Silent Hill 2 designer reveals early design for Pyramid Head (where he had a pyramid body)

Pyrimad Head once looked like a scarier Bill Cipher.

Scott Baird
January 24, 2023
News Silent Hill 2

Image via Konami

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Silent Hill 2 art director and monster designer Masahiro Ito has revealed one of the earliest designs for the iconic Pyramid Head monster, which has a pyramid-shaped body. Ito exhibited this prototype Pyramid Head design alongside different pieces of artwork that show his concept as it evolved and discussed the other ideas that inspired his creation.

Ito uploaded several paintings on his official Twitter page (as spotted by Siliconera), with one called “3310” featuring the original Pyramid Head. In the picture, Pyramid Head has a pyramid-shaped body, with human arms and legs jutting out and a long tongue erupting from a hole where its mouth should be. According to Ito, the image was made in 1999 and was based on an early idea for Silent Hill 2.

"3310", a painting that I did after finishing making the 1st Silent Hill in 1999. I was thinking the object of in the middle of this pic as a character that the protagonist encountered in water from an story-idea for the SH2. This figure became Pyramid Head eventually. pic.twitter.com/eJgDUgrhZe
— 伊藤暢達/Masahiro Ito (@adsk4) January 23, 2023

Ito further discusses the creation of Pyramid Head on his Twitter page, but be warned that one of the photos on the page is Not Safe For Work. In the Twitter threads, Ito talks about how Pyramid Head’s design was inspired by the hoods worn by the executioners at the end of Braveheart and a creature from a painting he made in ’96. These concepts led to the “3310” design shown above, further refined in a painting called “3328”, featuring two creatures much closer to how Pyramid Head looked in Silent Hill 2.

Ito and the other developers of Silent Hill 2 did a fantastic job with Pyramid Head, as it’s easily the most iconic monster in the Silent Hill series. It is among the most popular creatures in the history of horror video games, rivaling the likes of Nemesis from the Resident Evil series, even though Konami only ever brings it out for crossovers in the modern era. Fortunately, those who missed out on a chance to run from Pyramid Head on the PlayStation 2 will soon be able to face it on modern systems, as the Silent Hill 2 Remake is on the way. Soon, a whole new generation of gamers will learn to be terrified of the sound of a sword being dragged along the ground.