There's no doubt in anyone's mind that The Sims is the greatest life-simulation game series to have ever graced our computers, ever since the first iteration of the series was released back in 2000. Ever since then, the franchise has shown an upward trend with no signs of stopping, with ever-increasing sales that have reached upwards of 200 million units, making The Sims one of the highest-selling video game franchises of all time.  The premise of the games is rather simplistic with no end goal in sight, which is why the efforts of the developers of these games should be commended, who've managed to rope in tons of new fans and keep veterans invested in the franchise even to this day.

The series has been given a Teen rating by the ESRB, but the fact of the matter is that there are a ton of disturbing things prevalent in the Sims universe that can make one debate the validity of this rating. The number of creepy and eerie things present in these games is truly mind-boggling, making one question if it was the right decision to purchase this game for their kids, to begin with. Here are 16 of the most disturbing facts you probably didn't know about The Sims.

16 Sims Can Get Abducted By Aliens, Then Come Back With A Baby

Thought your male Sims couldn't get pregnant? Think again!

Aliens are very much a thing in the Sims series, featuring in every Sims game — either as a part of the base game or in the various expansions available for each one. These aliens can abduct your Sims without a moment's notice. To add to this eerie event, if the abducted Sim is a male then be prepared for one hell of a shock.

You see, when your male Sim returns to the lot after his abduction, he'll come back with an alien impregnated in his belly. One can only wonder what experiments the Sim went through while he was abducted. At the end of it all, your Sim will give birth to an interspecies alien baby whose skin is completely green.

15 The Spirit Of The Dead Will Haunt Its Family

Death is a tragic event that surrounds every family, however, when it comes to The Sims this particular saying is taken way too literally. We're assuming that you're not heartless creeps who sell and/or remove the grave of your dead Sim, since you won't be privy to this particular event if you do something so cruel.

The spirits of your dead relatives are not something that anyone wants to see, which is why you can truly get scared along with your Sim when he or she wakes up in the middle of the night due to the lingering sensation that the ghost of their loved ones might be nearby.

14 A Plant That Will Eat Sims If Not Fed On Time

The Laganaphyllis simnovorii (which we're going to call the Cow Plant from now on for obvious reasons) is one of the riskiest plants you can grow in your garden. That is, if you can even call it a plant to begin with — since the thing is the stuff of nightmares and can best be described as a potted monster from hell.

While the milk from this plant is extremely valuable, you Sims need to feed it at regular intervals in order to satiate its monstrous appetite. However, if you happen to neglect this plant for whatever reason, then be prepared for one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your game — we say this because the Cow Plant will straight up swallow your Sim whole if it hasn't been fed in a while. Sheesh.

13 The Game Starts Mocking You If You End Too Many Sims

When you want to create a realistic town in The Sims, one of the structures you would think about constructing would be a cemetery. However, try not to kill families on purpose in order to generate graves that will fill up the cemetery, since the game frowns upon this inhumane action. How is this communicated? Well, I'm glad you asked.

You see, after killing a large number of Sims in a short time to populate your cemetery, the game will actually show a pop-up, sarcastically conveying the fact that The Sims is, in the end, a life sim. So yeah, maybe you should play the game like it's meant to be played and not kill people left-and-right for your own sick amusement.

12 Get The Ultimate Revenge On A Burglar... By Befriending And Then Ending Them

Burglars are pretty much a staple of the Sims series that have featured in every game in the franchise (aside from The Sims 4... no wonder people hate this game so much). The creepy music that plays just as the burglar visits your place has struck fear into the hearts of unsuspecting players, who were unlucky enough to be visited by this major annoyance.

If the need for revenge is too great to handle, you can actually identify the burglar in The Sims 3 and befriend him or her. After you're done doing so, you can decide to ask the Sim to move in... after which you can initiate a plan for revenge that completely redefines the boundaries of what is considered evil.

11 Extend The Life Of Someone Precious... By Starting A Relationship With The Grim Reaper

Talk about making a deal with the devil.

Death is a natural part of life, which — in case you weren't aware — is what The Sims is all about. The series tries to take a somewhat comical tone when it comes to this morose subject by making a literal Grim Reaper arrive at your house moments before one of your Sim family members passes away. You can bargain with this mythical creature in order to beg for a few extra days to be added to your Sim's life... and some of the ways in which you can do this is simply haunting.

If you wish, you can make your Sim sell herself by sleeping with the Grim Reaper. This increases his affinity towards you and convinces him not to take away a precious member of your family.

10 The Repo Man Will Straight Up Absorb Your Stuff If You Don't Pay Taxes

Paying your taxes is a responsibility that should be kept in mind no matter what. Whether in reality or a video game, it's always recommended that you pay your taxes on time unless you have a pressing, inexplicable need to rebel against society. In The Sims, your selfish actions will be met with swift and strong reprisal instead.

After neglecting to pay your taxes for a while (and ignoring the warnings that come time and time again), you'll be visited by the Repo Man. This person has a magical teleport gun that will take away precious objects that you've bought for your house and send it into what we can only assume to be an alternate dimension that exists for the sole purpose of housing confiscated furniture from tax evaders.

9 Children Can Actually Find Monsters Under Their Bed

As part of an expansion pack in The Sims 3 and the base game in The Sims 4, you can instruct child Sims to check under their bed for monsters. This can lead to an unforeseen — not to mention highly creepy — occurrence. No points for guessing what this might be.

Children are easily scared for obvious reasons, and it's pretty disturbing to think that these unsuspecting kids would simply look under their beds for something that's nothing more than a superstition... only to recoil in horror when they actually see glowing pairs of red eyes staring back at them. Something so traumatic would stay with the kid throughout their life, contributing to a childhood that's marred by something so absolutely horrifying.

8 Why Can't Drowning Sims Just Climb Out Of The Pool If There's No Ladder?

Drowning your Sims is probably the easiest and most iconic way to get rid of your Sims. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Sims player who hasn't tried to see this particular phenomenon even once while playing any of The Sims games (aside from The Sims 4, since EA's greed knows no bounds). However, there's a huge logical fallacy when it comes to this particular death.

In order to make this death happen, your Sim needs to be in the pool. While swimming unsuspectingly, you can remove the ladder from the pool, which causes problems for any Sim trying to escape the pool. After a while, this Sim will drown. However, the question on everyone's mind after witnessing this is — why isn't the Sim just programmed to climb out of the pool like a normal person? It's almost as if Maxis is enabling people to vent their urges on these poor Sims.

7 Become A Homewrecker And Break Up A Marriage

Affairs are quite commonplace in the Sims series, and pretty much no restrictions are placed on the player when it comes to carrying out this act which is very much frowned upon in a large number of cultures. The ease with which you can completely destroy marriages and commitments in The Sims is absolutely tragic for a large number of reasons.

If that wasn't bad enough, you can also convince your lover to leave the Sim they chose to live the rest of their lives with... just to fuel your own selfish desires. The implications of doing something like this should not be taken so lightly, and yet in The Sims, this act is just treated as a normal part of the game with absolutely nothing bad associated with it whatsoever.

6 Adding Drew Carey In The Original Sims For No Reason

The original Sims was one of the most revolutionary video game franchises of all time when it was released way back in 2000. Controlling the lives of virtual people and families was something people could only dream of until this game was released. Now, people could finally accomplish their lifelong dream of throwing a party so rad that Drew Carey himself would make an appearance. Wait, what?

Yep, for some reason, Maxis included an Easter Egg in the original Sims game, where Drew Carey would simply appear out of nowhere if you threw an awesome party. Just why in the heck would anybody associate parties with Drew Carey, to begin with? The whole scenario just boggles the mind the more you think about it.

5 The Social Bunny Is Just Plain Weird

The Sims 2 was a landmark title for the genre, which improved on pretty much everything from the original Sims and also included a bunch of additional features that cemented the series' reputation as one of the best life-simulation games of all time. However, there are some creepy things that happen without any warning in the game, and the Social Bunny is perhaps the best example of this.

This character will appear out of nowhere when your Sim's social needs are at an all-time low and will try and interact with said Sim in order to make him or her feel better. Aside from his sudden appearance, perhaps the creepiest thing about the Social Bunny is the fact that no other Sim can see him aside from the one whose Social need is dangerously low.

4 From Introductions To Friends To Love To Marriage — All In The Span Of Less Than A Week

The Sims strives to be a virtual representation of real-life and has been largely successful as one of the best life simulation games of all time. However, for a game that's lauded for defining its genre, there are a number of things inherently wrong with the franchise that pretty much everyone seems to ignore.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the series is the fact that you can go from introductions to freaking marriage — all in the span of less than a week. This is by far the stupidest thing in The Sims, and yet most people just do not give a darn and simply write it off as one of the many quirky things that occur in the game.

3 Sunny The Tragic Clown Is Pretty Depressing

If your Sims are dealing with depression and happen to own a picture of Sunny The Tragic Clown, then be prepared for a world of trouble. This NPC resembles the Social Bunny in many ways — the major one being that he arrives out of nowhere when your Sims are in desperate need of a mood lift. However, unlike the Social Bunny, Sunny is one of the biggest nuisances present in the game.

The problem with The Tragic Clown is that he himself is depressed, and everything he tries to do in order to cheer your Sim up ends up backfiring horribly. So not only do you have a sad, uninvited NPC in your lot, but he's also causing your Sims to feel worse and dropping their overall mood by a considerable amount as well.

2 Have A Baby With The Grim Reaper

Remember when we talked about how you can sleep with the Grim Reaper in order to help your negotiations? Do you also remember when we talked about alien abductions and inter-species pregnancy? Well, when you combine those two together the end result is something beyond horrifying.

Having a baby with someone who's the literal angel of death is not exactly the most ideal thing, but it's still very much possible to try for a baby with the Grim Reaper. The end result will be a child that looks as grotesque as one might imagine... since after all, you did give birth to a baby whose father is the Grim Reaper.

Speaking of disturbing inter-species relations...

1 Make A Baby With A Ghost Too

If you actually thought that we couldn't find something more disturbing that the entry above, then it's pretty evident that you haven't played The Sims — this is a game known for some truly bizarre things, and in The Sims 3, you actually have an option to have a baby with a ghost.

There are so many questions that arise already. Just how will this relationship work, to begin with? And how will the ghost (an incorporeal spirit, in case you weren't clear about it) interact with a living human, let alone partake in the action of making a child? The sense of absolute disbelief is too strong to simply ignore.