This Collider feature by Hannah Hunt, published on 12 July 2026, argues that video games can create more disturbing villains than films because of the extra time the medium affords. The piece contends that while cinema has spent decades crafting iconic antagonists, games can build a villain across dozens of hours and let players directly experience their crimes, manipulation and consequences rather than merely watching them. This immersion, the author suggests, makes gaming's monsters feel more personal and, in several cases, more terrifying than anything Hollywood has produced.

The article counts down five examples, though the provided text only details the first two. GLaDOS from Valve's Portal is praised as unsettling for her casual cruelty, treating attempted murder as routine science after having already wiped out the scientists at Aperture. Handsome Jack from Gearbox's Borderlands 2 is highlighted for his charm and humour masking genuine evil, including massacring civilians and exploiting his own daughter, Angel, all while believing himself the hero of Pandora.