15 Surprisingly scary moments in kids games

Let's face it, a game for children is the last place you expect to find something scary. From easter eggs implying a doomed species to more blood than any kids should see, join me as we count 15 horrifying moments in games that are otherwise cute. Bosses and enemies will be excluded since have their own lists, plus if I didn't, they'd probably take up the whole list. Warning: This list contains high levels of nightmare fuel. Viewer's discretion is advised.

#15 Banjo-Kazooie: Clanker

If this thing wasn't so friendly, he'd take the top spot easily!

The vast majority of this game was cute, but this guy is nightmarish. You first see him after swimming through a narrow pipe, giving you a full view of his bulging eyes and razor sharp teeth. Despite being made of metal, there are blotches of blood on parts of him and you have to swim through his disturbingly gory innards to get some of the level's Jiggies.

#14 Plants Vs. Zombies: Game over

Don't let them zombies in your house...

This game is really funny throughout, but what happens when a zombie reaches your house is really disturbing. The screen turns dark and the sounds of chewing followed by a big no suddenly appear. The 2nd game goes further by showing a large brain on a plate with a bite taken out of it.

#13: Monkey Island: Navigator head

Who thought this was kid appropriate?!

Monkey Island is probably the last game you'd expect to have this ugly mug. Not only is this head still alive thanks to voodoo magic, it also wears a necklace of eyeballs that makes the wearer invisible to ghosts. You need this guy to navigate the lava maze underneath the giant stone monkey head, so you'll have to endure the sight for a while.

#12 Star Fox: Out of This Dimension

What was in those brownies I had earlier???

In the third level, destroy the second massive asteroid you see and fly into the bird that pops up. You'll be teleported to a world where the planets have faces, the whole background waves back & forth and distorted carnival music plays. Once you enter this dimension, you can never leave.

#11 New Super Mario Bros.: The first Bowser fight.

That had to hurt...

Bowser was thrown into lava before, but this time we see him flailing about as his flesh is burned off. His screams of agony and Mario's lack of concern only make things worse. Even this isn't enough to kill Bowser, however, as his skinless skeleton comes after you later in the game.

#10 Cuphead: The bad ending.

Demonic possession wasn't part of the deal!

At the end of Cuphead, you get the decision to either hand over the soul contracts you recieved or refuse and kick his ass. If you accept, both Cuphead and Mugman will be transformed into demonic versions of themselves and become his new right hand men. We don't see what happened to the other soul debtors (the previous bosses), but I don't think we want to know.

#9 Animal Crossing New Leaf: Alien message

If you turn your TV on at 3:33 AM on Sunday or Monday, you'll see this. A UFO appears and beams down an alien, who says something in an undecipherable language. What meaning this easter egg has is still a mystery.

#8 Pokemon: The Pokedex

It looks innocent, doesn't it?

Since the beginning of this series, the Pokedex has had countless dark and disturbing Pokemon descriptions. For example: Yamask is the soul of a dead person turned into a Pokemon, Houndoom's fire attacks won't stop hurting if left untreated, Lampent is pretty much the Grim Reaper in chandelier form and CuBone's helmet is the skull of its dead mother. I think you get the point...

#7 Donkey Kong 64: Game over sequence

The game over screens from the original DKC trilogy were bad enough, but this is even worse. Instead of a screenshot, we get a cutscene of King K. Rool letting loose a haunting evil laugh as his ship prepares to destroy DK Isle. We don't see the actual destruction, but the mental image remains.

#6 Kirby Dreamland 3: The bad ending

This thing's boss battle is arguably even worse!

This happens if you fail to collect all 30 heart stars. After the cutesy credits play out, the screen pans up to reveal a sinister black circle with a blood red eye. What really gets you is how it comes out of nowhere.

#5 Sonic CD: Secret screen

Translation: Fun is Infinite with Sega Enterprises! Majin.

Putting FM46 PCM12 DA25 into the secret sound test will reveal this disturbing secret. The creepy faced Sonics littered across the screen were bad enough, but this screen also comes with some of the creepiest music in Sonic history. This screen also serves as the game's anti-piracy system.

#4 FNAF World: The 4th sub-tunnel

                                                        

Once you're here, you can't leave. EVER!!!

This RPG spin-off might be much cuter and funnier than the main series, but this scene is absolutely terrifying. Going into the 4th sub tunnel will land you in red, 8-bit area. Old Man Consequences (the guy whose fishing in the immage above) will tell you that you've gone to far into the game's code and that there is no way out. True to his word, the only way to escape is to close the game.

#3 Undertale: Flowey

Beneath that cute smile hides a literally soulless monster!

Flowey starts out rather cute looking, but quickly shows his true colors after he tries to kill you. He later stalks you throughout the whole game, making various creepy faces and letting his murderous intents show. His photoshop form adds several more tons of nightmare fuel.

#2 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: The Moon

That face does not belong on a moon!

This game is already pretty scary by Zelda standards, but this celestial body doesn't help matters. Whenever you look up, you see this thing looking right back at you with the face of pure rage. Worst of all, this thing will slam right down on Termina like an oversized comet if you fail to stop it.

#1 Splatoon: Post-boss fight easter egg

Wait around after beating a boss and you'll hear metal banging, train engines and distorted screams. These sounds imply that by reclaiming the zapfishes, you are dooming the Octarian society. You can listen to them in the video above... If you dare!

Honorable mentions

Here are some choices that I left off since they were either bosses or horror games disguised as kids games, but I just had to mention them.

Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning: GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

Get one math problem wrong and this guy will end you.

While the intentionally bad design often waters down the horror aspect, what happens after you get all 7 notebooks is still rather eerie. Baldi congratulates you on finding the notebooks, and then he screams at you to leave. You have to reach 3 exits to leave; the first one just turns the walls blood red and the second adds an unnerving droning noise.

Eversion: The whole thing

Now we're getting really scary!

This game starts out as the kind of world you'd expect the Care Bears to inhabit. The more you evert, however, the more nightmarish it becomes. Eventually, it turns into a hellish landscape filled with terrifying monsters, pools of blood and nightmarish faces.

Earthbound: Giygas

Just look at him!

I know he's a boss, but he is easily the scariest thing both in the Earthbound series and on this list. Everything about him is disturbing. His appearance, the music, the different phases, the fact that you have to pray to defeat him, it all makes for a boss battle from Hell.

And those were some moments that should've been reserved for the horror genre. If you can name more or feel that I should've included enemies and bosses, feel free to leave your suggestions in the comment section. I'll see you later. Have a happy Halloween.

References

• Tv Tropes
• Various wikis
• Watchmojo