History VideoGame / SilentHillHomecoming

* CreepyCockroaches: This game has a variation with the Swarm, a leech/roach hybrid. And they do more than look creepy -- they latch on to Alex to drain health from him and will keep doing so until either they die or Alex does, as their introductory cut-scene shows.[[note]]They can be yanked off off Alex, but they'll keep coming back.[[/note]]

** What happened to all the townspeople? [[spoiler:The Order kidnapped them]], and then what? Are they dead? Locked up? While it seems likely that [[spoiler:they were killed by the Order to appease their god, in the end the characters never find out the truth, leaving their fate ambigous.]]

-->'''Wheeler:''' "...So, you've seen the creatures too?"

* ClusterFBomb: Not to a ridiculous extent, but Alex is definitely the most foul-mouthed ''Silent Hill'' protagonist so far -- not that anyone can blame him.

* ControllableHelplessness: The initial cutscene of the Nightmare Hospital, getting arrested, and the struggle against [[spoiler:Judge Holloway.]]

* IronicNurseryTune: The first time you enter the playground behind Alex's house, some unseen CreepyChild can be heard singing in the distance. The actual words are a random phrase from "Ring Around the Rosie".

KillEmAll: [[spoiler:The inevitable ending. The ''best'' ending sees a mere three people left alive in all of Shepherd's Glen, all of whom will have to leave it: Alex, Wheeler, and Elle. Play the wrong way, and that number goes down to just Alex.]]

* NothingIsScarier: As always with this franchise, some of the most unnerving moments are where you're just exploring the desolate areas rather than fighting monsters. In fact, many of the Otherworld areas in Homecoming are surprisingly monster-free.

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler:Inverted. ''All'' the children died before the story begins in really nasty ways.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Narrowly avoided. It soon becomes apparent that the bosses are [[spoiler:the vengeful spirits of the children murdered by their parents; each appears in the Otherworld, and each appears moments after the parent in question touches an object that was precious to their child. Judge Holloway is the only one who manages to get away before being killed by the monster summoned by her daughter's locket. However, she later gets killed by Alex in an extremely brutal fashion.]]

!Tropes specific to this game:

* DarkWorld: The Otherworld, a recurring element of SH.

* RetCanon: See "AdaptationDistillation".

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHgf79wwKVs Siam]] - A hulking beast that appears as a man and woman fused back-to-back with bondage gear. Her bound arms jut over his head like a fleshy horn. [[CaptainObvious Symbolic?]]

* [[spoiler:HidingBehindReligion: Judge Holloway cares very little for her faith, and more about the power it brings her, and how it allows her to exercise her sociopathic desires. For example through the order, she rules Shepherd's Glen like a despot and murders, or has murdered, anyone who crosses her. She even attempts to have Elle killed, because she won't obey her.]]

* AbusiveParents: It's blatantly obvious that Alex's parents [[ParentalFavoritism loved Joshua more]] and constantly treated Alex like dirt. [[spoiler:This is because Alex was to be sacrificed and they didn't want to become attached to a doomed child. It is also revealed that they both did genuinely love Alex, in spite of their attempts not to.]] Many of the other parents could also qualify, although [[spoiler:they don't really have a choice about killing their kids]]. [[spoiler:Judge Holloway]], however, is perfectly happy to hurt both her children.
** Also, Alex [[spoiler:ends up (accidentally) drowning Josh over a family ring, and after that the peace of the town is ruined.]] Another reason why Alex's dad hates him.

** AndYouWereThere: [[spoiler:The electroshock specialist is Wheeler.]]

* BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible: [[spoiler:Everyone but Wheeler and Alex knows something about whats going on in Silent Hill, but refuse to give any helpful advice to Alex. Justified with Judge Holloway, as she has already defected to The Order. Partly justified with Bartlett, since he's drunk by the time you finally get to speak with him.]]

* CallBack: This game has some references to Silent Hill 2, not counting Pyramid Head. For killing a Siam, you get a trophy called "Shade of James". Siam looks like two people having sex, and James had major issues with his suppressed sexuality. For killing a feral, a dog-like monster, you get a trophy called "Eddie's Legacy". Likely a reference to Eddie Dombrowski, who killed a dog. Also, the woman you meet in the hotel may be a reference to Mary, James' wife. If you ask who would leave her there, she says not to blame whoever left her. She continues to say it's hard to watch someone die; Mary from Silent Hill 2 was dying and her husband suffered watching her die. And finally, if you choose not to forgive Alex's father you get the trophy "Angela's Choice". Angela murdered her father for all the abuse he heaped on her, thus she didn't forgive him.

** Also, the boss Scarlet, who is a doll, is likely a reference to Alessa's doll Scarlet that you find in Alessa's room from Silent Hill 3.

** HumanoidAbomination: Scarlet falls under this considering that she has the [[UncannyValley most human]] [[CreepyDoll but still very wrong appearance]].

* FanDisservice: Pretty much a staple of the series. The Nurses obviously qualify, but then there's the female half of the Siams...
** Asphyxia. Full stop.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Joshua collected spiders. If you remember back to the photo you pick up in the playground, you might recall that it showed... a giant spider fighting a toy soldier.

* GiantSpider: The final boss of the game, Amnion, is a horribly twisted version of this trope, [[spoiler:most likely symbolizing Josh's love of spiders]]. See {{Foreshadowing}} above.

* InfantImmortality: Averted.

* KarmaHoudini:
** Narrowly avoided. It soon becomes apparent that the bosses are [[spoiler:the vengeful spirits of the children murdered by their parents]]; each appears in the Otherworld, and each appears moments after the [[spoiler:parent in question touches an object that was precious to their child]].
** [[spoiler:Judge Holloway]] is the only one who manages to get away before being killed by the monster summoned by [[spoiler:her daughter's locket]]. However, [[spoiler:she later gets killed by Alex]] in an extremely brutal fashion.

* KillTheOnesYouLove: In order to have a chance at getting the good ending, you have to [[spoiler:[[MercyKill kill Alex's mother in order to stop her suffering]]]].
** Also, [[spoiler:Mayor Bartlett and Doctor Fitch were forced to sacrifice their own children as part of the pact. Judge Holloway did the same; however, unlike the former two, she didn't feel guilty about killing Nora.]]
* MagicFeather: The game features a much more robust combat system, such as incorporating rolls and a dodge move, supposedly because the main character is an ex-military veteran rather than a normal Joe. However, late in the game, it's revealed [[spoiler:your character was never in the military, but is rather a delusional mental patient who's been locked up in an asylum since he was a teenager. Maybe]]. So, apparently, he [[spoiler:was only a BadassNormal because he ''believed'' he was a BadassNormal.]]
** [[spoiler:It was eventually revealed that Adam had actually trained Alex in combat.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Alex, overlaps with SpannerInTheWorks. When the founders left Silent Hill to found Shepherd's Glen, The Order made them swear to perform a human sacrifice every 50 years to appease their God. In the case of the Shepherd Family, Alex. However, when Alex accidentally kills his brother Josh, his parents cannot bear to lose him too, and refuse to sacrifice him. This breaks the pact, and causes Silent Hill to invade Shepherd's Glen; triggering the game's events.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the good ending, you don't find out what happened to [[spoiler:Wheeler]] if you chose to save him near the end of the game.
** And, seriously, what happened to all the townspeople? [[spoiler:The Order kidnapped them]], and then what? Are they dead? Locked up? Will Alex save them? Whoops, there's the credits.
*** Judging by the look of, and notes in, the penultimate area, it is safe to assume [[spoiler:they were all killed by the Order in a desperate attempt to appease their god.]]

[[quoteright:348:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/silenthillhomecoming_4363.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:348: Welcome home, Alex.]]

* MookChivalry: For whatever reason, an enemy at your back will rarely attack if you're wailing on an enemy to your front.

* AdaptationDistillation: More accurately, a distillation of what worked in a previous adaptation. The "flaking off" effect used in the Silent Hill film adaption to depict the transition to the Otherworld was lifted to be used in this game, as were a few GasMaskMooks and the Nurses. The Bogeyman also resembles the film's version of Pyramid Head.

** Fallen Star (Silver Star) is for [[GeneralFailure "dereliction in the line of duty"]] is for [[spoiler:failing to sacrifice Alex]] and [[spoiler:Alex not fulfilling his role as the sacrifice]].

This installment is tied in several ways to the series's roots: it does away with inventory limitations (except for a cap on ammunition), it has unbreakable weapons, and it also features other characteristics of the [[VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins more recent games]]. It has a similar atmosphere to ''Silent Hills'' [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 1]] and [[VideoGame/SilentHill3 3]] (straight up horror without the lingering melancholy of the [[SilentHill2 second game]]), and it continues the series tradition of multiple endings (at least one of which is as absurd as you would expect). Alex's military past makes the combat more complex, with melee combos and dodging attacks being a major element of the gameplay. Unlike previous series protagonists, Alex can also actually aim firearms, which comes in handy.

* Vagina Dentata: The Lurker, and the toothed cavities that Alex slashes through.

** The newspaper article of Paul Russell Douglas, child serial killer, is an expy of the newspaper article about Walter Sullivan in ''VideoGame/SilentHill2''.

* BittersweetEnding: The Good ending. [[spoiler:Alex and Elle escape alive, and Alex has come to terms with his past actions, but Joshua is still dead, the missing people from Shepherd's Glen are not found and are likely dead, and Shepherd's Glen itself is likely a total loss. Depending on your actions at the end, Wheeler may or may not be alive.]]

* BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible: [[spoiler:Everyone but Wheeler and Alex knows something about whats going on in Silent Hill, but refuse to give any helpful advise to Alex. Justified with Judge Holloway, as she has already defected to The Order. Partly justified with Bartlett, since he's drunk by the time you finally get to speak with him.]]
* BittersweetEnding: The Good ending. [[spoiler:Alex and Elle escape alive, and Alex has come to terms with his past actions, but Joshua is still dead, Shepherd's Glen is likely a total loss (heavily InferredHolocaust), and so many people have died.]]
* BodyHorror: All of the monsters, in true SilentHill fashion. [[VaginaDentata Lurkers]], [[TwoBeingsOneBody Siams]], and [[Film/TheHumanCentipede Asphyxia]] come to mind.

* KillTheOnesYouLove: In order to have a chance at getting the good ending, you have to [[spoiler:[[MercyKill kill Alex's mother in order to stop her suffering]]]].
** Also, [[spoiler:Mayor Bartlett and Doctor Fitch were forced to sacrifice their own children as part of the pact. Judge Holloway did the same; however, unlike the former two, she didn't feel guilty about killing Nora.]]

* CreepyChild: Josh, Alex's missing brother who's always running away whenever he sees him and acts rather hostile to him during the few times he speaks. Of course, this being a Silent Hill game, we can't always trust what we see to be real; by most accounts, every time we see Josh in a flashback or some such, he's a pretty nice kid. The Josh we see in-game is a manifestation.

** [[spoiler:Alex's mother]] will suffer a particularly nasty death if the player doesn't select the option to [[spoiler:shoot her and put her out of her misery]].

** [[spoiler:Judge Holloway]] ends up with [[spoiler:her own drill shoved through the bottom of her jaw]].