Sky Face in Mount & Blade
Mount & Blade features one hilarious texture glitch, which caused a giant face to appear in the sky. Nothing in particular triggers this – you could just be riding along and suddenly look up to see a face staring down at you. The glitch is evidently an error where the texture for the sky is accidentally swapped out with a random face texture, which is equal parts terrifying and hilarious.
Half-body in Dead Space 2
Dead Space 2 – a gory horror game set in space – is creepy enough as it is, but there’s one glitch that takes the game’s innate spookiness to a whole other level. One elevator-related glitch makes the main character, Isaac Clarke, appear with no torso and truncated legs. Somehow, Isaac is still able to go about his day-to-day life despite missing the entire upper half of his body, but realistic “meaty” sounds can be heard whenever he moves. Ew.
Demon babies in The Sims
The Sims franchise may be one of the most popular video games ever, but it’s fair to say that it’s also one of the worst for glitches. Arguably, the freakiest recurring glitch is the one that makes babies look like literal demons. Out of the blue, your baby could suddenly appear with eyes on stalks; freakishly long fingers; or a mangled face. Or if you’re lucky, all three! That’s a baby only a Sims mother could love!
Giant goalkeeper in Volta
Reports of giant goalkeepers on Volta, the five-a-side mode on FIFA 20, began to pop up on social media soon after FIFA 20 was launched in September 2019. Players would usually run into this giant keeper when challenging other players to an online match. Naturally, his unusual size would block much of the goal, making it tricky – and sometimes literally impossible – to score. Pretty cool, right?
Animal people in Red Dead Redemption
This glitch is bizarre. Shortly after the release of Red Dead Redemption in 2010, people started reporting seeing ‘animals’ that looked like people. These hybrids included a pig man, a cougar man and, perhaps most famously, bird people that flapped their arms like wings. Unfortunately, it’s pretty difficult to find this glitch now, as it was patched in an early update, but Red Dead Redemption 2 does feature an Easter egg in reference to this funny glitch in the form of the ‘Donkey Lady.’
MissingNo in Pokémon Red & Blue
It was fairly straightforward to encounter MissingNo. on Pokémon Red & Blue, if counterintuitive. First, you’d watch an in-game tutorial for Pokémon capture in Viridian City. Then, you’d use a Pokémon with the ‘Fly’ move to travel over to Cinnabar Island. Finally, you would use a Pokémon with the ‘Surf’ move to travel up and down the eastern shore of the island until you trigger an encounter with a wild Pokémon. If you completed these steps with the correct timings, you’d be guaranteed a showdown with the infamous ‘MissingNo.’
Flying cars in Grand Theft Auto IV
Also known as the ‘car-cannon glitch’, this crazy glitch happens when players drive at speed into any one of the swing sets located throughout Liberty City. After a few seconds, you’ll find your car catapulted into the air and flung across the city. The landing will often propel players through the windshield of their car like a human cannonball – and yes you will die as a result, unless you chose the set at the northernmost point of the map.
Flying mammoths in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Back when Skyrim was first released, it was possible to occasionally spot a huge creature floating in the sky. While you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a massive bird or even a dragon, it turns out that this flying beast was actually a mammoth. These flying mammoths could actually hugely benefit players, as when they’d eventually fall from the sky and perish you could loot their ivory and meat.
Faceless people in Assassin’s Creed: Unity
Assassin’s Creed: Unity had its fair share of glitches at launch, but by far the most widespread glitch is one that involved characters’ faces. The glitch would seriously mess up certain characters’ appearances, with some seeming to have nothing but eyeballs and mouths where their faces should be. The game, usually so proud of its attention to detail in the name of historical accuracy, actually released an official apology over the hilarious and traumatising glitch.
Tiny Christian Kirksey in Madden NFL 15
If you’ve played the 2015 edition of Madden NFL, you might have noticed something odd about the game’s portrayal of Christian Kirksey, the linebacker for the Cleveland Browns. For some reason, the 6’2”, 235-pound player was reduced to the size of a scrawny cat in the game. The developers embraced the ‘Tiny Titan’ glitch – as did Kirksey himself. “I just immediately started laughing,” he said in a 2014 radio interview.
Worm people in Battlefield 3
The Battlefield series is renowned for playing host to a number of bugs and glitches. While these flaws have ultimately damaged the brand’s reputation, some of them added a certain charm to the shooter series. One of the strangest glitches in the beta version of Battlefield 3 has to be the game’s notorious ‘worm people.’ The glitch would occur when players triggered the crawl animation – causing in-game soldiers to transform into grotesque human worms. These worm-people would also bizarrely fire their weapons using their legs or feet instead of their hands – gross!
Aggressive Gandhi in Civilization
The first Civilization video game featured an ‘aggression level’ for each AI leader, ranging between 1 and 255, which could either be increased or decreased by the player’s behaviour. Gandhi makes an appearance in the game, and, as one would expect, game developers gave the pacifist leader a baseline aggression level of 1. However, they didn’t consider what would happen if a player tried to make Gandhi less aggressive. Hilariously, if you try to make Gandhi less aggressive, his aggression level will actually roll over to 255 – the highest in the game.
Scaling walls with a trash can in Fallout 4
Fallout 4 offers a unique set of armour called ‘Freefall Legs’ which allows the player to never take damage as a result of falling. You can find them in a safe at the top of the Mass Fusion building, the tallest in the game. You can get to the top of the building by using a jetpack, or you can exploit a funny glitch which allows you to climb the building’s walls using a trash can. If you pick up a trash can and stand with your back against the building’s wall, you’ll be able to magically scale up the wall. Why and how? Who knows!
Land sharks in Crysis
Crysis is a classic shooter game which sees you do battle with aliens on a remote island. To stop players from swimming off the edge of the game, deadly sharks will attack your character if you try to swim out too far. These sharks are incredibly glitchy, any attempt to engage them will lead to them lunging onto the beach and chasing you as if you were in the water. They’re just as good at flying as they are at swimming so you’ll have to be agile to escape their snapping jaws. Yikes!
Black hole in Super Smash Bros Melee
Triggering the black hole glitch in Super Smash Bros Melee is complicated, but it’s worth it. With friends playing as Fox, Falco and Peach, fire 15 regular shots and two fully-charged shots with the Super Scope. Have someone hit you from behind without firing and you’ll have infinite ammo, which can be bounced between Fox and Falco with reflector shields. Get Peach to jump into the blast stream until a line of ‘clang bubbles’ appears, then stop firing the scope. Have Peach toss 10 to 15 vegetables into the bubbles before pushing Falco off his ledge. This will result in a ‘black hole’ of projectiles that won’t despawn. If any character besides Peach touches it, they’ll suffer 999% damage.
Relm’s sketch glitch in Final Fantasy III
Relm’s sketch glitch is arguably the wildest glitch in the classic SNES game Final Fantasy III. The glitch happens when Relm’s ‘sketch’ ability misses its target. This, in turn, results in a programming error. The effects of the error are wide-ranging, from simple freezes to total data erasure – so this isn’t something you want to try without planning. Some players have figured out how to control the volatile glitch and use the bug to fill their inventory with Dirks and Gem Boxes. Some have even managed to use the glitch to acquire infinite Illuminas or Economizers.
Swordless Link in The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is notoriously glitchy, but perhaps the most famous glitch of them all is the Swordless Link glitch. The glitch is easiest to encounter in v1.0 of the game. In the final battle with Ganon, save and quit the game once he knocks the Master Sword out of your hand. This causes the sword to be unequipped in Link’s inventory, and once you save and reset, Link will once again appear wordless. This glitch in and of itself doesn’t make much of a difference to gameplay, but it’s a gateway to performing several other game-breaking sequences.
The door glitch in GoldenEye 64
GoldenEye 64 had a fair few glitches, but the ‘door glitch’ is without a doubt one of the weirdest ones in the game. If you shoot an NPC while they’re standing in a doorway, they’ll die as the door shuts, resulting in a glitchy and protracted death. They’ll twitch around while appearing to be literally stuck in the middle of the door – not the most dignified way to go.
Creepy Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes Nemesis
While there’s a lot to be said for outlandish, physics-bending glitches, more subtle and disturbing glitches can be just as interesting too. Sherlock Holmes Nemesis, a 2007 PC game, featured an incredibly creepy glitch involving Dr Watson. At certain points in the game, Dr Watson will follow you around and sometimes he will really go above and beyond to stay by your side, teleporting in front of you with zero warning.
Shouting “Shaun” in Heavy Rain
At the beginning of Heavy Rain, the main character loses his son in a shopping mall. For the next few minutes, you can control him as he frantically looks around for his son, and pressing X will make him shout his son’s name: Shaun. There’s a glitch where this ability to shout “Shaun” continues, even past the scene in the shopping mall. Jarringly, you can still do this towards the end of the game, even as events take a dark turn. The glitch results in players being able to hysterically shout “Shaun” during a touching scene in which you rescue Shaun and face up to his would-be killer.
The dancing bug in The Wolf Among Us
The Wolf Among Us is an episodic mystery drama released in 2013. On the whole, it has a pretty sombre and atmospheric tone, with a lot of tense clue-hunting and quiet moments of interpersonal reflection and change. Given how meticulously paced and curated the slow unravelling of the story was, this particular glitch is very noticeable. At random moments, the main character has been known to erupt into sexual dance moves, before folding in half and floating into the air. Whoops!
Ringside teleportation in UFC 2
Fighting games might feel like some of the simplest and most intuitive when you’re playing them, but they’re some of the most complicated to make. Every tiny body part has to be rigged individually to create realistic-looking moves and combos, and that can lead to teething issues. However, none of that explains why in UFC 2, characters were known to suddenly fly spinning out of the ring, leaving their opponent with no one to fight.
Bouncing wagon in Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption became an instant classic when it was released in 2010, thanks to its gritty storytelling and unflinching depiction of the American west. It’s fair to say that when its sequel was released almost a full decade later, fans had high expectations. Little did audiences know, they would actually be playing in a fantasy world where horses and wagons are capable of bouncing around like the road is made of jelly, often causing the poor animals to get stuck on power lines.
Footballers in love in FIFA 12
The FIFA franchise is among the most famous series of sporting games in the world but, as beloved as they are, every iteration of the game has had a fair few bugs to contend with. The sweetest of all these glitches came in FIFA 12, when the new physics engine used to create ultra-realistic collisions led to various footballers locking lips when being tackled or attempting to tackle. How cute is that?
Contradictory NPCs in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion allows you to play out adventures as a mighty warrior in a sprawling fantasy world. However, despite the high-octane quests and beautiful landscapes, the immersion is sometimes ruined by the behaviour of the NPCs. In one famous example, if money is stolen from you by vicious thieves you can steal it back, at which point they will say: “take it, it’s worthless to me anyway.” …Huh?!
Rocky the monster is Rocky 2002
Rocky 2002 is a pretty basic fighting game that sticks closely to the events of the movie, chronicling Rocky Balboa’s journey from a club fighter to the championship. Since it’s from the early 2000s, it doesn’t look particularly great, but its visual problems are compounded by one truly horrifying glitch. For seemingly no reason, Rocky will sometimes have to fight opponents with no eyelids or lips, and arms wrenched uncomfortably out of their sockets. Maybe it’s a strategy for psyching him out?
Driving through buildings in PUBG
PUBG is a battle royale game that is constantly being worked on and updated by the devs, so it’s not uncommon for fans to experience glitches amongst the sprawling maps, thousands of assets and various different game modes. One of the most disruptive glitches causes various buildings to become invisible, leading to vehicles crashing through them and injuring the player out of nowhere. That’s super helpful if you need to be the last man standing!
I am Error in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Across the many Zelda games that have been released over the years and decades, various philosophical questions about identity, memory, legacy and destiny have been explored. However, maybe the deepest moment in the entire franchise is actually the result of a glitch, with the famous “I am Error” dialogue in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Rumours abound about this mysterious NPC: is his name a typo? A mistranslation? A joke? In any case, Nintendo has referenced this infamous character numerous times since The Adventure of Link’s release.
The exorcist impression in Mass Effect
Mass Effect is a powerhouse franchise loved by gamers the world over, but it’s not completely beyond reproach. Even the most intensely tested and developed game in the world will have glitches and bugs sneak through, and Mass Effect is no exception. If you ever find yourself playing the first game, watch out for Commander Shepard’s head spinning around and around during dialogue, as if he’s possessed by some kind of evil, space-age spirit.
The pet chairs in Lord of the Rings Online
Lord of the Rings Online is an MMORPG that allows players to explore and adventure in the massive world of Middle-earth, completing quests and interacting with other players as elf, hobbit, human or other. The game is for the most part quaint and sweet, and that has resulted in a uniquely whimsical glitch – if you use the command “follow” on chairs, they will line up in a row and trot jauntily after you, just like an NPC would.
Ashura glitch in Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Not many glitches have served as the inspiration for fan fiction, but the Ashura glitch in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a notable exception. Essentially a palette glitch, players who enter the Emerald Hills level in Debug Mode and place a waterfall in a specific location will find their Sonic rendered green and black. Ashura has featured prominently in the web comic series Two Evil Scientists, where he/it is described as “a palette glitch that has become too well known”.
Giants that send you flying in Skyrim
Giants can often be found roaming the wildernesses of Skyrim, and most players’ first encounter with them ends memorably. Upon receiving a fatal blow from a giant’s club, players can suddenly find themselves flung hundreds of feet into the air, cartwheeling merrily through the sky before landing absurdly far from where they were killed. Whilst this was a completely unintentional glitch, fans found it so entertaining that Bethesda decided against patching it out.
Super bouncing in Halo 2
Super bouncing is a beloved Halo 2 glitch that – for some reason – only features in the Xbox version. The glitch can be exploited by entering an area that necessitates crouching to access, and then attempting to un-crouch whilst another player watches, which triggers a crouching glitch. The crouching player then finds a polygon seam – essentially a line between two surfaces in the game world – and jumps onto it. As soon as they land, they are launched extremely high into the air, allowing them to reach areas of the map that aren’t intended to be accessible.
Killing the Berenike Knight with a glitch in Dark Souls
The Dark Souls series is notorious for its unforgiving difficulty, with players often dying dozens if not hundreds of times before vanquishing a foe. However, the Berenike Knight – a fearsome opponent in the first Dark Souls game – can be easily dispatched by exploiting a glitch. After confronting the knight, players need to lead him on a chase between several locations in a specific order. Whilst it doesn’t work every time, the knight will then sometimes abruptly fall through the map and plummet to his death.
Flying frogs in Crysis
Crysis is one of the most beloved FPS games of all time, thanks in large part to its imaginative and futuristic weapons. One such weapon is a gravity gun, which allows players to levitate objects and propel them towards enemies. However, gamers soon discovered that frogs – which can be found throughout the game – appear to have been programmed without mass. As a result, frogs launched with the gravity gun never come back down, instead drifting gracefully through the air till the end of time.
Giant Baby Gingy glitch in Fortnite
Fortnite has become a gaming sensation, with an average of around four million players battling it out on the game’s servers every single day. The game stays fresh by continuously adding new content and maps, so it’s no surprise that it has had its fair share of glitches. One of the most bizarre involves Baby Gingy, a decorative gingerbread man that players can fasten to their characters’ backs. When Baby Gingy was first released, the ‘Back Bling’ was prone to a glitch that would see it elongated to proportions of equal hilarity and monstrousness.
Invisible horse and carriage in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
Whenever this bug strikes, players of Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate who are riding a horse and carriage will suddenly find themselves levitating through the air, occasionally tugging at invisible reins. Whilst this is amusing, players generally don’t get to enjoy it for long. The entire physics engine tends to have a nervous breakdown shortly after the glitch kicks in and sends the player – still perched upon an invisible horse and carriage – hurtling through the skies.
Making a cat fountain in Minecraft
Although it was quickly patched out by developers, early players of Minecraft found endless entertainment by making ‘cat fountains’. This glitch took advantage of the fact that domesticated cats will teleport to the player if they are far enough away, and don’t sustain fall damage. Gamers found that by building an incredibly tall single-block tower and standing at the top, they could make their feline companions appear in the air before they plummet to the ground in an endlessly repeating cycle.
Crab walking in Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 came as part of Valve’s much beloved Orange Box bundle of games. The game has a number of memorable glitches, but by far the most famous is the ‘crab walk’. To execute this glitch, gamers playing as the spy need to crouch down and look up simultaneously, after which their character will assume an incredibly bizarre pose and start walking in a strikingly crab-like fashion. Valve have never patched this out, as it doesn’t impact gameplay and is undeniably funny.
Creepy spinning head in Fallout: New Vegas
At the very start of Fallout: New Vegas, your character is revived by a character named Doc Mitchell, who provides some exposition via a lengthy monologue. Occasionally, whilst casually conversing, Doc’s head will begin to eerily rotate on his neck. The effect is creepy and hilarious in equal measure, and is made all the funnier by the fact that for some players it is literally their first experience of the game.
Face scanning glitches in the NBA franchise
All NBA titles since 2K15 have had a feature enabling players to scan their faces when creating a character in Career Mode, with the game then doing its best to recreate their visage. Needless to say, this often goes horribly wrong, and the results are absolutely golden. Why the makers of the NBA games are so hellbent on making this a thing when the technology clearly isn’t up to it is a mystery, but everyone is glad that they are.
The entire physics engine in UFC 3
UFC 2 had the famous ringside teleportation glitch, and the third entry in the fighting game franchise clearly was not one to be outdone. UFC 3’s physics engine breaks with astounding regularity, leading to a whole host of weird glitches, such as fighters lying down on the mat and sliding around the octagon, unpredictably flipping tens of feet into the air, or suddenly developing weird tentacle-like limbs.
This insanity in Fifa
There is literally no way to describe this one succinctly. Fifa is renowned for its bizarre bugs, such as the aforementioned lips-locking glitch, but this – whatever it is – is by far the most ludicrous in the franchise. At completely random moments, players will suddenly begin levitating, whilst their legs reverse and bend upwards like something out of The Exorcist. The glitch doesn’t affect gameplay, as the afflicted players also develop the power to telekinetically kick the ball, and after a few moments the physics engine has a stern word with itself out and things go back to normal.
Driving invisible cars in Grand Theft Auto V
The GTA franchise seems to love vehicular glitches. GTA IV’s car-cannon glitch is an absolute fan favourite, and – whilst rarer – GTA V’s invisible car bug is equally entertaining. Occasionally, the game fails to render vehicles but allows players to drive them anyway, essentially resulting in a high-speed levitating act. Most amusing is when the glitch takes place during cut scenes, as the character entering the invisible car will often proceed to float away into the sky before having a Wile-E Coyote moment and plummeting to their death.
The terrifying flying horse glitch in The Witcher 3
Roach – the player’s horse in The Witcher 3 – surely deserves the title of the glitchiest steed in video game history. Some of Roach’s tricks include teleporting onto rooftops when the player isn’t looking, casually sinking into the ground, and doing utterly bizarre dances on its hind legs. However, the horse’s most outlandish glitch sees it gain the power of flight and begin hurtling along above the ground, flailing its legs like some kind of horrible airborne octopus.
