5. Grunts / Unggoy (Halo Series)
You need a little bit of cannon fodder when you rule a vast empire: enter the Unggoy (or so lovingly dubbed “Grunts” by the human race). These squat, little aliens are the lowest of the low in the Covenant Empire, and are often used as slaves, laborers, and just as general jokes of the empire. The Unggoy have a bit of a broken past, though, initially emerging into the Covenant Empire after their homeworld, Balaho, had been in ecological disaster for many millennia. All those hardships don’t attest to the fact that these little guys just aren’t a challenge for Master Chief and the other soldiers of Earth, however. In fact, they’re pretty much the opposite of that in almost every combat situation. They are usually deployed with some higher ranking members of the Covenant, but once those higher ranking soldiers are all but wiped out by the humans, these grunts drop their weapons and run away screaming in terror. It’s almost too pathetic when having to take them down. Almost. For as cowardly as they are, the Unggoy have a certain charm that only a race as unfortunate as theirs can achieve.
~Laura Chandler
4. Pokemon (Pokemon Series)
~Melissa Buranen
3. Mets (Megaman Series)
Met, Metall, Mettool, Mettaur, Hard Hats, or whatever you choose to call them, have definitely made an impact on this week’s list. A young hero fighting to preserve the peace between human and robots is met with these foes as he adventures through different environments. Some of these foes are a tad bit cuter than their counterparts. Enter the Met, a small, hat-wearing, metal Goomba of sorts. While these little dudes don’t pose much of a threat, they have bigger cousins that give our hero, Mega Man, some pause. We’re confronted with the biggest of the Mets in Mega Man 4, “Metall Daddy.” Which is, honestly, just a gigantic Met ready to cause some destruction. They also have that adorable factor all good minions should possess. Just look at their hats!
~Laura Chandler
2. Heartless (Kingdom Hearts Series)
“It’s really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself.”
Wise words from Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, about his minions, the Heartless. They come in all sorts of variations from the tiny, adorable Shadows to the huge, lumbering Large Bodies. These entities are completely devoid of emotion, earning them their seemingly mean name, and are the core enemy in the Kingdom Hearts series. You will see them in some form or another in almost every single game as they block you on your quest throughout various Disney themed worlds. They act on pure instinct, which does make them seem rather basic in their “goals” so to speak, but they symbolize so much more than just a common enemy. They are a symbol of the darkness, the epitome of losing one’s light in this series, and, in a way, that makes them quite a sad enemy to face. They are born from the darkness in someone’s hearts, and judging by the amount of Heartless you face in Kingdom Hearts, that means there have been so many people who have fallen into the darkness, which gives you more to think about when facing them.