Eddie Dombrowski

"Maybe I am nothing but a fat disgusting piece of shit! But you know what? It doesn't matter if you're smart, dumb, ugly, pretty... It's all the same once you're dead!
 * —Eddie to James Sunderland on death being the ultimate equalizer"

Eddie Dombrowski is a character from Silent Hill 2. He is an insecure, mentally disturbed and severely bullied young man who is self-conscious about his weight and physical appearance after being laughed at, bullied and ridiculed his entire life.

His troubled past draws him to Silent Hill. Like Angela Orosco, he is also currently homeless and has nowhere else to go in the world. After a stay in Silent Hill, Eddie becomes determined to kill the next one who laughs at him.

Background
Eddie worked part-time at a gas station. He wears khaki shorts and a blue-and-white striped polo shirt, together with a cap turned backwards.

The novelization reveals Eddie believes his own life is "shitty", and he does not really care about the fact most women have no attraction to him, however, he despises being bullied.

Due to being overweight, Eddie was often bullied by his peers. At times, Eddie was forced to get on his knees and beg for his life. He dislikes the body he was born with, feeling as if he "lost the genetic lottery", and was sick of being judged by his physical appearance. Eddie's attitude toward himself and his body are consistent with symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder.

Eddie may have also developed an excessive eating disorder to cope with his troubles, as evidenced by his desire to stay in shelter and eat pizza after being insulted by Laura, rather than facing the task at hand, although he could also be recovering from the travel.

One bully, a football player, would not leave Eddie alone even after he graduated high school. Eddie became an easy target and a victim. Eventually, Eddie mentally snapped and proceeded to kill the bully's dog in retaliation. Afterwards, Eddie shot the bully in the knee using his father's revolver, crippling him, though Eddie did not kill him. Afterwards, Eddie fled, wandering for a while before coming to rest in Silent Hill, claiming that the town "called" him there. It is also ambiguous whether or not Eddie is on the run from police, as he claims he "just ran because he was scared".

Silent Hill 2
In the introduction video, Eddie is seen sitting beside a van holding a large map with his finger pointed at it. Laura then gives him a playful kick. This suggests he crossed paths with Laura and the two traveled together to Silent Hill. This is confirmed by the Book of Lost Memories, which states that Laura and Eddie met by chance on the way to Silent Hill. This van is the same van near the start of the game at the entrance to Toluca Lake. A Pete's Bowl-O-Rama sign is behind it, which is later where Eddie will end up. Arriving in Silent Hill, Eddie is gradually brought into a nightmarish vision of his own personal hell and is seen three times in the game with corpses, which act as symbols of his bullies.



Eddie is first encountered in the Wood Side Apartments, vomiting in a toilet in one of the rooms after finding a corpse inside of a fridge. When he is approached by James Sunderland, he immediately starts claiming innocence of the death of the man in the refrigerator, telling James that he isn't even from Silent Hill. Because of Eddie's defensive behavior, James asks if he's acquainted with the "Red Pyramid Thing". Eddie denies relation to any such creature, not knowing what James is referring to, but states that he has seen some "weird-looking monsters". Eddie and James tell each other to be careful before separating.



Eddie is later seen in Pete's Bowl-O-Rama, having a conversation with Laura while eating pizza. Despite the fact that Laura calls him a "gutless fatso", he remains relatively civil to her and simply asks her not to call him like that and adds if she found the woman she is looking for. When James's appearance causes Laura to flee, Eddie decides not to accompany James in his pursuit of her, explaining sulkily that she said "a fatso like [him] would just slow her down". James points out that there's monsters in the town, but Eddie feels Laura will be fine. An annoyed James leaves after saying "forget you" to Eddie.



Somehow, Eddie inexplicably reappears deep underground in Toluca Prison's cafeteria, slumped against the door and muttering to himself about how killing a human is "no big deal" and "you just put a gun to their head... POW!" There is yet another corpse lying on one of the cafeteria tables, but this time, Eddie attempts in justifying his actions to James, claiming that the man "had it coming" and that he "was making fun of him (Eddie) with his eyes". When James refuses to accept Eddie's reasoning, Eddie nervously laughs and jokes that the corpse was already there when he arrived. He then leaves James to explore the prison by himself. A grave with his name on it, next to James's and Angela Orosco's, can be found in the Labyrinth's graveyard later on.



In the end of the Labyrinth, James is allowed to step into Eddie's Otherworld, which appears to take on the form of a meat locker and he perceives everyone to be laughing, ridiculing, and sneering at him. It is dark, bitterly cold, frosted over, and huge lumps of meat that are shaped like overweight human bodies dangle from meat-hooks. The meat locker presumably represents Eddie's cold detachment from reality and his lack of remorse in killing people, as well as being mocked as overweight and perhaps gluttonous.



James asks Eddie what he's doing, as there are this time some more corpses by him on the floor. Eddie begins angrily venting, recounting all of the verbal abuse he's received from others throughout his life. Eddie claims that someone's intelligence and physical appearance are rendered meaningless once they are dead as a corpse can't laugh, and that he is willing to kill anyone who mocks or ridicules him. James tries to reason with Eddie but uses the wrong word, and Eddie's growing insanity, paranoia and insecurity causes him to translate James's attempted reasoning into insults, especially after James unwittingly asks Eddie if he's "gone nuts" (despite the fact Eddie only said that he will murder anyone who makes fun of him). Eddie's paranoia convinces him that James was always laughing at him behind his back, causing him to attack by shooting James non-fatally in the shoulder with his revolver.

James is forced to protect himself upon surviving Eddie's attacks, instigating a battle. During this fight, Eddie uses his revolver and his fists, even attempting to pistol-whip James. After enough damage, Eddie retreats into another room and James pursues.

In a larger adjacent meat locker, Eddie continues his venting. Eddie admits he ran away after killing a bully's dog, and mentions that the dog tried to chew its own guts out as it was dying curled into a ball. Eddie mentions he had fun killing the dog, and says he was amused when he shot the bully and the bully cried more than the dog, showing that Eddie now assumes the role of despot. James asks Eddie if he thinks it's okay to kill people and says that Eddie needs help, and Eddie tells James to quit his holier-than-thou attitude and he is just like him as the town wouldn't have called him if James didn't have anything on conscience.



The fight resumes and Eddie will frequently hide behind the meat carcasses for protection. James kills Eddie and is horrified and remorseful that he murdered a human being.

Creator's comment
"In the initial stages of the scenario, Eddie was actually a very cheerful character. Therefore, the name was borrowed from Eddie Murphy. In the end however, we changed his personality completely."

Quotes
Silent Hill 2
 * "I didn't do it... I swear I didn't kill anybody."
 * "James, I... I umm... you be careful, too."
 * "Naw, I just ran 'cause I was scared. I don't know what the cops are doing."
 * "It's no good... they wouldn't listen. Nobody will ever forgive me."
 * "She said she was fine by herself. Said a fatso like me would just slow her down."
 * "Killing a person ain't no big deal. Just put the gun to their head... pow!"
 * "That guy... he had it coming! I didn't do anything! He just came after me! Besides, he was making fun of me with his eyes, like that other one!"
 * "Oh, yeah? Why not? 'Til now, I always let people walk all over me! Just like that stupid dog... He had it coming, too!"
 * "Heh heh... I was just joking, James! He was dead when I got here, honest! Anyway, I gotta run..."
 * "What does it look like? He always busted my balls. 'You fat, disgusting piece of shit! You make me sick!'. 'Fat-ass, yer nothin' but a waste of skin!'. 'You're so ugly, even your mama don't love you!'. Well, maybe he was right. Maybe I am nothing but a fat, disgusting piece of shit! But you know what? It doesn't matter if you're smart, dumb, ugly, pretty... IT'S ALL THE SAME ONCE YOU'RE DEAD! And a corpse can't laugh. From now on, if anyone makes fun of me, I'LL KILL 'EM! Just like that!"
 * "I knew it. You too! You're just like 'em, James!"
 * "Don't bother. I understand. You've been laughing at me all along, haven't you? Ever since we first met! I'll kill you, James!"
 * "Do you know what it does to you, James? When you're hated, picked on, spit on, just 'cause of the way you look? After you've been laughed at your whole friggin' life?! That's why I ran away after I killed the dog. Ran away like a scared little girl. Yeah, I killed that dog. It was fun! It tried to chew its own guts out! Finally died all curled up in a ball... Then he came after me! I shot him too! Right in the leg! He cried more than the dog! He's gonna have a hard time playing football on what's left of that knee."
 * "Don't get all holy on me, James. This town called you, too. You and me are the same. We're not like other people. Don't you know that?! Let's party!"

Silent Hill 2: The Novel
 * "It's a perfectly good reason! And why the hell not!? Up until now, I let everyone walk all over me, even him and his stupid dog! They all had it coming!"
 * "What does it look like? He was always giving me shit. 'You fat, disgusting piece of shit! You make me sick.' 'Don’t you dare show your ugly face around here!' Maybe he was right. Maybe I am nothing but a fat, disgusting piece of shit. But you know what? It doesn't matter if you're smart, good at sports, pretty or ugly. It's all the same once you're dead. From now on, if anyone makes fun of me... I'll kill them. At least a corpse is more useless than I am."
 * "Freeze. Ha ha, freeze. You get it? 'Cuz we're in a freezer! Man, that's funny. So do you regret making fun of me now? Are you even sorry? How about you get on your knees and beg for your life, just like I always did? Why aren't you apologizing? You should be licking the damn floor and begging for mercy! Aren't you ashamed?"
 * "Die!"
 * "Damn... that hurts... I went and screwed up. You... win I guess...”
 * "It's no good, James. There's no saving me. Would you just... finish me off? I can't do it myself. All out of bullets..."
 * "What's it matter? We're all good as dead anyway. You saw it, too. Those graves... That's our fate..."
 * "You stupid dog... You come back to bite me now, after all this time...?"

Trivia

 * Eddie's last name is Polish (a variant of the more common "Dąbrowski"), hinting that he may be of Polish descent.
 * It is also possible that Eddie's surname is borrowed from Louise Dombrowski from Twin Peaks, considering how often the series is referenced throughout the games.


 * According to Masahiro Ito, Eddie only killed a dog. The bodies that appear in his scenes are just delusions.


 * According to Masahiro Ito, Eddie intentionally forced himself to vomit.
 * Across from the room where James first meets Eddie is a room full of football posters, and even a poster that has "Physical Beauty" written on it, a probable reference to themes of body image and body dysmorphia. This alludes to the football player that Eddie had shot in the knee.
 * One of these in particular has R.I.P. (Rest in Peace) on it, which could foreshadow Eddie's death. There is also a scrawled drawing of two kids close to a very small house.
 * There is a rare glitch in the game in which Eddie's pizza magically levitates and floats to his mouth.


 * The Tablet of "Gluttonous Pig" represents Eddie.
 * During Eddie's rant in the Labyrinth, when he says, "It doesn't matter if you're smart, dumb, ugly, pretty...", the subtitles say "your" instead of "you're" in some versions of the game.
 * During Eddie's death, his face is obscured by a meat corpse and then by James. This is likely an artistic choice.


 * In the novelization, as Eddie dies, a pack of four large dogs gather, ripping at his torn stomach and pulling out his intestines. Eddie notes they are all the same as the dog he killed back in his hometown. The dogs tear at his flesh and rip him to pieces. It is unknown if this really happened, or is a dying hallucination as James never comments on it in the novelization.


 * He is the first non-possessed human enemy of the series.


 * The dog Mira doesn't like Eddie; when Eddie is shown during the credits of the Dog ending, Mira growls angrily, alluding to Eddie's killing of the bully's dog.


 * In Silent Hill: Homecoming, it is possible to get an achievement called "Eddie's Legacy" after killing the first Feral, a canine enemy.


 * According to the "Making of Silent Hill 2", Eddie's physical model was actually borrowed from the creator's friend.




 * According to the game's novelization, the gun which Eddie used to shoot the football player was his father's.