Template:Infobox SH monster
- This article is for the boss monster. For the character, see Scarlet Fitch.
| “ | Daddy...?
|
” |
Scarlet is the second boss encountered in Silent Hill: Homecoming, at the end of Hell Descent. She is the manifestation of Dr. Martin Fitch's guilt over murdering his daughter Scarlet Fitch, who was dismembered and sacrificed to appease the Order's god.
The act of murdering his daughter took a heavy toll on Dr. Fitch, as evidenced by his uncertain behavior and self-mutilation. After being presented with one of Scarlet's dolls, Fitch's scars open and he begins to bleed profusely, and Scarlet's doll rises from the bloody pool as a tall doll-like monster, whom Fitch begs for forgiveness. In response, the Scarlet monster seems to cradle him for a moment, as if considering it, then bites Fitch's head off and tosses his body aside.
Afterwards, she is promptly defeated by Alex Shepherd, who then sinks into the pool of blood and returns to the Fog World.
Appearance
Alex facing Scarlet's first form.
Scarlet's monstrous form is tall and extremely thin. She has white segmented armor resembling a porcelain doll that can be broken away to reveal a thin, fleshy underlining. The head of the doll can be shattered and broken, showing it to be hollow with a fracture along the mouth, allowing an increase in her bite radius. Her mouth is filled with needle-like teeth, and she is prone to letting out snake-like hisses and shrieks. She wears black Mary Jane-style shoes on her club-like feet. Her hands resemble more of a wild beast's than a human's, with short, stubby fingers.
Character
Scarlet, specifically in her second phase, proves to be an intelligent, volatile adversary. She emits high-pitched shrills and shrieks, and mainly attacks by swinging her long, clawed arms incessantly as an endeavor to knock Alex over, giving her the opportunity to grab him and attempt to galvanize his head as she did to her father. If this attack is utilized, the player will have to follow onscreen button prompts. Scarlet may also slam her fists into the ground, causing a shockwave.
All of her attacks are fairly avoidable, primarily in her first stage, but it takes a good deal of practice to do so. In order to damage her, the porcelain shell of her body must be destroyed, a job perfect for the fire axe or crowbar, if the player acquired it beforehand. Once the flesh of her legs is exposed, Alex can cause her to topple and kneel, stunned, until he can break all of her armor. The best way of fighting her once all her armor is off is to hit her twice with two non-charged heavy attacks from the fire axe. Once she gets back up, she'll go to her knees rather quickly.
Alex fighting Scarlet with all of her porcelain armor broken off.
Scarlet then enters a second phase in which she begins to crawl on all fours with much higher speed, much like a spider. Due to the breaking of her armor, she is fairly vulnerable to all weapons. However, once her armor is removed, she attacks much more quickly and can climb the walls and ceiling to drop down on Alex, causing quite an amount of damage. In this phase, Scarlet also has the ability to quickly whirl her torso or lower herself at 360 degrees should she jump sideways. Evading her can also be a challenge, save for when she deliberately recedes to the darkness, and may even jump directly in time with Alex to hinder whatever path he was heading for.
The most effective way to defeat her is with speed: the knife. As soon as Alex can land a hit with a knife, he can then enter an endless combo until she is eventually dead. Once she takes enough damage in this form, she finally dies and dissolves into a pool of blood. When she begins to frequently climb the walls, a highly effective tactic for one trying to avoid damage would be to simply dodge her assaults until she climbs, then quickly press the designated button to dodge; Scarlet will be stunned by her miss, giving Alex a good opportunity to attack her vigorously.
There are two death scenes in this boss battle: If Alex fails to release himself from Scarlet's ground-pinning grapple, she will rip out his throat, killing him. The other is that she lifts him up, and if he fails to escape from that, Alex will lose his head at her jaws.
Symbolism
Scarlet is the memory of Scarlet Fitch manifested from her father's horrible guilt. Her form is based on Scarlet's love of dolls, which fill her room and can be found strewn along the path to Fitch's location.
Her rapidly beating heart, visible only after her back's ceramic layer is peeled off, is quite possibly a representation of the sheer trauma Scarlet experienced as she slowly approached death by mutilation, which is precisely what Alex must do in order to kill her.
Fitch sacrificed Scarlet by dismembering her, and the Scarlet creature's doll form shows this with the crude form of her joints. Scarlet's appearance may also be related to how Dr. Fitch saw his daughter. Should Alex choose a certain option while speaking with him, Fitch will describe Scarlet's hands as "pure as porcelain", an expensive and very fine substance. Fitch made it clear he highly treasured his daughter despite him murdering her, seeing her as a priceless treasure.
Scarlet's boss fight also deeply revolves around bleeding, and both Fitch and possibly Alex lose their heads, making the boss fight more reminiscent to Scarlet's death. She both rises from and dies in a pool of blood, resembling the great deal of it she would have lost while her father maimed her.
After defeating her for the first time, she revives and crawls around like an insect, being capable of climbing up walls and scuttering around on all fours. The reason for this is probably a take on Alex's guilt of his brother Joshua's death, as Josh had a love for spiders.
Trivia
- In Silent Hill 3, one of the dolls found in Alessa Gillespie's room is named Scarlett. The naming of Scarlet may be a nod to Silent Hill, or just a coincidence.
- Scarlet's initial design, portrayed as a disproportionately tall woman in a red dress, is reminiscent of artwork of God in Silent Hill 3.
- Scarlet is one of two bosses in the game (the other being Sepulcher) that killed their fathers. Ironically, the two bosses were brought up with a "perfect childhood" by the parents who gave them everything they wanted. This is a possible symbolism of excessive love spoiling the children.
- Scarlet's upright stance, figure, cry, and general appearance is very similar to the Mama boss from Silent Hill: The Arcade, and may have been based on it. In fact, the two both have similar attack styles, first attacking with their arms and then resorting to high speed crawling and attacking from both the ceiling and the floor.
- In the room in Hell Descent, where Dr. Fitch is seen mutilating himself before the boss fight, messages written in blood can be seen on the wall. They say things like "I'm sorry", "I miss you", "I want to die", "Daddy misses you", etc.
- After returning to Scarlet's room, Scarlet's doll has had its head removed, possibly symbolizing Scarlet's death (dismemberment), and it appears back in the Real World with Alex, even though it had disappeared in a pool of her father's blood.
- Alex is seen sinking into Doctor Fitch and Scarlet's blood. This serves again as a reference to Joshua's death by drowning, the very same end that Alex witnessed in the "Drowning" ending.
- Defeating Scarlet in the Xbox 360 version unlocks the achievement "Blood Donor".
- Scarlet's sharp agility and the way she has her hind feet pointed upright is highly reminiscent to a pointe ballerina. If the player examines Scarlet's room prior to the Otherworld transition, Alex can note that there is a large painting of one in her room; other dance-oriented images can also be found. Her supposed love of dance may be alluded to in the boss's form.
Gallery
For a complete list of images of the Scarlet boss, please visit the Scarlet (boss) images category.
.jpg "Alex faces Scarlet (boss).jpg (442 KB)")
