For as long as humans have felt the need to wax poetic about the loveliness of the world, flowers have been used as the ultimate symbol of beauty. With their velvety petals, sweet perfume, and colors of every imaginable shade, it’s not hard to see why.
But in their innocence lies a great capacity for subversion. Some of the most innocent and lovely elements of our world are downright scary when they’re used in menacing ways. Video games are well known for doing this, and doing it well can produce adrenaline-pumping results. Here are eight games with flowers that players won’t want to cross.
8 Poison Ivy In Batman: Arkham Asylum
Though she herself is no delicate flower, Poison Ivy does still command them with terrifying allure. In Batman: Arkham Asylum this infamous villain aids the whole ensemble of Batman’s foes in an evil plot involving genetically modified plants.
When players enter the Botanical Gardens section of the map, they’ll be confronted with a tangle of mutated vines that will try to ensnare them. When they finally confront Poison Ivy, she will merge herself with the large red flowerhead of these vines. The tendrils of this flowery beast will lash out and try to get a hold of Batman while Poison Ivy remains safe within the membrane center of the dangerous flower.
7 The Bomb Flower In The Legend of Zelda
Equal parts hazardous and useful is this floral explosive from The Legend of Zelda franchise. Bomb Flowers have appeared in six of the main Legend of Zelda games and can be a handy way for Link to destroy obstacles and enemies alike.
But these flowers are pretty dangerous for Link too. They automatically become activated once they’ve been picked and, if players aren’t swift, they’ll explode right in his hands. Bomb flowers can respawn infinitely as well, making them capable of doing a lot of damage when used incorrectly. Bomb Flowers are a risky tool that should be used with extreme caution.
6 Memory Flowers In Season: A Letter To The Future
Perhaps one of the most unassuming flowery threats in this list are the Memory Flowers from Season: A Letter To The Future. These flowers may look pretty harmless from a distance, with their soft pink glow and rippling fields of growth. But as players get closer their secret power becomes evident.
When Estelle, the game’s protagonist, walks through the fields of Memory Flowers, the edges of her vision warp and ripple with the sheer power these plants hold. Her pendant glows brightly against the threat and protects her from the flowers’ memory effects. Without the pendant, it’s clear these flowers would be destructive for Estelle and her journey.
5 Plantera In Terraria
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This pretty pink bloom can be found in the Underground Jungle level on the hard-mode version of Terraria gameplay. Plantera might look like a simple, beautiful, slow-moving flower, but players will soon learn just why this foe is a hard-mode boss.
As players work hard to evade taking damage, Plantera will hurl seeds and thorny ranged weapons to attack them. If players are skilled enough to reduce Plantera’s health bar below half, this bloom will transform into a fearsome enemy. The pink petals will give way to sharp green jaws and vines will whip out from Plantera’s main body.
4 Man-Eater Plant In Castlevania
Tired of photosynthesizing as a way to get nutrients, these bright red Demogorgon-like flowers have turned to eating human flesh instead. These plants, sometimes known as the Giant Demon Flower or the Stone Rose, appear in eight of the Castlevania series of games.
Along with shooting out fireballs, seed projectiles, and petrifying skulls, these flowers also have the capacity to poison players who get too close. This poison breath can do a great deal of damage, so players should approach them with caution. Though this flower is vulnerable to attacks to its center, it still is a dangerous and deadly foe.
3 Plant 43 In Resident Evil 2
The Resident Evil series of games is well-known for its habit of taking harmless organic elements and twisting them into deadly bio-weapons. In Resident Evil 2, this takes the form of the fearsome Plant 43. This disturbing flowery enemy is the result of an ordinary plant being injected with the T-Virus and mutating into a zombie-creating nightmare.
Upon its creation, Plant 43 kills and reanimates the Umbrella Corporation scientists into plant-zombie hybrids. These zombies then attack anyone who tries to enter the laboratory that has become Plant 43’s lair. Both the plant zombies and Plant 43 itself are incredibly resilient and dangerous.
2 Flaahgra In Metroid Prime
Continuing the trend of dangerous mutated flowers is that of Flaahgra in Metroid Prime. This ginormous plant is an unknown species of flower that has been heavily mutated due to the poisonous spread of Phazon, an organic substance that can destroy and mutate entire planets.
Flaahgra can be found in the Sunchamber of the Chozo Ruins, where it harnesses the energy of the sun to spur on its excessive growth. During this boss fight, Flaahgra will swipe at Samus with its scythe-like claws and spray a toxic green fluid that causes more poisonous plants to grow around them. The only way to defeat this bloom is to deprive it of sunlight.
1 Flowey In Undertale
Looks can be deceiving with this final entry to the list, as Flowey in Undertale has a mind-boggling capacity for violence for such a small, unassuming bloom. Beginner players are advised to not let his cheery “Howdy!” and generous gift of Friendliness Pellets fool them, he is a truly malevolent and maniacal character. Flowey serves as the main antagonist of the Pacifist and Neutral run-throughs of the game, as well as the deuteragonist for the Genocide Route.
His core philosophy of “kill or be killed” sums up his level of threat well, as players will need to dodge his bullets to protect their souls whenever they meet. During the boss battle with Flowey, he transforms into a nightmare-inducing creature of gigantic proportions and relentlessly attacks the player with little reprieve. Truly the deadliest bloom of all.