It can make you filled with so many different emotions, one of which is rage. Throughout the whole series lay countless terrifyingly difficult (or just straight-up annoying) enemies that can really bring down your mood while playing. Especially if you’re attempting a critical or even a level 1 run. There are still lots of other enemies that bring you terror and strife, some maybe worse than the ones on this list, there’s so many different types of enemies across the series I’m bound to have missed or forgotten some. The level of annoyance differs from person to person, but hopefully you can join me as we recount some of our biggest KH traumas together.
10. Assault Riders (KH2)
Starting off this ride of hatred we have these Centaur-like Heartless from the Land of Dragons. In most Kingdom Hearts II playthroughs, the Land of Dragons is the first Disney world you venture to. This early on in the game makes Sora very vulnerable without good equipment and skills, and the Assault Riders take every advantage of that. Their spinning spear attack is extremely hard to avoid when trying to get close to them, and their charge attack will definitely catch you off guard in a group. This, on top of having to maintain your morale meter, can really mess up new players and anyone unprepared.
9. Wizard (KH1)
Kingdom Hearts 1’s Wizard Heartless are much more annoying in groups of enemies than on their own. They can attack from a good distance, so if you’re trying to fight a bigger enemy, they’re just going to back him up with countless spells – especially the painful Thunder spell. Sure, you might think you can just strike them with their own medicine, but nope! Spells won’t hurt them. So you’re going to have to get up close and personal. Oh, but what’s this? Trying to hit them can make them just teleport away from you. How fun is that? It’s best to either focus purely on getting them out of the way in a group, or letting your party members try to take them on.
8. Invisible (KHuX)
This annoyance is more obscure than the rest, but in the early days of the Kingdom Hearts mobile game, the Invisible Heartless were the absolute worst. In most stages your biggest goal is to get through with a 1 turn triumph, i.e., defeating all enemies in 1 turn. But whenever an Invisible would show up, you could kiss that goal goodbye. They’re absolute tanks and hit like a truck. Unless you’ve gotten extremely lucky with your medal pulls you’re in for an awful time. Sadly, KHuX is shutting down so this annoyance is more of a relic of the past.
7. Undead Pirates (KH2)
The Undead Pirates are one of the only basic enemy in Kingdom Hearts that isn’t a Heartless, Nobody, Unversed, etc. They’re just normal people who happen to be cursed. But that doesn’t stop them from being an absolute nightmare to fight against. Between cutlasses, flintlocks, and straight-up bombs, these guys aren’t messing around. Normally they’re not too hard to defeat, not much more than your average enemy. But there’s one small kicker: They can’t be damaged unless standing under moonlight! I hope you like standing around and waiting for enemies to slowly walk over to where you need them. Sometimes it’s easy, but other times you have to take some bombs to the face before the pirate decides to walk over to you.
6. Neo-shadows (KH:CoM)
Many see the combat style of Chain of Memories to be the black sheep of the series. It can be very hard to get used to card fighting, and deck creating can be a headache. What adds to this already annoying system? Neo-shadows of course! Card breaks are very common, as they have quite the high card number. Not only that, but they also sneak beneath the earth and become immune to attacks. When trying to control a whole group of them you either have to be lucky with your AOE attacks, or try to focus on one at a time. Otherwise, you and your cards are going to be shredded.
5. Berserkers (KH2)
Berserkers, as their name suggests, go absolutely berserk. With their huge claymore sword, they’ll cut you down a notch and continue to beat you as you lay dead. Right as they summon in, they’re already ready to fight, hitting you upon entry. Not only that, but combined they use a very powerful laser-like move that will surely eradicate you if you get caught in the blow. Luckily if you’re in a small group and don’t have to focus on other enemies, these guys can be taken care of using the Berserk command. It’s actually the joy of beating them up with their own sword that makes these enemies somewhat enjoyable to face.
4. Hot Rod (KH2)
The Hot Rod is probably one of the most common answers when it comes to the question “what’s the most hated Kingdom Hearts enemy?” These cars have pretty large amounts of health for a normal enemy, as well as solid defense. As being a car would imply, they hit very very hard. Now they normally would be able to be taken care of with enough distance, but once they get to low HP, they start to go into a berserk mode. That’s right: more damage and extremely fast movement speed. Good luck trying to hit this speeding bullet with some magic, because before you know it, you’re mincemeat beneath their tires. Being able to quickly dodge and reflect will help you immensely. Just try to get great at timing it.
3. Mandrake (Birth by Sleep)
Despite the name, these little jerks won’t be screaming; rather they’ll be making you scream for mercy. They’re hiding everywhere, but you can’t see them. Sneaking and scurrying around the corners of your screen as you’re fighting other enemies. Suddenly they attack from halfway across the map and slice you all up. And their blades can glitch through objects, so don’t think your safe hiding behind that rock. They can be your living nightmare on a lvl 1 or critical mode run, as they can come out of nowhere and do quite a hefty bit of damage if you’re unprepared, just spamming the same spinning move over and over without letting you catch your breath. If you try to get close they even have an ability to poison themselves to fly up high, out of your reach.
2. Dancer (KH2)
The Dancer Nobodies can be nightmarish for critical mode runners. Imagine you’re having a good time fighting wave after wave of enemy, doing decent damage. That is, until this nobody uses their grab move and completely one hit kills you without question. There’s no rhyme or reason why this random enemy has such a powerful attack, it just does. If you’re used to mostly using melee attacks then good luck. Their grab moves can’t be blocked, and if you try to attack back, they’ll just grab you again. If you use magic, like magnet or reflect, then this enemy shouldn’t be too much of an issue – if you keep your distance.
1. Sniperwild (KH1)
This heartless can be boiled down to the simple phrase of “Monkey see, Monkey kill”. If this cute little monkey even glances at you, it’s all over. Once they see Sora, they’ll immediately call-in reinforcements and ruin your entire day. They hit hard and barely give exp or rewards, so it’s best just to book it out of there. But let’s say you actually want to kill them. Then sneaking up before they spot you (or until they leave a crowd) will be your best bet. Stop spells also can come in clutch if you’re good at aiming and quick firing. What’s even worse is that if you want the KH1 Ultima weapon, you’re gonna have to try and farm these funky monkeys. There’s a lot of guides on some good ways to do so, but it’s all still such a headache.
