, andale!" All this while their Lieutenants are teleporting in and out, healing their compatriots, blowing you halfway across the map with their hula-hoop tornado, reducing your accuracy to the point that you couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from the INSIDE, and occasionally punching you in the face. Oh... and their massive quantity of boss-types (third-tier enemies) have most of the abilities of their minions, as well as being able to do fun things like fly, turn invisible, knock you around like a ragdoll in a number of entertaining fashions, poison you, immobilize you, hurl random chunks of the landscape at you, set you on fire, freeze you solid... it makes doing Tsoo missions interesting, believe me. Thankfully, they're mostly confined to a very narrow level range.
** The [[CircusOfFear Carnival of Shadows]] illusionists, with their ability to phase, becoming untouchable, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard even when they're not supposed to be able to do anything]], are [[GoddamnedBats merely annoying]]. Master illusionists, on the other hand, can do the phasing thing, and if you don't keep them shut down, will summon in short order about five pets (some of which summon additional pets), drastically altering the odds against you. The Ring Mistresses, with their ability to completely shut down your endurance recovery, are decidedly nasty, too.
** Arachnos Night Widows are highly resistant to holds and other basic forms of control, which sucks when you're a ranged character whose only defense is holds. And throw a smoke grenade so you can't see anyone else, which means you can't hold anyone else, which sucks when your only defense is holds. Fortunately you can just pop an Insight (like an accuracy potion) to see again, but when you don't have an Insight...
*** Some powersets have perception bonus powers which essentially nullifies the smoke grenades effect. There is also an invention enhancement that any character can obtain that has the same effect, as well as a power from the Pools (Tactics—admittedly requiring the commitment of a power pool selection and two power choices, which is non-trivial) that also grants Perception.
** Rularuu are an entire faction of DemonicSpiders, intentionally made as such. Floating eyeballs that hit hard and are nearly impossible to dodge and [[MookMaker summon more eyeballs]], little imps that spam holds and fuse together into ''bigger'' imps with full health when damaged, big brutes that boost every bad guy's damage and health while draining your resistance and [[{{Mana}} endurance]], and spindly gold humanoids that spam more holds and buff defense and send psychic damage everywhere. For over a year after their release into the game, one of their [[ClimaxBoss archvillain]]-level bosses could kill [[StoneWall tanks]] in a single shot. They all have boatloads of Status Effects to pass out. Oh, and they're in the [[ThatOneLevel most irritating zones to travel through, and the longest group missions in the game]]. Thankfully, most players have little reason to go there.
** Ballistae used to detoggle and knock back with a single, ranged, spammable attack. While that's nothing too dangerous for archetypes that never had mez protection in the first place, people used to shrugging off mezzes and knockback were in a world of hurt as most of their defenses would no longer work at all. They also hit ridiculously hard. This got so bad that the detoggle effect eventually had to be removed.
** To a fairly weak Scrapper with super reflexes who depends on his toggle powers to not be hit the Freakshow with their stun attacks and large smashing damage are DemonicSpiders, things are going fine until wait I'm stunned, wait I'm down to 5% hit points. Combine with the fact that not only do they self heal but they can self resurrect...
** Thankfully, every single one of those listed DemonicSpiders has a very effective counter. A Scrapper supported by a Kinetic Defender will scythe through Knives of Artemis. Controllers and Dominators can lock down the most annoying mobs like Sappers or Sorcerers. A Ballista is helpless if you reduce its accuracy. And so on, and so on. The problem is pulling out said counters before the DemonicSpiders overwhelm you.
* ''VideoGame/{{Mopeio}}'': For a cute online Multiplayer RisingUpTheFoodChainGame, a few animals are unfairly deadly. You can actually [[http://mope.io play it right now]] on your web browser if you want to see for yourself.
** Bees are the only [[NonPlayerCharacter NPC]] that can attack players regardless of how small you are or what tier you're at. Even when they are your prey. A stun from an individual bee lasts about 10 seconds, and they swarm you 6-to-1. The damage adds up and if that doesn't kill you, thirst or another player will. Worse is when you find a group of bees straying far from their hive after they finished chasing [=and/or=] murdering another player and then dogpile you. They provide a lot of XP for their bottom tier predators but lose their value a tier after.
** Stingrays, who can paralyze prey and predators alike with their stunning pulses.
** Donkeys have become infamous in the community for coordinating with each other to kill top tier predators like the T-Rex with their kick, which stuns for about 5 seconds and leaves both predator and prey alike vulnerable to other players.
** Any animal with a bite and drag ability (Crocodiles, sharks, T-Rex, etc) seems to be this. They can latch onto prey players and wring out most of their HP before eating them
** Eagles. Oh, God, the eagles. There's a reason they're known for being [[{{Troll}} trolls]], as they can swoop in and kidnap any animal, the stronger Eagle variants can even carry predators. They are a source of [[ParanoiaFuel paranoia]] among any player, because you never know if it'll come out of nowhere and snatch you without warning.
** Giraffes can stomp off and deal tons of damage, so much that not even predators are safe.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has Monstrous Kaliri in Skettis. They're fast patrolling aerial monsters that, once locked onto your ass will chase you down, slow you down, and eventually knock you off your flying mount unless you have immunity from daze, and only tank specced characters with sufficient defense will have this blessing. If you can't escape them, then your only hope is to land somewhere safely so you can kill them at your leisure, and 'safe' landing points are rare enough as it is in Skettis. Blizzard even upgraded their AI, changing your chances to escape from "low" to "extremely slim".
** Also the trolls of Zul'Mashar. One type will immediately run for help, making it pretty much impossible to fight one at a time. Even the murlocs have the decency to wait until they've been damaged. The other turns you into a frog, and uses a Life Drain on you as you helplessly hop around on the floor. If you're playing the wrong class the only way to kill them is to ''wait until they run out of {{mana}}''.
*** Similarly, Kurzen Medicine Men in Stranglethorn Vale. If you had no way of stopping a heal spell from going off or couldn't do a lot of damage quickly you pretty much had to wait for them to bleed their mana dry, as they could heal to practically full health with each heal.
** Let's not forget those basilisks in Zul'Farrak that like to stun you in the middle of fights. Or all of those hostile elite mobs that are overpowered for their zones and like to come out of nowhere and attack. You know... the Sons of Arugal in Silverpine, the devilsaurs in Un'goro Crater, the fel reavers in Hellfire Peninsula, ''et cetera''?
*** In Un'goro crater, those Pterrordaxes too. One variant will randomly cast fear on you once in a few seconds which makes you run around like an idiot and there is a good chance that you will aggro more monsters.
*** Alliance players will remember their own version of the Sons of Arugal, Mor'ladim in Duskwood falls under this category. He may have been nerfed, but players who have been playing for long enough will remember him. Looks like many of the other skeletons in the area, moves incredibly quickly, and will kill you in two hits if he gets close enough. Many a high level player would come back to this area when they could kill him and murder him over and over again. Another honorable mention from Duskwood is Stitches, mighty quest-summoned abomination. Nerfed into oblivion as of now, but he used to be so strong he devastated Darkshire on his own.
** The assorted Defias thugs near the Human starting area. They aren't, but unlike every other starting zone enemy, they are hostile, and will swarm you to death unless you very carefully pick their groups apart. Oh, and they run and call for help. They have, however, been made nonaggressive in a pre-Cataclysm patch, so this no longer applies.
** Defias Pillagers, level 14ish spellcasters that were located in Westfall and in large numbers in the town which contained the first dungeon most Alliance players would go through. Prior to the 2.3 patch, these guys would cast Fireballs that hit immensely hard for there level, so much so that they frequently were on the list for the top 10 most dangerous mobs (Mobs that kill the most players). They only nerfed them by just a tiny bit, though, as they still hurt like hell for appropriate player level.
** The Void Reaver trash from Tempest Keep qualifies. All it takes is for one of your locks to miss a banish for a couple of seconds and the next thing you know, half the raid is face down on the floor from that damned sawblade spam.
** Mobs with elemental immunity probably apply for most caster classes, since nearly all casters will be focusing on spells of one element. Run into an enemy (or three) that's immune to that element, and you're stuck with the spells you've been neglecting and may not even keep on your action bar. And if you rely too much on "crowd control" (read: if you're a mage) there are mobs that are immune to that, too.
** Note that most of the above examples have been nerfed into oblivion with the ''Cataclysm'' expansion, which overhauled a majority of the old content and gave considerable power boosts to most classes in the early levels. Most modern instances of this trope turn up in the level 80+ zones, generally due to wonky respawning issues and mob density. The cultists in the "gauntlet" section of Twilight Highlands leading up to the entrance of Grim Batol deserve special mention. The packs are huge, the melee'ers hit like trucks, and the casters love to snare you with frost spells.
** Stonecore Earthshapers in the Stonecore. If the player doesn't interrupt a certain spell, they transform into a Force of Earth, and start using AOE attacks that devastate the party.
** The Firelands has quite a few, from groups of five or more Flamewalkers immune to Crowd Control, to scorpions that explode when killed, to turtles that are so strong and difficult to tank that not even trash raids that form for reputation and chances at sellable epic items will kill them.
** The trash in the Lost City of the Tol'vir pitches in on this as well. Oathsworn Skinners have a very unpleasant Fan of Knives that they will keep throwing out just as often as they see fit. The Neferset Plaguebringers and Torturers can also be rather unpleasant. The first does decent damage and, much more worryingly, likes throwing out rather lengthy fears VERY liberally. The same applies to the Torturers, except theirs is a silence and will almost invariably be thrown on the healer.
** Murlocs are a borderline case. Wherever they appear, you can bet there will be at least twenty of them. The DemonicSpiders part of it is that murlocs tend to run when their health gets low. Unless you kill the little bastard quickly, that one murloc you were fighting can turn into three or four.
*** The Mists of Pandaria version is the Virmen, literally rabbit-men where murlocs were fish-men. Come in groups, have several different versions (three small weak ones that leap at you, medium sized ones that stun from a distance, large ones that burrow/teleport and stun you, and which run off at about 1/3rd health to aggro ''more'') and are nearly impossible to pull one at a time. Every one on one fight turns into a family reunion mosh pit. Hozen are almost as bad, in many of the places they appear.
*** Special mention goes a particular type of Springtail Virmen in Valley of the Four Winds. namely the Springtail Gnasher. Attacks in packs? check. Has a bleed that deals approximately 17,000 damage a tick at maximum stacks? Check. Are they everywhere in the cave you're supposed to save a quest target? Check. These guys pose a threat even to a Level 90 player.
** In the Timeless Isle, the Molten Guardians, as well as the KingMook, Cinderfall, count. They often use a frontal cone attack that can be dodged, but will sometimes spew fire all around them, which is almost impossible to avoid for melee classes and can be dangerous if you're just passing through. To make matters worse, griefers like to pull them to where the rival faction is fighting Ordos.
** Siege of Orgrimmar has a few. There are the Lingering Corruption adds before the fourth boss, which apply a debuff on a random player when they die that damages them and everyone close to them after a few seconds or when it's dispelled; too many stacks, and a player '''will'' die. Kor'kron Shadowmages have a Mind Spike that can potentially one-shot players, while the Treasury Guards hit quite hard. The trash before Garrosh is also very difficult, particularly the slimes that heal ones nearby when they die.
** ''Legion'' presents a few in the first set of dungeons. They become especially dangerous on higher levels of Mythic Plus runs.
*** Rockbound Pelters in Neltharion's Lair ignore tank aggro and spam a ranged attack on whatever player takes their fancy. As an extra bonus they have Retreat, which lets them disengage from melee range, potentially landing right next to and activating other mobs or even a boss.
*** Blazing Imps in the Court of Stars are, on their own, easily dealt with. They are of course never alone, traveling in large, fast-moving packs with long patrol routes. Each member of the pack can channel Drifting Embers inflicting party-wide damage; if not interrupted or killed quickly, this can easily wipe a party.
*** The most feared enemy in the Eye of Azshara is not an elite mob or even usually hostile - it's the neutral Cove Seagull. It's not the damage they can deal that is the danger either but their long disorient ability. Accidentally pulling a Seagull during a boss fight can result in the tank being disoriented, allowing the boss to randomly attack and likely kill other party members. Many players consider them more dangerous than even the bosses.
* To date, there is no enemy in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' quite like the Soulflayer. For starters, unlike regular monsters, who take offense to your appearance, the sound of your feet on the grass, your particular odor, or perhaps the audacity with which you cast magic spells in their presence, the Soulflayer is a humorless dick and will assault you for performing ''any'' of the aforementioned actions. A Soulflayer would agro thoughts if technology permitted. If you want to avoid them, preventative measures like Sneak won't work and you won't be able to Sleep it if it does agro you. And if you happen to wander too close to a congregation of Soulflayers, the one you ''did'' agro will alert all the others via high-speed telepathy, potentially raining Soulflayers down on you ''en masse''. Like other Black Mage-types in the game, it makes liberal use of area of effect spells (which are particularly devestating in XI due to player reliance on "blinking" individual directed attacks) and, arguably worse, a spell that causes players who strike it to become paralyzed. That wouldn't be so bad in and of itself, except that the processing rate is practically 100%, so unless you want to be completely useless against it, you will need to dispel that effect immediately... except that it's near-immune to Darkness-based spells, which includes, oh, hey, ''Dispel''. And it only gets better. Among the plethora of abilities it has at its disposal, it can dispel all of your buffs, create magical shields to absorb magic damage, and bust open the Ark of the Covenant to inflict only the most impotence-inducing status effects known to man (and some unknown to man). And finally, they're gross. They even make [[{{Squick}} squelching noises]] when they move. You just have to fear and loathe them and respect their status as the Queen Bitch monster of FFXI. Even the fact that there are light-based options for Sleep and Dispel doesn't take away from their status as Queen Bitch.
** Wamouras. They heal thousands of HP just from being ''debuffed'', drain all of your MP and go [[Anime/DragonBallGT SSJ4]] on a whim.
** Apkallu can classify as this. At first, they're extremely weak, but as you kill them and build up "Apkallu Hate," their combat abilities grow exponentially, to the point that even an Even Match Apkallu will have almost capped Evasion/Guarding/Countering against you.
** In the third expansion, "Treasures of Aht Urhgan", players were introduced to a breed of tiny bug enemies called Chigoes. Not only do these things do massive damage to you at a very quick rate, but they are nearly invisible until they're assaulting you. There is no name hovering over their head, nor are they targetable, until they begin to attack you. Your only defense is to keep an eye out for a little bouncing bug in the high grass you're walking through (though the spells Sneak and Invisible help). However, it should be noted that Chigoes are instant killed by any damage dealing job abilities (like a Dragoon's Jump or a Paladin's Shield Bash), or by critical hits, making them an uncommon sort of ''Glass Cannon''. There's also one Sheep monster that spawns an infinite supply of Chigoes to pester players hunting it.
** Speaking of invisible monsters, Yovras (affectionately dubbed "[=UFOs=]") are also nightmare-inducing. Their absolutely devestating arsenal of TP attacks is one thing, but what's even worse is the fact that they regen at rate of 100-250HP every 3 seconds. Before the level cap increase, their natural regen rate alone would often induce a stalemate against lowman groups farming them.
** Even worse are the Lou Carcolh, introduced in the Wings of the Goddess Expansion. They have a special move which will UNEQUIP EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF ARMOR on you. This isn't all: the move prevents you from reequipping for a short duration, and applies a movement speed debuff so you can't run away. Only beastmasters used these as pets, and the pet mechanics meant if you ever lost charm, the mob would immediately turn to you and often use a random special move instantly. A good chance was that it used that move.
** Many enemies in FFXI are demonic spiders of some form or another. Spider mobs can one-shot players with their Sickle Slash move. Corses can charm players: that made them impossible to straight tank, and if you soloed one with a pet and got charmed, you'd drop aggro and follow the mob around till charm dropped, often meaning certain death. A bomb's self-destruct can wipe out a whole party. There's a reason the game was nicknamed "Crab Fantasy XI"-- crabs in the game are one of the few mobs that aren't demonic and are safe to level on.

* ''VideoGame/AsheronsCall'' has the Hollow Minions, monsters who hit very hard thanks to their ability to completely ignore magical protection spells of any kind in a game whose players rely on said magical protections to do almost anything. They also hit incredibly fast compared to most other monsters as well, resulting in their taking you down to half health or lower within seconds of encountering them if your Melee Defense skill or armor level isn't high enough. Actually, there are a number of things that can do hollow damage, but the Hollow Minions are the most prevalent (the fact that they look like a creepy scarecrow really doesn't help much) and therefore the ones you're the most likely to hate with an undying passion. Thankfully if you have the ability to damage them with frost they tend to go down very quickly.
** Really, to a non-mage class, anything that spams war magic. It can hit extremely hard, especially so if you have had a vulnerability spell of that element cast on you. Non-mage characters don't tend to have high Magic Defense, where mages typically have it higher than normal. This only applies to close quarters however, as most war spells take the form of a PainfullySlowProjectile, meaning you can just move out of the way at higher ranges. Good thing the AI isn't nearly as smart as the player.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has the Mine Crab, a crab with a sea mine on its back: they exist in the absolute hardest level in the game, have lots of hit points, do large amounts of damage, and if you hit them for more than 40 points of damage '''at all'', they explode, killing you no matter what. They have lots of hit points and by the time you reach them, dealing less than 40 points of damage is a major problem. Oh, and if the battle runs too long you lose automatically.

* The MMORPG ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' has a large number of these depending on player level and class, such as Nependeaths, which auto-agg and spam with a similarly unavoidable ranged attack (but are mercifully immobile), Electrophants, which have no knockback and deal absurd amounts of damage, and Jr. Nekis, which are fast, absurdly difficult to hit, and deal an inordinate amount of damage.
** Electrophants are particularly aggravating; they deal around 100 touch damage (which is tiny), and around 700 magic damage (which is lethal at the levels you would fight them at).
* How many DemonicSpiders can ''Website/GaiaOnline'' incorporate into their MMO? Let's count...
** The most memorable are the Cherry Fluffs. Nearly everybody has their favorite story about their first foray into Zen Gardens, seeing a Cherry Fluff, thinking "oh I eat these guys for breakfast", and then getting beat when the fluff they attack explodes for ''over 100 damage''. It's not recommended to use area-of-effect attacks in Zen unless you're ''absolutely sure'' there are no Cherry Fluffs around.
** Kokeshi Dolls are notorious for swarming (they're one of the earliest Animated to do so), especially if you're attacking their stronger Collectible form or [[ThatOneBoss Katsumi's Doll]], and they have a ranged attack.
** Taiko Drums, also in Zen, pack area-of-effect attacks and have attacks that knock the player around.
** The Flying Giftboxes ''regenerate''.
** Sand Fluffs in the Gold Beach area will sink you in quicksand, slowing you while they gather around to chip away your HP. You need ranged attacks to fight the Sand Fluffs or quickly scroll to a new screen away from them.
** The Predator Prairie Pups turn invisible when they attack. It helps to keep a finger on the tilde (~) so you can auto-target them, especially if you're in one of the foresty screens where they can hide behind trees.
** Tiny Witch Doctors in the Otami Ruins have a slowing attack. It doesn't help that they're usually accompanied by mobs of Tiny Terrors.
** The Mask of Death and Rebirth's most powerful attack also stops you dead in your tracks. It also appears out of nowhere if you're on certain flights of stairs, and gets progressively stronger as you knock off each of its three forms. In its last form, its attack will a) force your avatar to run away, b) disable the use of your rings, and c) only wear off after a certain period of time, which is still long enough for the Mask or other enemies to strip you of your HP.
** Walkers have high HP and defenses and can either use a powerful melee attack or a ranged attack that inflicts poison. Also, they tend to come in groups. [[PaletteSwap Landstriders]] are rarer and weaker, but still a pain.
* The dungeon ''Shards of Orr'' from ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' expansion ''Eye of the North'', is plagued with these, from mobs consisting of zombie brutes who deal lots of damage, coupled with skeleton sorcerers who blind you and knock you down, and then add a cleric to the mix for healing them, oh and for the record: groups of many enchanted weapons that are all agroed at the same time.
** And from the third game, Nightfall, you have the Torment Creatures. The fact that they come from Hell demands they be tough, and while they certainly are, they ALL come equipped with a defense mechanism guaranteed to make you grind your teeth. When a Torment Creature is almost dead (although sometimes they've been observed doing this as high as 40% health), it crouches down and you have EXACTLY ten seconds to kill it before a duplicate spawns in. The duplicate? IT HAS THE SAME SKILL. The worst ones by far are the Arms of Insanity, rangers who, before activating the ability, will use two different preparations that a) give them roughly eight pips of regenerating health, and b) enable them to dodge 75% of your attacks. Without careful micromanagement in most situations, you can go from fighting five of them to fifteen in an instant.
** Any enemy with a resurrection spell can quickly become this. [[KillItWithFire Charr]] Dominators can not only disable your abilities if you're unlucky enough, but their fast casting attribute lets them bring enemies to life in about half the time your team can (although that's because they were actually based on a popular human build). And Awakened Cavaliers come with both one of the fast-recharging resurrection signets AND a shout (as in instantly-activating) that brings all their teammates back. Logic demands you eliminate these sorts first, but you'll more often than not cross a group where more than one of them are present, sometimes also backing a boss. The best response to the resurrection ability is to lay down the "Frozen Soil" effect. It prevents any resurrection spell being used in the affected area. Only problem is that that includes ''your'' resurrection spells too.
** In the first campaign the wandering Hydras of the Crystal Desert could easily become this. While their damage output usually wasn't bad, their [=AI=] tended to wait until you group up and then all of the Hydras would cast "Meteor". Three Meteors could kill a group, and guess what the standard number of Hydras in a group is.
** The [[ChurchOfEvil White Mantle]] and [[HiredGuns Peacekeepers]] of ''Beyond: War in Kryta'' can easily become this. Each class can have one of several different skill sets, making predicting which ones in a pull are the real danger difficult. The monk might be a heal, but it could also be a dps; the elementalist might be a spiker or it might have area spells; and any single one of them could have a spell that resurrects any dead ally at full health. Some of their builds actually seem to be inspired to power-gamers, just for that extra bit of insult to the many [[TotalPartyKill injuries]].
*** Continued in a similar manner in the ''Winds of Change'' by the new enemies of Cantha. The modified zones are such a change in difficulty that the developers eventually added an option to switch back to the days when it was overrun by a mystical plague.
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': The Borg. Not the weak, disjointed, disconnected [[spoiler:past-version]] Borg from the tutorial, but the full-on [[spoiler:modern]] Borg from the endgame area. On the ground, they will keep summoning more, and more, and more, and more, and 'aaaaaaagh'. In space, they will quickly render you helpless and then pound on you; like the the TV series, Borg Cubes fire shield-draining torpedoes at you, and no amount of shield recharge powers you have on hand will keep your shields from collapsing and staying down until the fight is over. This necessitates the use of armor plating. Without it, you will die. One Borg Cube will provide a long yet not impossible fight on your hands. Two Cubes are virtually impossible to defeat solo. "ResistanceIsFutile" indeed.
** Fittingly, the Borg's main enemy, Species 8472/Undine, also fits this trope. In [[spoiler: the final ground mission released to date,]] the player ends up fighting through large numbers of Undine soldiers, which are, like the Borg, not at all similar to the weaker versions that can be found earlier in the game. These ones hit you non-stop, both with melee attacks (which can cause a nasty infection, due to 8472's superb immune system) and with ranged psychic attacks. Both of which ignore shields, the melee attacks mostly penetrating and the psychic attacks avoiding shields entirely. There is one type of Personal Shield in the game that will block some psionic damage, [[spoiler: which is found as a mission reward at the start of the Featured Episode arc involving the Devidians,]] but it was given so much earlier in the storyline that odds are you threw it out as it became obsolete. Since drops increase in level as you do, you have the option to go back and pick up a stronger, level-appropriate version, which makes the mission a good deal easier. However, 99% of players at this point will be using a personal shield more geared towards fighting the Borg or engaging in [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] combat, which makes ''every single enemy in the mission one of these.''
* ''VideoGame/GrandChase'' has Orc Warriors and Stone golems.
* ''VideoGame/SpiralKnights'' has plenty of stuff waiting to ruin your day[[note]]and ways to counter[[/note]]. Usually one monster per enemy type:
** Beasts have Alpha Wolvers. They inherit the normal Wolver trait of dodging guns and their FlashStep into melee, but now buff any small wolvers in the area, are near impervious to being knocked down, and do a three bite combo that will break shields if blocked entirely. In later tiers they gain TeleportSpam.[[note]]Attack them when they yip, have teammates attack from the side during the combo, or hit them with the Faust or a curse vial, since curse will trigger thrice during their combo.[[/note]]
** Constructs have Gun Puppies. Although immobile, they tend to camp areas that are hard to reach when they spawn, thin paths filled with spikes, or [[ZergRush spawn up to 8 at once in the arenas]]. They have the highest bullet count of all enemies, meaning that any encounter with more than two can turn into BulletHell in a hurry.[[note]]Not very hard to stream their shots and gun them down. Also easy to bait with one player shielding, and the Cailbur line's charged attack can hit 3 times. The arena ZergRush is always brutal, though.[[/note]]
*** Even tougher than Gun Puppies are Rocket Puppies. On Tier One they shoot an easy-to-dodge missile. Tier Two makes adds a light homing function. Tier Three? High-speed missiles! Homing on a level barely dodgeable! They are not destroyed by obstacles! They do more damage than almost any other enemy of the same level! The explosion inflicts burn status which unblockably chips away your health you even further! Missiles destroy your shield in one or two hit! It fires almost fast enough to keep a missile on the field at all times! Similar to Gun Puppies above, you can face eight of these in an Arena match! Whew![[note]]The missiles can hit other enemies, use this to your advantage. Don't aggro too many at once. Make sure your combo makes the turret abandon its attack if just possible.[[/note]]
** Fiends are annoying in general, but late-strata Greavers can be deadly. Greavers can FlashStep into a melee attack that leaves behind an unblockable status cloud. And they have a habit of swarming the player.[[note]]Melee knocks them out of their attack entirely. Someone with a Flourish can tear up Greavers with ease. Make sure they don't swerve around you when you strike, though.[[/note]]
** Gremlins are another annoying monster type in general, but demos are the greatest pain in the ass. At their tier 1 form, they're merely annoying, but tier 2 brings the bomb spam like none other. They spam mines and dodges making it impossible to safely attack them most of the time, and will often toss four mines at a player, which proceed to land on the ground and arm themselves when they hit. And then when you do hit them, a mine will often fall from their backpack... which promptly arms itself when it hits the floor. And to top it off, if damaged and left alone they will pull out a health capsule and recover a bunch of life. The mines not only act as very effective space control, but they also make for effective anti-freeze.[[note]]They aren't very aggressive and the mine fuse is easily visible, so charged attacks work nicely. Also, a decent gun can chip away their health.[[/note]]
** Phantoms are this of the graveyard themed Undead levels. Far-reaching three-hit combo, decent health and a projectile-firing charged attack are far from unbearable... But the damn things don't give up. When you kill them, they come back in a few minutes. When soloing, they're easy to deal with, but there's one for each player - in four-player expeditions you are stalked by four of these which can be overwhelming.[[note]]Phantoms aggro their designated player. Either have the person in question deal with the opponent solo, or gang up on the Phantom while the target acts as a diversion. If you have a gun you can use while mobile, you can just back up and keep firing.[[/note]]
* A weird example, ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeed Need for Speed: World]]'' has DemonicSpiders in the form of Rhino [=SUVs=], which usually come in packs of two and try to ram you head-on. For balancing reasons, EA Black Box has made getting busted in a pursuit much easier (the speeds required to start draining your ''Busted'' meter has been increased greatly), and a single Rhino charge will bring your car to a dead stop instantly, regardless of how fast or heavy it is. Rhinos are incessantly annoying at lower heats (with space, they're easy to dodge), but they become extremely deadly at heat 5, where loads and loads of roadblocks will impede your practical top speeds and Rhinos come in every thirty seconds. If a Rhino scores a direct hit, using powerups to escape is essentially a prerequisite.
* In ''VideoGame/LaTale'', there are wisps, which follow you around and not only damage you constantly and over time, but they [[ManaDrain also drain your SP]]. Wisps also have a lot of health. God help you if three or four attack you at once. [[JustifiedTrope Granted]], they DO give you a ton of experience points, but still...
** And then there are the other enemies in the same area. [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Poltergeist Animate Jars]], [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Night Goblins]], and [[CuteGhostGirl Miss]] [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Gagas]], oh my!
* Listing all the DemonicSpiders Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic has would take it's own planet segmented page to fill, so it's far easier to point out certain Demonic Ability's (that many, many different mobs share).
** Any type of passive bleeding/burning buff makes any strong or harder enemy eye gougingly annoying. These abilities are up all the time, stack every single hit (it's impossible to avoid if facing a ranged enemy), do ridiculous amounts of damage, can't be interrupted (and this game has no enemy dispelling), and since they refresh every hit as well, are basically there until you kill whatever is setting you ablaze. To make maters even worse these types of abilities always come on something that is built like one of the PC tanking classes, meaning that there is no way you are going to be able to kill one before you've lost half your skin or blood.
** Certain boss elite enemies come packing some sort force storm abilities. These pack one hell of a wallop, and leave the boss to continue attacking while the AOE is still going. The problem is the animation just doesn't do them justice, the actual AOE is far bigger than what you can see and lasts longer. Not to mention that the boss can just stand in it, making it a catch 22 for Melee characters who need to interrupt the massive 2 hit kill ability he is surly casting while being surrounded by electric death.
** A really common AOE mobs have involves sending a small droid down that shoots fire everywhere, doing massive damage. However it's easy to avoid, stationary, and usually has a tiny radius, but companions will not get out of it unless you specificity tell them too. Meaning that either you let them attack and quickly die or try to keep him safe wasting time and both of your dps, all the while the deployer and his buddies are filling you full of holes.
** Also noteworthy is the terminate ability used by certain strong and elite enemies. Terminate is a snipe-like ability that, while having a long cast time, is not particularly noticeable when casting. It deals extremely high damage - up to 50-60% of a level-appropriate characters maximum health in one hit. Adding insult to injury, it typically has a shorter cooldown than most interrupt abilities. Notable users include two silver-level Alde Library Guards in the inquisitor's first class quest on Alderaan, who must be fought simultaneously (sorcerers can mezz one of the guards to deal with them individually, but assassins are not so lucky), and the elite tuskan raider encountered at the end of the quest Test of the Clan, who generally must be fought while under the effect of a debuff that reduces the players health by 25%.
* ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' has most spellcaster creatures become this at the very least when completing adventures of Hard or Elite difficulty, able to spam lightning spells that do as much damage as high level abilities used by boss creatures. Regular enemies that are this are Rust Monsters and Oozes, which in addition to causing acid based damage to your character (requires a special resistance in addition to normal Armor Class), they ''deteriorate your weapons and armor''. Fire elementals can be like this too, if they're anywhere near a source of heat since it recharges their health.
* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'':
** The Ak'ab on [[LovecraftCountry Solomon Island]] are just about the hardest enemies players will face in the early game. They're giant moth-monsters that, while they do little damage, have lots of health, move around a lot during the fight (increasing the odds you bump into more of 'em), spawn thick on the ground, patrol over wide areas, and have a powerful knockdown attack, and their hives are also thick with "broodmarks" that greatly inhibit movement and make it hard to escape. They generally combine all the worst parts of every MMO enemy into one, and make for solid preparation for what's to come. One of the joys of revisiting Solomon Island later on is kicking their asses with your new, upgraded abilities.
** In the mid-game in [[AncientEgypt Egypt]], there are the cultist patrols. Their sole saving grace is that, being more concerned with leading captives back to their home base, they will generally ignore you unless you get right up in their grill... at which point, even a high-level player is likely in for a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from a mob of tough enemies that, elsewhere in Egypt and even in the late game in [[{{Uberwald}} Transylvania]], are generally faced alone.
** The above are nothing, however, compared to virtually ''all'' of the enemies in the endgame area of [[UsefulNotes/{{Tokyo}} Kaidan]], thanks to the AEGIS system you need to fight them. Anything tougher than the most basic zombie mobs ''will'' issue a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to new arrivals in Kaidan, even the mid-range mooks that are the next step up. And even Kaidan has its own Demonic Spiders: namely, those enemies that have ''two'' AEGIS shields, requiring you to switch in the middle of the fight (which takes several seconds before you upgrade the ability), or the rare mobs of multiple enemies with different types of shields.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalaxies'' had the Nightsisters of Dathomir. They were extremely powerful on the attack (able to kill an unbuffed player in a few hits), had oodles of HP, were resistant (or, in the case of the higher level ones, completely immune) to most types of attacks, and unlike other dangerous pieces of Dathomir's wildlife (like the Rancors), were not easily spotted thanks to their drab garb and relatively small size. Oh, and the best part? They ''attacked vehicles'' and would usually destroy them in a single attack, meaning you could be flying across the wilds on a speederbike, only to have a nearby Nightsister blast it out from underneath you and then proceed to turn you into pocket mulch. Nightsisters were the reason why no one dared take out rare vehicles - like AV-21s - on Dathomir until the game was updated to allow destroyed vehicles to be repaired.
* ''VideoGame/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnline'' has a couple of ships that will frustrate you to no end if you come across them.
** Battle-Royale warships. Whenever you and your crew reach a high wanted level during a run at sea, you have a one-in-three chance of having one of these monsters come after you. As a Ship-of-the-Line, it has more health than any other enemy ship in the game (not counting the rare Treasure Fleet boss ships), and is the absolute fastest ship in the game, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard being able to catch up with the player from across the map in seconds]]. And when it catches up with you, ''it will kill you''. How? ''[[StuffBlowingUp Explosive broadsides]]''. It can freely launch infinite amounts of the most powerful ammo in the game, with near-precision accuracy, and if your ship takes a direct hit, it will either sink or be damaged to the point where your crew will have to get to repairing immediately. Even with a good crew that can hit with pinpoint accuracy, the captain will also be working to avoid taking any hits.
** [[GlassCannon EITC Corsair]] ships. Like the Battle-Royales, these things have explosive broadside cannons as well, and can [[OneHitKill one-shot]] an un-upgraded ship with a direct hit. However, they don't have nearly as much health. What makes them a threat is their smaller size. As a War Sloop, it has a smaller hull than the other, bigger ships, meaning that your crew and broadside cannons will have a trickier time hitting it unless you can sneak up on it. It's also fast, rivaling the speed of the Battle-Royale in close quarters. If you can't defeat it fast, it will pelt you with a few rounds of explosive ammo.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mopeio}}'': In a cute online RisingUpTheFoodChainGame a few animals are unfairly deadly. You can actually [[http://mope.io play it right now]] on your web browser if you want to see for yourself.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mopeio}}: In a cute online RisingUpTheFoodChainGame a few animals are unfairly deadly. You can actually [[http://mope.io play it right now]] on your web browser if you want to see for yourself.