The Best Water Monsters in Resident Evil, Ranked

Key insights

• Water monsters in Resident Evil are diverse, from infected animals to man-made beasts that hide beneath the surface.
• These creatures make for some of the scariest and most memorable boss encounters in the entire franchise.
• From Irving's transformation in RE5 to Moreau's sea creature form in Village, these aquatic enemies offer intense battles.

Anywhere permanently resident Evil Chris, Leon, Jill and the other main protagonists of the franchise have encountered numerous bioorganic weapons on their adventures. Most of these enemies will be prominently displayed to players when they encounter them. However, this is not always the case, as there have always been some water monsters that prefer to hide beneath the surface and only pop out when they are ready to attack.

In most cases, such enemies are aquatic animals that have been infected with a virus that has transformed them into hideous beasts. However, in other cases, a human may transform into a giant aquatic creature to gain an advantage over their enemy when surrounded by a pool of water. Anyway, it's time to take a look at the very best water monsters in the world resident Evil Games based on their memorability and fun to experience.

8 Ricardo Irving

Irving transforms from a cowardly arms dealer into a giant water monster in a matter of seconds

Irving doesn't start out as the leggy, octopus-like BOW he would eventually become. Indeed, for many Resident Evil 5He is a shy and cowardly arms dealer who constantly taunts Chris and Sheva while hiding behind a mysterious masked figure for protection. When they finally catch up with Irving, he decides to inject himself and turn into a hideous monster that immediately throws itself into the sea.

Luckily, Chris and Sheva accidentally land on a cruiser equipped with Gatling guns, leading to a hectic boss fight in which players must aim at the glowing dots on Irving's scaly surface. The unusually freaky design coupled with the spectacle of the combat makes this something special Resident Evil 5 overall more memorable boss encounters.

7 HAOS

A humanoid giant lurking in an underwater facility

HAOS is a BOW that can only be encountered at the very end of Chris' campaign in Resident Evil 6. Although this humanoid creature can function on land, it was specifically placed in an underwater facility to facilitate its growth, and since it has large tentacles sprouting from its body, it would have no problem moving through the open sea, if she were ever released.

Due to its size, HAOS is one of the strongest monsters around resident Evil. Therefore, the only way for Chris and Piers to escape his influence is for the latter to inject himself with the C-virus to cause the least damage so that Chris can escape in an escape pod. The sheer number of bosses Resident Evil 6 Multiple campaigns mean that HAOS sometimes goes under the radar, but as far as water monsters go, it still deserves praise for its scary appearance and how hard it was for the protagonists to take it down for good.

6 Moreau

Moreau uses his swamp to outmaneuver Ethan in his grotesque sea monster form

In contrast to the other three gentlemen in Village Moreau lives in a damp and dirty swamp that is full of obstacles and debris that Ethan must navigate. However, the strange choice of setting makes much more sense when one reveals Moreau's true form, a grotesque sea creature that can move through the water at frightening speeds.

As a result, Ethan finds himself in a pretty dire situation at the start of the fight with Moreau, forcing players to carefully time the transition between each scaffold to avoid becoming Moreau's next snack. This is without a doubt one of the scariest designs for an aquatic creature ever resident Evil has ever produced, but it also gets bonus points for the intense boss fight, which makes good use of water traversal and light puzzles.

5 Hunter Gamma

The hunter Gamma stays in deep waters before unexpectedly attacking his prey

The Hunter Gamma is an alternative form of the original Hunter designed for aquatic environments. Therefore, they usually lurk in puddles of water or appear in the sewers below Raccoon City. While some of them have long arms that help them catch their prey, others simply attack Jill and attempt to swallow her whole with their huge mouths.

Not only do they look incredibly annoying, but the Hunter Gamma's tough skin and surprising speed make him one of the most fearsome opponents Jill encounters Resident Evil 3. They may not be quite as popular as the original Hunters, but the Hunter Gamma is still a memorable enemy of both originals Resident Evil 3 and its remake.

4 Malacoda

The series' biggest arc could have destroyed entire cities if it reached land

For many Resident Evil RevelationsPlayers travel through a massive ship called the Queen Zenobia, although on their first playthrough no one could have expected that one of the game's bosses would be a creature even larger than the ship itself. The largest BOW in the entire series, Malacoda is a worm-like parasite that sprouts from the sea to try and destroy the BSAA for good.

The most disturbing thing about this sea monster is that it continues to grow indefinitely. That means if Chris and Jill hadn't stopped it, it might have come to the surface one day and spread chaos across the world. The size of this beast, its fearsome design, and the epic battle that accompanies it make it one of the best aquatic creatures players will encounter in any game.

3 Giant alligator

Alligators can be scary enough, but when you triple them, the scare factor increases significantly

The giant alligators are a cruel boss enemy that appear shortly after players make their way into the sewers Resident Evil 2. Seemingly out of nowhere, this gigantic, semi-aquatic creature lunges at Leon and attempts to tear him in two, all the while navigating his lumbering body through the narrow passageways of the sewers.

While the design is definitely special, the giant alligator also stands out for how unexpected it is. Although there are a few small hints that something big is lurking beneath the surface of Raccoon City, seeing this thing come around the corner without warning is enough to scare even the most seasoned horror veteran.

2 Neptune

A somewhat normal looking aquatic enemy that is still extremely fearsome

It's hard to ever forget the moment when Neptune tries to crash through the glass while trying to drain the water in the first moment resident Evil Game. While Neptune may seem fairly normal compared to the other aquatic monsters that appear in the series, that's largely because he was viewed as a failure by the scientists who experimented on him with the sound virus.

Nonetheless, it made him significantly more hostile and aggressive, as evidenced by how relentlessly he tries to get to the player by any means possible, even if he ends up hurting his own body in the process. In order for players to finally get rid of him, they'll need to interact with a few panels before finally electrocuting the big beast.

1 Del Lago

Del Lago is a prime example of how parasites can transform innocent animals into unrecognizable monstrosities

Believe it or not, the gigantic sea creature Leon encounters as he attempts to cross the village lake was once little more than a salamander. However, when Saddler and his cult members infected the village and its inhabitants with Las Plagas, the infection spread to the wildlife, with this particular salamander becoming a giant version of its former self with razor-sharp teeth and an incredible appetite.

At the beginning of the game, it is even shown that the villagers occasionally feed Del Lago dead corpses to satisfy his hunger. Del Lago becomes one of the trickiest bosses ever Resident Evil 4 Players must try to take it down with harpoon fire as it drags Leon's small boat around an obstacle course. It's a creature that stands out not only for its size, but also because it's a prime example of how the viruses and infections depicted in the series can mutate innocent animals beyond recognition.