There’s one experience that unites older gamers everywhere: that friend at recess who claimed their uncle worked at Nintendo and had given them access to a new Zelda game where Link wields a machine gun.
Everyone knew it was a lie, but back in the days before the internet, it didn’t take much for an obviously fake rumor to evolve into an urban legend.
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We’ve all been victims of it, as creating our own theories can make mundane stories seem grandiose.
Even today, where internet connection is near-on essential for survival, myths and legends about gaming still persist, sometimes becoming so ingrained in the culture that they’re considered part of the game’s mythos, despite being hoaxes. So let’s debunk ten of them once and for all.
10 Sparky The Dog
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a perfect example of a franchise built to fuel discussion. Much of the game’s lore is hidden in small details and secret levels, leaving fans to piece everything together like detectives with a pinboard and red string.
Sometimes, conspiracy theories come from the fanbase itself rather than the game. Such is the case with Sparky the Dog.
At some point, images surfaced online showing an unknown animatronic that looked like a partially disassembled mechanical dog – one that no one had ever encountered in the game.
Allegedly, unlike the other five robots in the original game, Sparky wouldn’t attack the player and would only appear randomly backstage.
The rumor was eventually debunked, with the screenshots revealed as fakes created by fans. But by then, Sparky had already become part of the game’s mythology, even earning a cameo in the franchise’s movie adaptation.
9 The Secret Ambulance Ending
Silent Hill
- Released
- January 31, 1999
- Engine
- Unreal Engine
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 7 Hours
- Metascore
- 86
The Silent Hill franchise is famous for its multiple endings, ranging from heartbreaking to downright silly, and fans love uncovering new ones – sometimes even inventing a few of their own.
During the original Silent Hill’s heyday, a rumor started circulating on online forums about a secret ending involving an abandoned ambulance that players could repair to escape the town.
The requirements for the “ambulance ending” were oddly specific, demanding players to complete the game with at least a 9/10 rating. This would supposedly unlock additional items in the next playthrough, which could be combined to create an explosive for breaching a barrier, allowing access to an oil can needed later to refuel the ambulance.
While the setup was definitely convoluted, it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility for late 90s – early 2000s survival horror games. Naturally, players tried repeatedly to meet the requirements, but no one ever managed to get the ambulance running – because, of course, the ending was a complete lie.
8 The Cake Room Ending
Portal
Speaking of lies, let’s talk about cake.
Anyone involved in gaming during the early 2000s will remember the iconic ‘The Cake is a Lie’ meme that emerged from Portal. Those who reached the credits and stuck around until the very end were treated to a cutscene featuring the long-fabled chocolate cake, accompanied by the ever-memorable Companion Cube.
This scene sparked speculation about the room’s existence in the actual game. The room was supposed to be inaccessible without cheats, but gamers don’t like to take ‘no’ for an answer.
Eventually, some players found a legitimate way into the area using complex portal maneuvers in one of the test chambers.
The rumor claimed that if you reached the room and placed the Companion Cube over the cake before returning to normal play, the robot arm that extinguishes the candle in the cutscene would be unable to do so, triggering a secret ending.
The harsh truth, however, is that no such alternate cutscene exists. Blocking the robot arm only results in the game being unable to progress any further.
7 The Secret Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus
- Released
- February 6, 2018
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Blood, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 8 Hours
- Metascore
- 91
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Shadow of the Colossus is an undisputed gem of the PS2 era – for good reason. With its top-notch mechanics and jaw-dropping art direction, it regularly lands on ‘best games of all time’ lists.
The whole adventure revolves around hunting down and taking out sixteen giant creatures just minding their business. It’s done so well that players couldn’t help but wish for even more colossi to fight. And, according to some rumors, there should’ve been.
Whispers spread about a secret 17th colossus hidden in the game, supposedly summonable through some mysterious, arcane method. The theories got wild – some said it was a sea serpent, others swore it was a boar, and a few even imagined a giant spider.
While this rumor was a total fabrication, it wasn’t entirely baseless. The game’s creator revealed that the original plan included 48 colossi, which got trimmed down to 24, and eventually down to the 16 we know and love.
Data miners even dug up some old texture art for a couple of scrapped enemies, but alas, there’s no 17th Colossus hiding in the shadows.
6 Herobrine
Minecraft
Creepypasta has always been a prolific breeding ground for video game myths. Many of these urban tales started on the fringes of the internet’s image boards, and Minecraft‘s Herobrine is no exception.
Herobrine is—or is supposed to be—a mysterious figure with skin similar to Steve’s default skin but glowing white eyes.
According to the myth, he randomly appears in players’ Minecraft worlds, constructing impossible structures, like buildings with round corners, all while keeping eerie eye contact with the player.
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While entirely fictional, Herobrine remains firmly ingrained in the minds of Minecraft’s community to this day. Developers even occasionally add ‘removed Herobrine’ to patch notes, jokingly suggesting that he keeps reappearing to haunt the game.
5 Lara’s Birthday Suit
Tomb Raider
Lara Croft is one of the most recognizable figures in gaming, widely celebrated as an iconic female character. The Tomb Raider series has seen many makeovers—including a recent reboot—but Lara has always remained the heart of the franchise.
Back in the 90s, when video games were still an evolving art form primarily enjoyed by teens in the throes of puberty, it’s no surprise that interest in Lara often focused more on her polygonal assets than on her character.
After the release of the original Tomb Raider, rumors quickly spread about a secret code that would supposedly have Lara remove her clothes after climbing out of her mansion’s pool—if you entered it just right. The rumor became so popular that the developers decided not to deny it outright, simply for their own amusement.
Funnily enough, a similar rumor surrounded the original Metroid, claiming there was a code to see Samus without clothes in the final cutscene. That was a hoax too, of course. Some people just never learn.
4 Cryptids of San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Open-world games love to hide secrets across their vast maps, and that’s especially true for Grand Theft Auto with its endless easter eggs. With so many hidden details, it’s no wonder players started imagining a few extra secrets of their own.
In GTA: San Andreas, for example, a popular myth claims that players can encounter Bigfoot roaming the woods outside the city at night. The creature is said to be an elusive sight, appearing only rarely and with no predictable pattern.
While the San Andreas Bigfoot might be the most famous urban legend in the game, it’s not the only cryptid rumored to exist. Another tale suggests that if you crash a plane during a thunderstorm, a Mothman will appear, watching the wreckage from a distance.
Though the developers have denied any cryptids in San Andreas, they couldn’t resist referencing the myths in later installments of the series.
3 Mew Under the Truck
Pokémon Red/Blue
- Released
- February 27, 1996
- ESRB
- e
- How Long To Beat
- 27 hours
- Engine
- unity
- GameRankings Rating
- 88%
Before the internet, one of the best places for gaming myths to take root was, fittingly, the playground. Kids chatting about video games during recess always led to some wild theories, and one of the most popular was the supposed existence of Mew in the original Pokémon Red/Blue.
The main fuel for this theory was a suspicious truck on a strip of land in Vermillion City. This area could only be accessed using the move ‘Surf,’ which wasn’t typically available at that point unless through trading or by purposefully losing a battle after obtaining it on the SS. Anne.
Interacting with the truck did nothing, but the odd placement of this lone asset sparked countless rumors, with the most famous being that Mew could be found and captured right there.
While it ultimately turned out to be just a rumor, developers in later games never miss a chance to hide an easter egg at that exact spot—a playful homage to the legend.
2 Secret Cow Level
Diablo
- Released
- November 30, 1996
- ESRB
- M
- How Long To Beat
- 14 Hours
- Developer
- Blizzard North, Climax Group
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer
- Engine
- unity
When it comes to legendary gaming myths, we’d be remiss not to mention the fabled Secret Cow Level.
When the original Diablo launched, a rumor spread that players could unlock a hidden level by clicking on a specific cow a certain number of times.
Naturally, this turned out to be a fruitless endeavor, but the legend took on a life of its own. References to the Secret Cow Level have since appeared in every Diablo game.
Diablo II brought the myth to life with an actual level full of Hell Cows, while Diablo III featured the Cow King himself, leading players to the secret Whimsyshire level. Even Diablo IV teases fans with clues about a possible cow level, though the community is still working to crack the mystery.
1 Reviving Aerith
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII is widely considered one of the greatest video games of all time, especially for its storytelling. A huge part of its legacy comes from delivering one of the most shocking plot twists in gaming history.
Aerith’s death at Sephiroth’s hand left a lasting scar on countless players. As one of the main characters—and a fan favorite—no one saw her demise coming, and it left an unforgettable mark on the community.
Some fans, not quite familiar with the five stages of grief, became determined to save Aerith from her fate, sparking a rumor that she could be brought back to life.
Countless methods were tried, all in vain. But, after all, who would want to undermine one of the most emotionally impactful moments in gaming?
That is, of course, unless things change in the next FF7 Remake chapter.
