History Headscratchers / SilentHill2

*** If you count the name on the pizza box, advertisements around town, and store fronts, Silent Hill appears to have about four different pizza parlors. That town loves pizza.

*** Well, do you want to hide and not be seen or be chased after by [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Pyramid Head]]?

**** I think that's giving the town too much credit as a GeniusLoci, and working too hard to justify gameplay elements that are just part of the survival horror genre. There's nothing to say it's really controlling every last footstep anyone takes, or that it's "thinking" anything at all. James, Eddie and Angela each came to Silent Hill for their own reasons, got pulled into the otherworld because they all have deep, dark issues, and the otherworld's reflecting and bringing to life their guilt, anger, all their inner darkness. James and Eddie crossed paths for the same reason that he crossed paths with Laura and Angela: they're all roaming the town, that's all. The only two characters who are meeting James by design, because they're part of his manifested guilt, are Maria and Pyramid Head.

**** I think that's giving the town too much credit as a GeniusLoci, and working too hard to justify gameplay elements that are just part of the survival horror genre. There's nothing to say it's really controlling every last footstep anyone takes, or that it's "thinking" anything at all. James, Eddie and Angela each came to Silent Hill for their own reasons, got pulled into the otherworld because they all have deep, dark issues and the otherworld's reflecting and bringing to life their guilt, anger, all their inner darkness. James and Eddie crossed paths for the same reason that he crossed paths with Laura and Angela: they're all roaming the town, that's all. The only two characters who are meeting James by design, because they're part of his manifested guilt, are Maria and Pyramid Head.

**** I think that's giving the town too much credit as a GeniusLoci, and working too hard to justify gameplay elements that are just part of the survival horror genre. There's nothing to say it's really controlling every last footstep anyone takes, or that it's "thinking" anything at all. James, Eddie and Angela came to the town for their own reasons, got pulled into the otherworld because they all have deep, dark issues and the otherworld's reflecting and bringing to life their guilt, anger, all their inner darkness. James and Eddie crossed paths for the same reason that he crossed paths with Laura and Angela: they're all roaming the town, that's all. The only two characters who are meeting James by design, because they're part of his manifested guilt, are Maria and Pyramid Head.

*** Silent Hill isn't punishing anybody in this game. It merely allows people to punish themselves, if they feel punishment is what they deserve. Angela certainly feels she does, and is rewarded accordingly. Eddie definitely does not feel as though he did anything wrong, and he certainly doesn't feel he's being punished (in fact, it appears as though he's having the time of his life acting out against all the people he perceives to have wronged him in life). Laura, clearly no punishment going on there. And, James? The punishment he does receive comes mostly in the form of a monster which is very obviously representing himself and his less than savory aspects. Whether or not punishment is finalized is definitely his decision to make. The town itself displays no will of its own at any time. It's also worth noting that Eddie never actually killed anybody. Well, not a ''person'', at least.

*** Silent Hill isn't punishing anybody in this game. It merely allows people to punish themselves, if they feel punishment is what they deserve. Angela certainly feels she does, and is rewarded accordingly. Eddie definitely does not feel as though he did anything wrong, and he certainly doesn't feel he's being punished (in fact, it appears as though he's having the time of his life acting out against all the people he perceives to have wronged him in life). Laura, clearly no punishment going on there. And, James? The punishment he does receive comes mostly in the form of a monster which is very obviously representing himself and his less than savory aspects. Whether or not punishment is finalized is definitely his decision to make. The town itself displays no will of its own at any time.

* Where did Eddie get that pizza? In the bowling alley, he sits there with Laura eating pizza and I'm like...did you order that? Does someone deliver to Silent Hill? Or did you just find it...amid the rust and blood and monsters and gore and hideousness you just found a perfectly fresh pizza and decided "Awesome...magic pizza, probably safe to eat it and its probably not haunted or anything." Or maybe you raided someone's fridge and ignored the "Property of P. Head" post-it.

** Its hinted at that Eddie and Laura don't actually 'see' Silent Hill the exact same way that James does, as Eddie actually states early on when he thinks James is a little nutters. Laura sees the town as an adult-less world for her to play in and doesn't see the monsters and Eddie feels it as a sort of isolated prison for something he thought about doing. It seems that Eddie can sometimes cross back into Normal Silent Hill (hence his absence in some spots) and back into Other World Silent Hill at will.

*** Well, what did you expect? The Pyramid Head was acting as if it realized something was in the closet and was walking towards it and James reacted like any normal person would; he panicked and tried to kill it. It's not as if he would have automatically known that Pyramid Head, unlike the other monsters James had encountered up until that point, was impervious to conventional weaponry.

*** ...Touché

* It's been a while since this troper has touched SH2, but given that the town is "punishing" its visitors for it's past misdeeds...then why is ''Angela'' being punished for ''killing her rapist father?'' UnfortunateImplications much?

** I'd argue that the town itself isn't punishing anyone, it's just providing a place for people that subconsciously want to punish themselves. The over reaching theme of the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2 especially, is that of guilt. And people sometimes feel guilty for things that others wouldn't blame them for. Silent Hill is rather like some early concepts of Hell, not a place of intentional, deliberate torture or pain, but a nightmarish version of the old "Go to your room and think about what you did." Essentially Silent Hill takes normal people wracked with guilt, whether that guilt is deserved or not, and turns them into reality warpers so they can create their own private, personal hells.
** Also, ''because she killed her dad''. Why she did it is irrelevant. Silent Hill punishes murderers, and she is one. Or, to look at all three of them: Eddie is a burgeoning psychopath. Harry has a mix of selfish and noble reasons. Angela is mostly sympathetic. But Silent Hill punishes murderers. It doesn't care if you did it for good reasons.

** It's also vaguely implied that she might have killed her mother and brother as well. As for how much they deserved it, well...

[[folder:Let's Go Play in the Toilet!]]

[[folder:How Dare You Kill Your Rapist Father!]]