Regarding Alex's Badassery (spoilaz):

[Captain Coatrack]

^ Silent Hill isn't in the Mushroom Kingdom unfortunately.

[PrescitedEntity]

I don't knowabout you, but I can't handspring into a standing stance after being knocked down, or do rolling dodges on the fly. Neither can any of my average joe friends. Alex does display abilities that a normal guy would not possess.

Yeah, but I don't many people who can take multiple rifle shots, be mauled by a skinless dog, be hacked at by a monster with a guillotine head, and turn around and use a Health pack and be like "It's all good."

caffeine is a hell of a drug...

but would you rather him crawl to the nearest wheelchair (or hoveround) and roll his way through hell decent?

as for the handspring thing, I still think it was slightly much, but not fantastically impossible, maybe if he rolled over on his belly and stood back up

I've never seen Alex do a back handspring. Anyone have a video of it? I just assumed everyone was talking about his kick ups, which I did see him do and isn't really that hard.

[Hannah]

I don't knowabout you, but I can't handspring into a standing stance after being knocked down, or do rolling dodges on the fly. Neither can any of my average joe friends. Alex does display abilities that a normal guy would not possess.

Yeah, but I don't many people who can take multiple rifle shots, be mauled by a skinless dog, be hacked at by a monster with a guillotine head, and turn around and use a Health pack and be like "It's all good." :wink:

hahah thank you, I think his being a video game character is the reason he can do all this, jesus do you people over analyze everything!!!

You're new to Silent Hill aren't you?

Heather, James, Harry, Henry and Travis are all video game characters and they can't do handspring roles. :/

[RiceDaddy7]

I wonder how a simple plumber learned to jump so high, break bricks with his bear hands and throw fireballs....hmmmm it doesnt make sense!

Yes it does. Mario came out in the mid-80's at the height of Reagen's " Just Say No " campaign. Miyamoto, under the direction of the U.S. government, was pressured to produce a game that signified the effects of drug use. Mario was clearly a victim of LSD, which produced to him a hallucination of a mushroom-like kingdom, where he smashed real life objects in the guise of bricks with his head. Obviously, he was immune to feeling pain, so the game showed him leading a self-destructive life. The numerous ways he can die brought about the real dangers of what someone high on drugs could put themselves in danger of. In the end, Mario wakes up wanting to 1up his drug addiction, but in reality, the princess will always be in another castle. Stay in school kids.

[Wangman]

Ok, I know I'm going to be burned at the stake for this but... maybe because they wanted better combat? I don't think DH was really thinking too deeply about Alex's abilities when they made him go all Chuck Norris. Seems like overanalyzation to me.

On another note, adrenaline is what causes that heart thumping, freaking out feeling when you think your in deep shit. Like when your boss calls you in to his office. It heightens your senses, of course, but it does not teach you any sort of combat moves at all. IN FACT, someone on an adrenaline high would be LESS LIKELY to think clearly and make precise, calculated moves, and MORE LIKELY to just yell and rush thrashing wildly at their enemy.

[RiceDaddy7]

Seems like overanalyzation to me.

Welcome to the forum.

[Jo]

The next Silent Hill protagonist needs to be a human/eggplant hybrid.

...called Earl.

[Eileen Galvin 2009]

i personally belive that if someone wanted to be something very badly he can do it.
Alex lied to himself that he is a soldier then he just ended up acting like one.
besides his father wanted him to be a soldier so i think he prepaerd himself to be one ,i dunno may be in someway, i mean afterall his body seem healthy.

[the fifth survivor]

Yeah, I was thinking that maybe he stayed in shape as a kid, trying to impress his father. Alex did seem like he would take the discomfort of eating right and exercising for the hope of some love form ol' daddy.

That, or Silent Hill is a game series showing the effects of heavy drug use. Just like Mario.

[StaticRadio]

In the next Silent Hill game I want to play as a schizo who thinks that he/she is a pirate, or a helicopter.

Wait, a guy who thinks he's a helicopter?

AWESOOOOOME.

Now Terminus, I think you're onto something there.

I'm also waiting for a protagonist with a "hand gun", who just points his finger and makes shooting noises...and it kills stuff. Maybe I'm pushing this far off topic, but that would be funny as hell.

[Tripp Ownz]

He's not that amazing, and his father was in the military.

[put_here_2_feel_joy]

Hey, some "average joes" aren't so average. I have a friend who is a black belt in taekwondo and he could do all the things that Alex did. My friend is just like everyone else and he wasn't in the army.... or thought he was in the army, either.

[AgentX7k]

I'm going to go with the theory that he trained to impress his father. Though I do find the theory of projection interesting, that you can not only influence the otherworld and it's inhabitants but yourself as well.

[PrescitedEntity]

That, and it really doesn't take much training to be able to do what he does. He simply has to be physically fit enough and know a few rudimentary techniques (and seeing as how he's a little sloppy with them, he didn't even know them all THAT well).

Though that doesn't answer the question raised earlier - he stayed mental facility for an extended duration... how did he keep physically fit there? I mean, it's not standard protocol to go with whatever the patient wants, and I somehow don't think keeping Alex in a physically fit condition was a great priority of the hospital's. He did say he was training towards the end, but I'm not sure I buy it.

[AgentX7k]

Though that doesn't answer the question raised earlier - he stayed mental facility for an extended duration... how did he keep physically fit there? I mean, it's not standard protocol to go with whatever the patient wants, and I somehow don't think keeping Alex in a physically fit condition was a great priority of the hospital's. He did say he was training towards the end, but I'm not sure I buy it.

Maybe patients are allowed regular exercise? Or maybe we put them that in the same column of most of the medial stuff in Silent Hill - like a health drink/first aid kit able to heal every wound in about a second.

[Devilsknight]

Answere = Beacuse Double Helix needed a shitty way to squiize in more action.

Hey, some "average joes" aren't so average. I have a friend who is a black belt in taekwondo and he could do all the things that Alex did. My friend is just like everyone else and he wasn't in the army.... or thought he was in the army, either.

Thats becuase your friends dojo was probably a bullshido-dojo, with a guy named "Scott" claiming to be a "Master" (Sensei), having a phat mustache, phat belly and a bandana with the text "Kamaikaze" around his head ^^

[PrescitedEntity]

Answere = Beacuse Double Helix needed a shitty way to squiize in more action.

NORLY? This is obviously the case, but they didn't do a bad job of making it plausible. Did you even read this thread?

Thats becuase your friends dojo was probably a bullshido-dojo, with a guy named "Scott" claiming to be a "Master" (Sensei), having a phat mustache, phat belly and a bandana with the text "Kamaikaze" around his head ^^

...I don't know what to say, other than that's absolutely ridiculous. The standards of Western dojos can sometimes be under par (and often, with ones like Tae Kwon Do, they get rather stylized instead of remaining focused on practicality), but it's ridiculous to claim such a thing, because they DO get certified. I've met people who are plenty normal looking AND national level competitors in Tae Kwon Do, Capoeria, etc. They're not necessarily your average "average joe", but they're not unusual, either.

Plus, again... He did things like kick ups and rolling dodges. Yay. That only tells us he knows basic military moves learnable in a reasonable amount of time, and that he has good arm/core strength, not that he's a blackbelt in Karate or a master of Jeet Kune Do.

[Devilsknight]

Im just tired of everybody having some supernatural explanation to everything when it comes down to proecting their lovley Homecoming.
They wanted more action so they said he was a soilder. Then when we realise he is'nt one its beacuse "Silent Hills powers make him one becuase he thinks he is one". Bullshit.

They just made him a soilder for more action, when the story said otherwise they didnt give a crap, their americans and they gott their money for making a game. Why would they care for the rest ?
Same as with the pictures who didn't say shit when it comes to down to it, and the reasons for having "Pyramidhead" in the game. It could have been deleted and it wouldnt make a diffrance whatsoever for the game, story or lore.


Team Silent wouldnt let us down ! I liked the game, but it wasnt NOTHING special at all, and would the titel be "The Mist" then nobody would have given a ratsass about it.

[PrescitedEntity]

Im just tired of everybody having some supernatural explanation to everything when it comes down to proecting their lovley Homecoming.

Dude. I'm not doing this to protect Homecoming any more than I would argue about James' hint of a double chin being an indicator that he's out of shape, and thus explaining his slow gait. A lot of things can be explained by the catch-all of "it's necessary for gameplay/deus ex machina", but the point of these types of discussion is basically to make thing make sense. I really doubt that many of these discussions and whatnot all passed through the minds of Team Silent/Double Helix while they made the game, but they enrich OUR Silent Hill experience.

And frankly, while we're not protecting Homecoming (I certainly don't think it's perfect or anything - I'm still pondering whether or not to post about what seems to be a plot hole to me in a thread), that you assume we do and your general demeanor makes you seem like a basher.

They wanted more action so they said he was a soilder. Then when we realise he is'nt one its beacuse "Silent Hills powers make him one becuase he thinks he is one". Bullshit.
They just made him a soilder for more action, when the story said otherwise they didnt give a crap, their americans and they gott their money for making a game. Why would they care for the rest ?

What part of he isn't all that impressive with his decent physique and basic military training moves that he may have learned from his father's handbooks and did really freakin' sloppily are you not understanding? You didn't refute that one, and it's the stronger of the two theories in this thread. And as for SH's power to change a person... Well, it's certainly not the first time that SH's power has been used as a Deus Ex Machina. In fact, the entire story revolves around SH's powers. Powers, mind, that are strongly influenced by thought and perception. Alex's abilities, even if explained that way, are not really more contrived than Harry's shadow children death/rebirth, Pyramid Head's spontaneous suicides, Aglaophotis, etc, etc.

Same as with the pictures who didn't say shit when it comes to down to it, and the reasons for having "Pyramidhead" in the game. It could have been deleted and it wouldnt make a diffrance whatsoever for the game, story or lore.

This isn't the thread for it, but Pyramid Head is in the game for the same reasons (and possibly better reasons, IMO) than in SH2, in the sense that Alex and Co. actually have a better reason to manifest him - PH is straight up part of their beliefs. The pictures served to reveal this to us. As for the guilt aspect, the entire game revolves around guilty people, just like SH2. You can accuse DH of playing it too safe and playing copycat (and have a pretty decent argument), but you can't accuse them of not writing a decently tight story.

Team Silent wouldnt let us down ! I liked the game, but it wasnt NOTHING special at all, and would the titel be "The Mist" then nobody would have given a ratsass about it.

...Yeah, that wasn't bashing. Team Silent is NOT automatically better than Double Helix, and while there are plenty of flaws (and IMO, a few plot holes) in SHH, on this specific issue, you haven't made a counterargument that makes sense.

[December Man]

I have found something interesting:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/SilentHill

At least I think it's interesting up until the last part.