10 Most Hated NPCs In Video Games

3. Eric Sparrow - Tony Hawk’s Underground

eric sparrow tony hawks underground
Activision

From someone who isn’t actively trying to be terrible to someone who appears to be campaigning for gaming’s biggest jerk, we’ve got Eric Sparrow from Tony Hawk’s Underground.

Eric is supposed to be your best mate in the game but the douchebag regularly betrays you, steals your skate tape, and sticks you with the consequences of his dumbass actions like setting a drug dealers’ car on fire, insulting a cop, and stealing a tank which gets you arrested by the Russian military. The giant backstabber turns into the game’s main antagonist so if nothing else you’re wildly motivated to do well and show up the little sucker who insists he’s better than you.

Fortunately there is an alternate ending where instead of going up against him to get your tape back, you can just punch him and take it off him. That’s pretty satisfying.

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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.