10 Character Designs That RUINED Video Games

1. Shelob - Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Needless to say, the world and lore of the Lord of the Rings is some of the deepest and most intriguing in literature. The sheer depth and breadth of this world, its backstory and the fascinating beings within it is mind-boggling. Nobody, not even superfans, can come remotely close to knowing everything there is to know about Middle-earth. It’s a wonder Tolkien did.

Having said that, though, we all know the basics. Hobbits, for instance, are tiny, adorable creatures with feet hairy enough to serve as in-built slippers. Gandalf has the most glorious wizard beard this size of Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon gets bonus points here for accessorising his with stylish beard bands in the movies). Shelob, meanwhile, is a gigantic, horrifying spider-thing.

What is Shelob not? A human woman. Still, Middle-earth: Shadow of War doesn’t seem to have gotten that memo.

In the game, Shelob is able to transform at will into an attractive human woman with dark hair and darker robes. Developer Monolith have explained that these shapeshifting shenanigans came about as a way of expressing the duality between Shelob and Galadriel, but the fact remains: this decision came as a heck of a shock. We all know what sticklers fans can be towards source material.