(Because I promised Link and have had this urge for quite a while. xD)
So, for quite obvious reasons we couldn't go madcrazy over PH in the "Favorite Silent Hill Creature/Boss" thread, buuuut... let's analyze him here! :D I wanted to make a thread solely for him seeing as we all know he's deemed the most iconic of SH beasts- you see him, you think Silent Hill. Just like when you see Justin Bieber, you think Hell (... I do but don't apologize to any fans he may have on this site). Feel free to dissect his composition and explain why you love him, but please to prevent spam no aimless "OHMYGOD I LOVE HIM ALSDKFJAOIWEUQWIER<3" answers. I mean I know he's amazing but give a reason, ha ha.
For me? Indisputably, Pyramid Head is. Without a doubt. My favorite Masahiro Ito creation in advance to my most beloved Konami fabrication. I just almost can't even. ;_; But I'll try to explicate my reason to the best of my ability, however I doubt it's even possible to put into words a fascination that dives to such perpetual depths.
First, let's start with the outside. But to do that, we at least have to mention a hair of the interior: His purpose of being the living manifestation of remorse and the yearning to surrender to retribution. His roots lie in the executioners of Silent Hill's most lofty occult period, all part of the Valtiel sect. Thus his original (SH2) model is garbed in similar white robes and gloves to denote whom holds his purpose. Of course when we first see him, prior to learning of Valtiel, we've no idea of what purpose this serves, however it is still eeriely disturbing as the player is able to decipher a being that is humanoid, but still monster: Something that I think is pure ingenius, as this can remind ourselves of what monsters we can be, right? Then we have his most memorable trait: His "masquerade." Unlike any beast you've ever seen, here's this thing with a pyramid on his head! This clearly makes him unable to forget, and also arises more questions. We don't forget that he is humanoid, but trapped within a geometric shell. How does he eat? Does he? Is there even a face beyond the mask? Now in my personal opinion, the scariest beasts are almost always the ones whose visage you cannot see. Because as we know, one's face is frequently called his or her identity (hey, theives wear ski masks for a reason, ha), and to me, it is most frightening when you can't see the face. Emotions are null, gone. You never know what's going on beneath the surface... that's one reason I like other SH monsters like the Bogeyman and the Butcher. You've no confident hypothesis of what is beyond. And to my knowledge, Pyramid Head was one of the first virtual beasts to hold this unorthodox trait of lacking a real face, one of the most unnerving things about him. Oh, and also his lack of a voice, another terrifying aspect: No face and no voice? You never know what he's thinking! He's so immensely mysterious...
And the knife. Now don't you lie to me, when you first saw Pyramid Head's weapon you nearly shit bricks at the thought of fighting that guy. Once more it commenced an uncanny aura about his being: A human, but not. How could he carry such an atrocity with ease as he did? The size of it is whimsical enough, but the idea of such a hideous blade actually being used... shudders.
So now let's go inside, into Pyramid Head's personality. He serves a mainly stoic role to the protagonist, his sole objective simply to assist one in seeing the truth. Which, in my opinion? Hell, it almost makes him a protagonistic beast. In all games he was featured in, did he not lead to the genuine way things were? Two- his motivation was not to kill James, but cleverly usher him towards the abode of his actual past, and there he could suffer, his purpose complete now that James has seen reality. Homecoming- he obviously sees Alex hiding, but makes no endeavor to kill him, discerning Pyramid Head from most, murderous monsters. In opposition to most beasts, slaughtering aimlessly is not his reason: It is yet another reminder of ourselves, that we cannot evade what is real. Back to Homecoming, we know his purpose was, in a nutshell, to be Adam's punisher. Whether or not it "was Alex" or not is debatable, but nevertheless he yet again took part (even though more mild) in directing Alex towards the climax. It's undoubtable that Alex had to wonder why the hell such a being didn't assault him in the Grand Hotel (adding to his mystery through the characters' eyes), and via him killing Adam but ignoring Alex he shows again he's not just a spontaneous, brutal assassin: He is suffering. Incarnate. Adam was smothered in guilt, and as Pyramid Head is metaphorically Guilt itself, he ended his life, an action (albeit tragic) that assisted Alex in seeing that deep inside, truth was (there it is again!) he cared for his father.
Gah... he's just such a brilliant character! And I love how his appearance reflects it. In SH2, he was clearly troubled by his cumbersome helmet, and jeez, Masahiro even went so deep to assure it was an acute pyramid, the various angle degrees figuratively symbolizing pain! As well, we know how we feel when we're ashamed: We want to hide. Vanish, dissolve and never be seen again. Boom, helmet. The most common reaction to embarrassment is to hide our faces (remember, our identity?), and Pyramid Head's is concealed 24/7. To me even his clothes serve purpose to personifying guilt and shame. As we know, the Order has Christian influence, and remember the story of Adam and Eve? Before sin, mankind was naked and unashamed of their physique (please remember I'm speaking in the Christian belief), but after bearing primal sin, Eve and her husband were humiliated by being without clothes and hid in the foliage. And have you ever noticed that even some other human-like monsters lacked any sort of coverage? Asphyxia tried to conceal most of herself, but could not entirely. Scarlet was a doll, but with breasts exposed. Needlers were extremely phalic, noting where their heads were. Amnion had three sets of breasts, and I could go on and on. But Pyramid Head? His robe (or skirt, depending on which version) always keeps his genitals, the one "secretive" male part, hidden, tying it into the Biblical story. Bam, even more interesting reason behind Silent Hill's icon!
I just absolutely adore how in the game, he is Suffer. Confined behind a mask, perhaps he himself suffering from memories of the executioners he resembles from the past. Who knows, maybe he contains all their memories of ending the lives of all those the Order deemed worthy of death? And the burdernsome knife he carries, that fatal weapon: It could be only another reminder of the cruelty Silent Hill's executioners knew. I love how we know enough about him, but still unanswered questions remain to speculate upon.
Another reason I love him is how adaptable a character he is. Obviously his role changed in the movie, but even still he was captivating. The movie is what triggered his appearance change as Roberto Campanella proved it impossible for the original helmet to be worn by a human, but nevertheless, you still had essentially the same, marvelous creature: An acute pyramid cranium and a flesh skirt to serve as the wardrobe of a scarred, uncanny humanoid. The movie adjusted his role to the surrogate father of Alessa's incarnations, which I love just as much as his original role. She never knew her father, so there you have it: A "faceless" man, but strong to defend her like any little girl would want of her daddy. In the first movie, he obliterated only those he saw as hindrances to halting Alessa's development. Anna smited Dahlia, the mother of "his daughter," and therefore kills her. Rose and Cybil wanted to retrieve Sharon before all important could be done, so I believe his assault in the vent was merely a warning, not an actual endeavor to kill them. It's my belief him stabbing through the metal and trying to break their barracade was an act really, simply to instill fear for purposes I'm about to mention. When he skins Anna, he throws her flesh towards the two, making it certain they would enter the church and, probably, in fear of him, not leave until all was done. Then we have "Revelation," a more straight-forward surogate father role being his. Heather cries "Somebody help me!" in the asylum? He's right there, defending the goodness of his "daughter." Then on the carousel when Alessa and Heather were facing each other, although he's present, he takes no active role in their confrontation. You can see this as very similar to what all parents must do one day: Realize their children grow up, and one must allow them to solve their own issues. And by 18, that's a definite. You can almost imagine Pyramid Head doing just that: Allowing his two so-called daughters to let whatever was to happen, happen. Although still being there to assure of no interference. Then we have the movie's climax battle between him and the Missionary. The moment he senses Heather is in danger, Daddy to the rescue! He fights even after being wounded, and when all is said and done, even looks back to Heather to be sure she is okay. Cutest thing ever I must say, because asdkjfiaweruoiawf do I love PH/Heather father/daughter.<3
In summary after this ridiculously long post, I absolutely love Pyramid Head. ... I find him outrageously sexy, yes, ha ha, but after this post I'm sure you all understand it's for far more reason than that: He is the epitome of genius art. A priceless masterpiece.