Silent Hill Heaven

I'm less concerned about the lack of reaction to monsters and more about why Henry rushed over to a woman covered in blood lying on the ground and asked "are you okay?"

^ He was in shock. You don't do the most logical things in The Moment.

haha, never thought of it that way before. But yeah, I noticed throughout the game that his lack of expression is his situations was a bit odd. I wouldnt say he's high though.

I don't think he's high, he just refuses to display emotions. That, and Henry doesn't seem to be the brightest guy in the world. Besides the "Cynthia, are you okay" and all the "what the hell?", I noticed something else. In the hospital world, he goes into an obviously empty hospital room. No people (besides himself) or monsters in there. Henry then ponders, "I wonder if Eileen is in this room?"

How is that indicative of a lack of intelligence?

It's already been stated -- repeatedly -- that Henry's "Are you okay?" line is on par with Heather telling Douglas, WHILE THEY'RE IN THE NIGHTMARE WORLD, that she's going to go call an ambulance because of his broken leg. People say silly things when they're in shock.

I'm not gonna touch Henry's catch phrase. People have silly mantras

And Henry has every right to wonder if Eileen is in the hospital because, for all he knows, she's dead. I don't particularly recall him wondering if she was in that room specifically, so I'll keep an eye out for it.

Honestly -- and I'm REALLY surprised no one else has mentioned this so far -- all of Henry's very subdued, very muted reactions came off as a really good portrayal of someone who is dreaming. He responds to and reacts to almost everything with the most subdued verbal responses and physical reactions (apart form absolute blinding agony). Considering that each time he descends into Walter's Kingdom he's pretty much crawling into a dream world, his detachment seems... really frakin' obvious, no?

I mean, at least at the beginning of SH4, it makes sense that Henry wouldn't be too torn up over Cynthia's death. At this point, he's still convinced that he's dreaming, yeah? So, I mean, apart from "no special favor", I doubt he's experiencing too much disappointment at some dream girl's passing.

I vote poorly scripted on all other counts. It would have made more sense if there had been a gradient slope of realization that Henry wasn't actually dreaming.

> It would have made more sense if there had been a gradient slope of realization that Henry wasn't actually dreaming.

There is. Right after he meets Cynthia, when he first teams up with Eileen in the hospital... When he first wakes up after meeting Cynthia, he brushes off the idea that he could be inside her dream, saying it's foolish. Somewhere along his ventures, he adjusts this belief to other worlds because when he tries to explain himself to Eileen he uses, well... that exact term:

"Henry: I saw people getting killed...all these weird other worlds..."

And when he's trying to stress the importance and seriousness of their situation:

"Eileen: This place...what is it anyway?

Henry: I don't know either... But I do know that if you get killed here then you die in the real world too."

So. Henry knows he isn't dreaming -- he knows he's traversing into another world. He's been reading the same memos you and everyone else who plays the game has, and adjusts his knowledge accordingly.

People ask me if i am high all the time, but im introverted.
henry is just introverted. thats all

I liked SH4 (accept the ghosts), but henry was pretty dull.


Every time I see this I bust out laughing!

Henry was the most kickass protagonist. he never paniced. he was very confident and caring. he was very intelligent.

That adds such a depth to the discussion.

krakalackin that pic is pretty damn funny.
Anyway I haven't played SH4 in a LONG time but i do agree with the idea that henry is in a dreamlike state. Plus there really are people who just don't show emotion that much, doesn't mean that they don't care or don't have feelings they just don't show it. I'm somewhat the same. There have been times where i've been scared to death by something but you wouldn't be able to tell.

I agree with Krist.

For those that need a refresher:

When Henry first wakes up in the apartment from the dream, the reoccurring dream that I believe is Joseph and not Henry in the dream, he appears and talks like someone who has just woke up. He gets a phone call from someone saying, " Help me" and at that time he discovers that the phone line has been cut. You then take control of Henry and start exploring the apartment. You look out the bedroom window and see Eileen going into the subway. Next I went and looked at the front door, writing says, "don't go out, Walter", you see Eileen through the peep hole(The subway train apparently shoots straight out of ground and stops at Eileen front door), read the note under the door: "Mommy why doesn't you wake up?", go across the room and read the note behind the bookcase: "Ritual of the Holy Assumption", and hear the loud crash from the bathroom.

You go through the hole and you're in a subway. You meeting Cynthia who thinks she is having dream, she goes into the bathroom and disappears, you go through the another hole in the ladies bathroom and you're back at your apartment. Cynthia calls you at your apartment saying, " Where did you go, help, come quick!' Now you go back through the hole continue through the subway, free Cynthia only to leave her again... You then find Cynthia bleeding to death, but she says "It's just a dream... but I feel like I'm dying." and Henry says, " It's okay, it's just a dream." Cynthia dies and Henry wakes up in his apartment.

Henry looks through the window of his apartment and sees an ambulance and a police car at the subway entrance. You walk into the living room and hear the radio, "Hurry up and get that ambulance! Quit yappin and move her already! Damn... She's got numbers carved into her chest. I wonder if..." If you look under the apartment door, there's a red note that reads: " Although the cult itself is gone, I'm sure the spirit if it is still alive. There are too many strange things happening in that town. I'm investigating two people. Or maybe I sure should say just one. I've just about discovered what's going on. - April 8"

Basically,for the first half of the game, the same thing happens over and over except in different worlds with different characters.
Cynthia: Subway World - Temptation
Jasper: Forest World - Source
Andrew: Water Prison World - Watchfulness
Richard: Building World - Chaos
Eileen: Apartment World - mother (After this you start backtracking)

My point is: If you really pay close attention to the notes, strange things happening, and the characters it's easy to piece together what's going on. Henry does act a little calmer in the beginning but he does act more normal as the game progresses. That being said, Henry is no Harry, James, or Heather as far as personality goes and maybe team silent dulled Henry down to make the player focus on the true main character, Walter. Just my opinion...

The funny thing is, neither Harry nor James ever really display any huge amount of personality or charm themselves. The fact that they are more integral to their respective storylines almost certainly skewed people's perspective on that matter.

Also, Henry had the misfortune of coming after Heather, who (for better or worse) is a loud and opinionated protagonist. Anyone who came after her, who wasn't comparable to her, was gonna feel that shock.

I don't think any of the protagonists can compare to Heather's in your face attitude, mainly because she's an outspoken (semi)normal teenage girl. The impression I got from James is he's a nice, gentle, soft spoken man who is searching for the chance that his wife is still alive in someway. Harry 1.0(SH1) is a worried, loving father frantically searching for his daughter. I had an emotional connection to James and Harry's situations and their losses.
I never really felt any connection with Henry other than " It sucks to be you." I mean the only reason Henry is in the game is he just happen to live in the wrong apartment. Walter knew Eileen. When you meet Walter on the stairs he said something like, " I saw Miss Gavlin with her mother when she was younger, she looked happy." Walter doesn't even know Henry unless I'm missing something. Even Joseph is connected to Walter because of the apartment and his research of Walter. It would have made (imo) more since to make the game about Joseph's investigation of Walter while he is slowly introduced into Walter's other world.

I always thought he was, but maybe he's just a boring person and has no personality. Honestly, I don't understand why so many people like him. He's just boring to me.

Henry is supposed to be boring. He's very laid back ind introverted, with little personal life to color his impressions of things. He is the blank canvas on which Walter will paint his story; the Receiver of Wisdom. Ergo, he was chosen by Walter for his personality. He is to see the "truth," and it will kill him. The fact that he seems rather detached from reality as events unfold around him is the idea of the whole game. He's GOT to be the blank slate, or his interpretations of the events will be tainted. I really wish Henry had been a child though, as that would make more sense as a innocent and completely clear perception.

^What I said basically.
I don't think it was necessary to make the protagonist a blank slate. I figured the events out and I'm not a blank slate. Playing from Joseph's point of view would have been more interesting. I think that over all the game would have been better and I believe it would have had a greater following if the protagonist was more interesting(imo), but I can't change the game. Oh well.

It's not necessary for YOU to be a blank slate, but for the purpose of the ritual, I'd find it likely that he must see things as Walter sees it. At least, that's how I always interpreted it.