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The best dead things in video games [ClassicRadar]

Features
By David Houghton published 28 October 2012

Something classically spooky for the Halloween weekend

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Or the 'living-impaired', to be more politically correct...

Or the 'living-impaired', to be more politically correct...

Dead stuff makes a vastly under-rated contribution to the world of videogames. Sure, the heroes are usually a living, breathing, virile lot, with pulses and all that boringly conventional malarky, but dead things bring a much more varied array of coolness to the table. We're not necessarily talking dead characters here. We're not even necessarily talking complete corpses with all the parts. After all, you don't need to be anatomically complete or in a pre-decomposition state to have worth.

This ClassicRadar feature originally ran on November 18, 2008

Page 1 of 22
Page 1 of 22
Pinata Guy - Manhunt 2

Pinata Guy - Manhunt 2

Notable for: Death by hanging just as you reach his cell. Making us curse the lack of a baseball bat on the first level. Mmmm, sugary innards.

Page 2 of 22
Page 2 of 22
Dead birds - Condemned: Criminal Origins

Dead birds - Condemned: Criminal Origins

Notable for: Teaching kids that collecting animal corpses is an 'achievement'. Disgusting mothers and ruining carpets worldwide.

Page 3 of 22
Page 3 of 22
Burning cop - Resident Evil 4

Burning cop - Resident Evil 4

Notable for: Making us go "Uurgh!" and "Cool!" at the same time.

Page 4 of 22
Page 4 of 22
Decapitated barbarian - Castle Crashers

Decapitated barbarian - Castle Crashers

Notable for: Being dead and cute in equal measure. Proving once and for all that you can get away with any level of gore and dismemberment as long as it's cartoony. If only Manhunt 2 had been cel shaded!

Page 5 of 22
Page 5 of 22
Dangling corpses - Gears of War

Dangling corpses - Gears of War

Notable for: Giving us a cheap, ghost train scare early in the game. Splattering beautifully when shot. Making us wonder just what the hell's been going on in that prison anyway. Who's running it? Why's it empty apart from Locust and dangling corpses? What the hell kind of correctional institute is it!?

Page 6 of 22
Page 6 of 22
Player-controlled zombies - Metal Slug 3

Player-controlled zombies - Metal Slug 3

Notable for: Being soul-destroyingly slow. Obliterating everything on screen with a burst of over-powered blood vomit. On balance, being the best status change in videogame history.

Page 7 of 22
Page 7 of 22
Skeleton - Oblivion

Skeleton - Oblivion

Notable for: Looking like a basic bit of environmental detail until you realise you can use the axe like a golf driver and whack its skull off down the hall. Fore!

Page 8 of 22
Page 8 of 22
Gino - The Darkness

Gino - The Darkness

Notable for: Having one of the earliest and most hilariously unexpected deaths in videogames. Teaching us why we shouldn't lean out of moving cars. Trucks are heavy, kids.

Page 9 of 22
Page 9 of 22
Chewed-up Pikmin ghosts - Pikmin

Chewed-up Pikmin ghosts - Pikmin

Notable for: Teaching us that even sentient vegetable people have souls. Making us feel guilty and creeped out at the same time.

Page 10 of 22
Page 10 of 22
Murdered Colossi - Shadow of the Colossus

Murdered Colossi - Shadow of the Colossus

Notable for: Making us feel like total wankers as we turn a once proud and noble creature into just another pile of rock and mould.

Page 11 of 22
Page 11 of 22
Skulls - Zelda III: A Link to the Past

Skulls - Zelda III: A Link to the Past

Notable for: Being one of the first instances in which we could use a piece of disembodied anatomy as a tool or weapon in a game. Speaking of which...

Page 12 of 22
Page 12 of 22
McCoy and the crazy nurse - Dead Space

McCoy and the crazy nurse - Dead Space

Notable for: Proving that love can blossom between two people even if one of them is a dismembered corpse. Especially if one of them is blind and insane... (more follows)

Page 13 of 22
Page 13 of 22
McCoy and the crazy nurse - Dead Space

McCoy and the crazy nurse - Dead Space

Providing endless squishy fun when stomped on... (more follows)

Page 14 of 22
Page 14 of 22
McCoy and the crazy nurse - Dead Space

McCoy and the crazy nurse - Dead Space

...and confirming that there's one thing a gamer will always do when presented with body parts and a gravity gun.

Page 15 of 22
Page 15 of 22
Giant slug-fish thing - Metroid Prime

Giant slug-fish thing - Metroid Prime

Notable for: Being the first of many dead things in MP we could investigate with the scan visor. Training us to poke around in corpses for educational value.

Page 16 of 22
Page 16 of 22
Aeris - Final Fantasy VII

Aeris - Final Fantasy VII

Notable for: Still being the subject of fanboy mourning 11 years later. Get over it! Please!

Page 17 of 22
Page 17 of 22
Captain Price - Call of Duty 4

Captain Price - Call of Duty 4

Notable for: Having the finest moustache that HD can muster. Having an agonisingly ambiguous "Is he?/Isn't he?" death (He isn't - ClassicRadar Ed). Being more heavily mourned than Aeris by certain GamesRadar editors.

Page 18 of 22
Page 18 of 22
Cubone's mother's skull - Pokemon series

Cubone's mother's skull - Pokemon series

Notable for: Being worn on her son's head as part of some hideous necro-oedipal nightmare. Warning us that behind the friendly exterior, Nintendo are a scary bunch of bastards.

Page 19 of 22
Page 19 of 22
Dry Bones - Super Mario series

Dry Bones - Super Mario series

Notable for: Being the coolest of all Koopa variants. Being utterly invulnerable unless swiped with a piece of yellow cloth. Not letting death stop him from scoring endless cheap goals in Mario Strikers: Charged.

Page 20 of 22
Page 20 of 22
Drowned Lara - Tomb Raider: Underworld

Drowned Lara - Tomb Raider: Underworld

Notable for: Maintaining the tradition of great drowning animations in Tomb Raider games. Doing a bizarre head-banging animation for twenty seconds before eventually croaking.

Page 21 of 22
Page 21 of 22
But these are old...

But these are old...

Yes, even poor Resident Evil 4 axe woman up there is no spring chicken. In fact, since this article was written, she's probably rotted clean away. So what would you replace her with? And don't say 'an axe rack' or something equally clever. Let us know your favourite dead things from games in the comments. You never know, we might make another article based on more recent dead things!

And if you enjoyed this classic GamesRadar article, you might enjoy SkeleTONS - nearly every bony bastard in the gaming universe or perhaps What if Hitler smoked pot?

Page 22 of 22
Page 22 of 22
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David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.
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