10 Most Hated NPCs In Video Games

F**k Nazeem.

by Jess McDonell

There are plenty of wonderful NPCs in video games that steal our hearts. They make the stakes more personal and the journey far more enjoyable.

But not every NPC is a shining bastion of goodness. Some of them are super annoying. Seemingly designed to grind our gears to the point where we pray the game has designed some kind of plotline or mechanic that means we can kill them off.

Thanks again as always for that, BioWare, Ashley the space racist’s absence on the Normandy has really improved morale.

That said, even Mass Effect’s Ashley Williams wasn’t quite terrible enough to make it onto this list because it turns out video games are absolutely stacked with characters we love to hate. Actually, these ones are really just characters we hate to hate.

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Contributor
Contributor

Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.