High Priestess (ハイプリエステス, Haipuriesutesu), also known as simply Priestess, was a mutated cephalopod (squid/octopus) or jellyfish that guarded Thornheart's underground laboratory inside Scarecrow Manor. It is a boss in House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn.
High Priestess can traverse on land and through waters, and is largely impervious to gunfire. It primarily uses its tentacles to attack and cling onto obstacles. Its weak points are its eyes.
Bestiary Overview
The name "High Priestess" suggests that the creature is female, but its gender has not been officially confirmed. It appears as squid/octopus hybrid. Its mutation grants heightened size, an ability to survive on any terrain, and durable protection and offense. Its main weakness are its eyes since they're probably the softest organs it possesses. It also has a large gaping mouth filled with hundreds of sharp teeth, but doesn't use it in battle.
High Priestess has very well control over its tentacles, using them as a means of movement and offense. It also constantly swings in different motions to deflect attacks and confuse its attacker. Its tentacles have mediocre durability when attacked as they are affected by gunfire. However, they're strong enough to support the massive body weight of the creature as it dangles from high objects. The suction cups of its tentacles seem to be jagged and slightly sharp enabling it to strike at its victims.
The creature's skin has an increase in thickness, making it impossible for outside attacks to penetrate it. Still, its eyes are unprotected and could possibly be the softest parts leading those to be its main weak point. But because of the motion of her tentacles and gelatinous form, it is almost difficult to aim at its eyes. Though High Priestess has an increase in physical protection, its biological improvements couldn't fully aid it. When dampened by an explosive substance and fired with incendiary rounds, it explodes entirely. It can be assumed that its anatomy isn't enhanced enough to withstand outside harmful chemicals; proven by the creature's cause of death, hinting that it hasn't gone through an evolved state even if it has extended its mutation levels.
History
High Priestess was created by Thornheart, an associate of Dr. Curien and Caleb Goldman, along with other creatures as part of a humanity-decimated plan named "Noah's Ark". On December 6, 2006, the scheme was investigated by AMS agents Kate Green and Ryan Taylor. In a laboratory, High Priestess emerged from a murky water tank after the agents deactivated a self-destruct system. Kate and Ryan ultimately shot a tank filled with an explosive substance before shooting the High Priestess with incendiary rounds, causing the creature to explode into numerous pieces of flesh and guts.
Combat
Throughout the entirety of its battle, despite High Priestess' weak points being its eyes, the concentration of fire are its tentacles. They are the major threat the player(s) have to deal with. But after dealing with its tentacles, its eyes can be then shot depleting its life bar adding and the possibility of killing it with gunfire. However, due to the short time to fight the creature, it eventually came to the end when using a smarter tactic to finish it off.
Trivia
- The creature is referred to as High Priestess in localized versions of House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, while the Japanese version simply names it Priestess.
- High Priestess is the second boss after Temperance that cannot be defeated through normal means, with Kate and Ryan only able to defeat it after soaking it with a flammable chemical that then incinerates it entire body. This is also followed by Moon from the same game.
- Though it is possible to defeat High Priestess if the fight lasted longer, it can be assumed that this was a storytelling decision to give a clever approach rather than continuing the firefight.
- High Priestess is also the second boss after the Empress to be named after feminine Arcana.
- With two House of the Dead bosses (Hangedman and Chariot) are reappearing in Scarlet Dawn, Priestess can be viewed as the spiritual reincarnation of Hermit, one of the bosses in the first House of the Dead game. Both Hermit and Priestess are possessing eight leg-like appendages and the battle against them are mostly taking place in a tunnel.
- High Priestess is chronologically the first boss in the main House of the Dead series that lacks a type number (followed by Moon).
Gallery
Concept Art
Official Art
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