WHO (OR WHAT) IS PYRAMID HEAD?

pyramid head is a singular (though sometimes twofold!), reoccuring enemy monster from the 2001 ps2 horror game, silent hill 2. it serves as a central motivating force that keeps the protagonist, james sunderland, moving forward through the difficult task of coming to terms with the horrible truth of his actions, heavily symbolized through the terrifying obstacles and environment of the town of silent hill. pyramid head itself is a figment of james' psyche, formed of the combination of james' guilt, sexual frustration, and desire for punishment. once james reaches the culmination of his character arc -- detaching from his delusions and recognizing the reality of who he is and what he has done -- pyramid head ceases to exist.



WHY DO I LOVE PYRAMID HEAD?

i go into this a bit in the next section, but i go crazy over the kind of extraordinary creative thought that went into the first three silent hill games, and this one element of the larger whole is no different. the fact that this creature, in terms of game mechanics, is simply a recurring powerful enemy; but in terms of the text, is a complex yet very simple psychological metaphor...well it makes me go insane in a good way. the gesamtkunstwerk of not just masahiro ito but the whole creative team behind silent hill 2 has provoked much thought and inspiration for me, and i never get enough of playing the game and rotating it in my head and talking about it with other fans.

on a simpler level, i love the design so much. it's popular and iconic for a reason, though it's disappointing where that popularity has taken the franchise and fandom. (i talk about this in the next section also.)

once i find more ways to articulate the multiple facets of my love for pyramid head, i'll jot them down here!



A RANT

(technically multiple rants of a similar nature)

pyramid head is a frequently misunderstood creature. there are two popular interpretations out there that i take issue with:

  1. HOTGUYIFICATION

    so, here's the thing. i'm not trying to kinkshame anyone because i, too, am a monsterfucker. but i cannot get behind applying the reductive monsterfucker lens to pyramid head. and it's not because i don't think it has the potential to be sexy, but because i have a lot of respect for the source material and what it was trying to do. pyramid head is not so much a guy that you or me, someone who is not james sunderland, can interact with in any way. but i talk more about that in the next subsection.

    that said, i fully place the blame of the fandom-wide and greater cultural sexyfication of pyramid head on the movie adaptations and on homecoming, which depict him with more toned glistening muscle and fewer clothes to amp up his conventional sex appeal to the highest degree. i would go wild about that if it were any other monster -- but it goes directly against what masahiro ito had meant to do with pyramid head, and i like and respect what his intentions were because i found the result to be really thoughtful and unique. seeing that inspired creation get reduced to monster husband #473 kind of breaks my heart.

    you can do what you want forever of course, but as for me, i'm always going to side with the source material. the source material that depicts pyramid head not as a homocidal hunk wearing a weird hat, but as a de-personified creature with an unremarkable physique, covered in grime and rust, composed of impossible fusions of slackened flesh and dull metal.

  2. GLEEFUL DEMONIC SADISM

    a while back i tried to read a fan translation of the official novelization of silent hill 2, but had to give up because it was not only boring and uninspired, but also because the author's characterizations of the whole cast, including pyramid head, left a lot to be desired. here were some of my review notes i took back when i was reading it

    still reading the sh2 novelization. don't like this paragraph, or more specifically the ending of it:

    "At the creature's feet was the recently killed corpse of an armless monster. Just like the mannequins from before, its body was mangled and broken almost beyond recognition. Having finished dealing with its last victim, the pyramid monster slowly turned to face James. Because of its bizarre head, James had no way to read the creature's expression, but he could easily imagine it smiling gleefully at the arrival of new prey."

    i don't know about anyone else, but i've only ever perceived pyramid head as emotionless. having it be characterized to be 'smiling gleefully', even within the context of james' imagination, feels like a misstep. whatever pyramid head truly is (the book often calls it a demon), it always seemed like more of an animal than a person, in terms of behavior and demeanor. even ascribing masculine pronouns to it feels like a stretch sometimes bc it personifies to some degree

    and a person on tumblr replied to my post with this brilliance:

    "I think characterizing pyramid head as a beast would be so much more apt due to how he depicts James' intense inner guilt and desire to be punished, such a primal desire to be destroyed for his sins doesn't smile at 'prey' it's empty and cold like a demon or beast hunting prey, it's there to hurt you like it's a menial office job"
    -- tumblr user cygnusgamma, emphasis mine

    in my eyes, pyramid head doesn't exist outside of james' experience and perception. not only is it a manifestation of james' guilt and desire to be punished (as mentioned above), but it sort of functions as almost a disciplinary tool -- a guardian angel who guards not the person's safety, but guides the person's path and ensures they do not stray. it's not some tangible supernatural being that's just turned its focus onto james and does the scary and violent things it does just for fun, because it likes it -- pyramid head is purely and simply a psychological manifestation in origin, and a disciplinary figure in function. this is also why pyramid head kills itself near the end of sh2 -- james has let go of his delusions, ending the need for its existence.

    furthermore, as masahiro ito himself explains, pyramid head doesn't attack other monsters because it loves cruelty, it does so as a means of keeping james focused on the task at hand. removing distractions, in a sense. the scenes in which pyramid head attack other monsters are intentionally erotic due to the nature of james' psyche, but ultimately sex (consensual or not) is not the internal motivation of pyramid head.

(sometimes these embedded tweets don't load properly. annoying!)




FUN FACTS / TRIVIA

  • this is relatively well known in the fandom, but pyramid head was originally going to roam around the streets of silent hill for the player to encounter randomly. see the vid!
  • pyramid head's iconic knife is actually one half of a pair of scissors! the one that james picks up is the other half (source)
  • pyramid head is intended to be the "good guy" of this story. james is the protagonist, but that doesn't make him the one we are meant to root for. (source)
  • more to come...