Pyramid Head
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Pyramid Head is the nickname of a fictional monster from the video game Silent Hill 2. Although the character is nameless, the game's protagonist, James Sunderland, usually refers to it as Pyramid Head. Since this is the only instance Pyramid Head has been named, it is regarded as canon. Some official sources refer to the creature as Red Pyramid or the Red Pyramid Thing although, according to Silent Hill director Christophe Gans, the Japanese name is Triangle Head.
Physical appearance
Of all the creatures that appear in Silent Hill 2, Pyramid Head is the only one that is overtly masculine in appearance, whereas the other monsters generally have feminine features to them, with the exception of the doormen/abstract daddy. Pyramid Head resembles a tall pale man covered with an off-white, blood-soaked robe that resembles a butcher's smock. His most outstanding feature is a large, pyramid helmet, covering his head completely. He is usually armed, either with the Great Knife or a Lightweight Spear.
Pyramid Head does not speak. He displays much brutality and sadism, killing monsters and people alike. Though he never actually attacks monsters with either of his weapons, the monsters do fall to the ground after he has finished tormenting them. His role in the game is that of a punisher, created by James to punish him for his crimes, and as a blunt warning to James regarding Maria. A second Pyramid Head appears after James views his video in Room 312 because, by this point, James has two deaths on his hands.
Symbolism
In the additional back story material delivered by creators (Walter Sullivan Victims and Book of the Lost Memories) it was revealed that the physical appearance of Pyramid Head was an effect of James' fascination with Silent Hill folklore. As we may learn throughout the game, Pyramid Head's appearance was a variation of the outfits of the executioners from the Valtiel Sect (connected to the feeling of self-punishment) who were wearing red hoods and ceremonial robes to make themselves similar to the Valtiel, the angel of the town.
History
James first encounters Pyramid Head in West Side Apartments. After finding a handgun on the upper floor, he hears a scream in one of the corridors and heads in its direction, only to see the monster, standing behind the grate. A nearby room contains a bloody corpse, which wasn't there before.Later, he enters Room 307, where Pyramid Head is in the process of assaulting two Mannequins. Terrified, James hides in a closet. The monster walks up to the closet slowly, causing a panicked James to shoot it with his handgun a number of times, with the bullets deflecting harmlessly off the monster's helmet. After a moment, Pyramid Head hesitates and walks away.
James's next encounter with Pyramid Head is in the Blue Creek apartments. When James enters the door leading to a stairway, he witnesses Pyramid Head tormenting another creature. He turns to James and attempts to kill him, but his movements are severely hampered by the Great Knife he wields during the encounter. After a few minutes, sirens sound in the distance and Pyramid Head descends the flooded stairway, opening the door at the bottom and removing the water.
James does not meet the creature again until later on the roof of the Brookhaven Hospital, where he once more attempts to kill James. During the battle, James breaks the safety railing and falls down, sustaining minor injuries. Mysteriously, Pyramid Head seems to abandon his efforts for the moment and does not pursue or continue the attack. Later in the hospital, Pyramid Head appears to torment Maria, who is following James through a lengthy corridor. When James makes it to the end of the corridor into an elevator, the doors shut before Maria can join him. James struggles to open the elevator doors in order to save Maria, but she screams in agony as Pyramid Head impales her with a spear. The elevator then takes James away.
James next encounters Pyramid Head in the Labyrinth beneath Toluca Prison. After finding Maria alive, in a scene where she is very openly seducing him, but locked behind a grate, James meets his enemy, who is carrying a spear as he patrols an octagonal corridor. Outrunning the creature, James can enter a room where Pyramid Head lives. Soon after, James reaches the room behind the grate, but finds Maria dead, apparently from head trauma, as evident from the blood and deformities around her face.
Pyramid Head makes his final appearance just before the final boss, where two Pyramid Heads (a 'red' one, for new blood, and a 'brown' one, for old blood) take part in the encounter. They kill Maria yet again and then attack James. After relentlessly pursuing James around the room for a while, eventually both Pyramid Heads commit suicide by impaling themselves on their spears.
In other media
Comic Book
Pyramid head also appears in the Silent Hill comic book Paint it Black, but serves no other purpose other than that of a common monster along side the other monsters. Their massive numbers and relative vulnerability suggest that these are not genuine pyramid heads, but rather "watered down" clones of Pyramid Head, or simply monsters that resemble Pyramid Head and carry a large knife.Silent Hill Film
Pyramid Head appears in the 2006 film Silent Hill. He is one of the Silent Hill's dangerous creatures and is first encountered by Rose Da Silva in Midwich Elementary School while looking for her daughter. In the film, he appears to represent the child Alessa's desire to visit vengance upon the inhabitants of Silent Hill- a manifestation of rage rather than self-motivated guilt and sexual frustration- and is drawn from her darkest nightmares.
Appearance
Although not linked with the first game plotwise, Pyramid Head does appear in the Silent Hill movie, listed in the credits as "Red Pyramid" and portrayed by Roberto Campanella, where he acts again as a tenacious antagonist. Although he doesn't stand out among the monsters of the town, he is unaffected by attempts to stop him and displays his characteristic strength and brutality, as well as his Great Knife. His appearance is slightly different from the game. His helmet is a black and girded tetrahedron, and appears much more sharp and severe. It is also pointed at the 'chin' whereas the game version has a blunt 'chin'. His apron is worn from the waist down and appears to be made of human flesh. He is also very muscular and strong, which enables him to wield his Great Knife with ease. He uses this weapon to filet a thick steel door in a failed attempt to kill the main character and her companion. Unlike Pyramid Head from the game, he appears to be much larger at 8 - 9 feet tall and lacks his signature gloves.Trivia
- The Pyramid Heads resemble the executioners from an earlier point of the town's history. This explains why they are spattered with blood and why their faces are concealed.
- According to the Silent Hill developers, they designed the helmet so that it would appear to be painful to wear.
- In addition to swinging his Great Knife or jabbing with a spear, one of Pyramid Head's close-ranged attacks against James is a strangle grip, during which a black tongue-like protrusion "stabs" James from a small hole in the side of Pyramid Head's mask. A similar attack is used by a couple of the other creatures in the game, including the final boss.
- Pyramid Head is invulnerable to any weapon in James' arsenal, though James' attacks do slow Pyramid Head down. In one of the boss fights against Pyramid Head, the more you attack him with your weapons the quicker the battle will end.
References
- Konami. Silent Hill 2. KCET, 2001.
- Book of Lost Memories, Konami
| Silent Hill by Konami |
|---|
| Game Development: Team Silent > Climax Studios |
| Games: | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 5 (working title) | Experience'' |
| Film: Silent Hill (film)>Silent Hill | Soundtrack |
| List of Silent Hill characters>Characters: Alessa | Cybil | Harry | Heather | Eileen | Henry | James | Walter | Maria | Douglas | Lisa |
| List of Silent Hill monsters>Creatures: Pyramid Head | Valtiel |
| Organizations/Groups: Order (Silent Hill)>The Order |
| List of Silent Hill locations>Locations: Midwich Elementary School |
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