Does Eddie really deserve the Silent Hill treatment?

[Prosecutor Gavin]

I mean, you see Eddie. He's not particularly a cunning or handsome man, but he's not exactly a Dick Dastardly, either. He's aloof, lazy, clumsy - but aren't a lot of people?

He arrives in Silent Hill. The beginning FMV shows Eddie and Laura sitting outside of a white van together, where she sort of kicks him. This leads me to believe that the white van parked not far from James' car in the beginning is Eddie and Laura's ride. I also think that Eddie picked Laura up
while on his way to Silent Hill. They must have gotten separated when Eddie got into town, panicked and ran off into room 101. When Laura jumps off the wall, she makes a beeline across the town to Pete's, and meets up with Eddie again.

And, he's not exactly being a horrible guy here. He's not mean to Laura, he's not all angry at her
for calling him names, he's just sort of eh and eating a pizza. I'm not seeing anything particularly noteworthy here.

Eddie went to Silent Hill to hide after killing a dog and shooting a football player(who was probably harassing Eddie to begin with, maybe even sent the dog after Eddie).

A dog.

Eddie wasn't a murderer before he went to Silent Hill. He hurt someone, but he didn't kill them.

The town made Eddie into what you saw in the freezers. I don't think he deserved an ending like that after all he did was shoot a guy and kill a dog. That isn't to say what he did was right, but it wasn't stabbing or smothering anyone.

I just find it kind of odd that all the characters have a potentially good ending, except for Eddie. Angela could either die(free herself from emotional turmoil) or live, nobody knows. James... well, you know the endings with James, and some of them are happy. But Eddie, he just.

He just dies. D: And for what? Shooting a jock and killing a dog, being scared? Killing people, for all intents and purposes, look like monsters to Eddie?

I just don't get how Eddie is lumped together with murderers when he didn't actually murder anybody until he got to the town already.

[AgentX7k]

It wasn’t so much what he’s done in the past that matters so much, it’s what’s in his soul, what he is capable of doing and why he does it. Silent Hill does nothing to someone who doesn’t ask for it, it may have offered him temptation, but he’s the one who willing grabbed the apple and enjoyed the juice WAY too much.

Plus he is way worse than Angela IMO, what she did was basically self-defense. Eddie took masochistic pleasure in killing the dog and crippling the owner, he laughs about it later with James in the freezer. In fact he may even be worse than James, I mean James did kill someone, but didn’t enjoy it; it was a moment of selfish weakness after 3 years of compassion and dedication to someone who was willing to die at that point. There were selfish motives sure, and it’s still murder but there was a lot of other things mixed up with it, he did love Mary and a part of him wanted her suffering to end, not just his.

Plus there's the situations with each character. Now bullying is a disgusting thing which should not be tolerated under any circumstances, but looking at all 3 situations I'd say James/Angela had it worse, had more reasons to do what they did. James watched his wife who he loved slowly wither and die every single day, all the while she transformed into a different person throwing all sorts of emotional abuse his way. And Angela's own father beat and raped her.

I;m not sure if he was victimized at that particular moment he shot the dog and he’s owner? Why did he even have the gun in the first place unless he was planning to use it, perhaps to kill the jock and ended up just injuring him and running?

And after that you need to look at what he did once he learned the truth. James and Angela were overcome with guilt and one committed suicide, the other may have. Eddie became a serial killer and enjoyed every second of it, for nothing more than being laughed at, they may have looked like monsters to him at the start, but eventually they should look like people. James expressing disgust and confusion at finding a dead person in the prison, Eddie himself admits ‘killing a person is no big deal’.

[TheRedOne]

It was mainly the guilt of what he had done that lead him to Silent Hill. He also was a very unstable man, so that may have had something to do with it as well.

You can't really compare Eddie's actions to Angela's. It's how they both felt afterword that drew them to the town. If Eddie had killed that dog and showed no remorse, he probably wouldn't have made it to Silent Hill. If Angela killed her father and it didn't affect her in any way, she wouldn't have went either. If James didn't desire punishment for his actions...

Well, you get the idea.

[valiturus]

Wow, those are all really good points. I never really thought about the details with Eddie up until now and how you brought him out. Gosh, I feel bad for killing him now, lol.

[AuraTwilight]

Eddie was a sociopath waiting to snap. If Silent Hill didn't do it, it would've been the next insult, or the next, or the next. Silent Hill doesn't call you for your deeds, but for your thoughts.

[blank fairy]

Silent Hill did a service to the public in Eddie's case if you ask me.

[Prosecutor Gavin]

By the time you learn about what Eddie has done, it's in the freezer, when he's already gone mad from murdering and the constant teasing. Yes, he brags about what he's done, but at the same time, the guy's balls-out crazy. Nobody is saying Angela didn't have it worse from Eddie, but she did have a chance at a happier ending, depending on what you think happened.

The fact is, we don't know what happened between him and the bully. We don't know if the football player was actually going to hurt him and he had the gun in self-defense, or if Eddie just brought the gun to the guy's house and shot him. But seeing how he reacted, it's painfully obvious he didn't take any pride in what he's done. He didn't think it was a good thing until after he got to Silent Hill.

Eddie: No, I just ran ‘cause I was scared. I don’t know what the cops are
doing.

Laura: But if you did something bad, why don’t you just say you were sorry?
Well... I guess I run away a lots too.

Eddie: It’s no good. They wouldn’t listen. Nobody will ever forgive me.

In fact, he seems genuinely apologetic for what he's done, and is actually fearful that his actions will incriminate him for a lifetime.

Again, nobody's saying anybody had it worse than anyone else. Yes, James had to watch his wife turn into a literal monster, yes, Angela had to put up with years of systematic abuse. And Eddie's case probably pales in comparison to that. Eddie says killing a person isn't a big deal, because every 'person' he's met in that town after arriving was a monster that continually harassed Eddie to his breaking point.

James expresses disgust because he doesn't see the dead people as monsters, he doesn't understand anything, he's just being James and seeing dead people makes James blech. Not to pull a Vincent, but what if someone walked in and saw James killing a monster but they saw it as human? And James turned around and said OH DON'T WORRY IT'S JUST A MONSTER? Yeah, you'd think he was a crazy sociopath killer, too.


He was unstable because he ran away from Silent Hill like two seconds after the event occurred. He was scared. Of course he'll be unstable. Eddie gets frightened easily. How would you feel if you ran off to get away from what happened and to be safe, only to be constantly tortured right after?

sociopathic - Having the characteristics of a sociopath; Unconcerned about the adverse consequences for others of one's actions

Eddie: No, I just ran ‘cause I was scared. I don’t know what the cops are
doing.

Laura: But if you did something bad, why don’t you just say you were sorry?
Well... I guess I run away a lots too.

Eddie: It’s no good. They wouldn’t listen. Nobody will ever forgive me.

Explain to me how Eddie feeling regret for what he does means he's a sociopath. If he was a sociopath, he wouldn't feel for his actions. If that's the case, what about what TheRedOne said:

If Eddie had killed that dog and showed no remorse, he probably wouldn't have made it to Silent Hill. If Angela killed her father and it didn't affect her in any way, she wouldn't have went either. If James didn't desire punishment for his actions...

In fact, if he was a sociopath, he wouldn't have even gotten scared and ran to Silent Hill in the first place.
When he does turn into that, it's only after the town made him that way. People do stupid things when they're scared. Eddie is just so passive and overall lazy that I can't imagine him going out, finding a gun, coming back, shooting two things, and then getting scared. It makes no sense.


He was already frightened when he arrived to Silent Hill, and the town did more to freak him out again and again, until he finally snapped. The town made Eddie a killer.

[blank fairy]

I think he had as much chance as James and Angela. The town only gave the push but ultimately it was up to Eddie whether he succumbs or not. He could have also chosen to say "fuck 'em" to the imaginary bullies, accept responsability for his actions, and overall come out a stronger person and have his own "leave" ending.

[Prosecutor Gavin]

He did accept what he's done to people by the time he's in the freezer, but by that time he's already crazy. At that point he not only accepts what he did, he embraces it.

Yes, he could've said fuck'em to imaginary bullies, but that's like saying acting like the people in SH should just ignore the monsters they come across. I imagine Eddie's monsters being something like Insane Cancer; and the constant teasing is supplied by faceless whispering from all angles. But when James sees these monsters, they look like regular people. Then when Eddie calms down, he doesn't see monsters anymore.

Eddie doesn't even consider hurting James until James 'betrays' him by calling him nuts. He took that close to home, and put James on the same level as the people who hurt him - when before, the two were sort of friendly with one another.

[Fargo]

I think that the beauty that all the other Silent Hill games lack are it's layers and layers of complexity that SH 2 has, and of course, Eddie is just one factor of these layers. Prosecutor Gavin, you certainly do honor your name with your eloquent theories about Eddie and I find them to be interesting, though perhaps in addition to the monsters that he sees in the town, he could also see demonic dogs like the ones we've seen in different SH releases because of what he did, and because of the memories that torment him and haunt him.

Did he deserve the death that he had from James hands? well, he brought that uppon himself as he finally snapped and officially went bananas with a gun in his hand, James would've never killed him unless his own life was in danger. However, it is a tragic thing that Eddie met such fate as I can relate to him, I've also been picked on in school, but I didn't grow up to be someone full of hate and remorse towards others like those responsible of the Columbine High School Massacre, so it's all in the self control that an individual posseses, which is something that Eddie certainly lacked control of, so maybe he wasn't too smart in the last decisions that he took in his life.

Still, this is an interesting thread no doubt, I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

[Prosecutor Gavin]

That idea wouldn't be far fetched at all, demonic dogs. If there was any SH game that should have zombie dogs, it would've made the most sense in Eddie's case. I can't imagine Eddie being angry and spiteful towards all dogs, or that he just randomly shot a dog just to shoot a dog. Eddie doesn't seem like an angry animal hater, so either the dog did something to him or got in the way of something. Imagine walking home from work everyday and chased by some jock's dog, and everyone laughing at you because you're a fat guy trying to outrun a dog. Sure, it's no justification to shoot it(unless the dog was attacking him), but day after day of it happening would start to wear you down.

Eddie did snap, and James didn't handle the situation in the best manner. But he's just a regular Joe Schmo, he handled it realistically as most people thrown in the situation would. If it was someone else who could try and talk Eddie down and take the gun from him, he probably wouldn't have ended up dead in a freezer, but Silent Hill doesn't carry that luxury. IMO, James dug his own hole concerning Eddie when he blurted out the 'Have you gone nuts' right after Eddie's threats.

Eddie: B,but... it wasn’t my fault. He, he made me do it!

James: Calm down, Eddie. Tell me what happened.

Eddie: That guy... he, 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...

James: Just for that you killed him?

Eddie: Whadda ya mean ‘Just for that’!

James: Eddie, you can’t just kill someone cause of the way they looked at
you...

Eddie: Oh yeah! Why not? Til now I always let people walk all over me.
Just like that stupid dog. He had it coming too!!

Monsters in Silent Hill don't give you a reason for attacking you, they just do. Eddie has also previously stated he's seen monsters, and now he's said that they just come after him, so he kills them in if anything: self defense. James sees these people as human, so when he sees the dead guy slumped on the ground, he sees a dead human man there, while Eddie would have otherwise thought he was killing a monster.

Until Eddie arrived in Silent Hill, he let people walk all over him. Just look at how he lets Laura treat him. She flat out insults him and he doesn't do much except shrug it off, while a true sociopath in Eddie's state probably just would have killed her and passed it off as 'it wasn't my fault'.

Actually, I'm re-reading the game script, and I saw something pretty interesting.

Eddie: 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 you’re mama don’t love you!”
Well maybe he was right. Maybe I am nothing but a fat, disgusting
piece of shit. But ya know what? It doesn’t matter if your smart,
dumb, ugly, pretty...it’s all the same once yer dead. And a corpse
can’t laugh. From now on, if anyone makes fun of me... I’ll kill em.
Just like that.

[...]

Eddie: 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!

Eddie refers to this 'he' multiple times, but we never do find out who he is. Someone who's constantly insulting him, picking on him, busting on him just because of how he looks. I remember reading into a theory around SHH that Eddie has some troubles concerning him and his father, and it got me thinking. Maybe his father was a football player? Maybe he shot his father in the knee? Maybe Eddie even owned the dog that caused him so much grief on a daily basis. Eddie would take the words of his father a whole lot closer to heart than a random jock. Eddie wanted to play football, but his father always scorned him and looked down at him, even going so far as to say that his own mother doesn't love him. It makes more sense when you look at it from that angle, maybe.

[Fargo]

Eddie refers to this 'he' multiple times, but we never do find out who he is. Someone who's constantly insulting him, picking on him, busting on him just because of how he looks. I remember reading into a theory around SHH that Eddie has some troubles concerning him and his father, and it got me thinking. Maybe his father was a football player? Maybe he shot his father in the knee? Maybe Eddie even owned the dog that caused him so much grief on a daily basis. Eddie would take the words of his father a whole lot closer to heart than a random jock. Eddie wanted to play football, but his father always scorned him and looked down at him, even going so far as to say that his own mother doesn't love him. It makes more sense when you look at it from that angle, maybe.

Ya know, maybe that guy that he shot was indeed his father, who knows? what you just said about Eddie wanting to be a foot ball played reminded me that in the room that you first find him, there are posters of foot ball players on the walls of the room even though that is not Eddie's home, so that kinda struck me as ironic ...

Also, just what if the monsters that you find in Silent Hill are nothing more than ordinary persons and you just kill them, thinking that they're monsters?... and the same would go for the rest of the characters?... freaky!

[Adrasteia]

In fact, he seems genuinely apologetic for what he's done

Eddie: Yeah, I killed that dog. It was fun.

I do not see this remorse of which you speak.

[Prosecutor Gavin]

Read everything I've said.

At that point, Eddie's already crazy from what the town did to him.

Eddie: It’s no good. They wouldn’t listen. Nobody will ever forgive me.

In Pete's Bowl-o-Rama.

[Adrasteia]

I did read everything you said. So? Killing is killing. Even if he does feel bad about it, he still killed. James feels pretty wretched about killing Mary after he realizes that he did it, Angela thinks she deserved what happened to her and she was a bad person. It makes no difference even if he was sorry, which I still think is just a sop thrown to someone who he thinks might condemn him for his actions. Silent Hill picks based on actions, not intent.

[Prosecutor Gavin]

He killed a dog, which could have arguably been tormenting him every day for years.

I think killing a dog is a lot different than murdering your wife or father, honestly.

[Adrasteia]

Yeah, but see, it doesn't really matter what you or I think about it. We didn't pick him to go to the town. I don't personally see much difference. He took a life. He could've called the pound. Or moved. Or spoken with the owner. It was a deliberate act of cruelty. I don't think anyone reasonably would expect someone annoyed with an animal to kill it. There is a reason serial killers usually begin by torturing and/or killing animals.

[Heart of Shadows]

I always thought that the football player siced the dog on eddie or the dog was just going to attack eddie. I've been attacked and chased by dogs 7 times and I didn't do a thing except have them look at me.

Also silent hill bases on the mind and feelings of the person.
If James feels he is guilty and needs to be punished than silent hill will act on it.

[Prosecutor Gavin]

What if the owner of the dog was his father(whom i theorize to be the one to say those harmful things to him in the first place)? Not to mention he's a gas station attendant, I don't think he has the funds to move out.

The problem with Eddie is that we aren't given a lot of details about him or his situation, and Eddie definitely is the kind of guy who won't react until he's cornered and lashes out. Pretty much what he says in the freezer reflects that, with the whole 'till now he let everyone walk over him'.

EDIT:

I always thought that the football player siced the dog on eddie or the dog was just going to attack eddie. I've been attacked and chased by dogs 7 times and I didn't do a thing except have them look at me.

I know what you mean. I used to live in a house with a dog that would, quite literally, attack me everytime I left my room. I never did a thing to that animal and yet everyday, it would bite and chase me until I went back into my room. I still have scars from that. I dealt with it for almost a year before I left the place, and if I didn't have any other options, I probably would have killed that animal myself.

There's only so much you can take before you're sent over the edge.

I imagine that the football player was Eddie's father, who owned the dog that Eddie shot.

[Adrasteia]

Being persecuted does not justify cruel behavior in return, no matter how enticing it might be. If that were so, everyone who was ever bothered repeatedly by an animal would be allowed, if not encouraged, to kill it. The same for bullies. Yeah, it sucks that he had a shitty life and that the dog was being annoying. His actions still will not ever be justified. There is never an excuse for deliberate cruelty.