Silent Hill 2 Flesh Lip and Mandarin Enemies Inspiration Explained

Masahiro Ito took to social media to break down the specific visual inspirations for the Silent Hill 2 enemies known as the Mandarin and Flesh Lip. Ito discussed the creatures at length and how aspects of their appearances changed in the remake.

The first revelation was involved how the Silent Hill 2 enemies were based on internal lore from the game and actual real-world art. Both Mandarin and Flesh Lip feature prominent mouth designs to symbolize James’ memory of Mary’s verbal abuse. Both of these were also inspired by Francis Bacon’s “Second Version of Triptych 1944” by the artist Francis Bacon.

Masahiro Ito went into further detail in the thread, as well as showcased specific images.

Ito noted subtle changes were made to Mandarin in the remake, specifically pertaining to the changes to monsters in the Otherworld that add surgical tape to the creatures’ bodies. Ito also mentioned how Flesh Lip and the Mary boss fight share similar visual signifiers.

This is not the first members of the development team dove into the influence and creative decisions around the Silent Hill 2 remake. Bloober Team previously discussed the creation process for James Sunderland, the game’s protagonist.

Silent Hill 2 is available now on PC, and PS5. It will remain a Sony exclusive for a year. The original game is playable on the PS2, Xbox, and PC, as well as in Silent Hill HD Collection on the PS3 and Xbox 360.