The Alphabet of Cronies: E-F

E is for Elementals

So, you're playing through an RPG and things seem to be going along pretty well. Physical attacks are enough so far...at least until you encounter a devious adversary known as an elemental.

Unfortunately, sometimes you have a weapon equipped that might have qualties that are of the same element as your enemy...you find this out the hard way when you take a swipe at it and the damn thing heals. How fuckin' annoying is that? Elementals are tricky because not only do they force you to use your magic in most cases, but they also can deliver terribly destructive attacks of their own element upon your characters, wiping them out a lot faster than one would appreciate.

The Fire Emblem series is no exception from these types of enemy, with most magical characters attuned to a single element. Send in the wrong type of character and they're toast...or frozen...or blown away by wind, whatever the elemental happens to be.

What about Final Fantasy? The first asshole that comes to mind is FlameEater from Final Fantasy 3/6 in that burning building. What a dick...not only did he need ice to kill, but he was also able to cast Reflect so you couldn't attack him directly with your own magic.

Hai thar, I'm a total prick!

Eternal Darkness is based almost completely on properly attuned magical elements. Almost every single RPG has elemental enemies that require proper thinking to eliminate, and some action games even do as well.

Fact of the matter is that Elementals force you to think about your strategy and come up with something new, whether it be how you attack them or how you defend yourself from their attacks. This alone makes them a damn good enemy type to have on this list.

F is for Flyers

Yes, I already went over birds, but they piss me off enough to get their own goddamned entry.

Flyers can be anything, however...not just birdies. We're talking bats, mechanical enemies, aircraft...anything like that. Ever since video games've been around, flying enemies have been pretty much a mainstay. UFOs in Space Invaders, Koopa Paratroopas in the Mario series...pretty much name an action video game and there's likely going to be some form of flying enemy that pisses you off.

Bats are a frequent one, swooping down from high areas to knock you down pits or relentlessly attack you. I won't talk about birds again because you know how I feel about them. Flying drones will pester you constantly when you encounter them in games such as Bionic Commando or the Contra series. What about assholes that have jetpacks from the game Wild Guns? Neckies and Zingers from the Donkey Kong Country series? Metroid has its fair share as well, such as Wavers, Rippers, and Metroids themselves (friggin' jerks). Blaster Master is also loaded with them. And don't forget fucking Medusa Heads in Castlevania! If you can name a side scroller then there're probably flying enemies in it in some way, shape or form.

I'll whip you good, you flying asshole!

The ones that are the worst are ones that're also terribly quick and dodgy, such as the aforementioned Red Arremer in Ghouls N' Ghosts, or even Lost Souls in Doom. Pretty much any flying shoot 'em up obviously has tons of irritating airborne foes as well, with multiple and tricky patterns to make your life a living hell.

In fact, that's what flyers are all about...making your life a living hell. They're oftentimes more mobile than you and have a better range of movement making them difficult to hit, and a lot of them are also terribly quick so blowing them outta the sky isn't the easiest thing to do. A lot of them can even fire at you from above, meaning you've got bullets from the sky to worry about. For god's sakes, make sure they're your first target when you encounter them!