Original Silent Hill 2 art director Masahiro Ito has spoken out about the true inspiration behind one of the character models he created for the 2001 horror game, and it’s probably not what any of us would have predicted – it came from a BDSM magazine.
Ito played a huge part in the creation of the early Silent Hill games, having gone from a monster designer in the first game to the art director for Silent Hill 2 and 3. Now, he’s given a bit more insight into the design of one of the female character models he created, which the models for Silent Hill 2’s Maria, Mary, Angela and the Bubble Head Nurse were all based on. The original one eventually became known as Fukuro Lady, and was featured in the short film Fukuro alongside Pyramid Head and other Silent Hill 2 monsters.
In this original model, which shows her in a red dress and heels with her sleek dark hair styled as a bob, it’d be totally understandable if you thought Ito might have taken inspiration from a certain Tekken character, Anna Williams, when it came to her design. However, enough people have clearly had that exact same thought that Ito wants to clear things up once and for all. Sure, the two might look similar, but Fukuro Lady’s actual inspiration was very different.
*PS2/SH2 graphic “TEST” w/Some have replied this lady reminds them of Anna Williams from Tekken and come to think of it, maybe they are right. But the inspiration was a photo picture from a BDSM magazine that I used to read. Also the hair was from Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction https://t.co/D4w3i7nZQXOctober 27, 2024
“Some have replied [saying that] this lady reminds them of Anna Williams from Tekken and come to think of it, maybe they are right,” Ito begins. “But the inspiration was a photo picture from a BDSM magazine that I used to read.”
Not quite from a fighting game series, then. The magazine in question wasn’t Ito’s only influence, though, as he also notes that her hair was based on “Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction,” and yeah, you can definitely see that when you compare them side by side.
Even if Fukuro Lady didn’t make it into Silent Hill 2 as a full-fledged enemy, Ito says the graphic test model he made for her was partially used in Silent Hill 3. In the thread, he adds: “The face of the nurse in SH3 was from that PS2 graphic test model.” The more you know.
For more games like Silent Hill 2, be sure to check out our roundup of the best horror games.
