Patrick "Pat" Napier was a sequestered prisoner at Ryall State Prison, whom Murphy Pendleton brutally beat and stabbed in a dream at the beginning of Silent Hill: Downpour.
Biography[]
Napier was a convicted child molester and registered sex offender who was once Murphy Pendleton's neighbor, which is how he came to know Murphy's son, Charlie Pendleton. He approached Charlie in his van while Charlie was walking home from school and kidnapped him, presumably with the intent to sexually assault him. Napier then drove to a nearby lake where he placed Charlie inside a canvas sack and tossed him into the water, resulting in Charlie's death.
Sometime later, Napier was arrested for the abduction, sexual assault, and murder of an eight-year-old boy named Daniel Stephens. Because of Napier's criminal record, it only took the jury four hours of deliberation to return a guilty verdict against him in the Brahms Courthouse. The guilty verdict came with a mandatory life-without-parole sentence. He was immediately remanded to Ryall State Prison by sheriff's deputies, where he was placed in protective custody and began serving his sentence in solitary confinement.
Personality[]
Given Napier's brief appearance at the start of the game and the summary of his character from the rest of the clues in game, it would seem that Napier, like many rapists and pedophiles, has no regret over his crimes. This can be observed through his cool, casual demeanor to Murphy Pendleton (before he learned who he really was) and his smug attitude. Napier is also shown to be a coward, as he never fights back when Murphy attacks him.
Silent Hill: Downpour[]
The death of his son caused Murphy deep emotional trauma, sparking his uncontrollable desire for revenge. This desire led him to steal a police cruiser, getting himself arrested in order to be placed in the same facility as Napier. Once incarcerated, Murphy struck a deal with a corrupt corrections officer named George Sewell. Since Napier was a sequestered inmate, Murphy was unable to have direct contact with him. Sewell orchestrated a confrontation between Murphy and Napier in exchange for Murphy owing Sewell an unnamed favor.
Sewell tricked Napier into entering the prison shower room alone with Murphy and several weapons and locked the exits behind him. Once the two were alone, Murphy brutally assaulted and stabbed Napier.
Later in the game, when Murphy meets the Nun in St. Maria's Monastery's morgue, he admits that attacking Napier didn't do anything, and it was a pointless venture to do so, as Charlie is still dead and it didn't make him any happier in the end.
Napier makes another appearance after Murphy kills the Bogeyman. The mask of the Bogeyman comes off, showing the faces of both Murphy and Napier, rapidly switching between the two, showing Murphy's regret over his decision to arrange the fight to begin with. Shortly after, a manifestation of Charlie tells Murphy he killed the Bogeyman; however, Murphy responds that killing the Bogeyman didn't bring Charlie back.
During the "Forgiveness" and "Truth in Justice" endings, after the fight between Anne and the Bogeyman, another cutscene plays, where Sewell frames Murphy for the assault and near death of Frank Coleridge. Sewell states during the encounter that Murphy was too cowardly to actually finish Napier off and that Sewell himself killed Napier when Murphy got cold feet after already attacking and seriously wounding him. In the other endings, Murphy did indeed kill Napier.
Trivia[]
- Murphy's comment on Napier is: "Do I feel sorry for him, for what I've done to him? I keep telling myself he deserved what he got but... the sounds he made... all that blood... the face of absolute terror. Disbelief turned into the understanding of inevitability... all by my own hands... May God forgive me!"
- According to Tomm Hulett, Napier was killed by Murphy in every ending except for Ending A, in which Sewell did it for him.[1]
- However, this is contradicted in Anne's Story, Issue 4, which was written by Tom Waltz. The comic uses Ending B ("Truth and Justice"), and Sewell mentions that Murphy couldn't finish the job of killing Napier, forcing Sewell to kill Napier. This is likely an artistic change done in order to prevent Murphy from being a canonical murderer.
- A toy replica of Napier's van can be found in St. Maria's Monastery as an artifact.
- In the parking area of the Centennial Building, the player can look through a small peep-hole to witness a shadowy reenactment of Napier's death by the hands of Murphy taking on the monstrous form of the Bogeyman.
- In the Centennial Building, Murphy can find a children's book titled Nice Mr. Neighbor with a man inviting a young boy into his car. This is likely a reference to Napier kidnapping Charlie.
- Napier's van is a recurring image that appears in the game several times:
- In the Centennial Building parking floor.
- In one of the books in the Centennial Building archives with an illustration showing a man with a van.
- In the Otherworld Centennial Building.
- On Rice Street in Pleasant River.
- In St. Maria's Monastery Restroom in a form of toy car.