Crawler

Crawlers are small vermin which inhabit the chambers beneath the Temple of Styx.

When one spots Zagreus, a crawler will move very quickly towards him, and upon reaching him, will instantly attack with a close ranged melee hit.

Crawlers have a fast attack animation, meaning while they inflict small amounts of damage, they can attack in quick succession, dealing high damage if left unchecked.

Additionally, Crawlers spawn in very large packs, and Zagreus can be attacked by multiple Crawlers at the same time.

Codex entry[]

'...The barrier between the land of the living and the land of the dead cannot be easily transgressed; but there are creatures adequately small and vicious as to rise up to the challenge (as well as to the challenge of being slain in great droves by would-be heroes setting forth to prove themselves, all in the name of Experience). They crawl between the cracks and crevices of the facade that separates the Master's Underworld from lands above, growing in number, oblivious to the hallowed grounds they foul.'

Trivia[]

Despite the fact that the Crawlers were still alive when Zagreus kills them, they are never seen anywhere else in the Underworld. It's possible that since most souls seem to start out in the afterlife as disembodied Shades, they simply might not be immediately recognizable to Zagreus or the player.
- It's also possible that since they died recently, they haven’t had time to be properly judged by Hades yet as Hades mentions various times throughout the game that he and the rest of his staff have been overworked lately.