Scissorman

"For the Scissormen of Orquith, see Scissormen"

"Scissorman" is a fictional antagonist character in the "Clock Tower" video game series. To date, in some reincarnation or another, he has made some appearance in all of the games with the exception of "", which is named "Clock Tower Ghost Head" in the original Japanese and greatly disconnected from the main series in terms of plotline. He is a serial killer who is constantly in pursuit of the protagonist. His trademark weapon is a massive pair of scissors that he uses to stab and cut his victims. He sometimes becomes involved in a hide-and-seek type of chase with his victims.

Background

Clock Tower: The First Fear

Scissorman is introduced as Bobby Barrows, the young son of Mary and Simon Barrows. He is the twin brother of Dan Barrows, and they were both known for their murderous tendencies amongst the locals, however it was in fact Bobby who was 'the Scissorman'. Throughout the game, he chases Jennifer Simpson through the Barrows mansion in an attempt to kill her. He seems to take some childish delight in playing with his victims before he kills them, as he can be seen dancing for a short while if he knocks Jennifer to the floor. It is heavily implied that he is a demon, as it is discovered that his mother Mary was a Cultist, and in the opening cutscene the baby Bobby's eyes are completely white.cite video game
title = Clock Tower
developer = Human Entertainment
publisher = Human Entertainment
date = 1995-09-14
platform = Super Famicom
version = Fan translation to English by Aeon Genesis, on 2001-09-10
level = Secret Room
language = Japanese
quote = 11.10.1986 - This is the third day I, Dr. Walter Simpson, have been in here. I'll not last long. Before I die, I will record this...There are twin children who are a blemish on this world. When the lady was to give birth, I was called to this house. She gave birth to two chil...no, demons. When they were born, they ate my right hand. They were ill, their bodies deformed...they should have died. But they lived...I should have tried to...Breathing is painful. The air in this room is already gone...They are in a cradle under the star...]

Bobby meets his fate as Jennifer activates the clock tower bells, and the chimes disorient him enough so that he falls off the clock tower to his presumed death.

Clock Tower (2)

tory

In "Clock Tower" (known in Japan as "Clock Tower 2"), Scissorman returns, complete with a blue overcoat, a mask "and" an exaggerated limp. It is revealed that the Scissorman in this game can be a variety of people, depending upon the choices the player makes within the game. However, no matter who the fake Scissorman in this game turns out to be, the real Scissorman is always Edward, the only survivor of the original clock tower murders apart from Jennifer. [cite video game
title = Clock Tower
developer = Human Entertainment
publisher = ASCII Entertainment
date = 1997-09-30
platform = PlayStation
level = Prologue
language = English
quote = Barton: "I'm expecting another survivor of the Clock Tower murders. He is supposed to be a young boy about ten years old...] ) It is revealed that Edward is actually Dan, the twin brother of the previous Scissorman Bobby. [cite video game
title = Clock Tower
developer = Human Entertainment
publisher = ASCII Entertainment
date = 1997-09-30
platform = PlayStation
level = Jennifer's Scenario 3 - Barrows Castle Caverns
language = English
quote = Jennifer: "So it was you, Edward." / Scissorman: "I guess the secret is finally out, Jennifer. But my name isn't Edward. It's Dan." / Jennifer: "You don't mean...No!" / Scissorman: "So you remember me now. Let's play again, Jennifer!]

It is not explained how the massive creature that was Dan came to be an average young boy like Edward, however in the port of the original Clock Tower to PSX (renamed The First Fear), an Easter egg is added after Dan's apparent death during the explosion: A small ashen-faced boy arises from Dan's ashes.

Edward's role as Scissorman comes to an end as Jennifer and Helen find a spell to open a massive door , which sucks the Scissorman in.

In one of the levels, he can be found resting in a rocking chair and watching cartoons on TV.

Gameplay

Scissorman appears in each scenario, and his appearances are mostly triggered by the player's actions (e.g. the player waits for an elevator and Scissorman comes out of it). The actions that trigger his appearance can be painfully obvious (him hiding in a locker) to downright impossible to notice the first time around (him jumping through a picture), he will also appear if the player stays too long in any one area. Scissorman's chase theme varies in volume depending on his distance from the player's current location (as he gets closer, the music gets louder, and vice versa).

Scissorman appears to be immortal, therefore the player must either hide until he is gone, or use an object to knock him out. If a player reuses a hiding place several times, there is a higher chance that Scissorman will inspect it. Some hiding places are ineffective and will allow Scissorman to instantly kill the player or scare them out of it and resume the chase. The same holds true with weapon objects as some of them will miss or be blocked by Scissorman.

Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within/Ghost Head

Scissorman does not appear in this game, but makes a brief cameo in the 'Clock Tower: Ghost Head' loading screen.

Clock Tower 3

The Scissorman in Clock Tower 3 is not related to any of the previous incarnations. In fact, he is not one but two people: The twins, Scissorman and Scissorwoman. Both look like circus performers, and both wield a pair of knives that they can put together to create makeshift scissors. Their true names are Jemima and Ralph (Janis and Rudy in the Japanese version of the game), and both were servants to Lord Burroughs, acting as his executioners. After the death of Burroughs, they were stoned to death by local villagers in retaliation for their murdering ways. However, both were resurrected, sharing a single Entity between them.

Original Scissorman

According to the second game of the series, another Scissorman named John Burroughs (also known as Little John) prior to Bobby and Dan has lived a long time ago. He has been stopped from murdering people by his father, Quinten Burroughs. His corpse can be found in the Burroughs Castle (in England) in a stone coffin.

Clock Tower: The Movie

Scissorman is known to feature in the Clock Tower movie. (Apparently storyboards were created by the first director attached to the project. Scissorman was featured in the storyboards.) It is unknown however which backstory he will have, or if he has an entirely new back story made especially for the movie.

ee also

*Clock Tower series

Notes