I remember years ago after I first watched Raintree Country, the compelling drama by Edward Dmytryk, one specific frame stuck in my memory and I would always recall it every time I thought about that film: the one where Susanna (Elizabeth Taylor) is sitting on her bed with an array of porcelaine dolls hanging above her. The fact that Susanna was an adult married woman made the presence of those dolls in her room look particularly creepy; because she didn't have them there as a collection or even a reminder of her childhood, but viewed them as a projection of herself and had them placed above her head as if they were her guardians.

Although dolls, and toys in general, are items that most grown up people tend to view with tenderness and affection, they are mainly associated with childhood and past memories. Probably we all have a vintage doll, a teddy bear or an action figure in our home; but things become more complicated when adult people keep dozens of dolls or toys in their private space, to the point where they dominate the place where they are - like in the case of Susanna's dolls. This usually indicates a persistent denial to accept that they have grown up and a sentimental attachment to their childhood.

Due to its numerous dark and twisted side-effects, this condition is being used quite often in video games, connected mostly to characters of villains. Sometimes, dolls and toys appear as symbols or objects of a specific significance. Other times, while they look like they are just part of the scenery, they may still serve a plot point or indicate something important. In this article, I will focus on the presence of dolls and toys in Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Dark Fall: Lost Souls, Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea 2, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Resident Evil 7 and The Evil Within 2, as in each of them the items in question have a unique role, indicative of their most frequently used symbolisms and connotations.

In Resident Evil: Code Veronica, a minor villain but a rather persistent lunatic is Alfred Ashford, the commander of Rockfort Island who likes to torture his victims with extreme and sadistic ways. Alfred can be seen in the main building of his mansion's grounds, but he also frequents his private palace, a tower constructed in gothic style that is heavily guarded by zombies and lies well-hidden from the rest of the world.

In the rather unfriendly entrance hall of the tower, there is a glass case with several vintage porcelain dolls kept in there in perfect condition. This whole set comes in striking contrast with a giant doll that is hanging from the ceiling with its disjointed limbs making it look more like a puppet.

The dolls are barely visible in the darkness, and this makes them more creepy

On the upper floor, yet one more doll is waiting to welcome the accidental guests; it is quite big and in good shape, but if we notice how it stands in the corridor, obviously in no connection to the rest of the place, we will undoubtedly receive the most unpleasant vibes. It is as if it is a guardian, placed there to watch who comes in and who gets out. I wouldn't be surprised if it could actually become alive and attack.

The huge doll in the corridor assumes the role of a guardian

In one of the bedrooms that we have to explore, there is again a glass case full of vintage porcelain dolls, and once we gain access to the hidden attic, we discover there a room full of toys with an elaborate carousel in the middle of it.

Alexia's room hosts more vintage dolls

Alfred is a scizophrenic sociopath, who passes his days contemplating the long past time spent with his beloved twin sister, Alexia. Apparently, after Alexia's demise, he fortified the palace which used to be his family home and kept almost everything in there just as it was; which is why the childhood tokens - namely, the dolls and toys - dominate in the rooms, giving the palace the disturbing look of an oversized dollhouse. Pretty much like Miss Havisham in Dickens' Great Expectations, who masochistically remains dressed in her wedding gown, supposedly waiting for the groom who never showed up on their wedding day but in fact refusing to accept her new reality and move on because she is unable to take control of her own life - likewise Alfred is content with looking at Alexia's giant portrait and talking to her while imagining she is there, incessantly bringing to his memory their common past and the happy times they spent together. But he does not limit himself to these moderate expressions of adoration. He goes as far as to wear Alexia's clothes and a blonde wig - an outfit that makes him look almost identical to her.

Alfred's attic is the inner sanctum where he keeps his childhood memories

Whether in good or bad shape, the dolls in Alfred's private palace are a strong indication of his madness and his attachment to the past and Alexia. The vintage dolls obviously belonged to her, and he keeps them in the cases, just like Alexia's body is kept in a capsule after her supposed death. When Alfred wears his sister's dress, he is not simply cross-dressing - he becomes one of her dolls. Just like dolls can be dressed with different outfits, Alfred changes his and for a limited time he identifies himself with Alexia. In that sense, the dolls are a medium with which he communicates with her. The giant disjointed doll that is hanging from the ceiling is a tangible manifestation of his own deranged psyche and mind. Why he had it placed there is not very clear, but it is likely that he did it so as to intimidate potential intruders, warning them that if they proceed any further they will share its fate.

The hanging doll is a creepy feature of the palace

Moreover, taking a closer look at that doll, we will see that it resembles Alexia; while its condition - beheaded, with missing limbs and covered in blood - symbolizes her death. The doll, although hanging from the ceiling, also looks like it is flying, bringing to mind Alexia's final mutation, which is a dragonfly.

The polysemous significance of dolls is further explored in Resident Evil: Revelations 2. Although their presence in that game is limited to just a couple of areas, both their appearance and their symbolism are so dominant and chilling that they are rather hard to forget.

One of the secondary but extremely important characters in the game is Natalia Corda, the little girl that Barry Burton meets moments after he arrives at the mysterious island looking for his daughter. Natalia is being pursued by Alex Wesker, the game's arch-villain, who wants to use her as a host in order to be reborn with absolute power since Natalia was the perfect candidate for her personal experiment. After Natalia fleed away in a desperate attempt to avoid all this, she teamed up with Barry and they traveled around the island in search both of Moira and a way out. When they first arrive close to Alex's hideout, they discover a ruined building with a disturbing decoration: there are little dolls everywhere, set up in the most terrifying installations.

The grotesque installation aim at freaking out the visitors

Later on, as they approach the Spencer mansion replica where Alex is lurking, they go through a cave where similar dolls can be seen around them, together with ceremonial candles. The word 'voodoo' comes directly to mind as we notice the way the dolls have been treated, while at some point Natalia spots her beloved teddy bear, Lottie, dismembered and nailed on a board.

It looks as if Alex was carrying out voodoo ceremonies

The dolls here are used by the game's villain as a means to threaten and terrify her victim directly. Natalia is very young, so Alex is using little dolls that will undoubtedly appeal to Natalia and, on a second level, she maybe identifies herself with them. The fact that Alex treats the dolls in such a violent and sadistic manner shows not only that she can resort to all kinds of means to do what she wants, but also that she will not hesitate to act towards Natalia just like she did towards the dolls.

As Lottie is a doll that belongs to Natalia, by 'punishing' it the way she did, Alex shows Natalia that this will be her own fate as well because of her disobedience.

Alex used Lottie to give a threatening warning to Natalia

The dolls are used in a similar way in Dark Fall: Lost Souls. In the compelling metaphysical thriller by Jonathan Boakes, Amy Haven, the cunning and sadistic ghost that haunts the Station and the Hotel in Dowertown, has three dolls which she calls her 'sisters'. Each doll represents one of three missing girls who died in different ways. The Inspector, the game's protagonist, has to find the dolls, place them in their coffins and match them with their missing eyes. This process, which is nothing less than black magic, gives him the means to overtake the demonic force that guards the Hotel's upper floor, where the solution of the mystery lies.

The colorful eyes of the dolls are their most creepy feature

Amy's dolls have a dual role: they serve as magical objects through which first Amy is able to keep the whole place under her control and later the Inspector breaks the spell that binds the Station and the Hotel, but they also are a hurtful symbol of Amy's destroyed childhood. Amy is a tormented ghost but she is also malignant. Instead of playing normally with regular dolls, she uses people as her toys and pretends that the voodoo dolls are her sisters.

In Resident Evil 7, the dolls and toys are as creepy as one would expect them to be in a horror story.  Eveline, the evil force that masquerades as a little girl in order to take over everyone and everything, uses dolls as baits and threats. There is a doll that resembles her and another one that resembles Mia, the wife of the protagonist, Ethan Winters. Eveline manipulates Mia trying to trick her into believing that she is a sad little girl who needs affection, and hates Ethan because his arrival means that she is close to be exposed and exterminated.

The Eveline doll (left) and the Mia doll (right) are used as enigmatic baits

Ethan discovers both dolls while looking for Mia in the Baker house, while close to the end of the story he comes across a giant version of the Eveline doll in the kitchen of the guest house.

The giant Eveline doll is one of the creepiest things in the game

Eveline is a demonic entity and as such is able to use animate and inanimate objects to serve her purposes. A little girl playing with dolls is something trivial, but a little girl using dolls to threaten people is not. Moreso since Eveline is not actually a little girl; this is just one of her forms, the most convenient in order to invade the Baker family home and infect its members.

The theme of distorted childhood can be traced again in the old room of Lucas and Zoe; it is a space full of toys some of which have a rather ominous and foreshadowing significance: the stuffed crocodile prepares the ground for the presence of the actual crocodiles that lurk in the bayou outside the farm house.

There is nothing cozy about the old kids' room of the Baker house

Similarly, the dollhouse that Ethan sees, among several other toys, in the kids' room of the old house symbolizes the Baker home which itself became a toy in Eveline's hands.

The toy house looks like a miniature of the Baker home

The expected voodoo dolls can be seen in a few places in the grounds of the old house, intensifying the atmosphere of evil and horror. Although they are there just for decorative purposes, they are still extremely creepy, and their aim is to terrify the potential intruders.

In Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea 2, the story begins with Elizabeth, the deuteragonist of the main Bioshock Infinite game, waking up in an abandoned toy factory with Booker DeWitt lying dead by her side. One of the first things that she sees is the head of a doll.

The doll head is like a reminder for Elizabeth

The doll once belonged to Sally, one of the girls who involuntarily took part in Frank Fontaine's brutal experiment, and its head appears crafted and painted in vintage style, as Sally originally lived decades ago. It also looks a lot like Elizabeth.

In the overall haunting and nightmarish atmosphere of the episode, the doll head in Elizabeth's hand becomes a rather ominous symbol of her own fate, as well as serving as a guide which will eventually lead her to Sally. When the episode starts, Elizabeth is in a bad shape but the discovery that she is bound to make is even worse: she sees her own self impaled to death in a dark corner of the toy factory.

In another reality, Elizabeth was a young girl locked in a golden tower, living in absolute safety but completely alone - almost like a doll. That was the state in which Booker found her in the main Bioshock Infinite game. In the Burial at Sea 2 episode, she may be living in a new reality, as an older version of herself in another time and place, but she still carries the consequences of the actions of her other, younger self. Regardless, as it turns out she is still a puppet in someone else's hands, as Atlas, the heartless villain of the story, orders her to carry out certain dangerous missions on his behalf promising that he will then let her go, but in the end he brutally kills her anyway. In the final scene, as Elizabeth dies, Sally shows up holding her doll. As she approaches Elizabeth, the doll's head disappears from the rest of her body and appears in Elizabeth's hand. While Sally goes nearer to comfort Elizabeth, the doll head slips from her hand, signifying both the fact that she finally found and saved Sally and that she herself sacrificed her own life to do this.

As Elizabeth dies, the doll head slips away from her hand

The dolls have a similar role and significance in The Evil Within 2. There are three recurring dolls in the game: one depicting Sebastian, the protagonist, one of Myra, his missing wife, and another one that has the form of Lily, his daughter.We get to see two of these dolls, the Lily doll and the Sebastian doll, very early in the game, in one of Sebastian's memories, where their presence is realistic and they are simply Lily's toys, made by her mother.

In Sebastian's memory, Lily is playing with her dolls

It is not until Sebastian enters the virtual world of Union and starts investigating the place that the dolls begin to have a more complex and symbolic role. While searching for Lily, Sebastian searches a warehouse and there, in one upper room, he finds the Myra doll in a pool of blood.

Sebastian finds the Myra doll in the warehouse

Still in Union, but getting closer to discovering a valuable clue about his daughter's whereabouts, he finds the Lily doll, again in a pool of blood, in the backroom of the cafeteria of a gas station.

The Lily doll is first found in the Pit Stop back room

Both of these dolls act as baits for Sebastian, as they have been strategically placed where he found them by Stefano, the villain who dominates the first part of the game. Stefano, who wants to take advantage of the potential of Lily's brain, wants to lure Sebastian towards him so that he can realize his evil and twisted plans that will supposedly bring his photographic art to another level.

However even after Stefano is exterminated, Sebastian finds one more Lily doll in the dark void. The doll lies on the bloody floor of the bottomless pit below the Marrow Laboratories, in a space that looks like a simulation of Lily's actual room.

The second appearance of the Lily doll is the Bottomless Pit

This time, it is Theodore, the game's main villain, who placed the doll there, in an attempt to bring Sebastian closer to him, to make him feel guilty for Lily's fate and persuade him to help him get rid of Myra and join his cult.

It is characteristic that Sebastian won't come across his own doll anywhere in Union, and the only instance where it appears is close to the end, when he finds Lily sleeping peacefully in her room, in the safe space previously guarded by Myra. The Sebastian doll can be seen sitting on Lily's bed, as Sebastian is taking his daughter away.

The Sebastian doll on Lily's bed is like her guardian angel

The dolls go back to their original, realistic role in the end, when all is over and Sebastian leaves with Lily. Before waving them goodbye, Juli gives Lily the Myra doll, as a token of her mother.

Lily takes the Myra doll as a reminder of her mother

The dolls in The Evil Within 2 illustrate the state of the characters they depict. The Sebastian doll, as it appears sitting passively in Lily's bedroom, represents Sebastian's status: Sebastian is sedated in a STEM tub while his virtual self, or his mind's self, is taking action in Union. On the other hand, Sebastian comes across the Myra doll and the Lily doll and finds them lying down, as if dead. This hints at their actual state, because although they are not dead, they are trapped inside STEM and the only way for them to get out is by Sebastian's intervention. Sebastian has to defeat the Matriarch, Myra's monstrous self, so as to allow the real Myra take control. Subsequently he is the only one who is able to take Lily out of Union, and once Myra destroys the system from inside, he is the one to bring his daughter out of the Core capsule. In the end, the only doll that appears is the one depicting Myra, as she voluntarily stayed behind and presumably perished with all the STEM system. 

Bioshock Infinite as a Retro-Futuristic Fairy Tale

The world of Bioshock Infinite is a magic one. A universe full of color and fancy with a vibrant steampunk atmosphere, and contemporary tunes playing on gramophones in retro style. Its characters defy both time and space: they can fly in the air thanks to improvised devices and they can go back in time by using tears. Nothing is ordinary in Columbia and Emporia, the colorful floating cities that are bursting with life and flowers and look like amusement parks coming straight out of a fairy tale.

The imaginative settings of the game add greatly to the atmosphere of a fairy tale

When the protagonist of the game, Booker DeWitt, wakes up in a boat on a rainy night, accompanied by two strange people who lead him to a a mysterious lighthouse, little does he suspect of what will come next. The lighthouse, a major symbol used extensively in video games, plays a crucial role here too, transporting Booker to Columbia where he begins a dramatic quest, looking for answers concerning his overwhelming sense of guilt. As it is gradually revealed, he had lived more than one lives in several realities. In one life he was a soldier who took part in a massacre, in another he was a private detective, in a third one he was the leader of a revolutionary movement, in a fourth one he was a bloodsucking governor who longed for eternal life.

Similarly Elizabeth, his co-protagonist, has gone through several different statuses during her time travels. Same goes for Rosalind Lutece, the enlightened scientist who developed the quantum technology responsible for the existence of floating cities and, subsequently, the possibility of traveling back and forth in time through the tears that she was able to create.

Time tears, appearing as ghostly slots, are a major plot point in the game

Combining elements of past, present and imaginary future times, historical events, fantasy and tragedy, Bioshock Infinite is a retro-futuristic fairy tale that uses elements of the past to describe a society of the future. Sometimes, it can also be the opposite. No less than a gloomy prophecy, its depiction of an authoritarian society where the high class is thriving while the vast majority of its population is suffering, sounds and seems particularly realistic in its symbolism. But this is exactly what fairy tales always do: they make extremely insightful and diachronic statements through allegories that can be universally applied. Bioshock Infinite follows the structure of a traditional fairy tale, incorporating all of its standard elements that have to do with the plot, the characters and the complementary attributes.

Fairy tales play with opposites, the most prominent couple of contrasting sides being good and evil. Bioshock Infinite has its good characters, Booker and Elizabeth, who, in different stages, have to go against several evil forces, represented by Zachary Comstock, Jeremiah Fink and Cornelius Slate. The battle of good versus evil, however, goes even deeper in the game, as in Booker's case both opposites exist in the same person: he is a good man in his current state as Booker DeWitt, albeit with a past he is not so proud of as a soldier, while he was an evil man as Zachary Comstock in a different reality. The biggest tragedy in Booker's life is that his good side is constantly fighting against his evil side; a fight that at some point resulted in him giving up his own daughter.

Booker and Elizabeth could be the lead characters of a modern fairy tale

This also ties with two more recurring themes in fairy tales, that of the exploration of human weakness and that of the triumph of human strength. Despite its dramatic ending, Bioshock Infinite does note the strength of its protagonists, which is showcased in different ways. Booker sacrifices himself so that his other, evil self will not be able to harm his daughter, and Elizabeth finds the necessary inner strength to kill him so as to save her life.They both manage to overcome their weaknesses and turn their fate around. Nothing is definitive in the Bioshock universe, however - and both of them are doomed to be born again and again in different realities that always make them come face to face with each other.

Elizabeth exists in different realities and eventually all of her versions appear

In their turn, Comstock and Fink, as well as Elizabeth and Lady Comstock, belong to a society of privilege and wealth, while Booker, just like the revolutionary Daisy Fitzroy, represents the oppressed working class. Poverty and wealth are themes that are extremely popular in fairy tales, and they are most of the times in opposing sides. In Bioshock Infinite, this fight is not highlighted so much as a financial inequality but more like a denunciation of the manners that the higher classes go by that totally diminish and out-power the large masses of underprivileged citizens.

The Shantytown is a gloomy depiction of a poverty-stricken region

The lead characters in fairy tales have to carry out impossible tasks. Either because they are bound by a curse, or because they are looking for a lost love, or simply because they have to go through a journey of coming-of-age, they are called to carry out trials that seem to test them in more than one ways. In Bioshock Infinite, Booker's quest is such a task; and it leads him to enlightenment, which is literal, as the final revelation starts in an infinite sea with numerous lighthouses, and metaphorical, as he comes to realize the truth about his life.

Booker's quest is full of unexpected encounters

If there is something that abounds in fairy tales, it is definitely the objects and animals that have the ability to talk. In Bioshock Infinite we find the Songbird, the huge mechanical bird, Elizabeth's guardian and protector, that acts and reacts like an animate creature. In the same spirit, fairy tales like to include in their heroes' quests magic words or phrases that can open doors or solve puzzles. In Bioshock Infinite, there is the secret tune, comprised of four notes that make up the word CAGE, some kind of code to which the Songbird responds.

Booker plays the tune that summons and tames the bird

In fairy tales there are also items that carry a special importance and they act as passes or keys that lead to other places - sometimes also to other dimensions. In Bioshock Infinite, there are literal keys - more specifically lock-picks, that Elizabeth can use to open locked doors so that she and Booker can go to otherwise unreachable areas. Time tears can also be considered passes of a kind, although they are not tangible items in a plain sense.

Elizabeth has the ability to pick locks as part of her extensive education

Word games are also essential in fairy tales. Many times the solution of a puzzle depends exclusively on using the right words in the right place or in the right order. In Bioshock Infinite, the word games that particularly characterize the dialogues between Rosalind and Robert Lutece as well as the cryptic lines that they say to Booker and Elizabeth offer a lot of insight and often act as warnings or hints.

The cryptic lines of the Luteces usually give hints on what Booker has to do next

Spells and magic powers also play a major part in fairy tales. Similarly in Bioshock Infinite, we have Rosalind Lutece and Elizabeth who have the power to open time tears. Moreover in one specific chapter Elizabeth performs an action that comes straight out of a folk tale: she uses her time-bending powers to place obstacles in Booker's path so that he is unable to reach her.

As Elizabeth is innocent at the start, her obstacles are not threatening but playful

Booker, from his part, can boost his abilities and perception by consuming vigors, which allow him to get stronger and more effective and even grant him with powers that are almost superhuman.

The animations of the gained vigors can get really creepy

Using tricks to go through difficult or cunning trials is a feature that we regularly see in fairy tales. In Bioshock Infinite, Booker often resorts to his wit in order to outsmart his enemies, for example by turning the turrets against them. Elizabeth takes advantage of her ability to open time tears in order to bring in stuff or backup from other realities so as to help Booker carry out tough battles.

Fairy tales feature guardians and monsters - and so does Bioshock Infinite. From a point and on in the story, Booker stands up as a guardian for Elizabeth; a role that gets even more intensified when, after an unexpected twist, it is revealed that he is actually her father. Therefore his role as a protector becomes much more literal and direct. Initially a guardian for a Elizabeth, the Songbird starts pursuing her and Booker from a point and on, but close to the finale Elizabeth manages to tame it and it again assumes its role as her protector. In a sense, Rosalind and Robert Lutece can also be seen as guardians: Booker comes across them very early in the game and they regularly seem to be there for him and Elizabeth to offer a word of advice, even if their role is not always clear.

The Songbird keeps Elizabeth imprisoned but it is her only friend

As for the monsters of the game, they are actually humans with an evil soul. With the exception of the Handymen, who are unnaturally tall and incredibly strong vicious creatures, Lady Comstock's Zealots, who are more like aggressive ghosts that can appear and disappear through swarms of ravens, and the mechanical Patriots, the rest of the enemies are people who chase Booker and Elizabeth relentlessly and never fail to act like monsters. The pitiful but terrifying Lost Boys, the lunatics in the Asylum who all wear masks that depict past presidents of the United States, the soldiers - all of them have a human form but they have very little to none humanity left in them.

The Handyman is a monstrous enemy who looks and sounds inexplicably desperate

Several times in fairy tales, the protagonists meet strangers during their quests; these fellow travelers have tales to narrate, quite often indirectly providing the necessary illumination for the protagonists that helps them take a crucial decision. In Bioshock Infinite, such tales can be heard in the audio recordings that are scattered throughout the game's world. Memories, confessions, testimonies, either directly or indirectly related to Booker and Elizabeth, shed light on secrets, mysteries and their own past lives.

The way that Bioshock Infinite uses the several elements from folk fairy tales in a futuristic plot is ingenious. Playing with the notions of time and space, the game creates a universe where the near past becomes history in a delightful and intriguing style: an old juke box plays "Tainted Love" in retro jazz style, Booker rides an airship of the kind that we would only expect to see in a Georges Méliès film. Given that fairy tales also surpass the limits of time and space and take place in some kind of parallel universe where anything is possible, their kinship with Bioshock Infinite becomes even more direct and both become different stages of the same thing: it is as if Bioshock Infinite is a contemporary fairy tale, the version of a story from the past in an innovative time and space.

The Monsters Of Stefano Valentini

Unlike Ruben Victoriano's monsters in The Evil Within, which were direct manifestations of his psyche and memories, the monsters that are associated with Stefano Valentini in The Evil Within 2 are carriers of much more complicated connotations and symbolisms.

The Guardian, the first monster that attacks Sebastian in Stefano's domain seconds after the twisted photographer appears unexpectedly behind a closed door to capture him in a shot, is a pile of murder victims, as their various body parts can be seen tied around or hanging from her body. Her most prominent characteristic is the upper part of the body which consists of a multitude of heads, all of which are expressionless as if dead, with the exception of the central one which has glowing red eyes and a chilling smile that never leaves her face. The Guardian has the creepy and terrifying habit of giggling like mad as she runs about, while being extremely fast in doing this, and in her right arm she permanently carries a huge circular buzz saw which she uses against her victims.

Stefano is able to summon the Guardian at will, as we can see in the second chapter and later in Chapter 5 outside the City Hall. In the first case, she appears behind a mirror, while just seconds earlier Sebastian catches a glimpse of what looks like her human form in the glass reflection. The human-like Guardian is a dark-haired woman with the same creepy smile stuck on her face.

The "human" Guardian is nearly as creepy as her monster form

In the second case, Stefano first alters the appearance of the City Hall, making it appear as if its roof is missing and covering parts of its interior walls with blue curtains, and then causing the creation of yet one more Guardian who tries to prevent Sebastian from getting inside the building. What is interesting about the Guardian is that although her standard monstrous form seems to be made of female body parts, if we notice how she is actually formed, we will see that she is in fact an amalgam of dead body parts independently of gender.

Sebastian watches as the Guardian emerges from a pile of corpses

Stefano used to be a war photographer, but after the traumatic event that cost him his eye and was partly responsible for his transformation into a vicious and sadistic man, he became a fashion photographer. During that period, his clients and models were mostly women. Subsequently, as his paranoia kicked in and his gruesome concept of capturing the moment of death began to take form, his most obvious victims were those girls who had the bad luck to work with him. It is not that he was a killer of women who purposely chose his victims according to their sex; as a fashion photographer, the girls that he collaborated with were his easiest and most direct prey. This is something that is quite clear in the game's story, as there are also several men among his victims: the first one that Sebastian finds is Mobius lead operative William Baker, and minutes later he becomes a witness as Stefano stabs a young man in the chest; not to mention the soldiers that he kills in Union, and of course Sebastian himself whom Stefano chases with such ardour.

The Guardian's attacks are fast and horrific

The Guardian morbidly illustrates the process that Stefano followed, having the models pose for him and eventually killing them, while on a second level, she is actually the host of all those girls' ghosts. It is as if their ghosts are hovering over Union, looking for a way to take a tangible form. Wherever there are piles of corpses, a Guardian is likely to appear, gathering body parts so as to give herself a palpable - and terrifying - existence. This is pretty similar to how Laura Victoriano would occasionally appear in the first Evil Within: she would emerge from random corpses. The Guardian's mischievous grin relates to how Stefano ordered his models and future victims to smile for him during photoshoots, as this was quite possibly - in most cases, at least - the last thing that the girls were able to do before Stefano killed them or tortured them to death.

Stefano invites Sebastian to smile for him just like he did with his models - victims

Related to the Guardian, but more directly connected to Stefano himself, the terrifying Obscura consists of female body parts and an old-fashioned camera in the place of her head. We can actually see Stefano in the process of making his Obscura, via two disturbing visions in the secret area that lies behind his "art" at the back of Devil's Own Taproom, the bar in the Business District. Obscura, whose name is taken from the photographic term "camera obscura", seems to be an embodiment of a camera, seeing how she has three legs, like the tripod - and a camera lens on top of her body.

Obscura is the incarnation of Stefano's camera

Obscura can be seen having ballet shoes on her three legs, which relates to Stefano's obsession with Tchaikovsky, as the Russian maestro had written music for ballet (although it is known from his biographies that he in fact despised both ballet and opera). For his part, Stefano seems to be very proud of his creation, and up to the point when he makes the most gruesome installation in the theater, Obscura obviously is what he considers to be his greatest work. Something that was going to change, though, as soon after he claims that what he is planning to do with Sebastian is going to be his masterpiece. Thankfully, he doesn't live to realize his last - and undoubtedly perverse - concept.

What makes Obscura more special than his other creations is the fact that she is a creature with which it is possible to interact; she is not a framed work of art which Stefano can gaze at, admiring his own genius. She is, in a very vague and metaphorical sense, alive; she can sort of act on his behalf, and she is as vicious and aggressive as he is. Not only she represents Stefano's twisted concept of art, but she also appears as a live and literal depiction of the obsessive way with which he hunts and captures (both literally and metaphorically) his victims. That said, given that we only see her chase and attack Sebastian, it would be safe to say that her presence acts as some sort of foreshadowing, considering the frantic and manic way with which Stefano chases him later in the theater.

Stefano uses his camera like Obscura uses hers: as a weapon

Although we can see the Lament in various places around Union, and it is not clear whether or not she is a direct product of Stefano's sick experimenting with art, she is a monster that stands out among the rest, and there are certain characteristics that could connect her to him. First of all, the way her body is made, which is similar to the Guardian's: she is comprised of an array of body parts, stuck randomly together, and has long strands of black hair. Secondly, just like the Guardian likes to giggle, the Lament likes to weep - which is, also, the reason why she has that name, as her distinctive sound is a cry-like shrieking voice.

The Lament is as terrifying as she is pathetic

The Lament may be yet one more failed experiment of Mobius, but given that Stefano had Union under his control for quite a while, chasing and murdering people without hesitation and messing with STEM's function, she could very well be another manifestation of his own mentality. Visually, the Lament vaguely resembles a demon from the greek mythology and folklore, the Lamia, who, in some of her depictions, is an extremely ugly woman with contorted facial features, keen on hunting down and devouring little kids or young men and condemned to cry eternally for the loss of her children - just like the Lament roams about and weeps constantly. The Lamia is usually described as giving out a horrible stench, just like the Lament walks in a toxic green cloud and is able to spit acid on Sebastian causing him a lot of damage or even killing him. In that sense, she could be Stefano's inner demon, his ugly soul underneath the impeccable surface, as well as the misery that he is actually going through deep down, which he masterfully hides, even from himself, with adopting the persona of the flamboyant, arrogant artist.

When surrounded by the blue aura, Stefano resembles the Lament with the acid cloud around her

Wandering around Union as pitiful, lonely monsters, the Hysterics are, in fact, extremely interesting creatures. Their appearance is that of a skinny, pale woman, with a bald head from which hang thin strands of white hair. They are wearing ragged white gowns and they can be seen slowly walking or standing in place with their head down, holding a long sharp knife in their hand. When they see Sebastian, they scream hysterically (therefore their name) and they run towards him in full speed, most of the times succeeding in stabbing him nearly to death.

The Hysterics have bloody red hands just like Stefano wears red gloves

If the above description sounds somewhat familiar, it is because it can easily be used in relation to Stefano and the manner with which he expresses his extreme aggression and violence. On the outside he is the exact opposite of the Hysterics: he is male while they are female, he has healthy complexion and black hair while they are pale with white hair, he is dressed in bright, dark colors while their clothes are ragged and faded. Their only visible common elements are that both Stefano and the Hysterics are tall and lean and that both he and them are holding knives - although Stefano's knife is stylish and elaborate while those of the Hysterics are like the tools of a butcher. Other than that, the Hysterics are, essentially, like Stefano's negative version. And not only negative, but also deformed and disfigured.

When the Hysteric attacks in such a way, it is difficult to escape her hit

On the inside, however, they are strikingly similar; something that becomes more than obvious if you notice the way that Stefano rushes towards Sebastian wielding his knife during the second part of the boss fight in Chapter 8. Just like the Hysterics when they see Sebastian, Stefano too is frequently possessed by hysteria during the fight and, in a way very similar to theirs, he runs to catch Sebastian and very little can be done to stop him at that point. The way that he grabs and stabs Sebastian during those sequences is not only extremely vicious, but also particularly suggestive, considering the sexual connotations that the knife, as an object, carries.

Stefano's manic attacks are like those of the Hysterics, albeit with much more style

Combining all these clues, we could say that the Hysterics are a manifestation of Stefano's inner hysteria, which he generally manages to control in his attempt to retain the image of the cool, distinguished artist. However deep down he is constantly in rage and mania, and he eventually reaches a crucial point when he is no longer able to hide behind his stylized self. That point is when he finally finds himself face to face with Sebastian, to whom he is clearly attracted in several conscious and subconscious ways. It is then that he unleashes his inner hysteria, and it is then that his attacks become so similar to those of the Hysterics.

Tesla's Legacy in Tomb Raider Legend

With its main theme centered around Lara Croft and her past, in connection with her country's biggest legend, that of King Arthur and the Excalibur, Tomb Raider Legend unofficially also pays tribute to a legend of the scientific world: the genius that was Nikola Tesla.

Nikola Tesla, the scientist who changed the modern world

For many years, Tesla's brilliant mind was tragically underestimated. His groundbreaking inventions would come to light much later with others taking credit for them, simply because he was more focused on developing his scientific work and much less on promoting himself as a radical inventor. He was so underrated that his name was not even included in encyclopedias before the '90ties. Ironically enough, he was the first scientist to exhibit the possibility of wireless communication with his devices, while constantly working on putting to practice his ideas about wireless lighting and worldwide wireless electric power distribution. He was actually the one to invent electricity while working alongside Thomas Edison, with the latter being credited for it because he was able to sell it better.

In 1891, Tesla invented an innovative machine, later known as 'the Tesla coil'; it was an electrical resonant transformer circuit that was able to produce high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating-current electricity. He used these circuits to conduct experiments in electrical lighting, phosphorescence, X-ray generation, high frequency alternating current phenomena, electrotherapy, and the transmission of wireless electrical energy.

Tesla with one of his towers

When Lara arrives in Kazakhstan in Tomb Raider Legend, she discovers a lab where such a machine, along with several other relevant inventions, can be seen. It is first implied and later stated clearly that the fragment of the Excalibur, the artifact that Lara is actually looking for, has been used to convert the Tesla voltage into a wave of some kind of concussive force.

Lara is thrilled to see Tesla's tower with her own eyes

It is not the first time that a Tomb Raider story includes science in its plot, but it is maybe one of the few times where specific and existing work related to it is directly mentioned and exploited further. Tomb Raider Legend indirectly pays respects to Nikola Tesla and his brilliant genius via the reactions and the comments of Lara's assistants who communicate with her through her headset. Alister and Zip, an archaeology enthusiast and a technology geek respectively, are not short of words when they see Tesla's coilgun on a platform of the lab.

Tesla's coilgun seems to be potentially operational

Well-hidden in the heart of the laboratory, the coilgun looks impressive and ominous, given also the context of the story and the threatening presence of Amanda, Lara's archenemy, and her goons who are everywhere around. If Lara tries to use the gun at that point, she is unable to demonstrate its full potential, because it is missing power. This gives her assistants the opportunity to elaborate a bit on the machine and the man who invented it.

Lara's assistants are, like her, very educated

When Lara locates the core, she can use it in order to break through barriers and subsequently move it to the power room so as to make the gun operational again. To do so, she cannot touch the machine because it is electrified; instead, she can attach her grapple on it and move it on the tracks that run through the room, smashing everything in its way. What happens during the process is so impressive and spectacular that Lara's assistants express their admiration with enthusiasm again.

The charged core shows the wonders that electricity can do

After powering up the coilgun, Lara is finally able to use it. Thanks to its technology of wireless energy, she can make it grab metallic objects and throw them at a long distance. She is thus able to hit enemies that are too far away to shoot and are hidden behind unbreakable shields, and also bring a metallic platform close to her so that she gains access to a balcony at the opposite side.

The coilgun is able to move metallic objects without touching them

A bit later, Lara arrives in the secret lab where Amanda, is keeping her 'pet', the Unknown Entity that almost killed her in the caves of Peru and which she managed to tame, becoming somewhat superhuman herself. The Unkown Entity is guarding the fragment of the Excalibur, keeping it out of reach inside a force field above another coilgun. Lara has to break the force field, using the coilgun to shoot away the electrodes that keep it going.

Science can be beautiful too

In the process of doing all this, her assistants make more comments about Tesla's breakthrough experiment. We can only imagine how excited Lara must have been, being able to actually use Tesla's inventions with her own hands, knowing her infatuation with anything scientific.

Lara would have loved to play more with the coilgun if she wasn't in such a hurry

The Tomb Raider series is well-known for including bits of art and science in its stories. With Lara being such an intelligent and educated lady, all this comes naturally and is perfectly incorporated in her adventures. While in the core room, Amanda can be heard talking to her over her headset, commenting at some point, somewhat ironically, that Lara must feel right at home with all those Tesla contraptions around her. "As much as anyone, I suppose", Lara responds to her, paying her own tribute, with that simple phrase, to Tesla's groundbreaking work.

Mythological Symbols in Resident Evil 4

There are three instances where mythological symbols become prominent in the Resident Evil 4 story, something that is, by default, an extremely interesting element that is worth exploring; moreso since, not randomly, I would guess, those symbols are borrowed from three different mythologies around the world. While they can be all viewed simply as aesthetic additions and, in the two of the three cases as the puzzles that they essentially are, their literary and factual interpretation is equally important, in relation to the game's characters and their (back)stories.

The most obvious symbol is the Chimera mural in Salazar's castle. Coming from the ancient Greek mythology, the Chimera was a monstrous-looking, fire-breathing lion with a goat head emerging from its back and a tail with a serpent's head at its end, which was killed by Bellerophon, a hero and slayer of monsters.

The impressive relief shows Bellerophon attacking the Chimera

The mural in Resident Evil 4 appears in chapter 3-1, when Leon enters the main section of the castle with Ashley. The wall that it decorates drops down, blocking the passage leading forward, and upon seeing the impressive relief, Leon mentions that it is 'a beautiful decoration'. After taking a few seconds to admire our fearless hero for being an art-loving and cultivated zombie killer, we realize that what we actually see is half the mural: Bellerophon is there, but the three pieces of which the Chimera is comprised, are missing; so we need to find the three respective ornaments: the Lion, the Goat and the Serpent.

All those three aforementioned animals carry some major and essential symbolisms on their own. The Lion, referring to the beautiful feline that is considered the King of the Jungle, represents grandeur, bravery, beauty and leadership. Considering that Leon's name also means 'lion', it becomes rather obvious that, from an allegorical / metaphorical point of view, the Lion symbol is related to him. He too, like the king of the jungle, is beautiful and brave; he is also a charismatic leader whom all the others respect.

Leon is a particularly dominant character throughout the whole Resident Evil series. Having appeared in six games as a main character (I also count Operation Raccoon City and the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake among those) and all three CGI movies as a protagonist, he has clearly established his status as one of the most popular heroes not only among the fans of the saga, but also among the game's developers. The combination of high intelligence, excellent survival skills, good heart and great looks, quickly turned him into a hero that could be loved as easily as breathing the air. Leon's charisma is something that could never pass unnoticed, inevitably being also admired by his enemies.

Leon is as charismatic as a hero should be

The Goat, which generally and commonly symbolizes vitality and energy, is nonetheless associated with the dark powers of evil in several myths, folklore and religions. From that specific aspect, in its secondary but no less important allegorical depiction, the Goat is related to all the evil that dominates in the story of Resident Evil 4: Lord Saddler, Salazar, Bitores Mendez and last but not least Wesker, are the powers of evil that destroy, kill and spread infections wherever they go.

Set in the middle of the Chimera, the Goat has a very prominent role in the symbol, just like the villains of the story affect everybody with their actions and decisions. Hidden somewhere in the backstage, Wesker pulls the strings, attempting to turn the outcome of the events to his own benefit. Saddler, the typical egomaniac psychopath with the Messiah syndrom, has no moral barriers and is the definition of Evil in full. Bitores Mendez is his second-in-command, but no less lethal and determined to exterminate whomever he believes to be a threat. As for Salazar, he is more like a pawn in Saddler's game, but his inflated ego - in contrast with his diminutive stature - cannot let him see things for what they are, and he is doomed to follow the path of Evil for the rest of his short and miserable life.

Salazar is a miniature dictator with zero perception of reality

The Serpent may allude to Evil on several levels, with the most prominent being its connection to the Devil and the original sin, but in the case of the Resident Evil 4 story it acts as a much more specific and direct symbol, being obviously related to the game's most memorable villain, Jack Krauser. From his notable mischievous gaze, which looks exactly like a snake's, to his trademark combat knife that has a serpent carved at the bottom part of its blade, Krauser seems to be no less than the human manifestation of what is, apparently, his spirit animal.

Jack's connection with snakes goes even further, however. If we trace his story back to his jungle adventure with Leon in The Darkside Chronicles, we will recall how during the first meeting with his future partner he immediately sensed the presence of a snake that was about to attack Leon, and instantly stabbed it on the head. Later on, one of the first things that he noticed when the zombified soldiers attacked them at the village, was the snake tattoo that they had on them. Jack had always been fascinated by snakes, feeling at the same time attracted and compelled by them. By embracing them as his symbol / spirit animal, he was able to tame them and subsequently gain several of their traits and qualities. Thus he appears as a cunning, villainous and sly, but at the same time extremely intelligent and highly perceptive man who has a very strong instinct and relies heavily on it.

Krauser is a lethal and complex character

Leon as part of the Chimera symbol is an inseparable part of the story, leading to its conclusion which is the elimination of all the evil that the Goat and the Serpent represent from the hand of Bellerophon who, in turn, as a monster killer, is another manifestation of Leon, the zombie killer. This means that Leon is represented by two symbols here (Bellerophon and the Lion), which brings us back to the duality of Leon's character as it is illustrated in the symbolism of the Golden Lynx puzzle.

Much later, in Chapter 5-3, we come across another mythological symbol which may pass unnoticed as it is not part of any puzzle and it is located on a spot that can be easily missed. Above the huge double doors that separate the rest of the island from the ruins, there is a depiction of Melusine, the two-tailed mermaid of the Celtic folklore.

Melusine watches from high up

Melusine is a spirit of the water and is usually depicted with a dual tail, either of a fish or of a snake. According to her legend, she was able to change forms, and thus could also appear with the normal body of a woman. The pattern of transformation is very familiar to Jack Krauser's story, as we see him change forms during Leon's final fight with him, which takes place just beyond that specific gate. Melusine as a symbol of Krauser's imminent shapeshifting acts as a minor allegory that kind of brings together his two appearances - the one that belongs to the Earth element (the Snake) and the one that belongs to the Air element (his final mutation which will grant him the wing-like arm).

In the same chapter, we come across the final important mythological symbol of the story. The Holy Beast that can be seen as a relief at the end of Chapter 5-3 is a variation of a triptych of the Incan mythology with the original sacred animals being the Puma, the Snake and the Condor. In the Resident Evil 4 story, we have a mural that depicts a Panther, a Serpent and an Eagle. Just like the Chimera mural in the castle, this here too is missing its three pieces, which in this case are three insignias with the three animals carved on them. Two of them, the Panther and the Eagle, are found laying on the ground in different parts of the ruins, and the last one, the Serpent, can be obtained only after Leon kills Krauser, as he is the one who holds it.

The Holy Beast relief is an exceptional symbol

The Snake here carries a more inclusive role than in its Chimera depiction. Considering that it is an animal that has the ability to change its skin, it represents transformation and rebirth. The Panther as a spirit animal symbolizes courage and power, but also aggression and fierceness. The Eagle symbolizes immortality and connection to the divine, as it can fly higher than any other bird.

The three animals depicted in the relief are interconnected, and the two of them are symbols of the same person, that is Krauser. Both the Serpent and the Eagle relate to him - the Serpent as a constant allegory of his inner self, which probably also explains why he decided to keep that specific piece with him, and the Eagle as the manifestation of his final mutation in which he appeared with a graceful but extremely lethal arm with blades that look like wings (as if foreshadowing this, the Eagle insignia is found on the ground, just below the pedestal where Jack's aformentioned mutation takes place). Because of the Eagle's allegory of immortality, it also hints at Krauser's desire to possess superhuman power, as well as at the possibility that he might not have really died in the end.

Jack's final mutation is as impressive as it is terrifying

The Panther, on the other hand, represents mainly Leon, but also Krauser on a sublevel: as a powerful and brave feline, it is Leon's symbol; but as an aggressive protector, it is more like Krauser. Somewhere deep inside him, Krauser had several things in common with Leon - he even mentions in The Darkside Chronicles that Leon and himself are two sides of the same coin - but at some point he decided to bury them and let the darkness inside him prevail. In the mural, the Panther subdues the Snake from which an Eagle rises. In other words, Leon defeated Krauser as well as his mutated form, and while Krauser was apparently exterminated, that original part of him that was the good soldier whom Leon met in the jungle, presumably still exists in Leon's memories, given the comment that he makes concerning his opponent at the end of the fight. Which, in turn, signifies that, under that light, the two characters are united in their common symbol of the Panther.