Is henry a sociopath

[Kenji]

That would require a lot of bullets. I mean, a lot of bullets.

I always assumed Joseph first tried using the pickaxe on the wrong side of the apartment.

[Patman]

Joseph was desperate. He glared at the gun clenched in his hand, and prayed fervently that his one last bullet would be enough to pierce the wall. He aimed, took a deep breath, and shot. The sudden glimpse of hope that submerged him when he realized his plan had worked instantly turned into a horrified stupefaction when he saw Eileen bleeding out to death through the tiny hole.

Isn' t it mentioned in-game that Joseph made that hole with the same pickaxe that Henry used later to get to Walter' s body ?

[SilentWren]

^That would make sense, yeah.

I was just going off of the round holes and the way the scatter was, but the pick axe makes more sense.

@Kenji-Damn. What kind of invincible dry wall to they use in your town, anyway?
I think I could shoot through my apartment wall with, like, three or less bullets. I don't remember what kind of handgun that was, either, though.

[Kenji]

Only the best.

But, really, I was thinking of the spread of pockmarks in the wall. That's several clips-worth of unloading, there.

[lain of the wired]

My new favorite reason we can't diagnose Henry as a sociopath: they're changing the clinical definition of sociopathy and psychopathy! They will now be diagnosing it on a dimensional axis rather than a check list.

We have no background history of Henry. He may love his parents dearly and have plenty of friends, but not spend any time with his neighbors. We don't know, and we have no way of knowing. We can't make any kind of clinical diagnosis without a case history. We can't conduct a clinical interview with a script. We can't administer a Myers Briggs or an MMPI to pixels.

I present an alternative theory for Henry's strange lack of personality, based not in psychology but in game design:
Someone recently suggested that Henry is meant to be blank and background-less so that the players can easily picture themselves in his place. It was meant to be an immersion factor. When you think about it, since SH is often described as the character's personal hell, it was a clever attempt. However, it was flawed, and the result was just bad voice acting and countless theories that he's stoned/stupid/crazy. I like this idea. Everybody's always all "NOTHING IN SH IS ACCIDENTAL," and often argue that the voice director could only have been stupid or deaf to miss Henry's total lack of affect. This idea takes that into account rather nicely, I think.

[Doctor Eggnog]

So was Harry's in the first game, but nobody uses that to suggest that he's mentally retarded.

1. More is expected of voice acting in a ps2 game.

2. Henry's was worse.

[alone in the town]

1. More is expected of voice acting in a ps2 game.

And, as a whole, Silent Hill 4's voice acting is far superior, both in quality and delivery, than was the case in the original.

2. Henry's was worse.

Highly unlikely. Harry's voice acting is legendary for all the wrong reasons, and nobody ever quotes any goofy engrish lines of Henry's.

[five5sixers]

Just to back Lain up, when I lived in an apartment I didn't even know my neighbor's names, much less associated with them, but I had tons of friends and chilled with them and my family. I lived there for about three years and hardly ever would I say anything besides "Hello" to anyone on my floor or in my building.

This and the other "what's wrong with Henry?" threads are just over analyzing a case of bad voice acting and I definitely agree that we know next to nothing about Henry because he's, in essence, a vehicle for us to experience Walter's story. Walter's the main character of Silent Hill 4, not Henry.

[AuraTwilight]

No one hang out with xoxsnoof. I took psychology in high school and she's totally a sociopath.

[five5sixers]

)'8 You're right, Aura.

I was lying all along!
I had no friends, I was definitely alone. Just like Henry. We probably need medication or something.

[Zeraylph]

Just to back Lain up, when I lived in an apartment I didn't even know my neighbor's names, much less associated with them, but I had tons of friends and chilled with them and my family. I lived there for about three years and hardly ever would I say anything besides "Hello" to anyone on my floor or in my building.

This and the other "what's wrong with Henry?" threads are just over analyzing a case of bad voice acting and I definitely agree that we know next to nothing about Henry because he's, in essence, a vehicle for us to experience Walter's story. Walter's the main character of Silent Hill 4, not Henry.

Oh wow, I'm just like you. I lived in an apartment and never even met my neighbors, except when they make loud noises and I have to knock on their door to tell them to stop.
I've lived there for 2 years and I'm moving out to another place. But I don't know anyone who lives in that apartment.

I do go out on the weekends after doing all my college homework to go out to have lunch with a friend. But never anything to meet neighbors.

[SilentWren]

I'm.....the only person here who knows their neighbors?
I feel so fucking old sometimes.

[SPRINGS02]

Well i know my neighbors, but i don't like em.(well not all of em' im friends with a few but one of them needs to quit parking their damn car in front of our curb by our house)

[xhoney_vanityx]

Highly unlikely. Harry's voice acting is legendary for all the wrong reasons, and nobody ever quotes any goofy engrish lines of Henry's.

Lol, No one ever quotes my goofy Engrish, and mine is quite memorable. Not to mention my accent is atrocious.

Anyways, back on topic...I think it's sort of bold to say that he's a Sociopath. Maybe he's a bit of a hermit, but I wouldn't go as far to say that he's a Sociopath.

[SHF]

)'8 You're right, Aura.

I was lying all along!
I had no friends, I was definitely alone. Just like Henry. We probably need medication or something.

There is no medical cure for socio/psycho-pathy.
Guess you guys are fucked lol.

[angelofROOM302]

Having lived in the same room with Henry for years, I can say that he's not a sociopath. He's just the silent, tall dark and handsome type.

Honestly, the characters in this game really don't have much personality. I think that when they created Silent Hill 4, they really put EVERYTHING into the story. Sadly the developers didn't think to put more life into Henry. I don't think he's that damn dull as others perceive him as. He goes "ew" and has that look of disgust from nastiness of the otherworld. There is emotion! I hear it in his voice. (okay not every line, but I hear it) His connection to Eileen, I felt it. To me he's just a normal guy, but I am seeing the issues that you guys have with him the more I play the game. He's a single guy, in an apartment by himself, and he's not old.. so yeah maybe a bit more on the shy side, but I don't see the qualities of a sociopath. Something that I learned in psychology, males, the unmarried and non-religious are more likely to face depression. Maybe he's just a bit depressed? I mean, I sure would be.

[mikefile]

Henry's just a normal lonely-type of person (if there are such?). He does not show any signs of sociopathological behaviour. He seems a lonlier guy with not so many friends and not so many emotions. But that's the way he has to be. That was the developer's goal. He has to be more withdrawn- so his emotions wouldn't burst through inside the Otherworld (as we know.. neverless the main "keepers" of the Otherworld, like Alessa or James, some other souls also manage to break in, thanks to their intensive emotions, like Angela or Eddie) making enough room for looney Walter. That's why he's the Receiver of Wisdom- he gets wisdome, his loneliness finally gets a purpose.

[Brian J Flesh]

I think in a way him, Harry, and James (well we all know who james is) are. They all are very calm about a lot of scary Sh*t. Not normal.

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I have also had many one sided conersations with them and they are very silent. Its just creepy.

Please don't double-post. Use the Edit button.

[alone in the town]

I think in a way him, Harry, and James (well we all know who james is) are. They all are very calm about a lot of scary Sh*t. Not normal.

That's the principle of being an avatar. We're supposed to be freaking out in their place. It'd be kind of distracting if the character freaked out and stopped responding to your input every few minutes.

[VenusDoom]

I think in a way him, Harry, and James (well we all know who james is) are. They all are very calm about a lot of scary Sh*t. Not normal.

That's the principle of being an avatar. We're supposed to be freaking out in their place. It'd be kind of distracting if the character freaked out and stopped responding to your input every few minutes.

Agreed/ It helps with submerssion. If there was a cutscene after every corpse I'd be distracted and I wouldn't freak out, mainly cuz they would freak out for me. I don't think Henry is a socio path. he's litteraly the average depiction of the average american male. SH4 isn't Henry's story. It's Walter's. the same way SH:SM isn't Harry's story just because you play as him. It's Cheryl's story for the most part.