| “ | Hello! Welcome to the World's Fair Hotel. | ” |
Doctor Henry Howard Holmes, born Herman Webster Mudgett and better known as H.H. Holmes, is a supporting character and secondary antagonist in The Dark Pictures Anthology's fourth installment, The Devil in Me. He was America's first serial killer who built the World's Fair Hotel and inspired Manny Sherman. He was voiced and motion captured by John Dagleish and was modelled on Sukesh Khosla.
Appearance[]
Holmes is a man with a light complexion. He has dark brown eyes and a moustache. His brown hair is usually covered by a hat he wears.
Personality[]
Holmes is a cruel and sadistic man. He claims that he was born with a devil inside of him that caused him to do these evil acts of murder and torture, but in most probable reality, he enjoyed seeing the life of people fade out.
Biography[]
Holmes was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire on May 16, 1861 with his birth name Herman Mudgett. In 1882, he entered the University of Michigan to study anatomy. In 1886, he moved to Chicago and changed his name to Henry Howard Holmes, also simplified as H.H. Holmes.
Later on, he built a hotel known as the "World's Fair Hotel" in the suburbs of Englewood in Chicago after the World's Fair Columbian Exposition that was happening at the time. While appearing as elegant and remarkable, Holmes used the hotel to lure victims in and kill them. On November 17, 1894, Holmes was arrested.
At the trial in 1896, Holmes confessed to 27 murders, although there was speculation about it being much higher. Due to this, the hotel is known as the "Murder Castle" to these days. At the trial, Holmes said to the judge, "I was born with the Devil in Me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing."
Holmes was executed on May 7, 1896 by hanging. To his request, his body was encased in concrete to make sure his spirit didn't escape and murder more people. Holmes became known as "America's First Serial Killer" as well as one of the most successful.
The Devil in Me[]
| Chapter Appearances (Guide) | |
|---|---|
| Prologue | |
| The World's Fair Hotel | Debut |
| Act 1 | |
| Crew | Absent |
| Trial | Indirectly Appears (Memento & Mention) |
| Opportunity | Indirectly Appears (Mention) |
| Ferry | Absent |
| Island | Absent |
| Guests | Absent |
| Cigarettes | Absent |
| Scouting | Indirectly Appears (Memento & Mention) |
| Dinner | Absent |
| Noises | Indirectly Appears (Picture) |
| Staff Only | Indirectly Appears (Mention) |
| Blackout | Absent |
| Act 2 | |
| Blood Trail | Absent |
| Wall | Absent |
| Separated | Indirectly Appears (Mention) |
| Silver Ash | Indirectly Appears (Mention) |
| Party | Absent |
| Mannequins | Absent |
| Incinerator | Absent |
| Riddles | Absent |
| Ignition | Absent |
| Spa | Absent |
| Breathless | Absent |
| Surgery | Absent |
| Plan | Absent |
| Workshop | Absent |
| Interrogation | Absent |
| Morellos | Absent |
| Waste Disposal | Absent |
| Director's Suite | Indirectly Appears (Picture) |
| Act 3 | |
| Reflection | Absent |
| Chase | Absent |
| Maze | Absent |
| Pool | Absent |
| Cliffside | Absent |
| Homestead | Absent |
| Lighthouse | Absent |
| Reunion | Absent |
| Lake | Absent |
| Ultimatum | Absent |
| Epilogue | |
| The End | Absent |
Prologue[]
Holmes welcomes the Whitmans into his hotel, and apologizes for keeping them waiting. After learning about their honeymoon, he upgrades the couple to the honeymoon suite and offers to carry their bags to their room.
Later, when the couple enters an unfinished room, he may either enter the room and look around for a bit before leaving, or find the couple and direct them back to their room.
After spying on the couple in their room, he enters their bathroom and either drowns or slits Marie's throat. He then can either activate a trap to kill Jeff, or also slits his throat. Either way, he kills the couple and welcomes a new group of people into his hotel afterwards.
Main Story[]
Many items related to Holmes are found throughout the World's Fair Hotel Replica.
Killed Victims[]
| Chapter | Character | Mechanism of Kill | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A - Prior to events of game | 1-200 people | Various | Certain. |
| The World's Fair Hotel | Jeff | Suffocated with poisonous gas | Jeff does not confront Holmes OR Jeff confronts Holmes but fails the QTE. |
| Throat slit | Jeff confronts Holmes; Jeff completes the QTE. | ||
| Marie | Drowned | Marie does not investigate. | |
| Throat slit | Marie investigates. |
Relationships[]
Du'Met and Sherman[]
Holmes served as an inspiration for both Granthem Du'Met and Manny Sherman to become serial killers. Sherman regarded Holmes as "numero uno," who invented the trade of murder and hoped to recreate his style. Du'Met took this a step further by focusing his entire persona around Holmes. He did not only made a recreation of Holmes' hotel, but also based his numerous aliases around Holmes and his victims. Du'Met tried to emulate Holmes physically as well, collecting his memorabilia and wearing a mask that resembled Holmes' face.
Trivia[]
Secrets[]
- Holmes is mentioned by Manny Sherman in Sherman Tape 1, Sherman Tape 2, and Sherman Tape 3.
- Joseph Morello wrote a book about Holmes.
- Du'Met kept a list of aliases based mainly around Holmes and other figures related to him.
- Du'Met purchased Holmes' hat, as revealed in the Auction Receipt.
- Du'Met's purchase of a mask in Holmes' likeness is detailed in the Custom Mask Email.
- Du'Met's attempt to create a costume based off Holmes is shown on a clipboard.
Facts[]
- According to modern research, the vast majority of Holmes' crimes were almost certainly fabrications by unscrupulous media, with crooked cops seeking to blame a lot of unexplained disappearances on Holmes, and Holmes himself who reveled in the attention.
- The secret passages inside the "Murder Castle" were more likely not used as traps but rather as places to hide building materials and other items Holmes stole or bought on credit with no intention of paying them back.
- While Holmes is suspected of killing 10 people (and would eventually only be convicted for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel), all of those murders had specific motives in mind (financial, covering up botched abortions, insurance fraud, etc.).
- However, the game deliberately goes with the highly sensationalized legend of Holmes, including the claim that he killed 200 people (which was the single most ludicrous estimate thrown at the time).
- While Holmes did request to be buried in concrete, he wasn't concerned about rising from the grave but rather people digging up his corpse: something he himself did quite a lot of in order to sell the corpses to medical schools or use them in insurance scams.
Other[]
- Holmes shares the same face model as:
- John, James T. Clarke, and Joseph Lambert from Little Hope.
- Dar Basri from House of Ashes.
- Granthem Du'Met from the same game.
- Robert from Switchback VR.
Quotes[]
Gallery
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| Protagonists |
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antagonists | Du'Met • Holmes | ||||||
| Supporting Characters | |||||||