11 Scariest Urban Legends In Video Games

Whether you believe them or not, it’s hard not to get sucked into an urban legend. Because tall tales like these are so appealing, it’s no surprise that the world of video games has its fair share of myths.

But we’re not talking about the bare code of Tomb Raider or the fight against Sheng Long from Street Fighter. We look at tradition that has a flair for the macabre.

Because you can find out if these myths are true online, you’d assume stories like these would be quickly quashed. However, because gossip can travel online with astonishing speed, these horrific urban legends can linger for years. Even after being irrefutably refuted, some stories are just too good to die.

What’s weirder is that some of these legends go beyond the game itself and spill over into the real world. There are rumors of games that have been linked to murders. Some are also entrenched in so much mystery, we don’t know if they ever existed.

If you don’t mind not sleeping for a while, here’s a look at some of the scariest urban legends plaguing the virtual world.

When you reach the Shiverburn Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, there’s one particular detail you might notice as soon as you enter the field. If you switch to first person mode and look towards the glacier cliffs, you should notice three dark figures staring at you.

Thinking rationally, you can assume that these “creatures” are an incomplete texture.

But the more you learn about these dark entities, the scarier they become.

First, the filename of these shadows is “HellValleySkyTree”. Stranger still, the area in which these characters reside is titled “Beyond Hell Valley”. Although you can’t tell by looking at them, these entities are huge. (The tallest is a hundred times taller than Mario.) It’s also worth mentioning that these enigmatic creatures look like kodamas – Japanese spirits that lurk in the trees, waiting to curse anyone foolish enough to shoot them down.

But the worst thing is that Nintendo never explained what these things are. If they were an enemy in the beta removed from the final cut, why didn’t the devs just come forward and say so?

As there is no explanation of what these beings are, players have speculated that they are some kind of hidden enemy, forever unclassified.