The Most Bizarre Hogwarts Legacy Mods

AAA games often deliver unique and exciting experiences that fans spend a long time waiting to enjoy. The hype for major releases is real, but after launch, one thing that helps keep games alive is the modding scene that surrounds them. Despite a ton of controversy over the game, fans were thrilled for "Hogwarts Legacy" to debut, and now that it has, they're diving straight into changing the title as much as possible.

There are dozens of mods for the title, and they have major impacts on both the best and worst parts of "Hogwarts Legacy." Of course, graphics-focused mods abound, with some addressing the game's shading and textures and others making adjustments that help the game's performance. Then there are mods that help players tear through the experience as quickly as possible by toning down the difficulty or unlocking spells early.

These are the types of mods that you expect to see for almost every new release, but they're far from the only things fans have thrown at the wall. Some mods make adjustments to the game that will leave you scratching your head wondering who exactly would want that change and why anyone would go through the effort to implement it. Sometimes those exercises in absurdism turn out to be exactly what you never knew you wanted for your own gameplay experience. Decide for yourself by pursuing what are truly the most bizarre "Hogwart Legacy" mods out there.

For everything that "Hogwarts Legacy" does right, it can't avoid making a few mistakes. One of the most common complaints about the game is that the developers clearly didn't make enemy variety a major priority. After a while battles become stale because there aren't very many surprises to be encountered.

Luckily mods can solve that problem with ease, though they might not make the fix in a way that anyone would expect. One mod boldly makes the claim that the real problem with the game is that the enemies are always the same size. It randomizes the size of creatures throughout the title, so players never know if they'll be stumbling into a cat that's the size of a human or squaring off against a group of spiders that are the size of actual spiders.

That mod doesn't truly solve the variety problem, but others absolutely do. When fighting Inferi becomes a mundane task, players can swap them all out with ferocious, sentient hotdogs. If spider battles just really aren't exciting anymore, it's time to turn them into extra-large hamburgers. These mods will give the game's combat a much-needed mix-up and give its players a serious case of the munchies.

"Hogwarts Legacy" doesn't offer players the chance to become a Quidditch star, and that might be the most disappointing part of the entire game. Headmaster Phineas Black explains at the beginning of the narrative that Quidditch has been suspended for the year, but what makes the suspension even more frustrating is that the title still lets players fly around on broomsticks, and the flying mechanics are superb.

Unfortunately, modders haven't developed a Quidditch system of their own – yet – but they have found some creative ways to spice up those flying segments. There's already a huge variety of brooms in the game, but they all boil down to being fancy home cleaning tools. Some modders don't like sweeping, so they've upgraded and fly around on vacuum cleaners instead. Others prefer a ride that's a bit more absurd, and they've found a reliable way to travel the Wizarding World on Shrek's back.

For any players who are tired of brooms, but prefer their mods to be ever so slightly less immersion-breaking, there's an option that's almost in canon. It's possible to swap out a broom for Arthur Weasley's flying car. As long as you don't fly it too close to the Whomping Willow, it'll be a trusty ride throughout the game.

Since the very first "Harry Potter" movie Hogwarts has always been a visually stunning place to visit. From the grounds, where the Forbidden Forest sweeps past the castle and massive towers rise about the scenery, to the interior, where moving staircases and animated paintings leap into view, the entire place is a feast for the eyes.

Some modders have decided to leave their own mark on Hogwarts' decor. The living paintings might impress some muggles, but really who wants to stop and have a conversation with stuffy historical figures from centuries past? What would really make the castle walls come to life would be painting after painting of Nicolas Cage. Sure, students in the 1800s might not recognize him, but that doesn't make the man any less photogenic.

The only problem with the Nic Cage mod is that it ruins the truly magical aspect of Hogwarts's many paintings. It would be much better to have some custom, modern-day images that still come to life when the students pass them. Well, burgeoning interior designers, look no further than the Vtuber mod, which replaces all the boring moving pictures with over a hundred animated characters. Sure it's a little anachronistic, but it still counts as tasteful art.

"Hogwarts Legacy" entirely succeeds at delivering an engaging combat system that takes advantage of the many spells in the Wizarding World. The game's combat is better than anything "Harry Potter" has seen before, and it manages to make every battle feel like real magic, rather than just a series of multicolored gunshots flying between combatants.

That said, some players really just want to pull out a trusted sidearm and blast their foes away. Luckily, there's a mod that lets players swap their wand for an 1851 Colt revolver and take to the streets as a 19th-century gunslinger. The mod doesn't actually change how combat in the game works, but it makes quick drawing on some poachers that much more satisfying.

Of course, if you're already going to the effort to replace your wand with a gun, why limit yourself to weapons that the player character could presumably have access to? The Magic Gun mod says to hell with historical accuracy and puts a Glock 19 in the palm of your hand. Magical creatures and enemies might not run in fear at the sight of the weapon, but that's only because they've yet to learn how destructive it can be. Lock 'n load, and let them find out.

In the world of "Harry Potter," the wand chooses the wizard, but in "Hogwarts Legacy" it's the other way around. There's a plethora of options when it comes to wand customization, and even though the options are all purely cosmetic, designing a wand is still one of the most important choices a player will make in the game. A player's wand sticks with them through the entire title, and understandably some players are going to become very attached to the thing that keeps them alive through countless battles.

Others won't have such a close relationship to their magical sidearm, though, and for them, the lure of mods will be too strong to resist. After all, no matter how beautiful a fully customized wand might look, it simply can't stand up to the awe-inspiring glow of a lightsaber. The lightsaber wands mod gives players access to a handful of classic "Star Wars" designs, including the famous crossguard style wielded by Kylo Ren. When it comes to using those sabers, players will still be waving them to sling spells at their opponents, but they'll be looking cooler than ever while they do it.

The character creator in "Hogwarts Legacy" has a bevy of options that allow players to create the protagonist of their dreams. With a little patience, it's possible to recreate your own face and play through the game as though you're actually a student at Hogwarts. It's also easy enough to recreate other people or characters, and thanks to mods even people without a knack for manipulating face-shape sliders can play as anyone they want.

Bringing Spider-Man to Hogwarts might bend the "Harry Potter" cannon enough that it breaks in half, but it's still a possibility (and Peter's suit looks pretty great with the graphics on display in "Hogwarts Legacy"). It's just as easy to bring some classic video game characters to everyone's favorite magical school. One mod transforms the player character into CJ from "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."

Another mod borrows a character from "Harry Potter" and transports him to Hogwarts several decades early. With just a little work it's possible to walk the halls as Voldemort himself. Installing the mod might throw the entire "Harry Potter" timeline into disarray, but at least it makes taking full advantage of the Unforgivable Curses even more realistic.

Customization is at the forefront of so much in "Hogwarts Legacy." After creating a character, players will have the opportunity to craft their own wand, and later they'll get access to the Room of Requirement, which can be completely tricked out to suit a player's in-game needs and general sense of style. Along the way, the game dishes out a steady supply of other cosmetics, like cloaks, hats, and masks.

There might be more than enough in-game gear for players to collect, but that hasn't stopped modders from adding custom cosmetics of their own. Some mods add items that were sorely missing from the base game. Portkey Games obviously ran out of time before adding in the wearable cat ears or platform crocs that were clearly meant to be in "Hogwarts Legacy" from the start. Other mods import some fan-favorite items from different franchises, like Master Chief's helmet or Kakashi's Anbu mask from "Naruto." And "Harry Potter" fans who just can't get enough can also use mods to grab some of their favorite accessories from the movies, like Luna Lovegood's unforgettable Spectrespecs.

The team at Portkey Games paid incredible attention to small details while crafting "Hogwarts Legacy." The castle has never felt more alive than it does here, and every time you boot up the game and walk around, you're sure to discover something new. The developer deserves serious praise, but that doesn't mean that it managed to create a perfectly immersive wizarding school.

Modders are doing their best to make life at Hogwarts even more realistic than it already is. A sweeping mod overhauls the NPC AI and changes the schedule that named characters follow throughout their days and weeks at Hogwarts. With the mod installed, students will return to their common rooms at night while professors walk the halls. During the day, everyone will attend classes on a regular schedule, and when they have some downtime on the weekend they'll wander over to Hogsmeade to scope out the shops. NPCs are already good at keeping themselves busy in whatever area they currently occupy, so this one simple mod really makes the castle and its inhabitants feel alive.

Players don't just encounter hostile creatures as they make their way through "Hogwarts Legacy." The world is overflowing with animals both magical and mundane. In addition to Hippogriffs, Thestrals, and Nibblers, players will also encounter the pets of Hogwarts students, which most often are rats, frogs, and cats.

It's possible to put your thumb on the scale and make magical creatures just a bit more common as you wander the halls of Hogwarts. A mod replaces every ordinary cat in the game with an oversized Kneazle. The vanilla game also has Kneazles – which look something like oversized cats suffering from a bad hair day and a worse attitude – but you won't normally be encountering them every time you turn a corner in the castle.

Are Kneazles the ideal pet for a budding witch? Probably not, but they look great roaming the halls, and with mods, you get to be the master of the universe. With a game that's all about magic and potions, realism is for the birds, and maybe the next mod will get around to transfiguring them as well.

Most spellcasters in the "Harry Potter" universe need a wand and a magic word to change the world around them. There have been times when the series plays fast and loose with that rule, but in "Hogwarts Legacy" players will be shouting out the names of spells as they cast them in battle. Hearing the same magical phrases for hours on end can get pretty exhausting, but there's a mod that can help mix things up and take at least one spell to a whole new level.

This particular mod is arguably not the most bizarre on the entire list, but it's for sure the most disturbing. The mod replaces the "stupefy" spell word with a soundbite from the song "Stupify" by Disturbed. Once installed, there will be a little nu-metal flourish every time you cast a stunning spell on your opponents. The mod is great for a laugh, and it might even encourage your fellow students at Hogwarts to kick off a new genre of music more than a century early.

"Harry Potter" has always had great music associated with it. The legendary John Williams scored the first three films, and his work has stayed with the series ever since. "Hedwig's Theme" is a song that's probably recognizable to just about everyone, even people who aren't avid "Harry Potter" fans.

The music in "Hogwarts Legacy" doesn't sound out of place with everything that's come before it, but the soundtrack isn't necessarily a slam dunk either. Nothing comes close to the most important tracks from the films, and there's a good chance you won't walk away from your playthrough still humming your favorite songs.

Where some would see disappointment, modders have seen opportunity. There are some handy if strange, options for swapping out sections of the "Hogwarts Legacy" OST. One mod replaces the music that plays while flying a broomstick with the theme song from HBO's "Game of Thrones," giving everyone the slashfic idea they never knew they wanted. Another mod gives a darker spin on things, replacing the music that plays in the Room of Requirement with selections from the "Resident Evil" games. It might be creepy, but it isn't exactly threatening. Wizards would probably breeze their way through a zombie apocalypse.

For anyone who didn't closely follow the details surrounding "Hogwarts Legacy" ahead of its release, the Room of Requirement and the Vivarium inside it are probably the game's biggest, and most welcome, surprises. The level of customization offered by those two areas lets players sink into their Hogwarts journey as though it were really happening to them.

Among other things, the Vivarium can be filled with creatures that players can snatch up using an item called a nab-sack, which is a bit like a Bag of Holding designed specifically for small creatures. Players who dream of raising their own magical pet will finally have their deepest wishes fulfilled, but for all the nab-sack promises, there are certain creatures that can't be brought home, either because they're too large or just too dangerous to keep at Hogwarts.

No more! The Forbidden Vivarium mod does away with size constraints and safety concerns. It allows players to capture almost every monster in the game, though they'll have to do so at their own risk. Creatures that would be hostile out in the world aren't at all calmed down by being tossed in a sack and carried into the castle. Expect a growing monster collection to come with quite a few Vivarium-based battles, but on the bright side, the monsters are only concerned with killing you, not your other pets.

Any longtime "Harry Potter" fan can remember the first time they encountered the Hogwarts Express. The joy Harry felt when he first saw the train that would carry him to Hogwarts transferred to a whole generation of fans. Naturally, the Hogwarts Express makes an appearance in "Hogwarts Legacy," and because it's such a revered part of the "Harry Potter" experience, there isn't a single player who would want to change the train with some kind of bizarre mod that cheapens the overall impact for a silly joke.

But if there were players who wanted to do something like that, we know the perfect mod to get the job done. The Hog-Thomas Express mod does exactly what its title implies. Installing it will swap out the Hogwarts Express asset with the one, the only, Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas has found his way into so many other games that it was only a matter of time before he arrived in "Hogwarts Legacy." It wasn't a long wait, but we're glad it's over.