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Era-Sh2Era-Monsters

The Mannequin is a headless armless dummy monster that James Sunderland and Maria encounter in Silent Hill 2. They will often lie dormant until the player draws near to them, at which point they attack.

James's first encounter with this monster is in Room 205 of the Wood Side Apartments. It will spring to life immediately after retrieving the flashlight from an inert mannequin that is dressed in Mary Shepherd-Sunderland's clothes.

Character[]

The creatures stand completely still at plain sight, like statues, and react strongly to the flashlight, suddenly becoming animate and attacking when the light strikes them from a relatively short distance. This is in contrast to most other creatures, which react to light even when they are far from the light's source.

A Mannequin will also come to life when James steps within a radius of three to five feet around it, even with the flashlight off. Although they are not overly strong creatures, they may be hard to detect in dark environments due to their immobility, which can trick the player's vision by making them blend in with the environment. Mannequins also have the advantage of stealth, as the radio will not emit static to warn the player of their presence until they start moving.

The wooden plank and handgun are the best initial weapons for dealing with them. The wooden plank should be replaced with the pipe when the opportunity arises after meeting Maria at Rosewater Park.

Appearances and symbolism[]

Brace

An Orthosis similar to ones worn by Mary Shepherd-Sunderland during her illness.

The Mannequins are a manifestation of James Sunderland's unconscious mind, and are among the nine delusions he faces throughout the story (symbolized by the nine red squares).[1][2][3] They represent his natural urges and inclinations and memories belonging to a hospital.[4][5] Three years prior the events of Silent Hill 2, his wife Mary became stricken with a deadly illness that left her bedridden and hospitalized. She was eventually killed late into her illness by her husband, who fell into a state of guilt and denial afterwards and repressed the memory.[6]

The Mannequins appear as sets of upper and lower legs bound to an intermediate torso, resembling that of a mannequin dummy. They lack a fully human appearance because James refuses to remember who they represent or what he did to his late wife. The creatures bare leg braces on each set of their legs, which are similar to the phenolic Orthosis that Mary needed to walk during her illness.[7][8][9][10][11][12] The creatures have tubes on their abdomens, which are also owed to James' memories of the hospital.[13]

Tube1
Tube2

Tubes extrude from the abdomen of the Mannequin.

As with other monsters in the game that manifest from Sunderland's psyche, they are executed and tortured by Pyramid Head. These are the acts of his mind attempting to erase the delusions and force him to remember the reality of his actions. Members of the game's creative team, such as Hiroyuki Owaku and Takayoshi Sato, took inspiration from Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories during development. Because the Mannequin was influenced by Sunderland's inner sexuality, the movements of Pyramid Head killing two Mannequins in Wood Side Apartments were designed to appear erotic, although it does not represent actual rape or sexual intercourse.[14][15][16][5][17][18][19] The Silent Hill 2 novelization mentions the creatures were "born from lust".[20]

Behind the scenes[]

The Mannequins were designed by Masahiro Ito. They resemble the dolls by Polish/German artist Hans Bellmer. However, Ito stated that his inspiration came from monsters in traditional Japanese folklore, although he never specified which ones.[21] He added on social media, "If I had known his work, I wouldn't have [designed them like] that."[22] The Mannequins were only intended to appear in the cutscene where Pyramid Head abuses them, but were later integrated as an in-game enemy.[23]

Trivia[]

Hans Bellmer

The Mannequin bares similarities to the works of Hans Bellmer.

  • The Mannequin appears in Masahiro Ito's art film Fukuro.
  • It's possible that the Mannequin may be an image of female innocence and helplessness being misused or otherwise destroyed by an oppressive, masculine force — a symbol that is later touched on in Toluca Prison, where James finds the Tablet of "The Oppressor", a likely metaphor of James's final act upon his wife.
  • After meeting Maria at Rosewater Park, if the player goes toward the Silent Hill Historical Society, two Mannequins will jump out of the bushes and attack James and Maria.
  • In Silent Hill: Origins, a regular mannequin (called "dummy") can be seen at Cedar Grove Sanitarium in the third cell from the male seclusion ward. Later on, Travis Grady encounters several dismembered mannequins at the Artaud Theater. The creature Ariel, a puppet, will also emulate the Mannequin creatures from Silent Hill 2 by standing on its hands and attacking with its kicking legs.

Gallery[]

Models[]

Silent Hill 2[]

Merchandise[]

References[]

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20200927025145/https://preview.redd.it/9prbabzeblp51.png?auto=webp&s=4383936c0047cbb64bd11d52750e04e3c5d9953e
  2. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1559810680441962497
  3. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1096846368021274624
  4. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/935208330728849408
  5. 5.0 5.1 https://www.silenthillmemories.net/lost_memories/guide/048-049_en.htm
  6. Silent Hill 2
  7. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1559451082610593793
  8. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1559813162740117504
  9. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1559828151844638721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1559828151844638721%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=
  10. https://i.imgur.com/7lSrOpZ.jpg
  11. https://i.imgur.com/87eBSXj.jpg
  12. https://i.imgur.com/6OEB9E1.jpg
  13. https://i.imgur.com/7FCzBBK.jpg
  14. https://www.silenthillmemories.net/lost_memories/guide/073-080_en.htm
  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1VKvED76WQ&t=1553s
  16. https://www.silenthillmemories.net/lost_memories/guide/110_en.htm
  17. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1263050285062094848?lang=en
  18. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1557651426431860736
  19. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1263075228898390022
  20. Silent Hill 2: The Novel - Chapter 6
  21. Masahiro, Ito (adsk4). “Some asked me the same question in those days. But I was inspired by some Japanese traditional monsters.” Tweet.
  22. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1558737353950511105
  23. https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/1559467925123510272
v · e · d
Characters
Major Characters
James Sunderland - Mary Shepherd-Sunderland - Angela Orosco - Laura - Eddie Dombrowski - Maria
Other Characters
Ernest Baldwin - Amy Baldwin - Mary's Doctor - Rachel - Thomas Orosco - Mrs. Orosco - Jennifer Carroll - Patrick Chester - Mira - Harry Mason - Greys - Scott Fairbanks - Walter Sullivan
Monsters
Abstract Daddy - Bubble Head Nurse - Creeper - Flesh Lip - Lying Figure - Mandarin - Mannequin - Mary - Prisoners - Pyramid Head
Weapons
Chainsaw - Chinese Cleaver - Great Knife - Great Spear - Handgun - Hyper Spray - Pipe - Revolver - Rifle - Shotgun - Wooden Plank
Locations
Baldwin Mansion - Blue Creek Apartments - Brookhaven Hospital - Church of the Rebirth - Dog House - Heaven's Night - Jacks Inn - Labyrinth - Lakeview Hotel - Lake Shore Restaurant - Neely's Bar - Motor Home - Observation Deck - Pete's Bowl-O-Rama - Rosewater Park - Silent Hill Historical Society - Silent Hill Ranch - Silent Hill Woods - South Vale (Carroll Street - Katz Street - Lindsey Street - Nathan Avenue - Neely Street - Rendell Street - Saul Street - Vachss Road - Wiltse Road) - Texxon Gas - Toluca Graveyard - Toluca Lake - Toluca Lake Island - Toluca Prison - Wiltse Coal Mine - Wood Side Apartments
Terms
Flashlight - Fog World - Little Baroness - Manifestation - Map - Monster - Otherworld - Radio - Red Square - Siren - Seal of Metatron - UFO Ending - Sexuality - Toilets
Archives
Memos - Items - Keys - Puzzles - Soundtrack - Secrets and Unlockables - Pachislot
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