10 Terrifying Silent Hill Monsters (And Their Meaning)

Homecoming is generally seen as one of the weakest links in the Silent Hill chain. An over-reliance on old monsters meant that new developers Double Helix Games came off as a second-rate tribute band, rather than worthy successors to the Silent Hill name.

Which is a shame, as Homecoming's bestiary hides an original hit among the uninspired covers - Scarlet, the spidery figure who adorns this webpage.  

Scarlet might be nightmare to fight against for all the wrong reasons, but her design is one of Homecoming's few highlights. A nightmarish blend of porcelain and sinew, Scarlet's appearance is both visually striking and an apt metaphor for her nature - the vengeful personification of a murdered daughter.

Scarlet was the daughter of Dr. Martin Fitch, who sacrificed his child in an occult ritual (because parents in Silent Hill are either saints or psychopaths). Scarlet was dismembered alive as part of the ritual, hence the blood pouring down her monster self and why the creature's limbs appear welded on. As for the porcelain, that's both a reference to Scarlet's love of dolls when she was alive and a key factor in exposing the tragedy behind the monster.

During the fight, the player is forced to shatter the creature's ceramic surface to expose the heart beneath it. The creature's fear becomes evident in just how quickly the heart is beating once its exposed, echoing the terror Scarlet must have felt the closer she came to death at her father's hands. It's a clever way of engendering sympathy for an outwardly monstrous creature, and if Homecoming's monster closet had more Scarlets and less hangers-on, the game might be more highly regarded today.