Hello and welcome to In Too Deep, where I over-analyse a certain section of pop culture.
Silent Hill. Apparently the second game is one of the greatest games ever, with the rest of the games having brilliant symbolism if nothing else. You’d think something that can be over-analysed so deeply would have been covered before in my blogs, but truth be told I’ve never actually played any of the games. But I have read Batman, so lets ask the simple question: What would happen if he went to Silent Hill? Well, lets find out.
First off lets come up with a reason why Batman is going to Silent Hill. Lets say he gets a letter saying that the sender knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman. And he has information about Jason Todd (who annoyingly is alive, but lets pretend he’s still dead before Superman punched reality). So Batman goes to Silent Hill and gets stuck there. Then, as normally happens, Silent Hill goes from the Fog World to the Otherworld, a nightmarish dimension that shows the worst fears of the subject the town’s torturing. What would we find there?
Well I’m not sure how canon this is, but it’ll definitely be raining. Why? Because it’s more then likely that it was raining when Thomas and Martha Wayne was shot. At the very least it’d be night-time, with the architecture meant to symbolize the alley where they got shot. Like the scene from Arkham Asylum, where Batman walks down the corridor to see his dead parents. Imagine that, but much bigger and more of the size of a town. Also buildings would be burned down because of where Jason Todd died. However while the outside of the town will be night-time and shadowy, the buildings on the inside would be very bright. Why? Because Batman has a hard time hiding in the bright light. Since he’s meant to be the Dark Knight, a bright happy looking place might disturb him a bit. Also there would be hints of an asylum, for reasons that come clear in a bit.
So what about monsters? What can really scare the Batman, the man that seems to hold no fear? Well again, lets start at the root core and work our way outwards. You’d have enemies dressed in the clothing of his mum and dad, with bullet holes in them. That would be unsettling, especially if they continue to blame their death on him. Secondly (and perhaps the ‘boss’ of the world) would be Joe Chill. Sure Batman has no trouble taking down Joe Chill in the real world, but this is a place where his fears are quadrupled. The idea of a Joe Chill that he can’t hurt would upset him greatly. Following on from that The Joker would easily make a visit, even if it is in his own head. But no, the biggest monster is the most obvious. It’s a giant Bat Man. No, not Man-Bat. A Bat Man that has lost all of his conscience. One that has no qualms with killing criminals and people. One of Batman’s fears is going too far, so it’d make sense that his biggest enemy would be just that. A Bat Man (he looks a bit like Man-Bat, only with more humanoid features) that is willing to kill all the other monsters. Seeing the Bat Man kill (or re-kill) Jason Todd would be pretty unsettling for Batman, since he’d be battling with himself about whether killing is the best way.
So we have the world and we have the monsters that Batman would have to fight. He’s in a world where the dead haunt him and his failures are replayed over and over. None of his gadgets work and all his enemies seem impervious to anything he throws at them. He can’t hide in the shadows since light keeps highlighting his position. And the Bat Man (coupled with the imaginary Joker) keep taunting him. It’s enough to even put Batman on edge. So how to get him out of this predicament?
Well naturally the Justice League would come looking for him and enter Silent Hill to get him. However when they get transferred to the Otherworld they all experience different things. Superman is confronted with a town that he destroyed when his powers went out of control, as well as the dead bodies of his loved ones. Likewise the other Justice League members see their worst fears and horrors doubled in the town. In fact the only one that has any way of resisting is Green Lantern, although it takes him a while. Fortunately he manages to overpower his fear (since it’s what makes him such a great superhero) and fight off the town’s influence thanks to his ring, before rescuing the rest of the league and getting them to safety. Of course the town disappears shortly after they leave, never to be seen again.
So there you have it. A brief look at what Batman fears, written in a way to try and make it more interesting. If you disagree with anything, or have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment. Till next time.
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