Template:Infobox SH monster
| “ | Alessa has been trapped in an endless nightmare from which she never awakens. He has been nurtured by that nightmare. Waiting for the day to be born. That day has finally come... This is a God! Descended among us to reach out and save us!
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” |
Incubus is the final boss in Silent Hill encountered during the Good and Good+ endings. The Incubator is fought with the Bad and Bad+ endings.
An easter egg in Silent Hill: Downpour gives the creature the alternate name Samael, and Dahlia Gillespie also seems to refer to the creature by this name throughout the game when speaking of the Seal of Metatron.
This boss can only be battled if the player completes a side quest, that being the task of saving Michael Kaufmann and eventually finding red liquid in a motorcycle gas tank. If Kaufmann is not saved and the red liquid is not found, the Incubator will be fought instead. Due to the events of Silent Hill 3, the Incubus is the canonical final boss.
Creation
Dahlia Gillespie excited for God's arrival and the end of the world.
When Harry Mason confronts Dahlia Gillespie in the mysterious world known simply as Nowhere, she explains that Cheryl Mason had rejoined with Alessa Gillespie the moment they entered the town. With the two halves of her soul reunited, the god was able to mature once more and possess the body of Alessa, forming a new being called the Incubator.
As Harry steels himself for the final confrontation, Kaufmann inexplicably arrives, standing beside Harry. Kaufmann soon shoots Dahlia out of anger, and she collapses. Much to her horror, Kaufmann reveals a large bottle of Aglaophotis to her. Claiming more to be readily available, he hurls the bottle at the glowing form of the combined girls, where it shatters.
The Incubus emerges from Alessa's/Incubator's back.
As the form collapses in pain, the beast known as Incubus expels itself through the Incubator's back. Because of the effects of Aglaophotis, the demon has been exorcised. The Incubus, while imperfect, still possesses the ability of flight and the use of deadly lightning. Demonstrating its capability, Dahlia is immediately struck with lightning, killing her. The Incubus continues to rampage but is soundly defeated by Harry Mason.
Appearance
An illustration of Baphomet by French occult writer Éliphas Lévi.
The Incubus seems to be based on Baphomet, a hermaphroditic deity that the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping before they were disbanded by the Catholic Church. It is widely known as the Deity of Fertility in the Pagan religion and was honored in the Spring. In Catholic and Christian culture, Baphomet is considered to be the image of Satan, thus the Incubus is symbolic of Satan.
The Incubus has the head of a bull or goat, topped with two demonic looking horns. No eyes are visible on its face, or lack thereof. It also has a pair of large wings. The Incubus seems to have breasts. As a means of demonstrating its incompleteness, its abdomen appears to have rotted away, leaving only the spine visible.
In concept artwork, the Incubus appears with a metal object shaped into the Seal of Metatron on its back, but this is absent in-game.
Messages on each of Incubus' wings.
Incubus' wings appear to say "Aoraz" (on the right wing) and "Saroa" (on the left wing). However, Masahiro Ito believes they are Greek symbols.[1] Unfortunately, what they mean still remains a mystery.
Character
The Incubus attacks with bolts of red lightning which inflict severe damage and, in some cases, can instantly kill Harry if his health is even slightly low. The Incubus, similar to the Incubator, is completely stationary throughout the fight, so the only strategy needed to battle it is to dodge its barrage of lightning bolts and relentlessly attack it with Harry's most powerful weapon. A few clips from the hunting rifle will defeat it in a short amount of time.
Dodging the lightning Incubus expels during the boss fight can be difficult to entirely evade; the most effective tactic Harry can use is to run in a sideways circle, which will warrant him capable of avoiding almost all strikes if the player times his or her actions correctly. With PlayStation's button configurations, this can be achieved by holding down L1, square and moving the analog stick or D-pad in the direction the player desires Harry to run. It is best to begin running just as Incubus fires its first shot.
It is possible to kill both Incubator and Incubus without dealing damage. If the player uses up their ammunition before the fight and survives for a few minutes, the boss will react as if the final shot has been fired. However, this will not work if the player has the Hyper Blaster.
Symbolism
Incubus is a manifestation of a deity worshiped by the Order.[1] It is a malevolent god with limitless destruction power with the intent to destroy the Real World to punish humankind for their sins. However, its form became mortal and considerably less powerful due to the premature birth the Aglaophotis caused. The Otherworld from Alessa's dreams are caused by the thoughts of the god, which explains why when it "dies", the Incubator in the Otherworld collapses.
Incubus's physical appearance is the manifested form of Dahlia's mental image of the Order's god. Samael/Incubus being a god of the Order is heavily supported as well by a specific memo found in Silent Hill: Origins, in which the author states Samael is the god worshiped by the cult.
The actual appearance of the Incubus was inspired by the representation of the theological deity Baphomet by Éliphas Lévi, which has been widely associated with the occult.
In real-world mythology, an incubus is the male counterpart to a succubus. The incubus is a demon who seduces his female, human victims as they sleep. This may possibly be a tie to Alessa; figuratively, one may imagine an incubus "seducing" her to a placid, helpless state, therefore warranting her mother and cult members to commence the ritual that they hoped would bring to fruition their god. This is supported by flashbacks in the game that show Alessa was highly reluctant to have anything to do with Dahlia's plans, only to later be rendered entirely devoid of her liberty.
In Jewish mythology, Samael is an archangel of death, sometimes even considered to be the illustrious Grim Reaper. However, in Jewish mythology, Samael (who, in this case, is male) is depicted as both commendable and contemptible in different cases. This may carry heavy symbolism in the game of what the Order's god genuinely is: a divine messiah in the eyes of the Order, but a malicious hellian through the perceptions of others.
The fact that the Incubus attacks with lightning may be a reference to the Bible. Luke 10:18 says, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."
Trivia
My Heaven
My Heaven (caution: contains ear rape).
- There is a translation error in the scene before the battle. In the Japanese version, Dahlia refers to the entity inside Alessa not as "God", but as "(her) savior".[2]
- The song "My Heaven", which is played during the battle with Incubus, is the reason for the high-pitched noise during the battle, which was made by distorting the sound of a dentist drill.
- In Alessa's room, there is a blue drawing on the ground that vaguely resembles the Incubus.
- The same picture is present in Alessa's room in Silent Hill 3, although it is more detailed so it resembles the Incubus more.
- After proceeding through Alessa's room and heading down the stairs, the second picture hanging on the wall looks very much like the Incubus. The deity seems crucified with wings folded.
- An Incubus in medieval folklore was a daemon that raped women in their sleep and caused severe illness to those it defiled.
- A creature similar to Incubus appears in the third issue of Anne's Story.
- The Incubus makes a total of four cameos in other Silent Hill games.
- In Silent Hill 3, a picture of the Incubus can be seen on the right page of a book memo entitled "Silent Hill's Ancient Gods: A Study of Their Etymology and Evolution".
- In Silent Hill 4: The Room, Jasper Gein has an Incubus T-shirt with the word "Haures" beneath it, which is another name for Flauros.
- In Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, classroom 4D's projector in Midwich High School may display a drawing of a succubus similar to Incubus, depending on the player's Psych Profile.
- In Silent Hill: Downpour, there is an Incubus painting on the 1st floor (Archive/Offices) of the Centennial Building titled "Demon Samael".
References
Gallery
Artwork
Silent Hill
