Amnion

Amnion is the final boss monster encountered in Silent Hill: Homecoming. She is possibly a manifestation of Alex Shepherd's overwhelming guilt over having accidentally killed his brother Joshua in the waters of Toluca Lake.

Amnion appears when Alex discovers the ritual chamber in the Otherworld lair.

Silent Hill: Homecoming
When Alex discovers the chamber where the Order buries the sacrifices for the pact they made with their god, he recalls accidentally killing Joshua at Toluca Lake, when he tried to take the family ring from him. Alex learns that he was destined to be sacrificed, but Joshua's death ruined the ritual and broke the pact. The emotional strain from Alex's parents caused them to refuse to continue the sacrificial ritual. After this sudden realization towards the game's end, Alex's surroundings are invaded by the Otherworld, and Amnion descends from the ceiling, initiating the final boss fight.

After Alex defeats Amnion, he slices her bloated abdomen open, revealing Joshua's corpse. Alex begs for forgiveness, and he finally accepts and takes responsibility for Joshua's death. He then leaves both the family ring that they both fought over and the flashlight that Alex had given Joshua years earlier.

Appearance
Amnion appears as a female humanoid figure attached to a large mechanical apparatus with four legs, resembling a spider. The human body is pale and bloated, like a waterlogged corpse, or a heavily pregnant woman due to give birth. Amnion has three pairs of breasts just above her distended abdomen. She has no arms, and her six spider-like, metallic legs are fused into her ribs. Another feature is a hose-like black structure that comes out of her mouth and attaches to her genitalia, like an umbilical cord; however, it convulses and flows as if it has fluid circulating in it. Amnion's face also telescopes forward with her eyes always closed, all attached to a mechanical frame which fits back together. Her appendages end in very wicked, claw-like instruments.

Character
Amnion has a wide attack radius and can knock Alex down with most attacks. She can take a great deal of damage before falling. She attacks both with wide, sweeping motions and vertically angled assaults with her front legs. When she inhales and extends her face, she sprays an incredulous amount of toxic bile from her mouth that can damage Alex. When he comes within arm's length of the creature, she will sometimes leap straight up in the air and slam down, knocking Alex back if he doesn't evade the assault in time.



After taking significant damage, Amnion will shift her form; no longer depending on her mechanical legs, she now faces forward, standing upright, using the forelegs more like arms. Her attacks in this state are swifter and more brutal, retaining her attack pattern from her previous stage while varying it with the addition of various new attacks. She will slam both of her arms down, which inadvertently causes them to get stuck in the floor, leaving Amnion vulnerable to attacks for a short time. She can also spray her toxic bile up in the air, causing a rain of the deadly liquid. Finally, she can also grab Alex when he's underneath her legs, lifting him up and throwing him down without giving him a chance to break free.

Symbolism
Amnion could represent Joshua's anger towards Alex for his death and also his desire to have Alex accept what he'd done. Another view on the creature posits that she could represent Alex's guilt regarding Joshua's death.

She may also be symbolic of Alex and Joshua's mother, Lillian Shepherd; however, there's not much about Amnion which supports this idea other than the fact that she is female and she has Joshua in-utero.

She may be seen as a symbol of the sins of the Shepherd family.



Her form is derived mainly from Joshua's death via drowning and his love of insects and spiders, as evidenced by his collection and drawings. She is also representative of the fact that Joshua was "babied" by his parents and was called a child by Alex not long before his death; this notion is supported when Alex cuts Amnion open to see Joshua's body in the fetal position. She slightly resembles Arachne, a Greco-Roman spider woman whose pride caused her to not acknowledge where her knowledge came from, and may be a representation of Alex refusing to accept his brother's death.

Further symbolism of the theme of birth and Joshua's death include: the fact that the monster resembles a pregnant mother, the name "Amnion" referencing the amniotic sac that surrounds a fetus; the tube of water protruding from her mouth referring to the act of drowning as well as the imagery of an umbilical cord; and the iron lung component used for Amnion's "neck", which is indicative of an oxygen mask or some other instrument that aids breathing. The body of Amnion's first form is also clearly bloated and gray in tone, appearing very sickly and deprived of oxygen, which are traits very commonly found in a drowning victim. The "leg" contraptions of Amnion appear to have a rust-like texture; iron gradually rusts when exposed to water, offering more symbolism towards Joshua's cause of death.



The extending neck is reminiscent of a view camera, which may symbolize Joshua's love for photography. The similarity that Amnion's legs have, and also her way of death (flipping upside down and legs crumbling up), to a spider symbolizes Joshua's love for them.

Trivia

 * The photo found in the playground foreshadows the final boss battle, the spider being Amnion while the toy soldier represents Alex.
 * Amnion is one of the only two bosses that was not responsible for the death of their parents, the other being Asphyxia; although, in Amnion's case, it was impossible because Joshua and Alex's parents were both already dead, though the Bogeyman was able to kill Adam Shepherd.
 * In the opening scene, when Alex is pushed into Room 206, a surgical tool hangs over him that greatly resembles one of the weapons of Amnion, foreshadowing the later boss fight.
 * Defeating Amnion in the Xbox 360 version unlocks the achievement "Head Above Water".

Gallery
Amnion