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[BattleBeard]

 Personally, for me, it's about the helplessness of a situation. Maybe you'll see another warrior fall, or the enemy will talk you down in some odd Shakespearian speech. Either way, it makes me afraid to fight the enemy.

What about you?

[GhostBomb]

Hmmmmmm...

I'm trying to think of instances where I've thought, "wow, that guy looks hard to fight".  But I'm coming up blank.

I think it's because I've played too many videogames where really intimidating enemies turn out to be pushovers and enemies that are almost complete jokes in personality and appearance turn out to be insanely tough fighters.  When I see an enemy that's supposed to look intimidating, I usually think "meh".  Especially if it's a AAA game.

Though maybe that's not quite what you're talking about.

[Ashkin]

Try Castlevania? Plenty of huge, screen-filling bosses there. Super-intimidating. The environment could also help- strategic looking points could show that the fight could be long and complex.

[DustyDrake]

I've found Endermen from Minecraft to be pretty intimidating until I get the gear to deal with them.
I think size matters for intimidation. I mean cats attempt themselves up to make themselves look bigger if they're in a fight, and Perfect Chaos from Sonic is also pretty freaking scary at first because Sonic is so small and Chaos is just knocking down buildings like it's nothing.

[Medevenx]

Vile was intimidating because

-He was invulnerable and had this big ass armor
-You FELT helpless when fighting him because you GOT to fight him. It wasn't shown in cutscene that you can't beat him, you, as a player and character, literally CANNOT BEAT HIM.
-Later in the game, you battle him but it is shown that he has beaten your superior (Zero)
Holy shit even my buddy can't beat him? How the fuck am I supposed to do that now??

Oh yeah, and the look. Swagger all over the place.

[edh]

First, you define what makes a normal enemy
Second, any enemy which deviates from that will be intimidating

[kinglake]

Two things for me...

The first is sheer size, i remember playing Lost Planet 2 and against every single boss you immediately felt helpless because they were just so big.

The second, i guess similar, is a smaller environment which i guess might be because it makes the enemy appear larger? But a small environment with little room to move can immediately make a fight feel futile. Think Gurdy (the pile of goop) from Binding Of Isaac, King Dodongo from OOT and Tyrant on Resident Evil 1.

[Claw]

Feeling out of your depth.

What's springing to my mind is Gohma in Zelda: OoT. You know shits gonna go down as the door seals behind you and you find yourself in a giant room, hearing the scuffles on the ceiling - look up of your own free will and see this giant monster staring at you. She drops down to face you, looking pretty pissed and screeching - all the while you realise you are trapped in the the very heart of this hostile hive.

The boss wasn't particularly difficult or anything, but it built it up beautifully, and that fight stands out in my mind as a moment where I thought "oh shit". Man I need to play that game again.

[Manuel Magalhães]

I just beated the second boss from Demon's Souls. It was really intimidating. First of all the guy was huge and it weared armor. Then if that wasn't enough he fires magic beams at you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLwojh2-fo0 (boss starts at 3:34)

[Glyph]

I'd say foreshadowing makes an enemy pretty intimidating. I remember when I was younger and I played Paper Mario, I was scared out of my mind because they said this guy was invincible. I was completely freaking out during the entire chase scene. You could also foreshadow bosses via displays of their strength (shuts off the power, sinks your boat, generally ruins something which all goes to make it look that much more dangerous). Another way to be intimidating is to have an insta-kill attack or just have enemies that are much too difficult for the current area in the game that must be avoided (if it's an RPG). Also, look to other games for some good examples. The basilisks in Dark Souls were widely considered to be extremely dangerous even though they died in 1-2 hits. That's because they had an attack that was worse than death. Also, the Stargirls in Purple were so dangerous because you couldn't kill them unless you had one of the best weapons. And if you didn't kill them, they'd constantly teleport, often right next to you, while you're running through some kind of gauntlet. Think outside of the box for ways to surprise the player or keep them on edge, and you'll have people afraid of your enemies in no time.

[RyanHuggins]

Intimidation, in my opinion, spawns from size and number, as well as variation. When an enemy looks different than what you are used to AND is bigger, your natural reaction is to assume that it will be a more difficult, or at the very least different, enemy. This goes triple if the enemy is larger than you are.

[edh]

I second the insta-kill attack part. The big fishes that eat you in the Mario Series are pretty intimidating and I actually miss many jumps that I'm used to make, just because that bastard is down there waiting for me.

Mario 3 had a lot of pretty intimidating enemies.

[keo]

In one of the Wizardry games for ps2, they would announce that Death had appeared in the room, and was chasing you, you never knew when he would just show up, or in what direction he was coming from, I think he was a near-instant kill.  Never been so intimidated before.

Also in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, there were several tall lanky but fast doll/cow hybrid zombie things, that were tough as nails.  What made several enemies in that game intimidating, was the fact that you had a lot to lose if you were trying to get a good Rank for another playthrough, which called for not permanently saving but using a standby save.

Resident Evil also had that in place - which I think BOF:DQ took from, where you wouldn't get the best rewards if you used your save ribbons.  And that scared the bejeezus out of me because again I had a lot to lose.

Realm of the Mad God, the gods area - again a lot to lose.

think there's a pattern.

[C.D Buckmaster]

One way is to make the enemy represent a large threat, such as a powerful attack, which although it might be easy to dodge, the consequences of not properly avoiding it makes the player act cautious.

Making them have high health also works into this, as it forces the player to direct attention to them early, due to the threat they pose if they should get close enough to attack.

[Medevenx]

Also, it should make you feel like you're out of your comfort zone. Forcing you to doing things you're not comfortable doing. Things like in Shadow of the Colossus where you are forced to go around things before actually climbing and stuff