10 Video Game Characters You Didn't Take Seriously (Until They Killed You)

6. Cactuar (Final Fantasy Series)

Izumi Shenmue 2
Square-Enix

Only those with an intricate knowledge of ancient Japanese funerology and a keen intuition could have predicted how utterly lethal Cactuar (originally known as 'Cactrot') would be, upon first encountering them in Final Fantasy from VI onwards.

It is, essentially, an anthropomorphised cactus with a daft face and all of two frames of animation. Invariably, it'll leg it from battle before the player can even land a blow, the cowardly succulent vanishing before it can raise any sort of alarms.

So where does the funerology come in, then? Well, the distinct shape of Cactuar is inspired by Japanese haniwa, clay dolls buried with the dead (incidentally, Animal Crossing's Lloids are based on the same thing). That physiognomy is a portent: if you do manage to hit them, they'll retaliate with a devastating, spiny counterattack that'll do more damage than HP available. RIP, in other words.

(A Thousand) needles to say, it has the last laugh.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.