If you’re a product of the 90s and early 2000s, you might remember one of the most iconic kids’ game shows ever, Legends of the Hidden Temple. As iconic as it was, it was also nightmare-inducing. Teams of kids battled through physical and mental challenges for a shot at the Temple Run at the end of the game. Naturally, Nickelodeon did everything possible to permanently scar not only the contestants but audiences watching.
The Temple Guards—controlled by Olmec, a giant rock statue, and hidden so that they could jump scare the kids in an attempt to eliminate them—were one of the scariest creatures the Nickelodeon staff could’ve produced. Sure, they’re just people in suits, but imagine being a disoriented child in the dark, exhausted from excruciating challenges and a long filming day.
Even viewing them from the comfort of home on my living room couch got my heart pumping. Keeli, a contestant on the show who competed on the “Stone Marker of Leif Erickson” episode, recalled her terrifying encounters with the Temple Guards in an interview with SBNation. Keeli, who was 12 on the show, says they “are the scariest thing imaginable. Nothing is scarier, and I will stand by that statement until the day I die.”
The Temple Guards From ‘Legends of the Hidden Temple’ Were Basically Nickelodeon’s Child-Sized Horror Villains
Nick Borey, who competed on the show in 1993, recalled a similar fright in an interview with PEOPLE.
“I got to do the silver monkey, which is every millennial kid’s dream, and I ran through the whole thing,” he says. “In my head, every room I went into, I thought the same thing: ‘Please, no temple guard.’”
Of course, the Temple Guards were unpredictable. They could appear at any time, so you’d better hope you got an easy route and were quick on your feet.
“It worked up until a temple guard came out. I didn’t think much of it at the time,” he continues. “I got scared and jumped out of the temple. I’m the only one who ever jumped out of the temple from being scared. Then, the game was over.”
Out of 120 episodes, only 32 teams won the Temple Run. But unless you’re a diehard Legends of the Hidden Temple fan, most people only remember how traumatizing those men in masks really were.
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