Why Pyramid Head's Designer Wants The Alternate Version To Be Used More

After rising and falling over the years, "Silent Hill" is back. In its "Silent Hill" Transmission event, Konami announced several new games, including "Silent Hill: Townfall" and the mysterious "Silent Hill ." Konami led off, however, with a remake of the celebrated "Silent Hill 2." 

Often considered one of the best games in the series, "Silent Hill 2" is remembered for, among other things, introducing the iconic character Pyramid Head. Pyramid Head has gone on to appear in nearly every iteration of the series since and is still ranked among the creepiest monsters you'll see in the franchise. Many fans may not be aware, however, that this classic monster actually has an alternative look created by the artist behind the original Pyramid Head. Further, the artist felt the alternate Pyramid Head should have gotten a second life in a completely different video game.

Fans of "Dead by Daylight," the asymmetric survival horror game, will be aware that Pyramid Head appears in the game as a playable Killer. What they may not know is that Masahiro Ito, his original designer, wishes the game's developers had gone with his alternate, White Hunter, instead.

In a series of tweets in August 2022, Ito wondered why "Dead by Daylight" didn't feature the alternate Pyramid Head instead. He explained that he had designed the white version of Pyramid Head specifically for use in other media so that the original version would remain unique to "Silent Hill 2" and its protagonist, James. "The original PH was a character I designed for James. So I designed that character to avoid the abuse and named it White Hunter," Ito wrote.

Ito has long been frustrated with Pyramid Head's use outside of "Silent Hill 2." Indeed, he has come to hate his creation over time because of its misuse in other games. The creature was originally meant to be a manifestation of James' guilt and a reflection of his disturbing past. As such, the original version should only exist, as Ito sees it, in relation to James and shouldn't manifest for anyone else in the "Silent Hill" setting or in any other.

Despite Ito's objections, it's the original Pyramid Head that has become so popular and come to represent the franchise. It's not surprising, therefore, that this version continues to make appearances in and out of "Silent Hill." Still, it's interesting to imagine the White Hunter variation getting another chance at popularity through a different game in the future.