The typical blueprint for old male characters invideo games is the“wise mentor”, who benevolently aids the protagonist on their quests. If older men aren’t mentors for protagonists or retired heroes themselves, they often assume the role of the all-powerful villain (or both for a few of theworst mentors in video games). Most gaming protagonists are under the age of 35, with some rare exceptions, so it stands to reason that a great number of creepy antagonists are middle-aged or older, to intimidate and play on the naïveté and inexperience of the young protagonist.
What makes an older male antagonist creepy varies depending on his characteristics. Predominantly, the most intimidating supervillains are notable for masterminding heinous schemes and committing disgusting crimes, but not every creepy older antagonist is an intellectual giant. At times, what makes the mature antagonists unnerving is their visuals, whether due to the body horror of their character design, or a simple lack of physical appeal to most players, perhaps due to age or general attractiveness. Another layer of creepiness is uncovered when these senior antagonists make disturbing or unwanted romantic or sexual advances on NPCs or protagonists, often neglecting consent entirely. Above all, the older antagonist is typically violent, depraved, or sadistic, earning them the title of “creep”.
Of all theResident Evil Villageantagonists and video game villains generally, Salvatore Moreau is the most pitiable. Lured into servitude by the main antagonist Mother Miranda, Salvatore is infected with a Cadou parasite designed to help her find a suitable host for her deceased daughter, Eva. The parasite mutated Moreau’s body, causing his brain to grow in pulsing, glistening lumps on his back (which he hides under a black coat) and transforming him sporadically into a horrifying, impenetrable fish monster with slimy eyes lined along his body like scales. First drafts of his character design showed that developers wanted to fuse the body of a former lover onto his back instead, further cementing the idea of Moreau as a possessive failed romantic with a warped view of what love is.
Repulsed by her “failed” creation, Miranda rejects Moreau as a host, sending Moreau on a spiral to win back her approval at any cost. Salvatore embodies the pining jilted lover trope, sitting alone in the dark watching melancholy romance films, in between experimenting on villagers and eating fishermen. He also bears a tattoo of a jellyfish on his shoulder as a tribute to Miranda or his real Mother, perhaps implying that, for Salvatore, affection is a painful, life-threatening sting. Moreau wears a handmade crown of bones from his victims, but it is possible this is merely a prop to impress the other Lords and Miranda and appear intimidating.
Moreau is trusted with the remains of protagonist Ethan Winters’ daughter, a crucial ingredient for reviving Eva and pleasing Mother Miranda, but Winters can merely confiscate the remains. Instead of attacking Winters, Moreau pathetically begs him for the remains back, demonstrating why Mother Miranda and the other villagers have so little respect for him. While certainly not a terrifying antagonist in his weaker form, Moreau’s demeanor, and his horrifying fish form do establish him as a creepy older antagonist inResident Evil Village.
While roaming the Scarlett Meadows inRed Dead Redemption 2, players may stumble upon the large Aberdeen pig farm and family house, where a seemingly friendly, middle-aged man in overalls is sitting on his porch, welcoming any passerby in for dinner with himself and his sister. Despite the warm hospitality, it becomes glaringly obvious that this sibling duo has very sinister intentions. During dinner, the brother and sister flirt with each other, revealing the sick nature of their incestuous relationship, while they ply their guest with multiple drinks.
This will cause players to pass out, clearly drugged, and have their money stolen. Protagonist Arthur will wake up again in a mass grave littered with the bones of the Aberdeen siblings’ past victims, and likely feel grateful for the plot armor that allows him to leave the pig farm alive. Rumored to be inspired by the infamous and murderous 19th-century American family, the Bloody Benders, and reminiscent of theTexas Chainsaw Massacreand similar horror flicks, the Aberdeens are staged as mass killers and thieves who prey on anyone who mistakenly joins them for dinner.
Players can return to the home and seek vengeance on Bray and Tammy, who will attempt to attack Arthur with guns and knives. Exploring the Aberdeen farm will reveal some haunting details, including a cupboard containing the bones of Bray and Tammy’s mother, which they claim to keep out of closeness. However, signs such as a photo with the faces of the Aberdeens’ mother and father scratched out suggest the siblings resented their parents and murdered them.
This is backed up by Bray’s dialogue when he thinks no one is listening, claiming that the deaths of his Ma and Pa were the only way for them to “have peace”; perhaps the parents disapproved of Tammy and Bray’s incestuous love affair, or the household may have been fraught with violence and other horrors behind closed doors. Most disturbing of all, Bray regrets not burying his parents properly, but claims that the beloved pigs “ate well” on their bodies.This creepy encounter inRed Dead Redemption 2confirms that Bray Aberdeen is one creepy half of an older, twisted pair.
Wilhelm “Deathshead” Strasse is a villain so sadistic and iconic that his career starts from the earliest 2001Return To Castle Wolfensteingame in id Software’s reboot of the original 2D series, and he was one of few characters that graduated to MachineGames’ second reboot of the franchise in 2014 inWolfenstein: The New Order.
He’s a high-performing powerhouse Nazi scientist and doctor, creating weaponry to be used against the Allied Powers (Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union) to further the Third Reich in this alternate history video game series. Strasse debuts inReturn To Castle Wolfensteinas the spearhead of the SS Paranormal Division, attempting to resurrect Heinrich I, a fictional ancient German warlord who used the black arts to recruit hordes of undead soldiers. Of course, the plan is foiled and Strasse’s research is destroyed by the major protagonist, B. J. Blazkowicz.
Strasse then returns in the 2009 gameWolfenstein, testing a zeppelin which Blazkowicz crashes, causing some of the scars on Strasse’s face. InWolfenstein: The New Order, Strasse reappears as the main antagonist, holding players at gunpoint and asking them to choose which of Blazkowicz’s friends should have their eyeballs and brains removed for Strasse’s research. If this horrible decision is declined entirely, Strasse brutally harvests eyes and brains from both men while Blazkowicz is forced to watch.
Years later, Strasse inserts the preserved brains into his robotic super soldiers, so that Blazkowicz must fight the consciousness of his former friends. Blazkowicz is victorious, managing to kill Strass and blow up his fortress, which acted as a major base of operations for the Nazi regime. Strasse’s successor in the following game andcreepy old female antagonist, Irene “Frau” Engels, is somehow even more sadistic, casually killing babies, threatening to send her own daughter to a death camp, and decapitating protagonists. However, Strasse’s horrific crimes against humanity firmly cement his place as an incredibly creepy older male antagonist.
TheOutlastseries is teeming with terrifying male antagonists, many of whom are middle-aged or older, all competing for the trophy of the creepiest old serial murderer to exist in gaming history. Richard Trager is one strong contender as (unlike many of his frenzied, vicious colleagues) his calm, collected presence is comforting to players at first and a welcome reprieve after just escaping from screaming patients via a dumbwaiter inOutlast.
Despite his heavily scarred face and malnourished, fleshy body, Trager’s charming personality is startlingly down to earth and bizarre for anOutlastantagonist; players relax into a false sense of security as Trager straps them into a wheelchair, making jokes in a jovial tone such as “keep your arms and legs in the cart at all times” and pretending to give players a chance to “go for a stroll” and “run free” while they are helplessly bound. Trager’s one-liners become more sinister and threatening as they pass a patient with no tongue, which Trager claims to have cut out because he was “tired of licking my own stamps”. Once escorted to a dark room with knives and shears, Trager’s speech is unhinged and nonsensical as he amputates the protagonist’s fingers.
Although his appearance inOutlastis short and sweet, his backstory as shown in the comicOutlast: The Murkoff Accountportrays an even creepier side to what players initially see. Richard Trager was once a seemingly normal executive of Business Development at Mount Massive Asylum until an anonymous email and HR investigation revealed his true nature. Trager invited the female investigator, Pauline Glick, to his home, but she declined his drugs and spiked drinks, undoubtedly offered with evil intentions. The investigator discovers that Trager assaulted and impregnated a fellow employee, Michelle Haas, threatening to fire her if she didn’t get rid of the baby. When Haas reported him, Trager attacked her stomach with scissors, leading to him being violently apprehended (causing some of his facial scarring) and incarcerated in theasylum, the setting of this genre-defining horror game.
