Demon hunters are some of the edgiest and broodiest characters in gaming. And if pop culture has taught us anything, it's that edgy and broody characters tend to be the most competent. Sadly, this stereotype doesn't apply to all demon hunters. Some demon hunters in certain video game franchises have a less than stellar track record; they failed to live up to their title as a demon hunter, whether perceived or official.
Hence, despite looking like hardened edgelords, they became more of a punching bag for demons instead of fulfilling their jobs. Sadly, one can't just ignore the blunders of these demon hunters. Their task is no menial one; continued failure usually means the end of the world. These demon hunters in gaming need to get their head in the game and reflect on their professional capacity.
7 Illidan Stormrage (Warcraft Series)
Illidan Stormrage is officially a "Demon Hunter" in his game's lore. However, what he did and kept doing, starting with events in Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos, makes him one of the worst demon hunters in existence. He not only failed at hunting demons, but he also became a demon himself by consuming Gul-Dan's powers.
Granted, he did it in order to defeat another demon or a Dreadlord, but afterward, he even entered the servitude of yet another demon named Kil'Jaeden. Apparently, it was his ploy to learn more about the Burning Legion; but even he failed miserably at this after Arthas or the Lich King defeated him.
6 Tyrael (Diablo Series)
Tyrael is an angel, but seeing as he keeps using proxy demon hunters in order to extinguish the Diablo bros, he's technically a demon hunter himself. The worst part about his demon hunting activities is that he never goes all-in in order to stay on Heaven's good side. Except even this tiptoeing failed and Heaven cast him down; so all that proxy-warring with Diablo in Sanctuary didn't mean much for his allegiance to Heaven.
Looking back on his activity in Diablo 2, Tyrael should have picked a more active role. And even when he secretly did that, he still couldn't stop a weakened Diablo from crossing a bridge. Come Diablo 3, Tyrael has become a blasphemy of his former self, all because he refused to dirty his hands with all the demon hunting despite wanting to do it badly.
5 Space Marines (Warhammer 40k Franchise)
The gene-modified Space Marines— also known as potential Chaos recruits, are all about exterminating heretics and enemies of the Immortal God Emperor. It just so happens that their worst enemy is Chaos and its daemons who seek to corrupt everything so that their four bickering diva gods can have worshippers, since they crave validation so badly.
In any case, even a hardened faction of Space Marines is typically no match for such a fickle and unpredictable enemy. The worst part is that plenty of these Space Marine members keep defecting to Chaos— the very demons they were supposed to hunt. Who could blame them, though? The God Emperor's dystopian policies probably caused too high an inflation; suddenly those sadomasochistic Chaos afterparties don't look too bad.
4 Chosen Undead (Dark Souls)
Technically, the Chosen Undead's goal is to become a kindling or a king, but they get to slay so many demon bosses along the way that they might as well moonlight as a demon hunter. In fact, the very first boss the Chosen Undead will face in Dark Souls is the Asylum Demon. It's safe to say that almost everyone in their first playthrough of Dark Souls bumbled around against the one.
Because the game cruelly pits the players against the Asylum Demon with a broken sword. It's up to the players to find a way around it. But knowing a lot of first-time Souls fans, too many players probably tried to fight. Beyond the Asylum Demon, there's also the Taurus Demon, Capra Demon, Demon Firesage, Stray Demon, and the sisters of Izalith that likely were each slain after more than a few tries. Come on, admit it!
3 The Hashira (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles)
Hailing from Demon Slayer: Kimestru no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles, the Hashira are supposed to be the elite among the titular Demon Slayer corps. However, their interpersonal grievances, ego, and elitism have led to a rather inefficient way of dealing with demons. Because instead of training the rest of the corps in bulk to get them up to standards, the Hashira insist on tackling demons head-on, usually on their own.
At least, that's the case for their anime lore. Their game adaptation is just a fighting title in the same vein as Street Fighter, but it uses the same lore as the anime. In any case, the Hashira's rather un-strategic mode of operation has led to their getting picked off by demons one-by-one. Instead of a squad of Hashira's ganging up on one demon, they decided the best way to fight a much stronger opponent is to 1v1 them.
2 Night Sentinels (Doom: Eternal)
Doom: Eternal has vastly expanded the Doom Slayer lore, and it turns out there are more of his kind in the form of the Night Sentinels. They're the lesser versions of the main man, and they have less anger issues. But that's not what made them incompetent enough to let the demons win and take over Earth.
They have too much politics within their group, and this has led to betrayals where some of them contributed to Hell's victory. The funny part is that all their combined efforts and what little peacekeeping standards they have, all those still paled in comparison to what one man (the Doom Slayer) can do. Nothing else proclaims that the Night Sentinels are not needed anymore than the Doom Slayer's existence.
1 Vigilants Of Stendarr (Skyrim)
The Vigilants of Stendarr in Skyrim are bonafide Daedra hunters. The Daedra are practically the demons and devils of the Elder Scrolls mythos. These guys very much count as demon slayers; except they shouldn't because they couldn't even detect Daedric activity if it sat on their faces. Their base of operations was literally a stone's throw away from a shrine of Mehrunes Dagon (basically Satan among the Daedric Princes).
One of the reasons they're so terrible at their job is because it's not exactly their profession. Demon hunting to the Vigilants of Stendarr is just a hobby, so that explains their incompetence compared to the Dawnguard. Still, one can't help but feel sorry for these clueless fools who just walk into demon traps just so players can have a fancy mace.