Genuine nightmare fuel for me is hyper-realistic versions of cartoon characters, but with their features intact. As in, Frieza from Dragon Ball Z in real life, exactly as they are on the show, just in the real world. I bring this up because The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has several entities that will look cursed in the upcoming remake, given the eye toward realism.
King Zora is one such example. He's a plump fishman who sits atop a waterfall, and unless there's a significant redesign, he'll look like he's auditioning for Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. "I hope the developers possess the courage to extend the length of the cutscene," says a top-rated comment on Reddit, and respectfully, I'm hoping they do not.
ReDeads and Dead Hand are more candidates, fleshy, corpse-like beings that shamble towards you. Bottom of the Well could very well become an honorary Silent Hill spin-off with these things. "They’ll make them look 'realistic' but give them new sounds that aren’t scary. Calling it now," a fan on Twitter predicts, and that sounds like a safe bet.
In a similar vain, you have The Great Fairy, who already reminds me of Princess Mombi in Return to Oz (she's the one with all the heads if you've seen film, and if you haven't, you're welcome for the recommendation) - just ethereal enough to be unnerving. Her sequences can be enhanced through glitter and magic, anyway.
People are quick to point out Gohma and Bongo Bongo, bosses with gigantic eyes, and to be honest, I'm not sure they'll be all that freaky. Perhaps it's because Stranger Things has desensitized me to the archetype of creatures with a gaping mouth or eye for a head, but they're fantastical enough I reckon we're safe.
I feel the same for Gloom Hands - FromSoftware has long prepared us for that kind of terror. A lot of players are lowkey hoping Nintendo leans into the fear at every opportunity. "I genuinely hope they make it as terrifying as possible," says a player.
This all said, those Nintendo 64-era Zelda games really were pretty terrifying, huh? "Ocarina of Time horror was exponentially more terrifying than anything in the newer games," says another fan on Twitter. I'm inclined to agree.
