Building Silent Hill: Monsters

Are you ready to return to Silent Hill? I hope so, because I have such sights to show you...

We've discussed some of the history of Silent Hill. We've talked about the characters from the games and comics. Now, we should discuss the monsters we're forced to battle in the games.

In the first three games, you had your “roaming” monsters and your boss monsters. These monsters were inspired by the minds of the characters observing them. In the first Silent Hill, the monsters were from the mind of Alyssa, as seen in her room. The drawings in this room match many of the monsters you see in the game. In Silent Hill 2, the meaning of of the monsters are much deeper. The obvious sexual appearance of the nurses and mannequins, the tortured movements of the Patient Demons or Lying Figures, and the Doormen or “daddies” are all inspired by the minds of James and those we encounter. In Silent Hill 3, the monsters contain imagery of birth, children, impregnation, and exaggerations of the female form. Each of these games used this imagery perfectly and made these monsters memorable.

But, there were more monsters than that, weren't there? I'm talking about the boss monsters. Each one used that same imagery, but some of them were more memorable than others. Yes, I'm talking about Pyramid Head. Aside from the P-Head, there's not a lot of memorable boss monsters, are there? Maybe the Missionary that kills Harry. Or the Demon at the end of the first game, who's appearance depended on which ending you had gotten. I remember the moth monster from the first game very well, both forms, because they were a pain to kill. But, when I go back to play the games, I also seem to go “oh, yeah, that's right, there's a boss fight here.” I think the reason why we remember Pyramid Head so well isn't just because of his strange and iconic appearance, but also because he's the only boss we fight several times in a game. Resident Evil had this in their sequels, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was an influence for Pyramid Head's recurring fights. Another reason why we remember Pyramid Head is because we never actually defeat him. If you don't remember, I'm sure you can find a video of the final fight with him in SH2.

The normal monsters from the first game have always stuck with me. The “demon children with steak knives” in the school. The creatures in the sewers. The doctors and nurses in the hospital. The weird teddy bear looking things. And the flying monsters in the town. To name just a few. The bosses didn't stick with me as much, except the moth monster and the “demon” at the end. Of course, the demon would look different depending on what ending you got.

The second game had some of the most disturbing and unique monsters in the series. All of them were dark and unsettling. Of course, you didn't have too many boss monsters, except for Pyramid Head. And he was one of the best things to happen to the series. Until he was put in damn hear everything...

The third game went for a different style. While I didn't notice at the time, each monster is based around pregnancy, children, and the feminine form. Think about it. The boss monsters were slightly more memorable, but they were few and far between. There's a total of five in the whole game, including “God” and the ghost or memory of Alessa.

The comics didn't add anything to the monster roster, they just reused the ones from the games.

The movies reused stuff as well, but it did add in what I called “The Dollmaker” in the second film. And it scared the shit out of me. It was the perfect addition to the movie, especially since it was based on the third game, and contributes to the feminine image stuff. Also, it was nice to have something original added.

So, there's a huge list of monsters available to me to use for the game. But which ones do I choose? As I was starting work, I had my potential players make a note of their sins and fears (I may have mentioned this before), so I used that as a source of inspiration. I also looked at the monsters that effected me. Of course, most of those were from the first and second games. However, I chose the nurses from the third game, rather than the second, as they were more doll like and would be a bit more unexpected. I did have a rough list of what locations I wanted to use, and made sure to make a note of which monsters you would encounter in them, but I didn't limit myself to what had been in the game. I did want to catch people off guard. But, I knew that I would be including the more iconic things no matter what.

Using the information I had for the players, the characters I was thinking about including, the list that I had, and the locations I was thinking about, I started working on the list. I chose only one of each “type” of monster, as there were several different dogs and flyers in the games. I also picked some “minor” enemies to be encountered in the “normal” version of Silent Hill and then some more “serious” monsters to be encountered in the “nightmare” version of Silent Hill.

Then, I had to start thinking about boss fights. I know, some of you may disagree with this mindset, thinking this sounds too much like a video game. However, I'd like to remind you that this whole idea is based on a series of video games. As such, I don't mind going with that idea. So, I looked over the bosses of the games. Beyond the final boss and your fight with Cybil, the big monsters in the original Silent Hill were... Weird. A giant lizard, a giant caterpillar, and a giant moth. While these make sense in terms of the game, they seem pretty cheesy for a table top game. If someone starts laughing at the monster, it can break the tension at the wrong moment. I did think about including them, as I have fond memories of them, I did realize that they didn't work with what the game was shaping up to be.

In Silent Hill 2, the main boss was, of course, Pyramid Head. Yes, there were other bosses (mostly the other characters), but I know they didn't stick out in memory as much as nearly as much as Pyramid Head and the characters. The problem with Pyramid Head is that he's become one of the mascots of the whole series. I feel like it's a mixed bag. I think he's one of the most unique and iconic designs in gaming. This is why he's kind of everywhere. Many people will say that he only exists to punish James, and I do agree that the two are tied together, but Silent Hill is a very unusual place. I don't see why he couldn't exist as something independent of James. A wandering judge. Or, if we include the Order, as some kind of servant for them...

Silent Hill 3 had only five boss fights. Which I know because if you want get one of the special things, you can only kill 10 (!!!) monsters in the game, including bosses. Sadly, beyond the final boss and the Missionary, there's nothing that jumps out in the bosses. I do remember the giant worm, but that's because I killed it in my second play through in about five seconds with the infinite ammo SMG. The Missionary is also memorable because it was in the second movie. Even if they did change it quite a bit.

 

But, what about other monsters? As I've mentioned, monsters in Silent Hill are based on perception and fear. So, I had seen this line from someone online when I was doing some research for this project:

It would be interesting just coming up with monsters for this. Two people's main vices combining to form a monster that would hurt them both greatly.
Lust + Insecurity + Silent Hill = Crazed good looking chick screaming "DON'T LOOK AT ME" as she rakes her nails across her face, lashing out with the blood that oozes from her face.

This was what helped me start developing new monsters. I had a list of people I would like to play this game, so I asked them to write down their two major “sins” from the good old list of the Seven Deadly and then asked them to write down their fears. Anything they were afraid of. I will not reveal these, as I promised not to, but I did notice some common things. Bugs and spiders were mentioned a few times. So, what could I do with that? Well, a while back, I played a game of Pathfinder, which you can read here. When I talked about the spiders, I was afraid. And the GM showed a video of someone cutting a spool of twine to describe what it was like to cut the spider webs. This clicked in my mind. Making the normal abnormal. I created some horrible things that were part sewing machine, part spider. They creep me out, so that's always a good sign. I also noticed a fear of needles popped up several times. Which isn't too surprising, it's a very common fear. I'm not terrified them, but I don't exactly like them, either. I began thinking about needles and death and my locations. I remembered that I wanted to use the prison and things clicked. I came up with a monster I call Injectors. This is the description I wrote:

This gaunt humanoid walks with its shoulders slumped, its long arms almost dragging along the floor. When it turns around, you see that its face has been covered with a smooth white mask, leaving only the eyes exposed. As it looks at you, you notice in horror that its eyelids have been removed, leaving the glassy orbs to stare at you. As it advances, the creature raises its hands, and you see that the fingers have been replaced with syringes.

How's that for creepy? I feel that it fits with the fear of needles, the dehumanization of prisoners, and is just unsettling. I admit the wording isn't the best, but that's what editing is for.

Now, I want to talk about boss monsters. While I am borrowing a few from the games, I did want some more surprises for the players. I used their fears, their sins, and my own fears. I also thought about various myths and legends. I won't reveal what all I came up with, as some of my potential players might be reading this, but have you ever heard of a “Sin Eater?” They're something I've heard comes from the south. Mostly benevolent, I knew that they would be something interesting to encounter. Assuming the players are able to recognize them. I also pulled the one good monster from the second Silent Hill movie, as it scared the crap out of me when watched the movie for the first time. While the comics do have some unique and interesting monsters, I decided not to use any of them, even the big bads. Just not quite good enough. I also didn't want to have too many things running around.

Of course, there could always be a sequel game...

 

So, there's my thoughts on the monsters. Now, where do I put them? Well, that'll be my next entry in this series: Mapping Silent Hill.