10 Most Evil A.I. In Video Game History

by Jess McDonell

1. SHODAN - System Shock Series

Shodan systenm shock
OtherSide Austin

As far as iconic and infamous video game AI antagonists go, SHODAN really is the one to beat.

Shockingly removing the ethical restraints on the space station’s primary AI turns out to be a really bad idea. It’s a battle of wits, intelligence, technology, and time as you try to outmanoeuvre the AI who always seems to be one step ahead of you. SHODAN can, and will, murder and mutate space station inhabitants to throw at you, all in the pursuit of her master plan to stamp out life on earth. If you want to be even more freaked out, SHODAN originated an innocent enough AI designed to help with research. So let’s keep those ethical constraints on any AI we make in future, yeah?

Don’t worry though, you totally get her by the end of System Shock. Only to find out she’s created an alien race run on a hive mind in System Shock 2. Damnit.

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Contributor
Contributor

Likes: Collecting maiamais, stanning Makoto, dual-weilding, using sniper rifles on PC, speccing into persuasion and lockpicking. Dislikes: Escort missions.