10 Most Terrifying Video Game Enemies (And What They Represent)

1. Every Woman - Silent Hill 2

Although never officially confirmed, it's heavily hinted at that the monsters of the Silent Hill series are a manifestation of the protagonist's deepest fears and anxieties, with the third game indicating that the town changes depending on who's visiting.

Silent Hill 2 is perhaps the series' most thematically coherent instalment though, with every enemy in the game drawing on main character James' sexual frustration and guilt he felt during his time caring for his terminally-ill wife, Mary.

All the female enemies in the game reflect this theme, with the seductive faceless nurses perhaps being the most obvious metaphor for James' lust for the people treating his dying wife, and the punishment he craved for having those thoughts.

Just about everyone - monster or not - can be read as a manifestation of these sexual hangups: Pyramid Head dominates other monsters through sexual force, Maria is Mary's mirror image and the perfect (read: sexy) wife he always wanted, while the mannequins are literally just objectified female body parts attempting to torture James the best they can.

That's just a brief overview, too; even Freud would only have been able to scratch the surface of this survival-horror sequel.