10 Most Blood-Curdling Video Game Parasites

By Sid Shuman
August 17, 2009 15:16 PM PST
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10 GNARLIEST VIDEO GAME PARASITES: GamePro counts down the top ten most terrifying parasites of all time.

Creeping, crawling, and infesting its way to a computer screen near you, these ten virtual parasites are the most memorable (and disgusting) in gaming history.

Pain Worm (Diablo series)

Origin: Demonic/paranormal
Transmission vector: Putrid Defiler implantation
Hope for cure: None needed

This demonic maggot isn't much of a threat...at least, not to the player directly. In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, creatures known as Putrid Defilers will sometimes implant their eggs into the still-living bodies of nearby demons. When the host is killed, the Pain Worm erupts out its carcass to assault any nearby humans. Pain Worms are nothing that a Frozen Orb-using Sorceress can't handle, but en masse, they can prove to be quite powerful.

Metroid (Metroid series)

Origin: Alien; possibly a biological weapon created by an ancient race
Transmission vector: Metroids larvae
Hope for cure: Freeze it with the Ice Beam, them smash it with a missile

Though controversy rages over whether the Metroid should be considered a true parasite, its behavior leaves little room for interpretation. These globular, multiplying creatures are the overarching villains of the entire Metroid series, and have completely wiped out at least one planet. By latching on like a common leech, the vampiric Metroid can suck away its host's "life energy" quickly and fatally. Throughout game's many sequels, Metroids are always highly prized as a potent bioweapon.

Bone Leech (Blood II: The Chosen)

Origin: Demonic/Paranormal
Transmission vector: Bone Leech larval implantation
Hope for cure: None; double-barreled shotgun blast to the face

Though Blood II: The Chosen was a disappointment for fans of the original PC horror shooter, the game did at least introduce a parasitic creature that sent a chill up our spines. Called the Bone Leech, this worm burrowed into the warm, moist inner cavities of its victims and controlled their behavior by tapping into their central nervous system.

But it didn't end there: The Bone Leech was only the larval stage of a much larger, more gruesome creature. Infected humans ("Soul Drudges") reverted to feral, zombie-like behaviors and attacked with lead pipes and other melee weapons. Left to grow inside its host, the lowly Bone Leech ultimately becomes a monstrous Drudge Lord, an eight-foot-tall abomination sporting hooked talons that protrude from the remnants of the victim's carcass.

Boreworm (Splatterhouse 3)

Origin: Demonic/paranormal
Transmission vector: Boreworm larva
Hope for cure: Good...provided you can kill the Giant Boreworm quickly enough

Splatterhouse 3's grotesque parasite is responsible for one of the creepiest missions in video game history: a race to save your wife while she's being eaten alive from the inside-out. But I'll let Splatterhouse 3's bone-chilling cinemas (for the mid-90s, anyway) tell the whole tale.

The Flood (Halo series)

Origin: Unknown; alien origin suspected
Transmission vector: Contact with a Flood Infection Form
Hope for cure: Virtually nil, though Sgt. Avery Johnson reportedly survived infection due to abnormalities caused by Boren's Syndrome

The chief baddies in the Halo series aren't the zealous Covenant, but a race of squiggly parasitic aliens known as The Flood. A highly advanced viral creature of unknown age and origin, The Flood live only to grow and infect new life forms. Beginning with the hyper-advanced civilization called the Forerunners, the Flood have bought ruin and corruption to every life form they have ever encountered, leading to their eventual banishment and starvation on the ringworld of Halo.

Their strength lies in their numbers. Between the spore-like Infection Forms and the hybrid Combat Forms, Flood units are able to overwhelm and assimilate any military force the galaxy has to offer. Though mindless and primal on the battlefield, The Flood are led by a vast central intelligence called the Gravemind.