The Witch is a fictional monster in the Left 4 Dead series of video games.
When asked of the story of the Witch, Left 4 Dead writer Chet Faliszek responded that she is "singular with her obsession" and that she punishes people who disturb her until she runs away to find a place to be alone again.[1] In Left 4 Dead 2, the Witch was given a variation where, during the day, she would walk around, hand held in her hands.[2]
The Witch has become a fan favorite among Left 4 Dead fans.[3] Writer Ben Richardson noted her as one of the most unique aspects of Left 4 Dead.[4] She was listed among the best video game monsters by GameSpot, while Paste Magazine's Carli Velocci included her in her list of the scariest video game monsters due to a combination of the stress from having to control gunfire and the music that plays when she is near.[5][6] A reader poll by The Telegraph ranked Witch as one of the scariest video game monsters.[7] Mashable writer Lauren Hockenson called disturbing the Witch one of the more stressful moments in video games, while writer Bobby Bernstein called the fear he experienced from the Witch "unrivaled."[8][9] GameCrate's Rachel Sharpton called her crying one of the scariest sounds in video games and Game Revolution called her one of the scariest video game enemies for how powerful she is.[10][11] In her discussion of the addition of female enemies to games, GamesRadar Zoe Delahunty-Lightpraised the Witch for being a "monstrous" female enemy whose monstrosity is not based on her gender.[12] Fellow GamesRadar writers Andy Hartup and Ashley Reed called her one of the best video game witches, though noted that she was not actually a witch.[13]