As an FPS open-world game with survival elements, Far Cry's presence of animals is a staple in the challenging franchise. There are various animals across the games; some are prey animals and could be hunted for pelts and upgrade materials, while others are much harder to take down due to their predatory nature. Far Cry's survival formula doesn't make animals a breeze to deal with.

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They aren't just world props, they are actual hazards in the game that will fight back when provoked. Some animals don't even need to be disturbed to charge towards the players. All the animals across the Far Cry games behave differently from one another, making each species uniquely dangerous. With that being said, here are the hardest animals to kill in the Far Cry franchise.

Updated on May 5, 2021, by Reyadh Rahaman: These animals in real life can be quite dangerous as well, despite humans being much more deadly to the natural world through global urbanization and pollution. Every year, humans and other animals come face to face in hostiles situations that can result in severe injuries or death. The Far Cry games often do a great job at portraying the intensity of such encounters and the consequences of doing battle with mighty beasts.

10 Eagle

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Eagles in Far Cry don't act like normal eagles at all. This majestic predatory bird can be seen carrying whole deer and pigs into the air. Sometimes, the players would only ever spot an eagle if one swoops in and invades their first-person perspective, clawing them with its sharp talons.

This giant bird comes out of nowhere and deals decent damage to players. They are also really hard to hit when they're up in the air; shooting this bird down takes precise aim and focus. When a group of armed NPCs are seen spraying bullets into the air, that means there's an eagle nearby. When someone screams "eagle! eagle!" it's best to stay alert.

While eagles are not often dangerous to humans in real life, there have been some reported cases of African species of eagle, particularly the African crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) and martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), attacking human children and there have been nests of these species found with the bones of small humans in them.

9 Komodo Dragon

A komodo dragon in Far Cry 3

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a beast of a lizard that would gnash everyone in its path. Its scales give it a decent amount of armor, and its size can still conceal it in tall grass. These oversized reptiles can strike out of nowhere, but once found, they are also really hard to exterminate.

These fast-moving freaks have quite the powerful venom, making their bites deadly. These guys sometimes hunt in packs, so it's possible one dragon is working in concert with others as they attack the player.

Thankfully, in the real world, Komodo dragons live in relatively humanless regions of the globe upon a few islands, which means that attacks from them are very low. However, in 2012, an elderly resident of Rinca Island, in the West Manggarai regency, was bitten by a dragon while preparing food for her livestock. She luckily managed to escape the huge monitor lizard and later received treatment for her wounds with no long-lasting injuries.

8 Honey Badger

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Honey Badgers (Mellivora capensis) are the chihuahua equivalent of the untamed animal kingdom. They are small and furry, yet aggressive and fiendish. They will attack in groups, and given their small size, are relatively hard to spot compared to other animals. They are also way harder to hit.

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A single honey badger can cause a whole enemy camp to go into a frenzy trying to kill it. But that's just Ubisoft enemies being Ubisoft enemies. Nonetheless, honey badgers aren't afraid to munch on things bigger than them. When tasked to hunt the rare honey badger in Far Cry 4players accepting the mission are asked "are you REALLY sure?" followed by "Are you mad?" then "Any last words?"

These carnivorous mammals are insanely territorial and almost impossible to take down by conventional means. Their loose, thick skin prevents sharp objects, even arrows and spears, from being able to penetrate their hide. Attacks by them against people are not common, as humans are simply too large to be their prey, but any that occur would be very bad for a human unless they have a solid firearm and lots of ammo.

7 Shark

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Aquatic predators are much harder to kill than predators on land or air. This is because players can't use weapons when swimming, leaving them vulnerable to be eaten alive by sea beasts. Sharks plague the waters of Far Cry 3They have a lot of health, and can only be attacked from land or on a boat.

This allows them to get the distance advantage to avoid being killed. If the player does manage to get himself stuck at sea, he most likely will be ripped apart by a shark. Hitting the right quick-time buttons will prevent the shark from eating the players alive, in turn, killing the shark with a machete.

In 2020, there were 57 confirmed global cases of unprovoked shark attacks with 10 of those being fatal. This is spread across attacks by all species of these undersea undertakers, however, most are from American waters (33 attacks, 3 fatal) and Australian coastlines (18 attacks, 6 fatal). While this seems pretty bad, humans undeniably kill tremendously more sharks. It is clear who are the real predators when one looks at figures that show mankind, on average, kills about 100 million sharks every year.

6 Crocodile

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Crocodiles thrive both on land and in the sea. Because of this, their attacks are unpredictable. Players can be walking on the seashore one moment, and they can be mauled by a huge reptile the next. Players always have to be ready for quick-time events because of crocodiles.

The reason crocodiles are so hard to kill is because players rarely spot them until they start getting chewed up by one. They are hidden pretty well and have quite the scales for armor. Players must have the essential health upgrades before taking one on as to not get shredded to pieces.

These gargantuan reptiles are one of the more dangerous to encounter, even in real life, as about 1,000 people are killed by crocodiles each year the world over. It's best to keep away from murky shallows in warmer parts of the world, as these behemoths can lie just below the surface and do not appreciate humans intruding upon their space.

5 Elephants

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Elephants are the gentle but giant beasts of the Far Cry franchise. Unless provoked, they will not go on a manslaughtering rampage. However, if as so much as a bullet pierces their tank-like skin, then that elephant will charge straight on into the hunters like a huge car crash, hammering their skulls into the ground with his trunk.

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Elephants can flip over cars like a rampaging Hulk. Players can ride elephants and crush an enemy outpost, but, if players want some elephant hide, they're going to have to go through a lot to take one down. In Far Cry Primalthese beasts take on the form of prehistoric Mammoths.

In the real world, elephants can sometimes cause a lot of death and destruction if an aggressive bull strolls into rural towns that often have no defense against such huge creatures. It is estimated that between 100 and 500 people are killed by elephants each year, with these taking place in both Africa and Asia.

4 Bears

Bears are much smaller than elephants and hence, are more agile. However, they are still tanky and beastly enough to flip virtual cars over. They pin people to the ground before gnashing at them. Players not only have to watch out for their sharp claws but also have to avoid being pinned by an angry bear.

This will trigger a quick-time event that will significantly chew off players' health. These furry behemoths have a lot of hitpoints. This, combined with their high damage output, make bears well-rounded killing machines that are very hard to take down.

As far as land predators go, bears are some of the strongest animals in the world. They have a mix of speed, power, and resilience and are a threat to even armed humans in the real world. Thankfully, they are also quite intelligent and know to avoid humans more than attack them, however, conflicts still occur that result in about 3 people in North America being killed by black bears (Ursus americanus), brown bears (Ursus arctos), and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) every year. Players are lucky there aren't any water bears, otherwise known as tardigrades (Phylum Tardigrada), in the games, as these microscopic beasts could be formidable enemies that are nearly indestructible.

3 Sabretooth Tigers

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Even a fully upgraded player will have a hard time taking down these beasts. Sabretooth tigers are ferocious prehistoric predators that strike out of nowhere. They are fast, agile, and they can absorb a lot of damage. These wild cats are found in Far Cry Primal, at the top of the food chain. They are quick for their size, and they can pin neanderthals to the ground, clawing and biting as its victim's life flashes before his eyes.

Sabretooth tigers are the apex predators of the animal kingdom. Taking just one down is like an unexpected boss fight. It's made even harder given the limitations of stone-age weapons in the game. Taming one is a huge advantage since these cats can be ridden and are faster than anything on land.

Just like the characters in Far Cry Primal, early humans likely had much to fear when dealing with these powerful felines. Primitive people would likely have had to compete with sabertooth tigers for prey, which would have brought them into direct conflict. It could only be speculated how many human and tiger deaths were traded in these hostile interactions, though, the number is probably quite high.

2 Rhinoceros

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Rhinos are the armor-plated ramming machines of the animal kingdom. If the mammals were on a hero selection screen, the rhino would be placed under the tank classification. Rhinos behave a lot like elephants; they charge head-on into the pesky humans, overturning cars and squashing enemies. The only difference is rhinos are smaller and cannot be tamed under any circumstance.

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A rhino absorbs assault rifle sprays like a sponge, it's too dangerous to get close to it with a shotgun, and it can quickly traverse the effective distance of a sniper. Rhinos are also resistant to explosives, making this horned behemoth one of the hardest animals to kill in Far Cry. However, this tanky monstrosity doesn't hold a candle to the next item on this list.

Despite being one of the most dangerous in the Far Cry games, rhinos in real-life pose very few threats to humans. Only 1 or 2 attacks by them are reported every year, with these most often being non-fatal. Though, this does not mean that they should ever be approached in the wild, as they can be equally as destructive as their video game counterparts for similar reasons.

1 Yeti

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Legend speaks of huge man-eating abominations whose steps cause tremors in the earth. Their size towers over even the tallest of giraffes. Their roars resonate for miles, striking fear into the farthest villages. Their strength overpowers that of the mightiest rhinoceros and elephants, trampling houses with ease. People cursed by ingesting the Elixir experience a horrible transformation, turning them into these ape-like behemoths.

Yetis are hard-hitting giants exclusive to Far Cry 4: Valley of the Yetis. They move quickly, thus escaping on wheels is of no help. They turn over trailer trucks like humans topple tables. They squash people like ants. They can unearth a mass of rock and hurl it at their foes. Not even the heaviest of weaponry can take a Yeti down. The most effective way is to take two anti-vehicle rounds, the same rounds that make trucks explode in one hit, and perfectly headshot a Yeti twice with it.

In Tibetan, "Yeti" derives from terms that mean "bear", "man", and "wild", which are all appropriate given the appearance and nature of this beast. The oldest tales about them date back to before the 19th century and tell of a "Glacier Being" that was considered to be the god of the hunt for those who follow the Bön religion, a pre-Buddhist faith in Tibet.

NEXT: Every Far Cry Game, Ranked