The Best Horror Games with Inspiring Hero Journeys

Joseph Campbell proposed that all stories follow a particular structure – the Hero’s Journey. Also known as the monomyth, it can be easily applied to Star Wars, any number of superhero movies, and so many adventure video games. But what about horror?

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The hero needs to undergo tremendous personal growth, and their resilience will be tested. The hero’s journey requires the protagonist to commit an act of selflessness for something bigger than themselves. In the case of horror games, it will often require death or disaster.

This list contains spoilers!

6

Last of Us Part Two – Ellie Learns Acceptance

Moving Past Destructive Revenge

In the Last of Us series, players not only see Ellie grow up into a young adult with formidable survival skills, but they also experience her anger with Joel, and her vengeful grief when he is killed. She spends most of the game perpetuating a cycle of violence and revenge that is eating her up inside.

Her desire for revenge sees her sabotaging relationships in order to pursue her obsessive goal of killing Abby in retaliation for Abby killing Joel. It is not until the final confrontation that Ellie undergoes a transformation. The brutal reality of the futility of this perpetual cycle of violence comes crashing down around her, and she lets Abby go. She makes it through an arduous “Ordeal” to finally begin the “Road Back” stage of the Hero’s journey.

5

Resident Evil Village And The Sacrifice Of Ethan Winters

Is Resurrection Really Just A Metaphor?

At the beginning of Resident Evil Village, Ethan Winters is trying (and failing) to put the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard behind him. But once again, he is thrust into the middle of a horrific battle for control over a bioweapon as he tries to rescue his kidnapped daughter.

Rather than letting his daughter be used by the antagonist as a source of power and a surrogate daughter, he gives up his own life to let his wife and child get away. While, in one sense, he dies, his consciousness continues on as part of the mutamycete, watching over his daughter who goes on her own hero’s journey in the Shadows of Rose DLC.

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4

Dredge – The Fisherman’s Choice

Overcoming The Ordeal

In linear games, the hero’s path is laid out in front of the player, with no choice but to complete it. But horror games specialize in making their audience uncomfortable and offering the player a choice to complete the ‘Ordeal’ stage of the cycle in which they are tested, complicates matters. This test requires an act of sacrifice on the part of the character for a greater cause than themselves.

In these cases of branching choices, the culmination of the hero’s journey lies in the hands of the player. Such is the case with the Fisherman in Dredge. He can choose to sacrifice himself to save the world or lead it to ruin by resurrecting his wife by making a terrible bargain with Eldritch horrors.

3

A Plague Tale – Amicia Versus The Inquisition

A Quest For Vengeance Becomes A Quest To Save The World

At the start of A Plague Tale: Innocence, Amicia has a relatively peaceful existence in 14th-century France. Her strained relationship with her mother and brother is tested when her father is killed by the French Inquisition. She and her little brother Hugo flee, and she must take responsibility for him. He is very unwell and afflicted by a supernatural illness that allows him to control rats, which in plague-infested Europe is incredibly powerful.

This makes Hugo a target for Vitalis Benevent, the Grand Inquisitor of France, who wishes to use Hugo’s power to further his influence. Amicia must rise to the challenges before her and become the hero her family needs. The second game ends with her having to make a terrible decision to save the world as they know it.

2

The Walking Dead – The Testing Of Clementine

The Hero Becomes A Mentor

When players first meet Clementine in the TellTale Games Walking Dead series, she is just a child. Throughout the games, she must make terrible choices and becomes hardened by her experience by necessity. Part of her growth is to balance the necessary ruthlessness she needs to survive with her own intrinsic compassion that could leave her vulnerable in a post-apocalyptic world.

Clementine is able to care for AJ despite the trauma she has endured and can put her guard down sufficiently to be a source of nurturing and comfort. She consistently puts his safety and welfare ahead of her own and consistently shows strength of character.

1

Hellblade 1 and 2 – Senua’s Saga

A Two Game Warrior Hero’s Arc

The Hellblade series is perhaps the clearest articulation of the hero’s journey in a horror game. It is no coincidence that a game that uses mythology to tell the story of an exceptional protagonist engages in the hero’s journey, which has also been referred to as the monomyth.

Senua meets her mentor, Druth, before the first game begins, and he guides her through her journey of self-discovery and the return that sees her become the warrior and leader she was always meant to be. Senua confronts the voices in her head and realizes that they are part of her strength rather than a hereditary curse.

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