Thanks for watching this video! I decided to edit this video so it had a much less "serious" tone compared to my past content. Let me know if you enjoyed the more humorous edits I put in since I kind of want to start making my videos more fun in nature. Had a lot of fun doing it as well since it felt fresh :) Also remember to check out the NordVPN deal if you're interested: 🌏 Get exclusive NordVPN deal here ➵ NordVPN.com/nintendobc It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!✌

I also wanted the Gibdos in TOTK to be...more. Can you imagine if they were just slow when far away, but if you got too close they screamed, dropped to all fours and charged at you?? I would nope out so fast 😂

Gloom spawn 1.Screech like redeads 2.Come out of nowhere like dead hand 3. Fast like BOTW guardians 4. Make the screen red and have scary music like SS guardians 5. Hands that grab you like floor masters 6. Regen like shadow beasts Bonus: they will jump you and spawn a mini boss upon being defeated

The gloom hands check several boxes. They appear unannounced when you don’t expect them, look like a lovecraftian horror, scream at you, move fast and surround you, make damage that you can’t immediately heal, have their own creepy music, and the sky turns blood red when they are near you. The first time I encountered one was at the woods next to the shooting range near Hateno, so I was caught completely off guard, and was hit with all those checked boxes at once. The impression was so strong that I jumped, forgot I could teleport, didn’t even try to fight, and instinctively tried to run and climb the ruins of the destroyed building nearby, but I had no stamina left. It’s a finely tuned nightmare.

I just remember walking through the Great Plateau, taking in all the nostalgia from returning to a familiar place, only to notice the music change, the sky go red, and a screech in the distance. That was a terrifying first experience with the gloom hands lol.

Gloom spawns for me. The fact that unlike the guardians we had no idea they existed made it worse. The amount of terror I felt when I first came across one. I was so overwhelmed I forgot I could teleport. I had to stop playing for the night but the gloom hands weren't done with me just yet. I proceeded to have multiple night terrors that night of them.

The wall masters and Zant's hands bring me massive anxiety because of how slow and casual the entire thing is, and that's far creepier than something chasing me quickly.

I have to say either the Redeads or the Gloom Spawn. The Redeads are terrifying in everyway - Their screeches, the way they attack you... Need I say more? Then theres the Gloom Spawn. Not only do they affect the surroundings, like the sky, but they're fast, strong, random and can easily disable the sages. There's also Phantom Ganon who fights half-heartedly, attacking with creepy movements and jerks.

Gloom Spawn is hands-down (Pun totally intended) the scariest for me. Most likely because my first encounter with them was under the Korok Forest as I was running through the dark to the point you can Ascend up into the forest. "Ah I can see where I need to go, no need to use bright blooms, it's not far!" 30 Seconds later freaky music starts, I hear a scream, and something literally grabs me out of nowhere. "AAHHHHH WTF WTF WTF WTF!" (Frantic sprinting towards the nearby light while spamming stamina food) Yes, if I see them and need to go where they are, I TOTALLY USE BOMB ARROWS!

I freaked out pretty bad the first time I circled through the woods to avoid a monster camp and a freaking tree ripped it's roots out of the ground and came after me, but Evermeans turned out to be really easy. However, that was nothing compared to the first time Gloom Spawn popped up. It killed me three times before I remembered that there was a shrine I could transport to and get away.

The Dead Hand takes it for me. It scared the crap out of me when I was a child, playing OoT in '98, and it's still incredibly unsettling to this day.

I feel like Skyward Sword's Silent Realm's Guardians were the scariest enemies in all of Zelda. The eeriness of them coupled with such a dramatic music change when they detect you hits hard. You cannot fight them, all you can do is run away and hope to soon pick up a tear before they catch up. How long you have to remain undetected regardless of actually being seen due to the time limit of how long each of the tears gives you to remain "safe" also plays into the stress.

Not sure but its definitely something from the Shadow Temple

Nintendo sure does love their hand and eyeball enemies and the Gloom Spawn is quite literally those two things combined. I would have to agree with you in thinking that the Gloom Spawn is the scariest enemy in the Zelda series. It has everything that would make something terrifying to me, the appearance, the sounds, the movement, the method of attack, and the speed.

It may not be visually the scariest, but the King Gleeock in the depths under Typhlo ruins was the scariest to me. I had yet to light up that part of the depths, AND it was the second Gleeock I had ever seen.

You forgot about the Phantoms in Phantom Hourglass. invincible armored soldiers that can instakill you, and chase you relentlessly across the dungeon if they see you while frantic chase music plays and the screen flashes red.

The Gloom Hands scared the ever living CRAP out of me when I fist encountered them, which was at the top of Akkala Citadel, and can't quite recall how that had gone. Just. Panic ran, jumped off the edge-- only to immediately get targeted by the Gleeok further below. I returned later on when I was better prepared, and destroyed the hands after a healthy amount of struggling (and terror). Imagine my awe and horror when Phantom Ganon spawned. My jaw DROPPED. He was less of a scary fight, but no less cool of one.

Definitely Gloom Spawn. My first time running into them near Kakariko Village nearly killed me in real life from a heart attack. I spent the next several hours of playing tiptoeing around Hyrule, paranoid they'd pop up at any second... and then just when I'd forgotten about them, they appeared again.

I think the gloom spot/spawn/hands from ToTK are the scariest. They literally change the environment around you, its really hard to escape them Ince they've seen you (in my experience), and you can't escape them after they physically catch you.

I actually had a minor nightmare about guardians. It was the birdseye view of the ones that are near tarry town. That unsettled me so deeply

Gloom Hand, easily. This was my first experience with them. I found my way to The Great Deku Tree and noticed the deep hole. This was maybe only the 3rd chasm I'd actually found. I drop down and find myself in a room with tons of gloom. "Huh, is some of that gloom moving?" The Gloom Hands appear and swarm me. I swing my sword in a panic, but within seconds they overwhelm me. I respawn above, spend a few moments getting composure back and try again several times until it occurs to me...throw bombs. I throw bomb after bomb until, finally, they all die. "Yes! Take that! I win! I..." *Phantom Ganon appears with a giant katana* "What...the...f"*ONE SHOTTED* ... ..."that's not fair."

For me it's the Dead Hand. It still unsettles me in a way I struggle to articulate

An interesting note about the aliens, the aliens scaring my brother has caused my youngest brother to never 100% Majora's Mask, he's 18 now and still refuses to do that side quest. They freaked me out as a kid, but that also made killing them satisfying for me

As someone who did play Spirit Tracks as a child I can confirm the trains are scary to me still. The music is so good at stressing you out. The gloom Spawn spooks me when it appears but I love their loot more than they scare me so.. (also everyone reading this: play Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks they're so underrated)

14:40 In the Gerudo Prison it actually sorta freaked me out a bit when you hit the switch, not knowing what it does, and the gate slams shut, locking you in, while simultaneously opening the cell doors and releasing all the Gibdo within.

Yeah, Gloom Spawn takes the crown on this one for me. I remember the adrenaline rush the first time I encountered a guardian: the piano trill and laser beam tracking me as I frantically tried to find some kind of cover only to get blasted by the thing. But compared to the first time I encountered a Gloom Spawn near that floating shrine on my way to Kakariko Village (fresh off the Great Sky Island, no paraglider, only four hearts) and the world shifted from bright daylight to blood-moon red with that backwards vocal.. then to be grabbed, tossed, grabbed, tossed. I can’t out-run it! Oh god! I’m dead… Yeah. No contest. I still prefer to outrun them and get them to despawn and collect the gloom packets afterward.

I think everyone encountering the gloom spawn for the first time just started screaming and running😂 the great plateau spawn had me terrified lol! Now that I’m in endgame stats, it’s mostly just fun to farm them for gloom weapons.

The fact that the Gloom Hands scared me so bad I literally yelled out loud "Oh shit!" and proceeded to run in the opposite direction speaks volumes.

Always happy to have a fellow Spirit Tracks appreciator. Those trains were pretty freaky, especially with that theme. To this day (as a 30 year old woman), hearing that music will get my heart racing.

I've always considered Dead Hand as nightmare fuel, and yet i never considered meeting it a terrifying experience. You see the hands and how they look, so the mind just puts 2 and 2 together that something terrifying lurks below the earth. Gloom Hands on the other hand got me and millions off others having the exact same reaction when it catches you unaware that very 1st time. The world goes red, that music which gives you chills plays and then the screeching yell which makes you turn around towards the sound just to see some hands gunning for you at incredible speed. Even after the 1st time i met one really early game, every single time i saw the sky go red i ran for the hills, even when i was at my strongest. Only reason i ever bother to fight one was bc i wanted the Demon King weapons, otherwise i avoided them like the plague.

The first gloom spawn I ran into was the one in the castle town ruins when I was heading to the castle for the first time after reaching the surface. To say I was unprepared and scared sh!tless is an understatement. Mind you, I downloaded the game at midnight and it had been about 2am at that point.

Yeah I'm gonna agree, after a while I'd hunt Guardians for fun but with over 1000 hours in TOTK I still avoid Gloom Spawns as much as possible.

The first time I ran into a gloom hand, I was in a cave, and I didn't see it for a few seconds after the music and atmosphere had changed. It was so creepy. I didn't know what to think

for the skyward sword guardians, the club one is fast, but nothing, NOTHING compares to the blade guardian. The long arms, the way they float menacingly, and they GO THROUGH WALLS. You can outmaneuver the club guardians fairly easily, but the blade guardians can get you no matter where you go outside the safe zone- and they are fast

First time I ran into the gloom hands, I just ended up teleporting away. I was terrified

YES! The Manta Ray in Sunshine gave me chills too!! Zelda wise, I think Twilight Princess's Argoohma is the scariest. I often struggle to even take on the battle due to fear 😅😭

I actually had to do the Eldin Silent Realm for my older sister. Not only was she having trouble collecting all the tears in one go in that realm, but let's just say she did *not* like the Guardians.....The other realms never gave her trouble, though, so that's lucky!

In my first experience with the gloom hands, I hadn't been down to the depths (I wanted to explore on my own rather than follow where the game prompted me to go) so I hadn't really encountered gloom damage yet. I was just minding my own business near the entrance to the depths where the great fairy used to be in Kakariko, when the scenery changed, and there they were. Truly horrifying. There was no escape, and I didn't know why I couldn't heal. When I spawned back in, I thought they'd come back, so I decided to go elsewhere. I avoided any of the chasms I saw after that because I thought that anywhere I could see gloom I'd find hands. Once I was ready to try to beat them, you can imagine I was even more scared when they were gone and then a whole other enemy appeared!

Maybe this is just latent arachnophobia, but Armogohma in Twilight Princess is definitely the freakiest one for me. I never got to play Twilight Princess until HD when I was in college, but nothing before or after that in a Zelda game has freaked me out that much. I definitely give an honorable mention to the first time a Frox jumped at me in the Depths, though, and everyone I've talked to still remembers their first encounter with Gloom Spawn.

Definitely the Gloom Spawns. Not only do they affect the atmosphere IE the red sky, but theyre fast, strong, random and can easily disable the sages. On top of that, we get Phantom Ganon who fights half-heartedly, making the timing off and difficult to parry and flurry rush.

Gloom hands: proof that bomb-flowers can solve most of your immediate problems.

For me it's definitley the skyward sword guardians, I still remember my first time going through the silent realms I was TERRIFIED

the gloom hands in totk are an obvious one for me, but also wallmasters like the one in the lost woods dungeon in link between worlds, or the one that comes after you in the palace of twilight in twilight princess while you’re collecting the Sol. the gaurdians from skyward sword are probably the worst for me, they terrify me so much that for years i would make my siblings play through the silent realms for me

I have my window open a lot in the spring. During the first year of playing BOTW I played it every day so the birds must have gotten used to it. When I heard the Guardian piano riff when I wasn't playing I almost peed my pants. Damn bird memorized it 😂

Loved the humour added to the video! And yeah the Redeads, Gloom Spawn and Dead Hand are my most feared Zelda enemies. Their creepiness is unparalleled, especially the Gloom Spawn. I was just exploring Hyrule taking in all of the changes, so happy to be back when they struck. 😭

For me, the scariest are the Big Octos from Wind Waker. I remember as a kid playing it shortly after release and the first time I accidentally stumbled upon one. As soon as it came out of the whirlpool, I turned my GameCube off 😂 I felt uneasy fighting them in the Wii U version as well and they still creep me out to this day.

Yeah Ocarina of Time’s Redeads are iconic and hold a special place in the dark reaches of my mind since OoT 3D was the first Zelda game I played, but Wind Waker’s Redeads legitimately scare me. Still gives me chills… And yeah, the Gloom Spawns are TERRIFYING. I first encountered one in a field east of Hyrule Castle. The moment the sky turned red I started freaking out. I didn’t even see them spawn! I turned around and they were inches away from my face, grabbed me while I screamed like a baby and being stunned in disbelief while staring at a “Game Over” screen. I’d say they both have a tie for my personal #1 spot.

Man the Redeads from OOT are absolutely terrifying to me, especially when I had been a little kid. When I first went into the desert and saw JUST the faintest outline of the Gibdos I absolutely flipped because I thought they were Redeads and ran away- but after I realized they weren't Redeads I was a bit less afraid of them. Though still unsettling. The Gloom Hands were absolutely terrifying too, they still scare me- I don't like encountering them at all.

The scariest enemy is that cave at the start of Twilight Princess where right after you get the lantern... I literally couldn't progress when I was a kid because that cave was so fcking dark I was too scared 😂

the thing that made me actually scared of the gloom hands was when i tried to take a picture of it for the hyrule compendium...and it just didnt tell me ANYTHING. up til i beat them for the first time i thought they were the new design for wallmasters just cause that was all i could even think of that it might be.

the scariest thing to me is an upload in the middle of the night since it’ll take my sleep away

The existential dread of being alone is definitely the scariest thing this video has made me contemplate......thanks....

I always thought the Helmaroc King from wind waker was a terrifying concept. It’s a giant flying monster that could attack anyone, anywhere, at anytime. You’d have to be constantly checking the skies. If it were real, I’d dread the thought of going outside.

26:03 Finally someone else that understands how underrated Spirit Tracks is.

to be honest, 'them' was the reason why it took me and my siblings ages to finish majora's mask, in my heart they haunt me

Man, I remember I first saw the gloom spawn, I was on a floating rock with a shrine and saw the pool of gloom moving around. I saved and took a closer look and the terrifying moment occurred. I try fighting it with bomb arrows and was not ready for phantom Gannon. I almost beat him by doing crit shots with arrows, but he ran away. Talk about putting the pressure when you only have 5 hearts and base hyilen gear.

Gloom hands scared the *crap* out of me the first time I ran into them, and I FINALLY managed to kill them after five or so deaths and then I immediately got stomped by phantom ganon. At least with the guardians I could see them coming

I still recall my first encounter with the Wall Masters of OoT. I got caught unaware when I was a kid and it was enough to never touch the game for another 10 years.

I personally found the gloom hands in tears of the kingdom the most scary thing to attack me. That being said, this was only true, until I met them the second time, when they couldn’t reach me on a higher wall. And when I found out how to defeat them easily using bomb arrows, i made a Sport out of hunting them, whenever I had some bomb flowers at hand.I found the Breath of the Wild Guardians the most scary, until I found out, parrying their lasers back into them turns the walking, decayed and stationary ones into a joke. And the airborne ones loose sight of you so fast , that I cannot really get myself to be scared of them either. I found the Skyward Sword guardians to be the most scary, until I noticed, that - even in attack mode- the walking ones ignore you, unless you come close, while the floating ones are so slow, that dodging them becomes a matter of patience. I found the OOT redeads to be the most scary, until I learned, that their screams are rather limited in range and that you can even walk up on them from behind and hit them until dead-ish. And the same is true for the wind Waker ones. I found the BotW Lynels to be the scariest. But when I learned you can stand them with about any bow and mount them to use whatever weapon as they never break on lynels back, fighting them became fun and a good source of nice weaponry. I found the undead enemies in Skyward Sword to be scariest, but only until I remembered my fighting techniques and mopped the floor with them. You might say I’m jaded with experience.

"Aren't I so good at these scripts!?" Yep. You sure are. Good job. *[Mario Kart 8 1st place theme plays again]*

Moblins can be very intimidating, given the circumstances. After that, the Molduga in the Gerudo Desert comes to mind.

Skyward Sword guardians would be a lot cooler/scarier if you could actually fight them.

Someone in the studio for enemy development created our new trauma. I hate them.

The oot redeads are absolutely terrifying. I flinched when the screams were played, and I can still remember the horror of ever being in Castle town for any reason.

The Redeads are unsettling because of their aged N64 graphics giving them a very unsettling appearance, and of course the odd groaning and shrieks just add to the creepy factor! Whereas the Gloom Hands get major points for scaring the crap out of you when they just pop up out of the ground, chase you down much faster than you can run and grab onto you! For me, it's an honest coin flip between which of the two is worse!

I walk throughed the silent realms ✋ after ending up in a crawl space in the 1st realm and the floating guardian was right there swiping. I think i tried it again, screamed and then just thought nah, in gonna walkthrough this. I feel like it was worse than the gloom hands coz you can just warp away from them, but they're the 2 scariest for me

I was so caught off guard and scared by the Gloom Hands the first time that i abandoned my horse It popped up between me and my new steed i was determined to keep track of and was SO freqked by the discovery that this nightmarish monstrosity was FASTER than me that i wound up teleporting the moment it grabbed me, i just noped the eff out of there, sorry horsey 😅

Surprised you didn’t mention the Evermeans. Not scary as in grotesque, but I got a nice jump scare when I climbed a tree to get an apple and got yeeted across the canyon

first encounter with the gloom hands was in the cave with the phantom armor- quite appropriate, now that I think about it But just looking over at the chest and then seeing movement at the bottom of the screen before *that* appears and then being like "Well, at least I'm safe up h- OH GOD THEY CAN STILL HIT ME" was beautiful. Of course, phantom ganon then showing up wasn't really scary after the shock, but was _cool as hell_

Link You do not want to be atracked by link Trust me I know from experience

This is a great video Keep it Up!

Dead hand and redeads in oot. The redead scream is spine chilling

Oh man, the Dead Hand....That was the second enemy that scared the hell out of me as a kid (Re-Dead's the first, obvs), and I would love to see it come back in a modern game. They only ever used it in Ocarina and one encounter in Majora (that game was scary enough, I guess), it's a shame.

dude we all know the scariest is Tingle

Excellent video mate, redeads and the twilight beasts will always stick in my memory

I managed to not play OoT until I was about 20, and Dead Hand straight up traumatized me. Upon playing TotK, I felt that deep buried fear return the first time I encountered the Gloom Spawn and I also tend to avoid them more than fight them (Though ice weapons are a beautiful tool). Overall, I'd say the pair are tied for me, but if I had to pick, Dead Hand gets it for seeding the horror in the first place. (Honorable mention goes to the real life actual spider that crawled onto my arachniphobic shoulder while Golden Skultula hunting…)

I had gotten the first memory, gone to rito village, decided to track tears before progressing the main plot. I loved hopping up the skyview towers and looking for geoglyphs. Oooh! Is THAT the DEATH STAR!? Then I see the floating north lomei labyrinth and made for it. Of course I couldn't just do it, had to do the ground level first. Okay. In I go- hey, is that Malice- No, Gloom moving- WHAT THE F*** ARE THOSE. Ok run, they'll be set to a small location- AAAAH AHHH IT GOT ME AAAGH I teleported out and did not return to that Labyrinth for a long time. Then the one time I finally had the guts to try fighting them on Mnt Lanayru, as you say, when that health Bar and "PHANTOM GANON" popped up, I almost peed myself

I have to agree with you NBC. The Gloom Hands are what did it for me, too. My first encounter was on The Great Plateau, when I attempted to access the shrine that was nearest to me at the time. The moment they spawned, I literally panicked and started running as fast as I could up the mountain with next to no hearts and stamina. I thought I got safely away from them so they would leave me alone, so I took a much needed breather but nope. The hands took this opportunity to climb up after me, grab me and make me panic all over again. I thought I was going to die. The moment I got free, I ran again even higher which ended up in me climbing to safety a short distance, which caused them to despawn. That's when I knew I'd be safe, learning that the terrifying spawn can't climb up something too steep. I took a few minutes to recover after that, worried that they'd respawn again as I attempted to get to the shrine I initially wanted to get to. And this was during the time I played the game for the first time. Other than that, the only other thing that sticks out to me as being scary, is the Wind Temple boss of Wind Waker. Not the first time meeting it in the game when I first played, but when I returned to the game to play it all over again. It was something I never experienced before in the game. The boss had dived for me out of frame, with its mouth gaping wide. I more or less screamed in fright in my panic to get away from it, the moment I turned around to see it aiming right for me with its huge open mouth. It was the kind of scream that would cause the one who made it to cry from afterwards, usually. Facing Colgera in Tears of the Kingdom, brought back those memories of my favourite boss and dungeon in Wind Waker, especially with the gaping mouth part, as it aims for you out of frame from below. Perhaps we should give the BotW and TotK Wizzrobes an honourable mention, too. Only for the face when one turns around, though. The Wizzrobes in Wind Waker were just nuisances.

I don't know, young me always got creeped at the aliens in Majora's Mask. The music, time limit and onslaught of creepy aliens. Great video, love your stuff 😁❤️

I liked to imagine the devs cackling with glee at all the videos of people discovering the gloom hands 😂

Man, those gloom hands are the top for me. First time I encountered them was in the cave near the one tower heading towards Rito Village, but I somehow lucked out and managed to get up on a ledge. Tried to hit one in the eye with my early-game bow, saw no damage and noped my way out of there, especially with the creepy atmosphere, music and appearance. It's those surprises from the gloom hands that really do it, though! Had one just pop up right where I was standing at a random spot in the overworld (and at the time I thought they only existed in caves), then I had one later appear right after I popped out from ascending to the top of the Akkala citadel. Nothing like having no indication of their existence, then as soon as you come above ground, they're suddenly there and have grabbed you faster than your reaction time!

Encountering Dead Hand when I was 8 or 9 scared me so much I forgot it ever happened until I saw fanart in my 20s and it all came flooding back to me.

as someone who played spirit tracks when they were 7, i can confirm that those evil trains were terrifying (also guardians from skyward sword made 9 year old me actually quit the game for a full 3 years or so lol)

For me it's gotta be Dead Hand, for the following reason: We haven't seen anything even remotely close to it since it's appearance. It's an eldritch horror that eats people alive and lives in the darkest most unexpected places while being 90% invincible to most attacks.

Some more things about gloom hamds, sometimes they dont even spawn, even if you havent killed them before, so you can be walking around somewhere and they dont spawn, but when you come back later thinking its safe, they do spawn which makes them a them a lot scarier. Also you can flurry rush their attacks, and after you get the timing down, they literally just become "free good weapons here"

Awww I was hoping you'd include the clip of when you first encountered the hands in your live playthrough and you frantically called for Jeff. Funniest thing is Jeff was freaking out because of the hands before you realized they were there and you just yelled at him something like "Ok stop freaking out Jeff" totally unaware of what was below you. So funny

The first time I encountered the Gloom Spawn, I already knew about them, and I literally syltarted chanting, "nope nope nope," like some kind of protection spell trying to run away until I finally gave up and teleported away. Even now that I can fight them decently well.most of the time, they still freak me out, even if I purposefully go after them.

The gloom hands caused so much panic I just started swinging tbh 😂

People casually forgot about the cursed Bokoblins. I nearly ruined my underwear when I first encountered them in Skyward Sword. The fact that I sucked with the motion controls didn't help.

26:12 THANK YOU The dark/armored trains are literally my #1 nope enemy. Unkillable, limited options for escape, and the psycho music make them terror inducing enough. But then Nintendo had to make them scream at you when they get close, make them faster than you which means if you're not REALLY GOOD at multitasking shooting/steering/minding the map you're going to get caught, and then the cherry on top was that they're an instant game over. No multi hit, no waking up with less health at your previous stop, just instant death. Stuff of my nightmares

Dead Hand will always come out on top for me, even as someone who didnt really enjoy OoT. It would be a toss up between Dead Hand and Gloom Hands (the idea of being grabbed and torn apart limb by limb is so creepy i love it) but my TotK file had a glitch until a recent update where Gloom Hands just. Wouldn’t spawn for me, so any memories i have of them are overshadowed by my annoyance of trying to find them when i got the game because i wanted the weapon drops

I don't think anything can top the Redeads from OoT for me. I still remember falling off the couch the first time I heard that scream as a kid. After that I was dreading having to approach them. The lack of detail on the N64 only enhanced the horror, since I was difficult to see what exactly the enemy looked like. By the time WW came out, I was older, the enemies were very clearly defined and the scream sounded more like a trumpet to me.

The thing about the gloom hands is that we never expected them when we first saw them. In botw, we saw the guardians in the trailer, we knew what they would do, and characters talked about them all the time. The hands, they were a surprise. We didn't see them in any trailer and characters don't mention them. And as a bonus, once you defeat them (the first time, after a difficult battle) you're surprised by a boss health bar that reads "Phantom Ganon", who is fairly difficult if you're not properly prepared for it

Twilight Princess's enemies largely don't scare anyone for the same reason most Majora's Mask enemies don't scare people where the otherwise lighter, less horror heavy Ocarina Of Time's did. Link's Deku and Wolf transformations are easily scarier than just about anything you can encounter and can outrun just about anything they can't tear apart. Even when you do legitimately come across something worse, like the falling moon suddenly speeding up, or the Twilight Bloat, the Deku and Wolf end up solving the problem anyway. Both of those situations would have been way more disturbing in Links more identifiably human and therefore more identifiably vulnerable form. The thing that makes Shadow Beasts scary is when Twilight has overtaken Hyrule and you trotting through Kakario Village. Activate your heightened wolf senses and you can over hear a conversation between two spirits about a woman who was taken by a shadow beast. The other spirits went to go save her but instead found TWO shadow beasts where there had been one. The shadow beasts you're killing are not Twili. When you go to the Twilight Realm for real you see the Twili transformations are not yet complete and revert them to their more humanoid forms. The shadow beasts Link has been killing are other people of Hyrule. That's why Midna initially doesn't care! Even then though, that doesn't make them scary to the player, or to Link, so much as it makes them disturbing. Again, your wolf form is still more frightening. Remember, that wolf form is really "just" his naked soul, and when Twilight overtook him and stripped away his body the monsters of Zant had to resort to locking Wolf Link away because they couldn't turn him into another shadow beast. YOU'RE the horrifying monster of Twilight Princess.

The first time I encountered the Gloom Hands, I saw them minding their own business in the background as I was driving my wooden minivan through the grasslands. I thought they were a bit odd, but I quickly forgot about them as my car was faster than they were and I escaped before the sky could turn red. Later on I encountered them again inside the Deku Tree and actually had to fight them. They managed to kill me at least five times before I pieced together that they regenerate if you take too long, so I started pelting them with arrow fusions while letting Sidon deal with the ones in the back. I was in pretty bad shape when I defeated them, and then....PHANTOM GANON. Needless to say, he made quick work of me. I remembered there were platforms above, so I reloaded my save, started the fight again, and retreated to the nearest overhang and started pelting the hands with Bomb Arrows. From there, I was able to fight Phantom Ganon with all of my health intact. After a bit of trial and error, I eventually defeated him but had a newfound respect for the Gloom Hands and Phantom Ganon. I knew going forward that they were NOT to be messed with!

So: of the candidates for scariest Zelda enemy, arguably the top three all possess 6 or more hands with which to grab Link. I think I can see a pattern here.

running into the gloom hands game me a heart attack, the shock of seing them coming at me , the music , the visuals and the gloom damage was so much i had to climb up a structure to kill them and yes regardless how far you are along the game i still try to avoid them.

One of my first encounters with Gloom Spawn was where that Lynel used to be near Mount Lanayru, with that sorta old archway/gate thing. I was in the area looking for Shrines and partially cause I remembered a Lynel being there and wanted to see if it still was. I saw that there was no Lynel, and slowly made my way through as I assumed it was safe. Then, the music changed, a scream sounded out, as the sky turned crimson, and where the Lynel used to be, the Gloom Spawn arose from the ground. I tried to make for the Archway for safety to climb...unfortunately...like every time in BotW before it, when you try climb something, it starts raining...So I hopelessly tried to climb the Archway in the rain, as the Gloom Spawn charged at me, and grabbed me. Killing me shortly after... My second encounter was in one of the Mazes, I forgot which one, but I believe it was Gerudo Desert's Maze. I was trying to cheese it, by running across the top of all the walls, and a Gloom Spawn appeared in the pathways below. It couldn't get me from up top, so I figured I'd just rain Bomb Arrows down from above to deal with it...only to see the text "Phantom Ganon" appear on my screen with an HP Bar. I thought I was safe, cause like "...Eh...I mean...that is a problem but, its all the way down in the maze, and I'm all the way up top the walls, there's nothing to worry about." Only for Phantom Ganon to that one attack where it charges towards you to take a swing with whatever weapon it has. That's when I learned it can basically fly, so needless to say, I opened my map and left

I gotta say dead hand is probably the scariest for me, mostly because of my first time encountering it. I was super young, with my older brother in the living room with me, watching as I walked through a door only to have it lock behind me, leaving me with one choice- to walk further into the room. I knew instantly it was gonna be a mini boss fight but I was too freaked out by the hands to take one step. My brother tried to encourage me but I think I just got him to do it instead lol. Dead hand easily left a lasting impression. However if I had to choose a favorite from this list I’d definitely hands down choose the silent realm guardians. I love the silent realm not only because of how much of a challenge it is, but the whole feel to it overall. The guardian designs are so good they’re easily some of my favorites in the Zelda franchise. Love that stress inducing music as well.

for me, the gloom hands were particularly terrifying for my first encounter. because the moment i saw them i flashed back to dead hand. and thought i could take them. i was very early in the game and couldn't kill it because it kept regenerating i tried about 20 times expending every resource i had early on but never managed at the time to get to phantom gannon until after the actual encounter with phantom gannon. so i heavily avoided them as much as possible after that. other than that OOT redeads are a close second.