Scary Characters

I'v been investigating the possibility of doing my honours project on horror characters; they have always been a source of inspiration to me in my own doodles and character designs, and I am a big fan of the horror genre, whether it be games, films, or books. I'v listed below a selection of my favourite horror characters and why I find them interesting.

Leatherface is a manifestation of pure evil; wearing the faces of his victims and wielding a chainsaw as his weapon of choice, the main antagonist of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre struck fear into the hearts of everyone watching him. The film itself was based on a man who dug up corpses and used their skin to make furniture and the like.

For some reason this little girl scares the crap out of me, and apparently a lot of other people too. The use of little girls as an antagonist in the horror genre has been increasing popular since The Ring came out, including across platforms into games as in F.E.A.R.

The demons from Amnesia: The Dark Descent have given me scares galore over the time I'v played the game. Their grotesque appearance, which look like mutilated corpses which have been sewn together, however, isn't what makes them so scary. The makers of the game know that when it comes to scaring people, less is more, and these guys would only be seen in the shadows, or as you turn around and they are right in your face.

Alien, or the Xenomorph, has undoubtedly scared the pants off thousands of people. Alien was designed by  H.R. Giger; it's overtly sexualised design, with its elements of female and male aesthetics, was purposely chosen to freak people out. The maker of the film wanted a monster that looked like it could do you as it tore you apart, and the effect was horrifying.

There are hundreds of monsters which have inspired and intrigued me, and underneath are some more examples.