Richard Braintree

Richard in Silent Hill 4: The Room

Gender

Male

Age

Middle aged

Status

Deceased/Ghost

Cause of death

Electrocution

Hair color

Mousy brown

Eye color

Light blue

Occupation

Unknown

Appearance(s)

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Voice actor

Unknown

Richard Braintree is a character in Silent Hill 4: The Room. He is Henry Townshend's neighbor from Room 207, an angry middle-aged man who hates children.

Biography

Richard lived in Room 207 of South Ashfield Heights. He is an eccentric, angry and somewhat violent (possibly sadistic) man who carries a revolver along with him. Remembering Joseph Schreiber's sudden disappearance, he becomes concerned when he notices the same thing happening again in Room 302. Richard is also on good relations with Eileen Galvin, as Richard and Eileen are seen having a friendly conversation together.

When Walter Sullivan traveled to South Ashfield Heights as a small child, Richard often noticed him. Richard was suspicious of Walter, and was often aggressive with him, as he believed Walter didn't belong there. As a child, Walter wrote that "The city is scary and the apartment where mommy is has a scary guy in it."

An incident occurred where Richard peeled off the clothes of a man named Mike, who was a perverted stalker living in the apartments who was despised (see Another Crimson Tome for the full details). As Walter was in the crowd and saw Richard holding bloody clothes, Walter may have misunderstood the situation and thought that Richard literally "skinned" Mike and that he was a homicidal killer.

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Richard can appear before entering the Building World by examining the peephole, where he and Eileen Galvin are standing outside Henry's door.

There is also an extra scene where Richard appears alone outside of the door, staring into the peep-hole before walking away down the hall. This scene can be viewed upon constantly checking the peep-hole between visits to the apartment.

Henry Townshend first meets Richard Braintree personally in the building world on Hotel South Ashfield. He appears to fall out of the sky (which is never explained fully in the game) and suddenly points his revolver at Henry, but realizes that he is another resident of his apartment building. Richard tells Henry he wants to find a way out and suddenly leaves. As Henry enters and descends through an elevator, he sees Richard, who is chasing a young Walter Sullivan, having recognized him.

Henry makes his way to a large staircase when he suddenly hears Richard's scream. When Henry reaches the top of the staircase, he finds a replica of Room 207, Richard's own apartment room. He enters Room 207 and sees the child Walter point outside a window (possibly at Room 303) and eventually disappear into thin air. Henry tries to help Richard, who is being electrocuted in an electric chair, with "19/21" carved into his forehead. Henry is unable to free him and is forced to watch him die. Richard was killed with the 'Chaos' theme of murder. His item left behind is his trademark revolver, which Henry can later obtain as a weapon.

Victim 19

Richard's ghost haunts the building world in the game. When he first appears, he is standing on a ledge and falls off. Unlike the game's other ghosts, he does not float, but he attacks with great celerity and is able to teleport and "phase" across medium distances, making him a dangerous enemy. As a victim of an electric chair, Richard's skin is black and somewhat "fried", and his clothes are also burned and charred. As he walks, Richard keeps twitching and emitting static sounds, due to his electrocution. He moves erratically, even to the point where it seems he does a certain motion (like swinging his crowbar) backwards.

Richard wields a crowbar and attacks Henry aggressively. As he walks, he can swing his crowbar in slow motion and at a high speed. If a Sword of Obedience isn't used on him, his ghost will appear in Room 207. It is recommended that a Sword of Obedience (possibly with a Silver Bullet) should be used on him.

Another Crimson Tome

Richard's backstory reveals the story of "Skinned Mike", a cassette tape found in the Apartment World that can be played back with Henry's tape deck.

"Hey, Richard's gone nuts again."

"He lost his temper this time."

"I'll bet next time will be even more fun."

The residents of South Ashfield Heights enjoyed talking about him. He was famous for his short temper.

The worst incident was when Mike, the resident of Room 301, bumped into Braintree's shoulder in the corridor of the apartment unintentionally. At the time Richard was even more moody than usual. He yelled: "Who do you think I am?", and dragged Mike by the collar of his shirt into his apartment, Room 207.

"Not again", said the crowd from the apartment, and they went to Room 207 to see what was going to happen. Suddenly, the door opened and a stark-naked Mike came out of the room. Right after that, Richard came out of the room, holding Mike's shirts and jeans soaked in blood.

"How do you like that, you sick little freak? You had it comin' to you!", said Richard as Mike ran away from him. Richard threw away Mike's clothes and said: "These clothes are disgusting. Get 'em outta my sight!"

Then a middle-aged woman in the crowd said: "I know... It'll be perfect to wrap his body in", and she took the jeans.

"Hold it. Hold it... I think I'll keep that one for myself", said a drunk, and he took the shirt.

After that, Richard took a look into the crowd and noticed a little kid among the crowd and yelled: "You!! You snoopin' around again?! Get your ass outta here before you really piss me off!"

Trivia

• The last name "Braintree" could be seen as an allusion to Richard's death. A tree has roots connected to it -- a brain's "roots" can be thought of the nerves or nervous system which spread throughout the entire body, hence "Braintree". Richard's death involves his entire nervous system being stimulated until his heart stops beating.
• Richard is one of the victims whom Henry tries to help, though he fails, frying his own hand on the electric chair while trying to save Richard.
• Electrocution was an old method used by law enforcement to punish criminals charged for murder. Braintree's death on a electric chair is a possible representation of Walter's misunderstanding about Richard "skinning" Mike, punishing him for his "crime".
• In official artwork, Richard has light blue eyes. In the game, his eyes appear grey.
• Richard wears a tie with the face of a smiling woman with long flowing hair (who appears to be an angel).
• It appears that Richard Braintree and Sam Bartlett's (Silent Hill: Homecoming) facial features are similar, though this could just be a coincidence.
• Richard is the only ghost who can walk and teleport, aside from Walter Sullivan.
• In ghost form, Richard may at times merely stand in one spot and twitch erratically.
• Upon discovering the first Gum Head, gunshots as well as what sounds like grunts from Richard can be heard. This could be connected with his first appearance, before having fallen off the roof.
• The two occasions of Richard falling out of the sky seem to have been made into a running joke, understandably. On the first occasion, he falls at least two stories and when he hits the ground, no more than a light thud and "Ouch! Dammit!" from Richard is heard upon the impact. He does not appear in the slightest bit hurt, sitting up and training his revolver on Henry. On the second occasion (Building World Revisited), the ledge he falls off of is seen, and as Richard is now a ghost, he is no more hurt than the last time.

Gallery

Richard's ghost in his apartment room.

If one looks through Richard's windows during the Building World...

Richard's portrait.

Richard in Henry's peephole

Richard and young Walter

The number 19/21 carved into his head.

Henry noticing Richard's numbers

Richard talking to Henry at the start of Building world.

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery