High Priestess

Main series
(Sega AM1's universe)

High Priestess Type-???
Basic information
Featured in	House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn
Encounters	Chapters 1, 2, or 3 (Laboratory)
Weapon	Tentacles
Protection	Impervious body
Weak point
Despite the focus of fire on its tentacles, High Priestess' true weak points are its eyes.

It really likes us!

Ryan Taylor

High Priestess (ハイプリエステス, Haipuriesutesu), also known simply as Priestess (Japanese version), was a mutated cephalopod that guarded Thornheart's underground laboratory inside Scarecrow Manor. It is a boss in House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn.

In addition to traversing land and water, High Priestess was resistant to gunfire and used its tentacles in combat. Its weak points were its eyes.

History

Main article: House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn

High Priestess was created by Thornheart, an associate of Dr. Curien and Caleb Goldman, along with other creatures as part of a humanity-decimating plan named "Noah's Ark". On December 6th, 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 High Priestess with incendiary rounds, causing the creature to explode into numerous pieces of flesh and guts.

Appearance

Despite "High Priestess" being a feminine name, the creature's gender has not been officially confirmed. It appears as a 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 exploded 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.

Gameplay

Overview

Despite High Priestess' weak points being its eyes, the fight largely consists of shooting its tentacles, which are tricky targets due to their slithering movements. Outside of lowering the creature's "cancel" bar used to stop attack phases, shooting the eyes does little beyond awarding extra points and lowering its main health bar. However, the fight is scripted and thus the health bar cannot be fully depleted; instead, the player(s) will ultimately defeat High Priestess with a quick time event.

Phases

1. High Priestess approaches the player(s) with 2 raised tentacles, attacking after enough time passes. Damaging both tentacles enough prevents damage. This attack is performed three times in succession.
2. As the camera retreats down a passageway, High Priestess' left tentacle slithers in to attack, followed by its right. Each tentacle must be damaged enough, one after the other, to avoid damage.
3. High Priestess pursues the player(s) inside giant pipes. 3 (or 5, in multiplayer) random tentacles must be targeted in order to prevent the creature from attacking. This attack is performed twice.
4. The player(s) enter a large open area as High Priestess appears above them, hanging upside down. Two of its swaying tentacles must each be damaged to stop them from attacking. This attack is performed twice.
5. High Priestess falls into a vat of liquid, emerging moments later. 4 tentacles appear and must be shot to prevent damage.
6. The creature submerges before appearing behind the player(s). Above it to the right is a container filled with flammable liquid. Damaging it enough drenches High Priestess.
7. Now equipped the Incendiary Gun, the player(s) must shoot High Priestess with it. The creature will explode, ending the fight.

Strategies

• Shooting High Priestess' eyes counts as damage for phases involving its tentacles, and also scores extra points. Despite the fight not utilizing the eyes much due to its scripted nature, they are still worth shooting.

Development

High Priestess' concept art.

High Priestess was designed by Agni-Flare Co., Ltd art director Nobuto Iwao, who previously designed The House of the Dead 4's bosses. Its design was inspired by squids, octopuses, and other cephalopods, though there were several other proposals for its appearance and attack methods. Its model has about 80,000 vertices.

Concept art shows that High Priestess would be "skinned" from damage. Presumably due to censorship, this is absent from Scarlet Dawn's final release.

Trivia

• In House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn's Japanese version, the creature is inconsistently named Priestess on Kate's PDA and the route map. The creature's presumed canon name, High Priestess, appears on Scarlet Dawn's official Japanese website, the overseas version of the game, and a behind-the-scenes article with Agni-Flare.
• 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 its 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.
• 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 The House of the Dead game. Both Hermit and Priestess are possessing eight leg-like appendages and the battles 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).
• High Priestess' death scene is among few instances of gore in Scarlet Dawn— when the creature explodes, a tentacle is visibly dismembered and spurts blood.
• High Priestess's name could be in relation to Hierophant. The High Priestess tarot card usually depicts Pope Joan (a woman that disguised herself as a man to become pope in legend) whilst Hierophant usually depicts a pope-like figure. The cards are sometimes called 'The Papess' and 'The Pope' respectively
  • Both are also aquatic mutants that fight in and out of the water.

Gallery

Concept artwork

Official artwork

Screenshots