10 DISTURBING Strangers Discovered in Open World Games

Introduction

Open-world games are filled with tons of interesting characters, and some of them are a little messed up. Hi folks, it's Zaid Ikram, and today on Speed Tool, 10 disturbing strangers were discovered in open-world games. Let's start with a nice recent one, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirths.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - LEL Balman

LEL Balman, so the guy himself maybe not be massively disturbing, but he's got a hell of an introduction. So this side quest in Rebirth has you trying to become the top Queen's Blood player. I don't know why, I guess why do anything though, right? Anyway, you're playing the game, you're going up the ranks, and eventually, there's only one guy left for you to take on, and he's the top player in the Junon region. It's all pretty standard side quest stuff up until this point. There's a bunch of people who play cards, they're normal, and this guy's the same, maybe a little weird, but nothing particularly stands out. But then, if you win the match, something unexpected happens. Before this match is even over, there's suddenly some static and a ghostly image of the guy who invented the game going [Music] nuts. Oh god, what have I done? This is the last thing you expect to see from a card game side quest. But no, apparently the cards are haunted. Once you reach the top rank, you finally get to challenge this guy to a match, and he's a ghost. And what follows after that is even more absurd. The later stuff isn't that creepy or disturbing, but the first time the screen glitches out and reveals the dark secret of the cards is pretty effective. I did not see it coming. The very embodiment of the villain herself through the card. She feeds on the wielders' life force, claiming their strength that she may one day be reborn.

Dragon's Dogma - Abnus Elena

At number nine is Dragon's Dogma's Abnus Elena. This game has its fair share of creeps in it. The Sphinx, in particular, still puts me on edge. That creepy grin she does before telling you if you're right or not when you try to solve a riddle is uncanny. So this is your choice, the greatest worth your eyes describe. And I get tense even when I know the solution's right. But if we're talking about disturbing, the events of Saint of the Slums are probably better for this list. This is one of those quests that starts like it's just another fetch quest but gets way creepier as it progresses. In the slums of the main city is this convent that treats the sick called the Gracious Hand. There are multiple quests surrounding this place, making it seem perfectly normal. So it does a good job of making it seem like the whole place is exactly as it seems. Things do quickly get suspicious when you meet a sick guy who's convinced there's something sinister going on there, though. He wants you to investigate the abbey, and sure enough, it does not take very long to find a locked room containing almost zombie-like patients locked up in the basement. Medicine, medicine, medicine, now, now, now. It's revealed that the abbey is using sick patients as test subjects. The only reason nobody's figured it out is because some of these patients manage to recover on their own. Elena isn't the kind-hearted caretaker she presents herself as. She's a cold-hearted pragmatist who believes the weak have to be sacrificed for the strong. Like so much in Dragon's Dogma, it's very easy to completely overlook this entire quest or miss key elements or screw up at some point and fail the whole thing entirely, which makes discovering the secret of the abbey that much more disturbing. Ah, of course, wouldn't want to hurt the Lady Saint's image in the eyes of the common folk, would we? Here's your special medicine. Glad we understand each other.

Baldur's Gate 3 - The Strange Ox

And number eight is the strange ox from Baldur's Gate 3. One of the more strange and overlooked NPCs in Baldur's Gate 3 is the strange ox. You can find this thing in all three chapters of the game, but only if you're paying close attention, because this thing appears to just be a regular old ox. The first time it can be found is in the Emerald Grove, hanging out with a bunch of other oxen. With an insight check, the game will notify you that there's something up with this particular ox, and if you talk to it using the talk to animals potion, it becomes clear there's something off about this bovine. If you find it again on the last night in, then the conversation gets a lot darker. You try to talk to it again, and it'll flood your mind with dead bodies and horrified screams. Are you satisfied? The more you question it, the more it threatens you, possibly turning hostile and revealing its true form as a violent shape-shifting pile of goo. But if you find it again in Act 3, it's possible to recruit it to help you in the final battle. It's one of those things that's goofy but also kind of disturbing, just because of how unexpected it is. Now, that's all I have to say, besides, and I mean this.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Ever means

And number seven is Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The ever-mean first an ox, now a tree. Is there nothing safe in games anymore? Like there's your usual cast of troublemakers and weirdos in Tears of the Kingdom, even some fairly disturbing stuff, particularly when you investigate certain people's stories. But the thing that got me by far is these stupid trees. They're called Evermeans. Get it? Like evergreens, except they're mean. Get it? Yeah, I hate them. They're awful. From far away, they look like any other tree, but if you approach them, they attack. They're not that dangerous or aggressive, but just seeing a tree unroot itself and start chasing after you for the first time, it'll startle you. Like, this list is not predicated on jump scares, but the first time this happened, I got an actual startle. Like, if you're anything like a lot of the people that played Tears of the Kingdom, you played Breath of the Wild, and there aren't Evermeans in Breath of the Wild. A whole lot of the weird stuff in Tears of the Kingdom is kind of capitalizing on the fact that you think, 'Ah, they made the game with the same world map and the same engine, so what can we use to mess with them?' The Everyman is a perfect example of that.

Ghost of New Eden Abbey - Bisher

At number six, Bisher's Ghost of New Eden Abbey. For a game about ghosts, it's not a scary game. It's fairly rare in terms of scares. Most of the time, the haunting cases are about investigation more than atmosphere. By the time you take on the quest 'Through the Glass Darkly', the appearance of ghosts is kind of normal, and this starts the same way as any other haunting. A ghostly wife is haunting her husband. You find out they were having marriage troubles. The husband wanted the wife out, even packed her bags for her, and then she conveniently fell off a cliff. It all seems pretty cut and dry until a few new wrinkles begin to reveal themselves. The wife, Abby, who has died and is now a ghost, is the first person you talk to, and it becomes clear that she's not being totally honest about what's going on. When you investigate the Blly Manor, the estate that the couple worked at, it becomes clear there's way more going on. The Bllys are also dead, and the more you find out, the more it becomes clear the anger between the spouses was unnatural. That's when Abby reveals herself not to be the ghost of the dead wife, but rather some kind of demon pretending to be her.

"You call us demons, but from where we watch in the great below, we are angels."

This is pretty shocking because up till this point it's not even clear that demons exist in this universe. It feeds on the suffering of people, and it doesn't let you even banish the ghost in the usual way. Your only options are to kill the husband or destroy the ghost, who may be the real Abby under the demon's control, or just an illusion created by the demon. There are rarely good outcomes to these missions, to be fair, but this one in particular is dark and unexpected.

"Life to the living, death to the dead."

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet - Ghost Girl

At number five are Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The Ghost Girl returning. One of the more unusual recurring elements of the Pokémon series is this strange Ghost Girl who pops up all the time. It's a series mainly aimed at kids, and seeing the grim specter of death so blatantly and creepily depicted on its own, it's a little weird. It's off, especially since the series already has Ghost-type Pokémon. Those are a lot more kid-friendly. Up until the recent expansion, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet didn't have the Ghost Girl, and even now, she's extremely easy to miss, even as far as these games go. The only way to see her is to complete the expansion, unlock the League Club room in the Blueberry Academy, and then contribute some BP to unlock the dark style for the room. With all that done, there are now a few paintings hanging on the walls. It's, I mean, all sort of ghostly and themed, but there's nothing all that creepy. Even the centerpiece picture of what looks like the Ghost Girl doesn't seem out of the ordinary. But if you watch it for a while, you can see that there it is. The picture just blinked. It's infrequent enough to miss, but there it is, the famous Pokémon Ghost Girl just being creepy as usual.

Marvel Spider-Man 2 - Spider Drones

At number four is Marvel Spider-Man 2. Sometimes games try to incorporate a more cartoony character in a real-world setting, and it just looks off. And this is one of those times. One of the many side activities in Spider-Man 2 has you hunt down spider drones. It's one of the brainless time-wasters that in any other game wouldn't have a payoff. But these games tend to give you something for your troubles. Hello, Governor. Sorry, I just didn't expect the payoff to be so disturbing. After getting the last spider bot, you find this anomaly with whatever this character is supposed to be. Which, yikes, right? Look at this. A spider hero. We're all saved. I think the game is trying to go for a cartoon Spider-Verse look here, but without any filters, it looks super weird. It's especially jarring because I've seen Spider-Verse. But who the hell is this? I don't know if Insomniac was just being too clever for their good at this point, but this character was meant to appear in the second Spider-Verse movie, but it was cut. They're a cut character, which makes this whole encounter all the more baffling. It's one of those moments that isn't meant to be disturbing but somehow ends up feeling disturbing for some reason. And I don't know why.

And if Miguel comes looking for these, tell them, Finders Keepers. Wait, who's Miguel?

Fallout: New Vegas - Clandon

At number three is Fallout: New Vegas's Clandon. The New Vegas Strip is, well, it gives the impression of civilization, right? But behind all the kitsch is an undercurrent of barbarity just waiting to boil up to the surface. The Omertas are more outwardly normal compared to the cannibal lunatics in the White Glove Society, but they're no less dangerous. Behind the scenes, the Omertas are in to take over the Strip, and they've got a mercenary bomb maker assisting them by the name of Clandon.

"I'm a close friend of some of the family around here. I do some independent contracting around the casino, and they set me up with this great room."

This guy gives the impression of being like a kind of normal professional, but he's also got his side hustle, let's say, making snuff films.

"I think I should kill you before you have a chance to show those tapes to anyone. What do I have to lose?"

With enough lockpicking skills, you can uncover his tapes and even the secret room where he slowly murders innocent women. It's pretty sickening. There's so much nastiness going on in the world of New Vegas, a guy like this doesn't even qualify as a full quest. He's just part of uncovering what's going on with the Omertas. But if you're not thorough, you can easily overlook what he's doing, not even see it. You might go through the entire thing thinking he's just some regular mercenary, but he isn't. He's like pure evil.

Elden Ring - Perceptor Salvius

At number two is Elden Ring's Perceptor Salvius. One of the slimiest characters in a game that's full of slimy people. F--k, this guy. He's an important part of the Ronnie quest line.

"The only thing I will hear from you is a report of your task completion. Are we understood? I have enough on my plate."

He comes off as a pompous jackass who thinks he's better than you, but if you investigate around the area, you'll uncover his dark secret. He's secretly making, quote-unquote, dolls in a lab. This place has the bodies of NPCs, which is creepy enough, but there's a second hidden wall. That one, struck, reveals another room with a standing puppet of the NPC Sorceress Selin next to a bed. There's a note nearby that says, "Salvius's puppet. Do not touch." Feel free to draw your conclusions here, but if you're using these pieces of information to come to them, I promise you, they are not good conclusions. You're also probably correct. Whatever it is you're thinking. His whole quest line involves you using his potion on NPCs to make them docile and under his control. And if you do assist him, he says some pretty questionable stuff.

"Not only are you incompetent, but shameless to boot."

"Well, there's no helping it."

This guy is a huge creep. At least he does end up dead most of the time. But yeah.

Cyberpunk 2077 - Mr. Blue Eyes

And finally, at number one is Cyberpunk 2077's Mr. Blue Eyes. Maybe the most mysterious figure in the game, Mr. Blue Eyes is the game's version of the Gman, only somehow, and this might sound weird if you haven't played Cyberpunk, but he's somehow more sinister than the Gman. You never meet him directly, but you find references to him everywhere if you look closely enough. In the mission "Dream On" about a mysterious organization trying to brainwash a mayoral candidate, you can see him watching you from a terrace. You wouldn't even know he was anybody special unless somebody pointed it out. He plays a more direct part in "Phantom Liberty," but he remains mostly unseen. If you hide with Songbird for the climax, she'll tell you that the guy who's helping her escape to the moon is an anonymously-looking guy with blue eyes.

"One thing you gotta tell me, who got you this flight?"

"Funny thing is, I don't know. Proxy showed up. A corpo, every man for the ages. Expensive understated suit, dark hair, and blue eyes. He asked me questions, the kind only I know the answers to."

If you take the "Path of Glory" ending, you get the most direct look at him yet. He talks to you in this ending. But no matter what you do, it's never clear who he is or what his actual goals are. The ranting prophet mentions him, and you can see him in the reveal trailer. He's everywhere, but he's also nowhere. He's a ghost who's connected to multiple major conspiracies in the Cyberpunk universe, and I didn't even know he existed.

Outro

And that's all for today! Leave us a comment, and let us know what you think. As always, we thank you very much for reading this blog. I'm Zaid Ikram. We'll see you next time right here on Game Ranks.