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bluecloudious · 26 days

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This is a essay/character analysis of Pyramid Head and I would like to preface it with four disclaimers:

First, as I will use every valid piece of knowledge that's available of Pyramid Head, I will spoil all of Silent Hill 2, even the Director's Cut of it. It's inevitable, considering how important he is in the game, so be warned beforehand. Play Silent Hill 2 if you haven't, or watch someone else play it. (just keep in mind there are multiple endings.)

Second, I will only use Silent Hill 2 and the tweets of Pyramid Head's creator, Masahiro Ito, as evidence. He knew exactly what the character was supposed to be and Silent Hill 2 is the only appearance of Pyramid Head that he worked on. Thus, it doesn't get more accurate than that to me.

Third, I am not claiming this is gospel. This is mainly a character study done for fun to show off how canon Pyramid Head may act when portrayed in fanfiction or other fan content. It's researched and gathered information that may be used to learn more about the character as well, yes, but I am not claiming this to be the end-all-be-all of his personality. He is a fictional character, and a grown man/creature at that. There's nothing wrong with depicting him however anyone pleases. I personally do not enjoy the r*pey depictions of him, but he's a fictional monster, it's an inevitable take.

And, fourth, expect discussion of topics found in Silent Hill 2. Mentions of death, abuse and r*pe, but I won't be dwelling on any given topic in detail.

So, with all of that in mind…

What was that Red Pyramid Thing? An essay/character study of the manifestation of James' guilt

Red Pyramid Thing, more commonly known as Pyramid Head, is somewhat of the main antagonist in Silent Hill 2, though I use the term loosely (he certainly does antagonize James). He was made specifically because the game needed a chaser to fulfil a specific role in the story, and he was designed by Masahiro Ito.

He only appears six times total throughout the game, for around ten minutes all together. Regardless of the brevity of his sightings, he certainly makes a strong impression, if how popular he has become since then is any indication of course. Every single instance of Pyramid Head's appearance in-game has him pushing James forward towards recognizing the error of his ways and remembering what he did in the first place. Mostly emotionally, but he does physically push him once in order to make progress too. The only exception is perhaps his first appearance, where he simply stands there behind a set of bars and stares at James, simply an omen of things to come. Rather nice of him to give a warning, as vague as simply standing there menacingly can be. Other than that, PH is doing his job very actively and without pulling any punches. Only what is needed of him, up until James learns his lesson.

But, what is Pyramid Head and why does he exist? Put short, PH is a manifestation of James Sunderland's guilt and his need to be punished after what he did.

Regardless of what James says throughout most of the duration in-game, his wife Mary did not die three years ago. That's when she got sick, and she's basically been dead to him ever since. She had to be sent to the hospital and throughout the duration of it all, she somewhat made James' life far more difficult, from his own point of view at least. While her wife was fighting the illness, James was fighting his inner lust. Since he couldn't be with his wife that way anymore, and due to her behavior shift during her illness, lashing out at him, James found himself lusting for other women around him. He never acted upon it, but every vaguely attractive woman that caught his sights, whether nurse or patient, was sooner or later a part of his fantasies. And it all became too much for him.

It culminated in James no longer wanting Mary to be in his way, so he wouldn't have to worry about her anymore in every sense of the word. Thus, in an act of desperation, he suffocates her with a pillow. In order to hide the body, he brings her to his car, his mind immediately locking the memory away of what he just did in order to try and continue his life. He then heads directly to Silent Hill, as he finds it calling for him.

And Pyramid Head is there, ready to remind James of all of it and to make sure he isn't able to forget and move on.

As stated prior, everything that Pyramid Head does after his first appearance is actively to fulfil his role, to punish James Sunderland for his sins. PH doesn't hang out nor do whatever he wants, he's actively terrorizing James every time he appears, even when it seems he might not know James is even there. He knows, and he's acting accordingly. He kills Maria at least twice and chases James around in order to establish that he should be taken seriously. From what I established earlier, this is both a direct display and punishment for exactly what James did. Yet, he shows off that he's actively helping too, since he's actively trying to remove and destroy those lust-based creatures when we see him first doing anything. James just hides from the fact that he ever had those ideas in the first place.

And, after all of this is done, Pyramid Head offs himself. His job is done, there's nothing else left for him to do, it's completed its purpose. PH is directly tied to James, his existence directly revolves around him and he works diligently to show off as much as well. That's all he was created for and all he ever acted accordingly to.

So… Why is that not how he's depicted anymore? Why is he now a general judge and punisher? When did Valtiel become an important to him? Why is he depicted so lustfully?

Well, the truth is, that's really not the same Pyramid Head anymore.

Konami couldn't let PH go, mainly due to how iconic his appearance is. If you told someone with little to no artistic skill to draw Pyramid Head, chances are that you'll still be able to flawlessly tell who they drew. A stick figure with a triangle instead of a head and a big sword/knife by his side. Undoubtedly still the same iconic character. And the game, Silent Hill 2, is regarded as one of the best horror games ever by a lot of people. It's hard to not find an avid horror video game fan who hasn't at the very least heard about it; about its atmosphere, how well it depicts what it tackles and how many layers of symbolism there is to pick apart.

So, it's been somewhat inevitable that Pyramid Head became as prevalent in media as he did. If Konami sees dollar signs in their future, they're not ignoring the prediction. They just had to include the Executioner in more media in order to ensure he isn't forgotten and that he'd remain iconic. And that's how he's become what he is now. A deliverer of punishment, working for powers beyond comprehension. Whether it's Valtiel (the subject of worship for the cult in Silent Hill) or the Entity (Dead By Daylight's main antagonist), he's just been delegated to be a brutish goon more than anything.

That's what's happening to PH in real life, but how would he canonically react to this? How would he, as a character, react to being brought back to life and used as a lackey more or less, punishing whoever is deemed worthy of it? Would he even care?

Well, I have reason to believe that he'd be frustrated. Disappointed and miserable even. And that belief stems partly from Ito's tweets, but mostly from the being most like Pyramid Head of all that James meets during the nightmare he lived through in Silent Hill. Maria.

Maria is the idealized representation of James' wife, Mary. She looks far more outgoing and appealing compared to Mary, flirts with him, works at a strip club and, though she is also briefly shown to be ill, she can just take a few pills and she's fine again. Yet, she's shown to be more than this. She gets upset when James glosses over how she "almost" died, she cares about what happens to Laura and, well, she is still ill. Yes, it's true that this is simply her being a representation of Mary, as those are all traits they'd share.

But there's even more. There's Born From a Wish, a side story in the Director's Cut of Silent Hill 2, where you play as Maria. In it, we see what she did before she met James face to face for the first time. She wants to live, she's scared of the monsters and she wants to be her own person. She doesn't want to believe in fate, especially that it's tied to James, a man she's never met, yet she can just vaguely recall him. She even makes a choice whether to be in control of her fate or not, ultimately deciding to submit.

While Maria is a direct reflection of Mary, just somewhat more idolized, Pyramid Head is more of a reflection in spirit of James.

While it's correct that PH shows off what James did, it was directly to display how awful that behavior was, knowing that James is right there to bear witness. He was directly playing a part, acting even. Even his outfit reflected his part in a way that James would recognize; that of an executioner. Back in the day, Silent Hill was full of them (due to the cult dedicated to making sacrifices to Valtiel), everyone knew an executioner or was directly related to one. Thus, they were depicted in the Silent Hill Historical Society, a place that James and Mary visited. James knows that the thing freaking him out and threatening his life is an executioner, a punisher. Eventually, he realizes it's his punisher.

But then why did I bring up Maria?

Pyramid Head isn't like all the other monsters. While he causes the radio to act out, he acts far more intelligently and well-thought-out. As I emphasized before, he only appears for around ten minutes in-game. Thus, he is extremely proficient and active at his purpose. None of the other monsters that James faces behave this way; hunting him all the way through Silent Hill, only showing up when the timing is perfect. Pyramid Head knows exactly what he's doing, thus it's not too outlandish to assume that he's sapient (and also insanely dedicated to his job). Thus, him being capable of emotions may not be as far-fetched as first assumed.

Now, with all of that in mind, imagine you're Pyramid Head; created for the one purpose, insanely dedicated to it and with no reason to exist outside of it. And then… You're brought back and are being told to punish some random people that you know nothing about. All that planning and effort that was put into punishing James, that sheer artisan level of skill shown off… Replaced by mere lowly grunt work.

All that have employed Pyramid Head since he got done with James, all of them have misunderstood his point. He isn't merely a punisher and a judge, he's an actor and a skilled planner, his role was all that he ever needed or possibly even wanted to be. He lived and died for it.

And now, he's back. And he isn't allowed to be that skilled professional actor anymore, to show off his full potential. He finished acting school and now, after performing the role of his dreams, he's a clown at birthday parties.

It's rather understandable why I assume he might be frustrated now, isn't it? It's strange to think that even a powerful and assumedly somewhat intelligent being like the Entity or even a godlike being such as Valtiel wouldn't know how to properly utilize him. He gets the job done, sure, but surely there are creatures far more up for the task of endlessly hunting people in someone else's name, right?

The main way I can reason, in-universe, why either would choose him is because they find him neat. The Entity has a clear affinity for well-known slashers and monsters, and PH is definitely iconic. Valtiel however saw what a good job Pyramid Head did and decided "you know what, I'm not done with you yet, you stay". Shallow reasons sure, but still better than the Doylist one.

So, Pyramid Head has gone from the tormentor to the tormented, assuming such from the evidence I have at least. Though there's still a possibility that I overestimated or even jumped the gun on the idea that the Red Pyramid Thing knows or even cares that it's being puppeted, I think it's still a fascinating possibility. Big brutish man that's actually intelligent, but who gets misinterpreted by everyone, to the point that it's landed him a job he never wanted.

Perhaps it's why the bottom of his helm has been covered by flesh over time; so many people disregarded the head that now he's given into the pyramid. That he'll never be regarded as anything other than a mindless monster.

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