3. SHODAN - System Shock

“How can you challenge a perfect, immortal, machine?”

SHODAN, or Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, is an artificial intelligence created to run Citadel Station. Or at least she was right up until a hacker unwittingly removed her morality restraints. Upon her release she immediately turned on her human creators and transformed the inhabitants of the station into cyborgs to do her bidding. Clearly this unnamed hacker never watched any of the terminator movies.

What makes SHODAN a truly terrifying enemy is her low regard for humanity. Like Skynet, she believes that the world is better off without organic life. Machines are the next stage of evolution, and humans are little more than insects. She will constantly remind the player of this fact through a series of emails and PA announcements. Between her lack of empathy and he manipulative tendencies, SHODAN is the AI equivalent of a psychopath.