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With the Silent Hill franchise making a grand return, there's no better time to look back at what made it a horror masterpiece.
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00:00One of the joys of the modern video game industry has been the resurgence of Silent Hill.
00:05After spending over a decade being the poster child for mishandled franchises,
00:09Konami have finally started making proper Silent Hill games again. Hooray!
00:14So in honor of this franchise's grand return we thought why not look back on the series and some
00:20of its most iconic monsters. And with that in mind I'm Josh from WhatCulture Gaming and today we're
00:25talking about terrifying Silent Hill monsters and their meaning. First up the nurse, Silent Hill 2.
00:33Silent Hill 2's nurses have proven to be one of the series' most enduring enemies.
00:38Since their first appearance these faceless monstrosities have gone on to feature in
00:42subsequent entries like Homecoming Origins and the surprisingly not terrible 2006 movie.
00:50Which kind of makes absolutely no sense as they were created to represent a very specific
00:55aspect of a very specific individual. That of course being Silent Hill 2 protagonist James Sunderland.
01:02Now every monster in Silent Hill 2 represents a negative emotion from its central cast.
01:08Sometimes the symbolism is obvious as in the case of the abstract daddy,
01:13a nightmarishly graphic depiction of the abuse suffered by tragic teenager Angela.
01:18In the case of the nurses however the player needs to look a little bit deeper.
01:22While it's initially unclear why James Sunderland is being attacked by faceless hospital workers with
01:28disturbingly attractive bodies, players can eventually puzzle out the truth behind their design.
01:34As it turns out James' wife Mary spent years in hospital wasting away from an unknown illness.
01:40Although the game never spells it out for you, the nurses definitely represent James' repressed guilt
01:46over sexualizing the nurses who looked after his terminally ill wife.
01:51Given that these nightmare creatures represent a very specific aspect of one man's psyche then
01:56it is kind of baffling as to why the nurses have cropped up in so many other Silent Hill games.
02:02Unless, that is, Konami making the point that society's desire to see sexy nurse uniforms outweighs
02:08its interest in narrative coherence. In which case, fair enough.
02:13Next up, The Sakura Head, Silent Hill, The Short Message.
02:16A mere 21 years after Heather Mason's journey, Konami finally got around to crafting another
02:22female protagonist in 2024's Silent Hill, The Short Message.
02:27This spin-off revolves around the teenaged Anita, who finds herself trapped in an apartment complex in
02:33Germany and chased by a floral themed monster called Sakura Head. And this being a Silent Hill game,
02:40the creature's design is deeply tied to this character's backstory.
02:43That's because Sakura Head, as the name implies, is a creature whose head is covered entirely in
02:49Sakura blossoms. This nightmare figure stalks the apartment complex looking for Anita, killing
02:55the unfortunate teen if she is discovered. However, Anita's death doesn't signify a game over,
03:02instead she wakes up in the same building and the nightmare continues anew. As the game goes on though,
03:07it does become clear why Anita is being tortured in this manner. Far from being a blameless victim
03:14herself, Anita actually orchestrated a massive cyberbullying campaign against a girl called Mare,
03:21which culminated in the latter dying by suicide. Designer Masahiro Ito said via the Silent Hill wiki
03:27that he chose cherry blossoms to symbolize the nature of a tragedy that unfolds through social media.
03:34An explosive blossoming of a crowd-pleasing event that culminates in decay and death,
03:38which explains why Sakura Head's final appearance also has the leaves rotted and dying.
03:44Of course, Sakura Head isn't the only Silent Hill monster to have head as part of its Norman culture.
03:51And that's because next up we're talking about the Eileen Head, Silent Hill 4 The Room.
03:56Yes, it's the giant Eileen Head. Who you're expecting. Silent Hill 4 The Room gets its name
04:02from the fact that player character Henry Townsend spends much of his time locked in the eponymous
04:07lodging. Unable to communicate with anyone outside the room, Henry's only connection to the outside
04:12world comes in the form of neighbour Eileen Galvin. Henry actually spies on her over the course of the
04:19game, looking at her through a peephole in his apartment. And it's likely that this creepy habit
04:25is what Eileen Head represents. First of all, the head never actually attacks Henry. It just
04:31stares at him constantly in a reversal of Henry's actions towards Eileen earlier in the game.
04:37Secondly, the heavy scarring on the head's face is emblematic of the fact that despite his constant
04:43spying on her, Henry was unable to prevent Eileen from being seriously assaulted by the game's villain.
04:49Given that Silent Hill monsters generally reflect guilt on the part of the protagonist,
04:53the Eileen Head's appearance and behaviour certainly fits the bill.
04:57Next up, Raw Shock Silent Hill Shattered Memories. From big heads to getting your head examined,
05:04Raw Shock is unique among the Silent Hill pantheon for being the only creature whose appearance changes
05:09based on the personality of the player. Silent Hill Shattered Memories is a retelling of the first Silent
05:15Hill game but with a unique twist. The game makes frequent cuts to a therapist's office where an unseen
05:21character is telling Harry's story to their doctor. During these occasions the player is then tasked
05:27with completing various personality quizzes and the appearance of the game's monsters actually change
05:33based on their answers. Focus too much on drinking drugs for instance and the shattered memories creatures
05:39will become overrun with hideous diseased growths. Focus too much on sleazy behaviour and the monsters
05:46sprout in large chests and have their feet transform into high heels. In this manner the Raw Shock are a
05:53unique take on the traditional Silent Hill monster. Rather than being an offshoot of the player character's
05:59personality, these monsters are a twisted reflection of the player themself. It's a playfully meta twist on
06:05the usual Silent Hill trope that belies the fact that Silent Hill Memories was written by Sam Barlow,
06:11the man behind the medium breaking delights of her story and immortality. And given what Barlow accomplished in
06:182009, the thought of him potentially returning to Silent Hill with another 15 years of game design
06:24experience under his belt is certainly a tempting one, isn't it Konami? Hint hint hint. Hint hint hint.
06:33Just get him back please. Next up the Split Worm, Silent Hill 3. Perhaps the most overtly phallic creature
06:41in video game history, well outside of Persona's infamous Mara of course. It's no accident that
06:47the Split Worm appears in the very first Silent Hill game with a female protagonist, that game of
06:52course being Silent Hill 3 with the heroine being Heather Mason. The escapist magazine probably put it
06:57best when they described the plot of the third Silent Hill as quote, a teenage girl's worst nightmare,
07:03as the story revolves around Heather being forcibly chased by a cult who want her to give birth to their
07:08god. Knowing this, the implications behind Split Worm's design become even clearer.
07:14It's phallic design is clearly meant to imply Heather's disgust at being impregnated against her
07:20will, and the head emerging from Split Worm's torn open skin shows Heather's understandable fears
07:25of giving birth to a monster. There's also the manner in which Heather hunts down the monster as well.
07:31Just before the fight begins, Heather has to use an item to lower a ladder that leads to the creature's
07:37lair. And the item in question? It's a stretched out wire hanger. And given what Split Worm represents,
07:43the symbolism behind Heather using a hanger in her quest to kill the monster is grimly apparent.
07:50Next up, the Kashimashi Silent Hill F. Alright, this entry is an unusual one in that the game itself
07:56hasn't actually released at the time of recording this video. And Silent Hill F itself is an unusual entry
08:03in the storied horror franchise in general, in that it swaps the series' usual setting of small town
08:09America out for rural 60s Japan. While the game's full creature catalogue has yet to be revealed,
08:15developers have already introduced the Kashimashi as the latest addition to the Silent Hill Nightmare
08:21Factory. While the developers haven't explicitly explained the meaning behind the monster's design,
08:26clues can be gleaned from the creature's name and appearance. Kashimashi itself is a Japanese word that
08:33describes the sound made when multiple women speak loudly. And as a major theme of the game,
08:39as per this great piece on Silent Hill F from Games Radar, is the societal pressure placed on
08:44protagonist Shimuzi Hinako and the role of tradition in her life, it's likely that this monster represents
08:51the women in Hinako's life who are haranguing her into following the same path that they did.
08:56As for the heavy scouring around the creature's eyes, this likely represents the women's blindness to
09:01the damage that they're inflicting on Hinako. The other scars on their body likely also symbolise the
09:07pain that these women have suffered as victims of an unjust social system themselves. Of course this
09:13is all pre-release conjecture based on a few images and some interview clips, and whether these theories
09:18turn out to be insightful or inane, Silent Hill F does look like it's going to be another strong entry
09:24in the Silent Hill canon. I wonder if this interpretation was anywhere close to being right,
09:29it'll be interesting to see, won't it? Next up Scarlet, Silent Hill Homecoming.
09:34Homecoming is generally seen as one of the weakest links in the Silent Hill chain. An over-reliance on
09:40old monsters meant that new developers, Double Helix Games, came off as a second-rate tribute band,
09:46rather than worthy successors to the Silent Hill name. Which is a shame, as Homecoming's bestiary hides an
09:52original hit amongst those uninspired covers, namely Scarlet, the spidery figure that might have given
09:59you a couple of nightmares. Now Scarlet might also be a nightmare to fight against for all the wrong
10:04reasons, but her design is one of Homecoming's few highlights. A hellish blend of porcelain and sinew,
10:11Scarlet's appearance is both visually striking and an apt metaphor for her nature, the vengeful
10:18personification of a murdered daughter. That's because Scarlet was the daughter of Dr. Martin
10:23Fitch, who sacrificed his child in an occult ritual, because parents in Silent Hill are either saints
10:29or psychopaths. Scarlet was dismembered alive as part of the ritual, hence the blood pouring down
10:35her monster self and why the creature's limbs appear welded on. As for the porcelain, that's both a
10:41reference to Scarlet's love of dolls when she was alive, and a key factor in exposing the tragedy
10:46behind the monster. That's because during the fight the player is forced to shatter the creature's
10:52ceramic surface to expose the heart beneath. The creature's fear becomes evident in just how
10:57quickly that heart is beating as well once it's exposed, echoing the terror that Scarlet must have
11:02felt the closer she came to death at her father's hands. It's a clever way of engendering sympathy for
11:09an outwardly monstrous figure, and if Homecoming's monster closet had more Scarlet's and less hangers-on,
11:15the game might be more highly regarded today. Next up, the Grey Children, Silent Hill.
11:21Now, the original Silent Hill's Grey Children might not be the most interesting monsters in the
11:26series from a psychological point of view, as they're simply school bullies who have been twisted
11:31into creepy, child-like demon-oids, though it is certainly to the series' credit that this
11:36description can apply to one of its least interesting monsters. However, they're worth discussing because
11:42they represent one of the few times that the 2006 film actually improved on its source material.
11:49See, in the original game, it's never actually explained why the Grey Children look the way they
11:53do. In Christoph Ganser's movie adaptation, however, it's revealed that the children's unnatural
11:59pallor is the result of the curse placed upon them by their former victim, Alessa. In the movie,
12:05Alessa's bullying at school turned into a literal witch hunt that culminated in the residents of
12:10Silent Hill burning her at the stake for possessing supernatural powers. Alessa survived and cursed the
12:16entire town in revenge, choosing a grimly ironic fate for her former classmates that they would burn
12:23internally and eternally as a perpetual blaze raged inside their bodies and turned their skin to ash.
12:30The revelation behind the Grey Children's appearance is a delightfully macabre addition to the series' lore then,
12:36and an example of why the Silent Hill movie is still admired despite its flaws, as it certainly
12:42understood the psychology behind the games, even if its story and writing often failed to do them justice.
12:49One thing the movie did have going for it, however, was another impeccable monster design,
12:54as next up we have Colin from the Silent Hill 2006 movie. One of the few monsters created specifically
13:01for the 2006 adaptation, this charming creature, given the atypically prosaic name of Colin,
13:09was such a success that Konami later replicated its design for Silent Hill Origins, where it was given
13:14the slightly more menacing name of Caliban. And you can see why Silent Hill's creators were so taken
13:20by Colin's appearance. His scarred form, bound and blindfolded by barbed wire,
13:26is visually arresting and creates immediate intrigue around this character. While initially
13:31appearing as a pitiful figure, the truth behind his appearance prevents him from gaining any sympathy
13:37whatsoever, however. The movie heavily implies that Colin was a janitor who abused Alessa in the
13:43bathroom of her school, hence him becoming another victim of her curse. His bound, blinded form is
13:50clearly meant to prevent him from repeating his sins against any other girl, and actor Roberto
13:55Campanella still manages to convey the repulsiveness of Colin's character beneath all of the prosthetics.
14:01Constantly licking his lips with a black swollen tongue while dragging his crotch along the floor,
14:07Colin is a grotesquely memorable figure that manages to create a lasting impression in just a few
14:13scant seconds of screen time. Also fun fact, Roberto Campanella also moonlighted as this movie's version
14:19of Pyramid Head. Speaking of whom, to round this list off we have the red pyramid thing, Silent Hill 2.
14:27In 2022 Masahiro Ito tweeted, I wish I hadn't designed f***ing Pyramid Head, which is an odd thing to say
14:35about creating one of the most iconic monsters in any form of media, but maybe that was his point.
14:41Silent Hill's most famous creation debuted in Silent Hill 2 where he represented James Sunderland's frustrated
14:47sexuality and guilt over being a murderer. The sexual nature of red pyramid thing, more commonly of
14:55course known as just Pyramid Head, is made clear in his very first cutscene where it's heavily implied
15:00that he's about to assault another monster before James interrupts him. And when James finally
15:05acknowledges the reason that Pyramid Head exists, that the creature is a manifestation of his guilt over
15:11killing his wife, Pyramid Head just straight up kills himself, its purpose fulfilled after forcing
15:17James to take responsibility for his actions. Much like the nurses that started this list,
15:23Pyramid Head was designed to tell a very specific story, and much like those nurses again, Pyramid
15:29Head's meaning has been obscured in a mire of bizarre cameos that completely missed the point of this
15:35character. Homecoming turned Pyramid Head into a goon squad of Punisher-esque vigilantes who actually
15:41patrolled Silent Hill and murdered wrongdoers, the light gun game, the very existence of which is
15:47almost as incongruous as the pachinko machines, chucked him in as a generic boss fight and the movie
15:52Silent Hill Revelation just made him an outright hero, protecting the good guys and slaying the big bad
15:58at the climax of that film. Given that, you can probably see why Ito would be frustrated at how his
16:04most famous creation has been handled. Then again, maybe that's the truest, deepest meaning
16:10behind this character. Create a cool enough design and you'll end up seeing it bastardized in every
16:17medium imaginable, from Funko Pops to Kart Races. So that's our list on Silent Hill,
16:23are you pleased the franchise is back and will you be picking up Silent Hill F? Let me know in
16:27the
16:27comments and if you want to watch more videos like this click one of them on screen right now or
16:31head
16:31over to the WhatCulture Gaming channel for even more content.
16:34Let's press up in the comments.
16:35Let's get started.
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