10 Pathetic Video Game Baddies You Should Feel Bad For Killing

9. Red Falcon Soldiers - Contra

NES classic Contra rightly deserves its position as one of the most important, and the most enduringly popular games released on any console. It was a triumph of action games, bristling with muscles and combining two types of gaming - in short it was the perfect cultural answer to the state of the action genre (across multiple media) in 1988. The rogue's gallery in the game was full of enemies who could kill either of the heroes with an infuriating single shot, but there was also a breed of dastardly character who wasn't quite as well-equipped, or as menacing.

The red falcon soldiers in Contra might have been persistent, running at you with the conviction of a brainless horde, without the forethought to consider why they weren't given guns, or how many of their fellow soldiers had been mercilessly sent to their doom. They are running cannon fodder personified, able to kill, but infinitely easier to kill, especially when faced with a cliff, which they invariably ran off. And speaking of cannon fodder...