Most annoying video game enemies: The Eggplant Wizard

While the title has not aged well, Kid Icarus was an absolutely amazing game for the NES and one that had me absolutely captivated from the very first time that I played it. It's simple, yet challenging and the platforming goes in both direction and many times it is unclear which way you are supposed to go. Therefore it was kind of like Zeldo but gravity was a factor on the various boards you scrolled through (if that makes sense.)

I recently went back to play this game as it was one of my favorites from the past only to discover that it is one of those things that I should have just left in my memories because it sucks by today's standards and considering it is more than 30 years old that is probably going to be true with almost any game in that time period. A lot has changed since then.

One thing has happened though: My hatred for one of the most annoying characters in all of video game history... and that is the eggplant wizard from Kid Icarus.

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That's some pretty kick-ass fan art above although the actual in game character looked almost nothing like that except for the one eye and the staff. The NES wasn't a powerful machine so here is what these bastards really looked like

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If you are unfamailar with this particular baddie let me give you a little lesson. There are certain points in the latter stages of Kid Icarus where they begin to appear, at this point you are nearly finished with the game and you really are starting to feel as though you are getting good at it. Then these assholes appear. The cast "eggplant spells" in your direction and if one of them hits you your entire torso becomes one giant eggplant and you are incapable of attack or defense with this thing on you.

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When this hits you, and it will, a lot. you have no method of getting it off other than to return to the "nurse" that can remove it for you.

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This doesn't seem so bad until you consider the fact that the "nurse" can at times be extremely far away from your location and then when you go back through the rooms to where you were when the "eggplant incident" occurred in the first place you will be delighted to know that all of the enemies that you had cleared before have respawned! I don't know how many times I got eggplanted in the last stage of this game but enough to throw my controller across the room at least a dozen times.

To make matters worse, the Eggplant Wizard also had very high defense, meaning that you would need to get in close proximity and subject yourself to more eggplantery in order to kill him - and they also tended to come in pairs. gah!

The Eggplant Wizard appeared once again in an Icarus game in 1996 and also in Kid Icarus Uprising in 2012 - which is a game I was super stoked to get my hands out and was completely devastated when the game sucked ass.

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The first time I encountered the Eggplant Wizard was 34 years ago but the levels of frustration associated with him lasts a lifetime. You can't unsee him. He is a thing of video-game nightmares.