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Bates, full name possibly Bates Maxwell, is the deuteragonist of the survival horror game Clock Tower: Ghost Head (Known as Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within in the West) He is Alyssa Hale's evil alter-ego who can be awaken within Alyssa to take over her mind and body and causing harm to others for his own pleasure and is possibly Alyssa's deceased twin.
He was voiced by Roger L. Jackson in English, Fujiko Takimoto in Japanese, and Houko Kuwashima in the Drama CD.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Not much is known about Bates' background. However, in 1982, Lynn Maxwell and her twin were born to George Maxwell and an unnamed woman. George buried the twins in the Maxwell grave due to believed in his family's curse. The unspecified twin died from suffocation. It has been theorized that Bates is the spirit of Alyssa's deceased twin trapped in her body and or a ghost seeking revenge on the Maxwell family.
Clock Tower: Ghost Head[]
Bates first appears when Alyssa discovers her cousin Ashley Tate's severed head in the house where she was supposed to spend the weekend. She tells Bates not to come out since she's emotional and she doesn't have her amulet, but he does anyway, encouraging her not to be scared. If the player approaches Philip Tate in the lounge while Bates is still in control, he will inform him that Alyssa is sleeping and that he is the one who has arrived.
When Bates returns to the dining room, he discovers Alyssa's amulet on the floor and picks it up, giving her control of her body back. Stephanie Tate appears shortly after, and attacks Alyssa with a kitchen knife. Bates and Alyssa find the golden statue in Stephanie's bedroom later, which Bates describes as "dangerous." Later, Alyssa enters the master bedroom to discover her aunt being attacked by Stephanie. Alyssa shoves Stephanie aside and tells Kathryn to flee; Bates takes over and kicks Stephanie in the face before leaving the room after telling Kathryn to leave.
Alyssa's uncle eventually begs her to burn the statue. As Stephanie emerges from the next room, she walks to the living room and throws it into the fireplace. Stephanie rushes at her, knocking the amulet off as she prepares to burn it. Bates takes control again and stabs her, before picking up the amulet and allowing Alyssa to recover control. She burns the statue with the lighter she throws into the fireplace, and both she and Stephanie collapse.
Alyssa awakens in Memorial Hospital, where she and Bates must explore while avoiding the zombies. Jessica Cook is soon discovered hiding in the storage closet, muttering something about how everyone is going to die. Bates demands to know about the bizarre monsters in the building and threatens to murder her if she refuses to tell him anything. She tells him that the information about the zombies is in her office, he goes there to find out that the zombies' weak points are their parasite brains. He and Alyssa are able to escape to the Memorial Pharmaceuticals Research Lab with this new knowledge and the help of Detective Alex Corey.
Alyssa awakens once more, this time in the lab, where she and Bates are being attacked by zombies, as well as a crazed man named George Maxwell. Alyssa encounters Shannon Lewis, who angrily believes that she ruined her life after discovering more about her past and the mysterious Maxwell Curse, and instantly tries to strangle her. After a brief look at Bates, he takes control and pushes Shannon against the rear wall, who then walks out of the room, stunned.
Bates comes across Allen Hale, Alyssa's adoptive father, in an office in the basement. Bates admits that he knows the truth about the Maxwell Curse, but Allen claims that "it's all over now" even if he did. Bates disagrees. Bates is then instructed to go downstairs to see the conclusion by Allen.
Alyssa finds Allen confronting George Maxwell in the shrine. He says that he admired him and tells Alyssa that she is not his biological daughter, but rather the daughter of George himself, who was buried alive due to a curse. George gets shot by Allen and collapses to the ground as he tries to attack Alyssa. Allen goes on to say that he loved her, and as a result, he poisoned the statue with the toxin in order to drive George insane and silence the Tate family. As the building was about to explode, Allen bids Alyssa farewell and tells her to escape. George rises in a final attempt to kill his biological daughter as Alyssa tries to reach him. Alex enters the room just in time and kills George with his shotgun. He and Alyssa are were able to flee from the building.
Alyssa and Alex stand outside, watching the burning building. Bates can be heard whispering that they "did it to themselves," and that he will never die, instead living on inside Alyssa, who was grieving her adoptive father's death and stating she should have died instead.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- "Bates" is likely a reference to Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, as well as its main setting and name of a TV series serving as a contemporary prequel, Bates Motel.
- In Japan, the game is known as Clock Tower: Ghost Head. "Ghost Head" presumably refers to Bates, who is the "ghost" in Alyssa's "head".
- Bates is the protagonist of the two mini-games, Time Attack and Score Attack, both of which unlocked by completing the game with Ending A and saving at the prompt. When casting an Attack, Bates exclaims, "It's Shō time!", a play on words and a reference to his Japanese name, Shō.
- Bates refuses to access the women's bathroom out of modesty; likewise, Alyssa can only access the men's bathroom as Bates - a reference to Bates' gender. However, in Time Attack and Score Attack, Bates can access both bathrooms.
- If the player examines a mirror as Alyssa, she comments that she sees Bates' face.
- Bates is the first and only playable character in the Clock Tower series (besides Alex Corey) who cannot hide.
- Bates' English voice actor is Roger L. Jackson, best known for voicing the killer in the Scream films, Mojo Jojo in The Powerpuff Girls, as well as the Cheshire Cat in American McGee's Alice and its sequel, Alice: Madness Returns. His Japanese voice actor, Fujiko Takimoto, is female in order to better match Alyssa's appearance and gender.
- Bates is often complimented as one of the only few enjoyable parts of a generally negatively received installment, adding humor and charm.
- Bates can be compared to Aiden from Beyond: Two Souls.