Scarlet (boss)


 * This article is for the boss monster. For the character, see Scarlet Fitch.

"Daddy...?
 * —Scarlet's doll before morphing into the boss"

Scarlet is the second boss monster encountered in Silent Hill: Homecoming. She may be the manifestation of Dr. Martin Fitch's guilt over murdering his daughter Scarlet, whom he dismembered alive as a sacrifice to maintain the pact with the Order and their god; since Dr. Fitch had been "speaking" to Scarlet and praying to be with her, she may even be Scarlet herself reincarnated, especially since she seems more emotionally and behaviorally intelligent than the monsters associated with the other children, but this is unconfirmed. Interestingly, Scarlet is the only boss monster in the game that shares its name with the deceased child it represents.

Scarlet Fitch appears when Alex Shepherd finds Dr. Fitch in Hell Descent. After presenting him with one of Scarlet's dolls, the doll calls out "Daddy?" as if possessed by her spirit. Fitch's wounds then open up and he begins to bleed profusely until there is a pool of blood; he drops Scarlet's doll, which transforms in the blood and rises up as a tall doll-like monster as Alex looks on in horror. Scarlet cradles Fitch for a moment while he begs for forgiveness; Scarlet pauses briefly as if considering his request, but then violently bites the doctor's head and tosses his body aside in a fit of rage. The creature then turns her attention to Alex and lashes out at him.

After an elaborate battle in which Scarlet takes full advantage of her inhumanly limber yet monstrous form, she is defeated by Alex, who impales her with a crowbar, but he subsequently sinks into the pool of blood and returns to the Fog World.

Appearance


Scarlet appears as a monstrous, lanky doll. Her body is made up of white segmented armor resembling a porcelain doll that can be broken away to reveal a thin, fleshy underlining. Her head can be shattered, revealing it to be hollow. The resulting fracture along her mouth allows an increase in her bite radius. Her mouth is filled with needle-like teeth, and she lets out snake-like hisses and shrieks. She wears black Mary Jane-style shoes on her club-like feet, and her hands are short and stubby, resembling more of a wild beast's than a human's.

Character


Scarlet, specifically in her second phase, proves to be an intelligent, very aggressive 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 sever his head from his body 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, stunning her 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 fall to her knees rather quickly.



Scarlet then enters a second phase in which she begins to crawl on all fours with much higher speed, reminiscent of a spider. Due to the breaking of her armor, she is quite 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 lake 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
The monstrous manifestation of Scarlet is either the memory of Scarlet Fitch, brought about by her father's horrible guilt, or Scarlet Fitch herself who, having been listening to her father's prayers, was able to return to physical form by having her favorite doll drenched in her father's blood. Scarlet's love of dolls influenced the monster's form and, to drive home the point, dolls fill Scarlet Fitch's room and can be found strewn along the path to Dr. Fitch's location.

Scarlet's 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. In a similar fashion, porcelain dolls are generally thought of as being very expensive and rare antiques, often irreplaceable due to being so unique.

The encounter with Scarlet contains further references to bleeding; both Fitch and possibly Alex lose their heads due to Scarlet, making their deaths reminiscent to that of Scarlet. In addition, she both rises from and dies in a pool of blood, referencing the great deal of blood 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. This speculation is supported by how Scarlet gives Alex an expression resembling a mischevious smirk before she transitions into her next phase of attacks.

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 similar to the artwork of God in Silent Hill 3.
 * Scarlet is one of two bosses in the game (the other being Sepulcher) that killed their victims. Assuming that the two bosses are the real Scarlet and Joey, this is ironic due to being given a "perfect childhood" by their parents who gave them everything they wanted. This may be a result of the children still being "spoiled" after death.
 * 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 such things as: "I'm sorry", "I miss you my only daughter", "Please come back", "I WANT TO DIE!", "Daddy misses you", "Where did I go wrong?", 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 undergoes 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
Scarlet (jefe)