*********************************************************************** |+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| ======================================================================= | | | ####### ### | | / ### # ### | | / ## ### ## # | | ## # # ## ## | | ### ## ## | | ## ### ### ## /## ### /### ######## | | ### ### ### ## / ### ###/ #### / ######## | | ### ### ## ## / ### ## ###/ ## | | ### /## ## ## ## ### ## ## ## | | #/ /## ## ## ######## ## ## ## | | #/ ## ## ## ####### ## ## ## | | # / ## ## ## ## ## ## | | /## / ## ## #### / ## ## ## | | / ########/ ### / ### / ######/ ### ### ## | | / ##### ##/ ##/ ##### ### ### ## | | | | | \) ------------------------- | | P L O T A N A L Y S I S | | ------------------------- | | | | ##### ## ### ### | | ###### / #### / # ### ### | | /# / / ####/ ### ## ## | | / / / # # # ## ## | | / / # ## ## | | ## ## # ### ## ## | | ## ## # ### ## ## | | ## ######## ## ## ## | | ## ## # ## ## ## | | ## ## ## ## ## ## | | # ## ## ## ## ## | | / ## ## ## ## | | /##/ ## ## ## ## | | / ##### ## ### / ### / ### / | | / ## ##/ ##/ ##/ | | # | | ## | | | ======================================================================= |+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| *********************************************************************** |A Plot Analysis for the "Silent Hill" Series by Konami | |Written by: Orca782 and CVXFREAK | |Games: Silent Hill (PSone) | | Silent Hill: Play Novel (GBA) | | Silent Hill 2 (PS2) | | Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams (PS2, Xbox, PC) | | Silent Hill 3 (PS2) | |Version 4.0 | |June 22, 2003 | |E-mail: Orca782@hotmail.com (Orca782) | | FireEmblemPride@hotmail.com (CVXFREAK) | *********************************************************************** /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ C O N T E N T S c o n t e n t s +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 1. Introduction 2. Version History 3. Silent Hill A. A Synopsis of Silent Hill B. Endings C. Silent Hill: Play Novel D. Characters E. Angels F. Metatron 4. Silent Hill 3 A. A Synopsis of Silent Hill 3 (Coming Soon) B. Endings C. Characters 5. Silent Hill 2 A. A Synopsis of Silent Hill 2 I. Born from a Wish II. Letter from Silent Heaven B. Endings C. Characters D. Themes E. Differences of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams 6. The Town Itself A. Cult Presence B. The Drug Market C. Silent Hill's History D. Old Silent Hill E. Central Silent Hill F. Lakeside Silent Hill and Palevile G. Southvale Silent Hill H. The UFOs 7. The Radio and Flashlight 8. Frequently Asked Questions 9. Conclusion /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 1. I N T R O D U C T I O N i n t r o d u c t i o n +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Silent Hill is a game unlike any other. The storyline, in particular, is extremely deep and satisfying. It's also easy and difficult to analyze it at the same time. It's easy in a sense that the games sometimes give the hidden meanings away. Other times, they're so well hidden that it takes deep thought to analyze them, and even then, there might be more than one way to analyze it. So that's why a second plot document for the Silent Hill series exists. There are so many ways to analyze this series. Orca782 originally started this document alone with only miniscule support by me (CVXFREAK). But, I got onto the document in a big way because I had my own views on the series. So, in a way, this document is a view of two people trying to merge their thoughts into one. Now, this document isn't the end word of the Silent Hill series. There are other people out there who have analyzed the series extremely well. President Evil comes to mind. The point is, this document shouldn't be what you base Silent Hill on, but it's what you should use to help you in your own analysis. Silent Hill is pretty much what YOU want it to be. It's discreet, yet extremely clear (oxymoron or not). So, let's get on with this document! Remember, this document contains spoilers, so you should play out all the games before reading this. -CVXFREAK /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 2. V E R S I O N H I S T O R Y v e r s i o n h i s t o r y +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------- June 24, 2003 ------------- Version 4.1 By: Orca782 I just took my first look at the overhaul CVXFREAK did, and I must say I'm quite impressed. Especially that ASCII at the top, that's high quality. In any case, I'm just going to add a bit to the FAQs at the end, and to the Drug Influence area. While I'm still the primary plot analysist CVX has added his own views on several sections, and he is in charge of most of the summaries and technical aspects of this guide. One last note is that he should be getting the Japanese version of Silent Hill 3 early on in the month of July, whereas I will have to wait for the American release in August. Therefore for the first month he's going to have to be the primary Silent Hill 3 info supplier, because I won't want to read any of it to spoil the game for myself. ------------- June 22, 2003 ------------- Version 4.0 By: CVXFREAK This a huge update. The FAQ has been overhauled to support the upcoming Silent Hill 3. Sections have been rearranged to become more fitting with each other. I decided to eliminate who wrote which parts of the various FAQs except for a few sections mainly because it caused them to become harder to read and breaks the flow of the guide a bit. Also, the Silent Hill 3 section is before the Silent Hill 2 section. If you play the game (when you play the game), you'll realize why it's been done. Various sections have been retouched, added to, and modified to fit our knowledge of the series. It's a great update worth reading before getting into Silent Hill 3. And only one of the previous updates is in, by Orca782. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 3. S I L E N T H I L L s i l e n t h i l l +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Silent Hill was the game that pioneered the survival horror genre. Released in early 1999, the game met to great acclaim and praise. Immediately removed of being called a Resident Evil clone, Silent Hill created a dedicated fanbase. Silent Hill follows the adventures of Harry Mason, as he arrives in Silent Hill only to see his daughter vanish, and a nightmare of events unfold before his eyes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A. A Synopsis of Silent Hill ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Written by CVXFREAK, edited by Orca782 Harry Mason and his daughter Cheryl are approaching Silent Hill, a small resort lakeside town, at night. Car trouble has pushed them behind schedule. While Harry drives, a female police officer drives passed him on her motorcycle. Seconds later, he sees the motorcycle on the side of the road, abandoned, with the driver nowhere to be seen. Seconds later, he sees a woman crossing the road and swerves the car, going off the road and unexpectedly through a fence into a section of the town. He is knocked out for pretty much the rest of the night, and wakes up in the morning. It's foggy, and it's snowing out of season. Cheryl is gone. Upon exiting his car, he sees a shadow of Cheryl in the distance, and gives chase. Harry follows Cheryl's outline up a small alley, and into a back area past some gates and such. As he goes, it gets increasingly dark until he has to light his lighter to see. With just the slight illumination, he sees increasingly disturbing scenes, as he passes an empty wheel chair, a gurney, and larger and larger puddles of blood. The fences go from normal to barbed wire with bits of bodies and blood hanging from them. Finally he comes to a dead end, and as he turns around he is attacked and brought to the floor... Harry awakes on a cushioned seat in a diner. He is not alone; the police officer from the road is there too. She introduces herself as Cybil, and asks if he knows what's going on. He replies, of course, no, and that he's looking for his daughter. Cybil hasn't seen Cheryl, and she says so. Harry then leaves to look for his daughter, but not before Cybil warns him of the dangers (unexplained dangers) and gives him a 9mm Beretta. She warns him not to shoot her by accident (important later). Returning to the alleyway, the area leading to the bloody mess is blocked off by a wall, but on the floor are pages from Cheryl's sketchbook that Harry bought her for a present. On the front of the book is a scribbled drawing of Harry, and on a page in large, red ink is written "gone to School." Checking a map he found in the cafe, Harry locates Midwich Elementary, a school in his vicinity. Attempting to head there, Harry notices that the path to the school is blocked due to a cave in in the road. He finds more notes from Cheryl, and after a goose hunt, he finds a path through a house which bypasses the chasms. As he approaches, the school, the town gets dark once again, but a flashlight that he found in the cafe aids his progress to the school. In Midwich, the place is deserted, with Cheryl nowhere to be found. Harry, to advance, solves several puzzles related to time, birds, a chemical and a boiler room. After solving all those puzzles, Harry goes into the school's clock tower and ends up... back in the school courtyard, where he entered the clock tower. In awe, he discovers that the place is a mess hall like the alleyway. Still eager to find Cheryl, he does some more exploring. In one room Harry finds an open book about teenage girls and poltergeist activity (important, read above). After some unpleasant adventures, Harry makes his way to the basement and clears up apparently the source of evil in the school. After clearing up the school, while still in the darkened basement, Harry is visited by a shade of the girl he swerved away from in the road. With Cheryl nowhere to be found, Harry seems dumbfounded by the girl. After a few moments, she disappears, and Harry moves up to the 1st floor again. Here he hears the ringing of church-bells, and not one to be superstitious, Harry locates and visits the Balkan Church. At the church, Harry sees an old lady, who clues him to go to the hospital, after leaving him with a pyramid-shaped relic, Flauros. Harry unlocks the bridge to Central Silent Hill. Before heading to the hospital, Harry stops by the SHPD where they speak of some hallucinogenic drugs titled White Claudia. There may be a large market for them in Silent Hill. In the hospital, Harry meets a wary doctor, Michael Kaufmann, and after a tacky meeting, tell of their current situations. Kaufmann doesn't know what happened in Silent Hill and he hasn't seen Cheryl. Kaufmann takes his leave, making Harry search the entire hospital. The hospital is devoid of any life except for cockroaches in the basement. In the director's room, he uses a bottle to scoop up some curious-looking red liquid. The rest of the room has been ransacked, and it appears as if the liquid was the object of the search. A search of the upper floors is impossible due to locked up doors. As Harry returns to the elevator, a mysterious fourth floor appears!!! Harry has no choice but to take it, and he ends up in a bloody mess hall like the elementary school and the alleyway. As in the school, Harry goes through fruitless searching of the upper floors. Harry finds his way into a secret basement beneath the hospital, where he finds a room that belonged to a girl named "Alessa." Alessa is the girl he saw vanish at the school, and the one he nearly hit in the road. The room contains a stretcher-bed, a picture of her, and some pills. Another fruitless search leads him back to the evil, bloody version of the hospital, in the room he met Kaufmann in. He meets a startled nurse named Lisa Garland. Harry questions about the situation, his daughter and the basement, but as with Cybil and Kaufmann, Lisa doesn't know a thing. Suddenly, a migraine takes over Harry, and he blacks out, waking up in the same room, the hospital being "normal" again and the town being in daylight. Dahlia Gillespie, the woman from the church is there, and clues him to go to the "other church" of the town. With an antique shop key left behind, Harry takes it and goes searching for the other church. Using a phonebook at the hospital, Harry finds it. Inside, after finding a hidden, mysterious tunnel, Cybil shows up, unable to find a way off town. Cybil says to Harry that she saw Cheryl cross a chasm over toward the lake. Surprising Harry, Harry lets Cybil know of Dahlia and Lisa, and the bloody otherworld he keeps getting into. Cybil wonders what the hell he's talking about. Harry explores the secret tunnel alone, and ends up in an altar room, the other church. Before he can let Cybil know of his findings, Harry sees an altar flare up. Cybil checks it out, but she sees Harry gone... Harry wakes up in the demonic hospital with Lisa. Harry asks Lisa about Dahlia, and Lisa clues him in on the awful occurrence with her kid seven years ago and of a weird cult in Silent Hill. After Lisa ends her lecture, Harry wakes up in the antique shop again... only it's in the bloody mess like the school and the hospital. Harry remembers what Cybil said about Cheryl, but with the chasm blocking the road, Harry decides to ask Lisa about another way to get to the lake. With the main road to the hospital blocked in the evil Silent Hill, Harry takes a roundabout route back to the hospital through a mall. After getting back to Lisa, she tells Harry that he can get to the lake via the sewers beside the Midwich Elementary School. Harry asks Lisa to go with him, but Lisa knows she can't leave the hospital (important). Harry sets out for the sewers by the school, and eventually gets there. Harry traverses into the sewers, and it doesn't take him very long to find the way out. He ends up in an area not far from the lake, and it's dark out, but not evil. In a nearby pool hall, he sees Kaufmann from the hospital, being attacked by some weird monster. Harry kills it, and after Kaufmann takes his leave, Harry finds some items of his. Harry finds a motel key which he uses on the motel nearby. After uncovering a set of motorcycle keys, Harry uses them on a motorcycle he finds and then uncovers the same red liquid he found at the hospital. Kaufmann makes a return, and angrily snatches the liquid from Harry! After an angry fit, Kaufmann leaves with a warning to Harry, to "keep his eye on business." Harry, seeming like he wasted his time, proceeds toward the lighthouse on the lake. As he proceeds, the town becomes evil once again. On his way there, he sees Cybil in a boat, and Harry tells of some demon taking over the town. Dahlia makes an appearance, telling Harry to go to the lighthouse and the amusement park. Cybil runs to the amusement park while Harry runs for the lighthouse. Dahlia walks off telling him to use the Flauros. Harry reaches the lighthouse to see Alessa. Before he can pull anything out of her, she vanishes like at the school. Harry returns to the boat and follows Cybil to the amusement park. As he travels, Cybil's back is attacked by something... Harry reaches the park via another set of sewers. After a fruitless search, he sees Cybil... possessed. (Fork in plot road). Harry kills or saves Cybil with the red liquid. After Cybil makes a recovery, Harry tells her that Cheryl was adopted. Alessa confront Harry, and the Flauros attacks Alessa. Dahlia comes in, captures Alessa and Harry realizes who the real enemy is, but before he can attack Dahlia, he is transported back to the hospital with Lisa... Lisa runs off because she checked the basement out. Harry follows but he realizes that he's in some weird form of the hospital... "nowhere", he calls it. After another fruitless search, he finds Lisa again, except she starts oozing blood all over... she's a demon, like the nurses and Cybil, and since he has to more red liquid, he can't save her... Harry finds the basement of the entire place. Cybil's unconscious thanks to Dahlia. Harry confronts Dahlia and learns of what happened to Alessa. Seven years ago she was set on fire and burned nearly to death, then kept alive, and mainly she dreamed all that time (important). Cheryl is also now here with Dahlia (important; read above). Then Kaufmann arrives and tosses the red liquid at Alessa (the Cheryl and Alessa combined one). A demon comes out of their form, Harry kills it, and Alessa comes in and gives Harry a new baby. Cybil and Kaufmann run off to follow Harry, but Lisa drags Kaufmann down into the fires below. Harry and Cybil make their escape, checking out the new baby they have... ++++++++++ B. Endings ++++++++++ This is a description of all the endings available in Silent Hill. This does not say how to obtain them, so you should check out the appropriate FAQs. Good+ Ending ------------- In this ending, Cybil is alive and Harry found the Aglophatis for Kaufmann. In the final confrontation, Cybil tries to confront Dahlia, but she's knocked out by her. Harry confronts Dahlia and Kaufmann comes in, throws the Aglophatis at Mother Alessa and Harry kills the creature that comes out of her after it burns Dahlia. Mother Alessa returns, gives Harry a new baby girl, and runs off with Cybil, while demonic Lisa drags Kaufmann into the flames of Hell. Good Ending ----------- In this ending, Cybil is dead and Harry found the Aglophatis for Kaufmann. Harry confronts Dahlia and Kaufmann comes in, throws the Aglophatis at Mother Alessa and Harry kills the creature that comes out of her after it burns Dahlia. Mother Alessa returns, gives Harry a new baby girl, and runs off, while demonic Lisa drags Kaufmann into the flames of Hell. Bad+ Ending ----------- In this ending, Cybil is alive, but Harry didn't find the Aglophatis for Kaufmann. In the final confrontation, Cybil tries to confront Dahlia, but she's knocked out by her. Harry confronts Dahlia and Mother Alessa arrives, and burns Dahlia. Harry kills Mother Alessa. He sobs about Cheryl again. Cybil wakes up and slaps Harry, telling him to "go." Bad Ending ---------- In this ending, Cybil is dead and Harry didn't find the Aglophatis for Kaufmann. Harry confronts Dahlia and Mother Alessa arrives, and burns Dahlia. Harry kills Mother Alessa. He sobs about Cheryl again. We cut to a scene in Harry's jeep, where's he's bleeding over the wheel, possibly dead. UFO Ending ---------- Harry finds this jewel called the Channeling Stone and he uses it throughout Silent Hill. When he uses it at the lighthouse after Alessa vanishes, aliens come, Harry asks them if they've seen Cheryl and the aliens zap Harry and take him away. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ C. Silent Hill: Play Novel ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When the original GameBoy Advance model launched in Japan in March of 2001, one of the launch games was Silent Hill: Play Novel. The game didn't sell too well, but some people picked it up and played it. The game is not like the Silent Hill for PSone. It takes many images from the Silent Hill saga and places Japanese text over them. I (CVXFREAK) can read several of the keywords but not enough to actually fully translate them. But the game gives options on how to progress the story, and even gives Cybil her own scenario. There are also many other storyline tidbits available, such as a diary by Alessa, but it hasn't been translated yet. It hasn't been released in English and most likely never will be, due the poor sales of the game. +++++++++++++ D. Characters +++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Harry ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First I'd like to make it clear that Harry is a lowly writer few have heard of. This is stated somewhere in the game or the booklet. Harry is the adopted father of Cheryl, and after finding her raises her lovingly with his wife until his wife dies. He then goes to Silent Hill, for a vacation, and crashes into Alessa (who has made it the dark world, unbeknownst to him). Alessa is searching for her sister, and Harry is now in Silent Hill. He becomes Dahlia's servant, finding Alessa, because he thinks she has Cheryl, while Dahlia herself really does. He then saves all of humanity however, when he eradicates Samael's incarnation in Alessa. Alessa/Cheryl is pleased with her father, knowing he meant well, and aids him to the normal world again. He also exits with Cybil, showing that he will probably take her as a wife, having had similar experiences that no one else could identify with. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Alessa ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Alessa is actually in a hospital, or in Dahlia's home at any point in time, but she is metaphysically in her realm. She is hurt, and she was burned at an early age, so she does not really know what is happening to her, she is just hurt and confused. In Silent Hill 1, there is a text in the school that explains poltergeist activity. Studies (real studies) also show that teen-aged girls are the most able to project telekinetic energy into real forces. This explains the crashing of windows Harry often heard, and it explains a lot of the weird happenings. If a poltergeist is strong enough, members of the household may hallucinate, and see different things than any other given person. This is because they live near the teen. Because Alessa holds in her half, or more than half of Samael, her telekinetic powers are enhanced, and she is also in pain, which will add power to her telekinesis. Her telekinetic power is once again demonstrated when she pushes Cybil backwards at the conclusion of the game. She is Dahlia's gate to eternal power, and a new, darker world. Appearances Road: ----- Harry is driving into town, and hits Alessa. She is here, because she senses the presence of her sister, and she wants to see her. It is not to complete Samael, but it is partially that, because Samael inside of her wants completion. School Basement: ---------------- She appears here, after Harry beat the lizard. Alessa, as a child, is pleased that you have killed one of her nightmares, but Samael inside of her is angry that you have defeated his minion. Alessa, thus somewhat smiles at you, as she disappears. I like that theory of Alessa being happy that you destroyed her nightmare. It explains her "gift," the Gordon Key. Entrance to "Other" Church: --------------------------- I'm really not sure why they put this cut-scene in. It seems really worthless, but it might not be. It may be a foreshadowing of the "Other Church's" importance in the game, or it might simply tell you to go in there after Dahlia gives you instructions because it may be too confusing to find the place. Anyway, Alessa's entering the building, which is basically it. She could be going there to get something, or to hide from Dahlia. Lighthouse: ----------- She appears here, knowing that you are after Cheryl, and not wanting you to take her. The symbol on the ground is symbolic of Samael, and thus At this sighting, the darker side of Alessa has sway. Carnival: --------- Alessa appears here because you are getting too close to her, and Cybil, who she has taken control of, failed to stop you. She has to deal with you herself, and this is when Metatron's essence comes in, and defeats the evil inside of Alessa momentarily. However, Dahlia is allowed into Alessa's darker realm because of her momentary weakness, and recaptures her. She is then brought away with Dahlia. If you're wondering why Alessa attacks Harry, it's because he's following orders from Dahlia. As opposed to seeing her at the school, he was out on his own quest. But since it's really Dahlia who Harry's working for at that time, she sees a foresight to attack Harry, despite him being Alessa's (Cheryl's) father. Stairs in Nowhere: ------------------ Alessa is a child at this moment, and it is just a view of Alessa right before her mother was going to burn her. This is the last time she is a child. She yells "no, no, I don't want to," because she already is confused, but knows her mother is going to hurt her. Final Room: ----------- Here, Alessa is back in her realistic form, her power being drained by Dahlia. Her dark realm remains, but Dahlia is in control of it, with Alessa's own power. She is once again bandaged fully, for the puss and blood still leak from her body. When forced to fight, she either does so because of her mother's power over her, or she falls, as Samael is brought into existence before his time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Lisa ----------------------------------------------------------------------- She was the nurse of Alessa, and Cheryl, and she is addicted to the drug, White Claudia, which caused hallucinations similar to dark Silent Hill, and she did the right thing, bringing Cheryl to the side of the road. She only appears in the dark world of Silent Hill, so one can wonder how she got there. The answer is most likely that Alessa remembers her as a kindly caretaker, and has placed her soul into her dark realm. This way, Lisa only remembers what happened when she brought Cheryl out of the town, and came back. She was probably killed by Dahlia for her insubordination, and her soul is kept in dark Silent Hill, where her soul went immediately after dying. Besides Cybil, Lisa is the only other ally in Silent Hill of Harry's. I wish she lived to escape the horror, but as mentioned, she's dead. Appearances Hospital: --------- Here, Lisa first appears to Harry. She is hiding in a room, under a table. She is unsure of how she got to where she is. She is, however, a memory, a soul, brought back by Alessa's will. This is why you will only see her in the darker realm of Silent Hill. Hospital: --------- After passing out in the antique shop, you wake up here, with Lisa. She has almost a demonic look in her eyes as you come to. This is because she was just about to drink your blood, or suck your power, or whatever it is that the other nurses do to you, but then you came to. She has to shove back the evil urges within herself, brought on by Samael, and be human again. She tells you that you were having a bad dream, because she doesn't know what's happening, and to her, you were asleep when you were in the other world, but intangible until you entered that realm completely. Hospital [Nowhere]: ------------------- Here, after having gotten through the dark realm of the town, to the hospital again, you find her, in the same room. She is relieved to see you, but cannot leave the room, because of Alessa's control over her. Alessa does not want one of the other monsters hurting her. Nowhere: -------- Lisa is here, as Samael's power is weakening, and she has made her way here. She realizes what she is, that she is no different than another Animated corpse in this realm. However, she is different, because she has a soul, and the other monsters are soulless. She then goes for James, not to attack him, but for security, safety, (a hug). She falters, and dies, partially because her physical form is falling apart, partially because James is afraid, and can offer no friendship. Final Room: ----------- Depending on your ending, she appears here to drag Kaufman to his Doom [as Harry and maybe Cybil make their escape]. This is a double meaning, because Kaufman is more than likely the one that killed her (or Dahlia, as mentioned earlier, but they're one and all). He has no qualms with using a gun, and she became too much of a trouble, as seen in the opening cg where she shakes off his hand. So this is revenge. Also, Alessa does not want Kaufman there, because he caused her much pain, by throwing the Aglophatis at her, and by burning her. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dahlia ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dahlia is the head of a cult that worships angels, particularly fallen ones. She is the one maintaining the evil. She wants Samael's evil power, and she created the two children. She created Alessa, but one human form was not enough to hold the dark power, and so she had to create another child, after getting everything from Alessa that she could. She wants to get to Alessa, and eventually does through Harry and Metatron. She is playing both sides of good/evil, a real schemer. Her realm is maintained even though she dies. She also sells White Claudia in order to finance her cult, and to get aid from lesser members. She is the "bad guy" of the first game, and overall she starts the whole problem with the town that we know and love, Silent Hill. She gets Cheryl to come to her, by drawing on her as a mother, and then she uses Cheryl to bribe Harry to move faster, try harder to get to her, thus to get to Alessa. Dahlia also takes control of the darker realm of Silent Hill after Alessa comes under her control again. Appearances Church: ------- This is her preliminary meeting with Harry. She is here to give him the Flauros and the key to continue his mission. In a bad sort of way, she is there to help Harry along, because in the end it means she accomplishes what she wants. Jesus on the cross is symbolic, because it represents the suffering of Alessa. Hospital: --------- Dahlia comes in person, having called Harry from the darker Silent Hill, to urge him on, to move faster. She is getting impatient. Boat: ----- Once again, Dahlia is impatient, and urges you to move faster. Carnival: --------- Dahlia has finally succeeded, in that you have found Alessa for her. She takes Alessa, and leaves. However, she has unwittingly released Metatron by giving you the Flauros, and now he is here, to counter any excessive evil. Stairs in Nowhere: ------------------ Dahlia's essence is trapped in a rendition of her, right before she burns Alessa, wanting more power from her. This is an early view of Dahlia. Nowhere: -------- Dahlia is about to raise Samael, but it is either too early, or Kaufmann steps in, depending upon your ending. She has both children, and she is planning upon starting the ritual. Depending upon your ending, Cybil is there also, trying to stop whatever is happening. Then Kaufman steps in and throws the Aglophatis at the "Mother," (Cybil and Alessa joined) and Samael comes out. Either way, Harry beats the incarnation. What is not guaranteed is whether Harry gets Cheryl as a child from the "Mother." Kaufman shoots Dahlia, or she is killed by the "Mother," but either way she dies. Strangely enough, she dies happy, having her goal met. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaufmann ----------------------------------------------------------------------- He inseminates Dahlia (ick), and sells the drugs to tourists. Besides being in the cult, he is left in the fog Silent Hill, being summoned there by Dahlia because he is an important member of her cult. However, she neglects to tell him this, and he sees it as a quick trip to Hell. He is unhappy with his transition from normal Silent Hill to fog Silent Hill, and thus uses Aglophatis to end Dahlia's spree if you save him. He is in the hospital trying to find out what happened when you find him, and he shoots you in the arm, or another minor location. Once he finds Alessa and Dahlia, Alessa summons Lisa to do away with him, for aiding in her torture. Appearances Hospital: --------- Kaufmann first appears in the hospital, not knowing what is happening. Dahlia has brought him to her fog realm, and he was at work when it happened. Now he is just confused and unhappy. His stash of Aglophatis has all but been destroyed, and he's angry at Dahlia. Annie's Bar: ------------ He is here, nearly dead, attacked by a tEddie bear creature. Harry saves him, and he leaves, thankful. He was there to pick up drugs, which he was apparently low on. Bates Motel: ------------ He appears when you find the Aglophatis in the motorcycle. This is his secret stash, and the fact that you are messing with it angers him. He threatens Harry and leaves, to find Dahlia. Final Room: ----------- Dahlia has control of both dark Silent Hills now, so he can make his way to this darker basement, and use the Aglaophitos on "Mother," to stop it. However, Sammael is only birthed prematurely, and Harry has to fight him. Kaufmann is then brought to Hell for what he did to Alessa, and Lisa. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cybil ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cybil is in Silent Hill not without purpose. She was accidentally brought into the fog town by Dahlia when she came in at the same time as Harry. Dahlia realizes that there is a use for her, when she draws Harry into the town. She is there to help him along, and when she leads Harry to Alessa, Alessa takes matters into her own hands and controls, then attempts to kill Cybil. Overall she is not meant to be where she is. She was working together with the Silent Hill P.D. to investigate the drugs, but of course could find no evidence. Appearances Intro: ------ Cybil passes you on the road, on a routine check of Silent Hill for drugs. You later see her bike, which leads you to wonder what happened to her. Having seen the broken road, she got off and walked into town. Diner: ------ She is here, having saved you from the child demons. She makes no mention, so as not to scare you. She also gives you a gun, and advice, telling you to stay near. She doesn't know what is happening, and as an officer, she is only trying to protect you. Antique Shop: ------------- She finds you here, after having followed you. She wanted, once again, to help you. When you go in, she loses you again, and goes off looking on her own. Boat: ----- She meets you here, trying to help you with Cheryl, and to find out what is going on. She goes somewhere else while you check the lighthouse. When you get back, she's not there. Carnival: --------- Here, Cybil has been taken over by Alessa, because she is helping you to find Alessa. So Alessa plays you off against each other, and you can Only save her with the Aglophatis. If you save her, she and Harry talk about why this is happening. You are familiars, because both Harry and Cybil don't know what is going on in the least. Final Room: ----------- Cybil is here, trying to stop whatever is going on. She is quickly knocked aside by Alessa however. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl was born X-Gallespie-Kaufmann (aka Dahlia is her mother and Kaufmann might be her father). After Lisa took her from the cult, Harry found her and raised her as his own. She was eventually drawn to Silent Hill by Dahlia. She is also drawn unknowingly to the pain of her sister, because she is good still, due to the love Harry gave her, as opposed the pain Alessa received. Cheryl/Alessa is reborn, depending upon the ending that you get, and Harry, we assume, takes care of her as well, and she is raised as a normal child, most likely named Cheryl. Appearances Jeep: ----- When you start the game, Cheryl is just a happy little girl with her sketch book. She looks like an ordinary child. Crashed Jeep: ------------- You see a shadow of Cheryl in the mist, and go after her. She is already being drawn to Dahlia, and Alessa, her mother and sister. She is safe in both realms though, due to the realms keepers. School: ------- Cheryl is calling you from a phone, because Dahlia wants to meet with you, and Cheryl is with Dahlia. Though Cheryl is with Dahlia, Dahlia can force her image and voice into this realm via phone or TV. Town Center: ------------ The screens on the wall show Cheryl, asking where her father is. This is once again Dahlia, trying to get Harry to try harder, because she relies on him to find Alessa, and he wants to get his daughter. Final Room: ----------- This room has Cheryl already in form for the creation of Samael. She looks like Alessa, because she is actually the other part of Samael. Alessa is the burned form. +++++++++ E. Angels +++++++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Samael ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Also called Sammael, Samael is a dark angel, a fallen angel. It has been said that he is the devil himself, but not for certain. In any case, he is the evil in this town, and it is he that was summoned into Alessa's form. However, after being defeated in his physical form, because he was new, and weak, he can only watch now over this town, and has power only to suck the sinners into his realm. He cannot take the souls of the innocent, because Metatron also guards the town. The cult that Dahlia was the head of worshipped angels, darker ones at that. Older Hebrew rituals were said to have been able to raise angels to do commands, which is where this may have started, and Dahlia's obvious ethnicity due to her clothing. (Not at all a negative statement towards any ethnicity or religion, just interpreting the game as I see it). These angels, though not appearing in the game, are referenced many times within the game. The referenced angels are: Hagith Phaleg Ophiel Bethor Aratron Och Phul These angels are the angels of the planets, and thus they also represent some of the Greek Gods. My info came from the Dictionary of Angels, by Gustav Davidson. The names, and the symbols are mentioned in his book. I believe the original source was The Magus, some older book. Anyway, these angels are of course viewed as wicked, and of the occult, but really it is just another branch of a religion +++++++++++ F. Metatron +++++++++++ Metatron is called upon by the tetrahedral item that Dahlia gave Harry. It was the essence of the Archangel Metatron. Unwittingly, in her quest to get dark power, Dahlia overstepped herself, and this item of light broke through Samael's hold on Alessa, and through the evil in Silent Hill. It is he who looked out for Harry and James, and in some ways makes the darkness of Silent Hill equal in lightness in the real town. He comes to the town to battle evil, as an Archangel, not out of personal gain for Dahlia. Though Metatron has been stated as one of the greatest, if not the greatest angel, he is the power of good in this town, and will battle Samael if need be. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 4. S I L E N T H I L L 3 s i l e n t h i l l 3 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Silent Hill 3 is the latest saga in the Silent Hill series. It stars Heather, a 17 year old girl who ends up in Silent Hill to discover the circumstances of her birth, and a death in the family. It's been released in PAL territories, but not in the U.S. or Japan until August and July, respectively. When it arrives in Japan, CVXFREAK will add what he can until August, when Orca grabs the U.S. release. Please note that the Silent Hill 3 section is meant to come before the section on Silent Hill 2. Silent Hill 3 is the true sequel to the original Silent Hill in nearly every aspect, while Silent Hill 2 really stands on its own. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A. A Synopsis of Silent Hill 3 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Coming soon. ++++++++++ B. Endings ++++++++++ Coming soon. +++++++++++++ C. Characters +++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Heather ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Heather is the 17-year old protagonist of Silent Hill 3. Much younger than Harry or James, she's drawn into the world of Silent Hill through a nightmare she has while doing errands for her father. She seems to possess a grouchy, snobbish attitude and lacks sleep. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Douglas ----------------------------------------------------------------------- An older detective, Douglas meets Heather in a mall. He tries to get Heather to go with him to have a conversation about her birth, but Heather refuses. Douglas definitely knows something about Heather, and is also very persistent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Claudia ----------------------------------------------------------------------- An old woman with long hair, and clothing similar to what Dahlia wore. She definitely knows something about Silent Hill, and what's going on, so she could definitely be a cult member. Not much is known to North Americans or Japanese gamers of SH3 right now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Heather's Father ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Heather's father plays an important role in the series. His identity has been revealed but won't be mentioned in this FAQ until the Japanese or U.S. release of Silent Hill 3. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vincent ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A character seen holding a book with an evil expression in screenshots for the game. Not much else is known to North American or Japanese gamers at this time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Leonard ----------------------------------------------------------------------- There is no known information at this time other than that he exists. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 5. S I L E N T H I L L 2 s i l e n t h i l l 2 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Although officially the second saga of the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2 appropriately belongs after the section about Silent Hill 3. Although Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 are very different games in terms of themes and story, they can be analyzed in the same document because of their intertwining messages. Silent Hill 2 is the story of James Sunderland, who recieves a letter from Mary, his wife who had died a few years before. After reading the letter, James travels to Silent Hill, where he and Mary went before her death. Upon arrival, James' conscience takes over as he wanders around Silent Hill, and encounters many new demons, and his guilt is out to get him, as well. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A. A Synopsis of Silent Hill 2 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ------------------- I. Born from a Wish ------------------- Written by CVXFREAK, edited by Orca782 NOTE: Born from a Wish takes place before James arrives in Silent, or possibly when James has just arrived. It is for that reason that Maria's short scenario is documented before James' scenario. The mini game begins in Heaven's Night. Maria just woke up and can't find anybody in town. She has a revolver and considers suicide, because of the lack of people. She decides to leave and go look for someone. In the main room of the strip club, she grabs a Chinese Cleaver for a secondary weapon, since her Revolver only has 1 bullet. Outside, she passes by the Brookhaven Hospital. Unfortunately, the only way she can go is up the street by the Blue Creek Apartments. Gates and walls have blocked her from reaching the roadway. As she travels, she sees monsters that are coated in blood. The only open door she finds leads to a mansion, called the Baldwin Mansion. Searching the upper floors, she hears a voice behind a locked door. A man named Ernest talks to Maria. For details of the conversation, see Dan Birlew's Plot Guide. Past Ernest's door, on a landing, is a white board with holes in it. Maria continues her search downstairs, and finds a hidden ladder inside a fireplace. She finds a cemetery with a puzzle to solve. Using the Red Board, White Board and Black Boards she has found, she solves a puzzle and grabs the Acacia Key. It unlocks the door to another area of the house, in which Maria explores. It leads to a child's bedroom. She finds matches that might be useful. She finds her way to an attic, where a mysterious voice happens, where a girl falls from a window and her parents shrieking in fright. She finds a birthday card and hears another voice, telling her to take the Birthday Card to Ernest. She does just that. Ernest directs Maria to the Blue Creek Apartment Building to find him White Liquid. Maria finds her way to the Apartment Building and finds the liquid. James hasn't been there yet, so the drawer on Room 105 is still locked. James probably is still at the cemetery talking to Angela, or is in the apartment building next door, which would explain Pyramid Head's presence there. She takes the White Liquid back to Ernest and Ernest tells Maria that she is really a ghost and that she should watch out for James. She unlocks the door, and sees no one but an empty table. Outside the Blue Creek Apartment Building, where Laura would meet James for a second time, Maria tosses the revolver over, vowing her assigned mission to deceive and manipulate James... ----------------------------- II. Letter from Silent Heaven ----------------------------- Written by Orca782, edited by CVXFREAK James Sunderland's wife died 3 years ago from a disease (most likely cancer). After thinking about her for all that time, and moping around, he receives a letter. The writer's name is... Mary. He gets in his car and drives to Silent Hill, where they used to spend a lot of time. Mary had told him that she wanted to come back to that town; that it felt special and sacred, but she died before he could take her again. The letter said to come for her; she was waiting in their "Special Place." First James shoots for the Rosewater Park, which is where they went often. He can't enter town because of car trouble, so he walks into town on foot. After stopping and thinking about his last few years with Mary, he heads off. He sees a frantic woman named Angela in a graveyard (possibly the one in the beginning cinematic of Silent Hill 1), and she points him toward town. He finally enters town. Upon entering, it's extremely empty, but he sees several blood trails. He suddenly finds a monsters and a radio, as well a wooden plank for his defense. He kills the creature and moves on. After a few ominous clues in the empty town, he goes through an apartment complex first, coming in contact with 2 people, Eddie Dombrowski, somewhat of an overweight resident who's currently vomiting in an apartment toilet. James also meets Laura, a child who is apparently somewhat of a brat, and a resident of Silent Hill. He eventually escapes the apartments, shortly after a meeting with "Pyramid Head," a menacing existence who seems to be somewhat of a guardian at Silent Hill. Once in Rosewater Park, James is startled to come across.. his wife Mary! Or so he thinks until the woman he has met turns, and explains that she is named Maria. She asks if "She looks like his girlfriend." He tells her shortly of his quest for Mary, and she asks if she "Looks like a ghost." (important). Finally James decides to take Maria with him for safekeeping, and he ventures off again for the Hotel, his only other "special place" with his wife. He and Maria make their way to a bowling alley, where Maria stays outside and James goes in to find Eddie, and Laura running out the back. He leaves Eddie eating a pizza, and goes in chase of Laura. Maria joins him outside, saying she chased but failed to catch the child. They follow her path down an alley, to a locked door. Laura has squeezed through a tiny passage, whereas Maria and James journey through a gentleman's club, "Heaven's Night," where Maria was earlier. They then see Laura run into the resident hospital, Brookhaven. After searching for awhile in the hospital, Maria grows nauseous and sits down. James leaves her taking her pills, and goes off on his own. He makes his way to the roof, where he is attacked by Pyramid Head. The huge sword luckily hits James with the flat side, and knocks him off the roof, through the ceiling into a containment area. James goes off for Maria again. Instead he finds Laura in a room, playing with her tEddie-bears. She leads him to another room, claiming there's a letter from Mary in "the way back." (Had to see this one coming a mile away). James, being eager, goes into the room, where Laura promptly locks him in, and runs off. James is knocked out by some of the less friendly residents, and then is wheeled away to safety by what sounds to be either Mary or Maria. He awakes in a courtyard. The hospital is now a much less habitable place. He finally finds Maria in the basement, but is disappointed that it's not Mary. Maria has had enough, and explodes. "All you care about is that dead wife of yours," she screams at him. "I've never been so scared in my whole life." James shrugs it off, and they keep going. After some time, they reach the true basement. It is a long snaking passageway, and when they are part of the way down it, James turns to approaching footsteps... Pyramid Head has found him. Now armed with a short spear like weapon, Pyramid Head goes for Maria. After laying down some heavy fire on the entity, they both run. Upon reaching the elevator, with Pyramid Head in close pursuit, James gets in and the doors jam, leaving only a crack, for Maria's hand, and the gruesome visage of Maria being mauled by the creature. The hand goes limp. The doors close, and James sinks to the floor. Having failed Maria, James vows to find Mary. He sees Laura once again and takes off for a museum at the edge of the vicinity. To get there, he circles back across town on a wrench hunt, which lets him find the key, unlocking the museum entrance. Upon reaching the museum, he finds that it used to be a prison in the Civil War, and that atrocities occurred there. Eddie is there as well... and there are dead people all over his area. Eddie takes off after some crude jokes. James goes down a broken wall and into the ancient prison. From there, he makes his way even deeper into caves under the prison. He finds Angela in a room, about to be attacked by a demon. James destroys the demon, and Angela screams at it to leave her alone, below). He finds Maria, alive, and unhurt. After a strange personality change, she speaks to him as Mary would. She is in a jail cell unfortunately, and he leaves to find another route to Maria. Upon getting there, her body is beaten beyond recognition, and she is but a corpse. Again he is mollified, and leaves. Finally he emerges in a meat locker, where Eddie confronts James. Eddie has decided that James hates him, and has called him fat. Up to now James had only suspected, but now he knows that the bodies around Silent Hill with bullets in the brain are the work of Eddie. After a short battle with James as the victorious, James wonders again what is happening in this town, and leaves the meat locker, and Eddie's corpse. He finds a rickety boat and rows across the foggy lake to the only landmark he can see, the lighthouse. It turns out to be a single light on the dock of his Hotel. Upon journeying through the Hotel, James again comes in contact with Laura, who sweetens up and gives him a letter from his wife, that she gave to Laura. It is a birthday letter stating that she wished Laura a happy birthday. It is dated not one week ago. James is in uproar. What could this mean? Laura leaves, and again he goes in search of Mary. Finally he comes to the room they used to stay in, and he uses the VCR to play the tape he has of them together which he found in storage safe earlier. It shows Mary, happy as usual, and then it cuts to a chaotic shot of James, smothering his wife with a pillow. James is once again amazed. How could this be? Laura enters the room and discovers the truth, and in anger, runs off. James leaves, seeking answers. The hotel is now not as clean a place, and in the basement he finds Angela. She is still speaking of her father, and walks into a burning room at the top of a flaming staircase, and eventually gets engulfed herself. Finally James finds a room with Maria in it, strapped to a rack. Two Pyramid Heads are there, and once again, Maria is killed. James defeats the Pyramid Heads and leaves. At the top of a caged area, he finds Maria, dressed as Mary (/Mary dressed as Mary). She is angry (see above) and turns into a demon, which James destroys. Then the ending CG starts, and explains how James turns out (different, see below). ++++++++++ B. Endings ++++++++++ Leave Ending: ------------- After defeating the Maria demon, James will speak to Mary in her sickbed. Mary will tell him to go on with his life. After Mary reads the full letter, James will follow Laura through the graveyard where he first met Angela, ready to adopt her and start a new life with her. If you spend as little time with Maria as possible throughout the game, you'll get this ending. Maria Ending: ------------- Right after defeating the final demon, James goes back to Rosewater Park where Maria greets him. James decides that he needs Maria, even though she isn't Mary. James and Maria travel back to James' car as Mary reads off her letter. Just before they get in, Maria starts coughing again, like Mary did. James tells her to do something about that cough. In Water Ending: ---------------- After defeating the final demon, James speaks to Mary. He really, really wants to be with her, and to be with her forever, James drives his car into the lake, committing suicide. As this happens, Mary reads off her letter once again. Rebirth Ending: --------------- After destroying the final demon, James takes four of the ritual items he's found on his stroll through Silent Hill. Those items are the White Chrism, the Book of Crimson Ceremony, the Book of Lost Memories and the Obsidian Goblet. He uses them, according to President Evil and the content in the books, to revive the cult that was wiped out in the first game. DOG Ending: ----------- In a replay game, James finds a DOG Key outside Rosewater Park. He uses it in the Observation Room at the hotel, and he finds a big screen with a map of Silent Hill, with James and Maria's faces on them. Controlling it is a dog, and James realizes that the dog did it the entire time. James speaks Japanese to the dog, and then we are treated to special credits with images of every character goofing off. This ending should not be taken seriously unless Orca can analyze. Perhaps this dog was the one that mocked Eddie. UFO Ending: ----------- Well, the rumors are true. Using the Blue Gem found in a Replay game, you can achieve the UFO Ending. Use the Blue Gem in the following locations, in order: 1. Garden, Evil Brookhaven Hospital 2. The dock next to the boat after killing Eddie 3. Room 312 of the Hotel, before viewing the tape A new ending will appear, and here is the description. After the UFO appear in front of the window, some greets James, in the form of a comic picture. It is none other than Silent Hill's Harry Mason (and the same polygon model from his game, too). Apparently, he is still be held captive by the aliens, and asks James if he's seen a "little girl, short, black hair." Obviously, Harry is still looking for Cheryl. James doesn't know who he is talking about, and James asks Harry if he's seen Mary. Aliens come and zap James, and Harry and his alien friend take James away. +++++++++++++ C. Characters +++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- James ----------------------------------------------------------------------- James killed his wife after 3 years of a painful disease. He then feels guilty, and makes up a story of his own in his mind, which he then convinces himself of, and goes to Silent Hill after getting a letter in the mail from Mary, sent by the nurse at the hospital most likely. After Mary died, the nurse sent the letter. James then drove home, having convinced himself of the story he had made up, received the letter, and then you find him as he is in the beginning of the game: incredulous that a dead wife has written to him. He did love his wife, but when she grew sick, he did not know how to deal with it, and it began to anger him that he could do nothing for his wife, and that she was helpless herself. In confusion, he killed her, hoping what he had done was right. Depending upon your ending, he justifies his killing in different ways. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mary ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mary was James' faithful, loving wife. She grew sick, and she stayed alive for the full 3 years expected of a dying person with her disease. (There is a statement somewhere in the game of a doctor saying she could live anywhere from 6 months to 3 years). We do not know the disease, but we can assume that it had no cure, and that it was a wasting away disease (similar to the plague). When she grew ugly, she felt ashamed, and lashed out at James when he tried to act helpful. They were both confused and helpless, and thus she acted ungrateful often, but really she was just sad to die, to leave him, and not wanting his or her pain to be prolonged. Appearances James' Picture: --------------- Here is a picture of Mary, and we all know a picture is 1000 words. She is not a superstar, but she is attractive, and she has the bearing of an average loving female. She dresses meanly, and her smile portrays a lot of love for James. James' Letter: -------------- Here is the traditional intro that we all know. "In my restless dreams I see that town, Silent Hill...special place." This is only the first half of the actual letter (or the first 1/6 or 1/8, considering how long the other half is). Conclusion: ----------- Depending upon your ending (2 of the normal 3, Water/ Leave) you will get to talk to Mary for a short time. Depending upon your ending, Jamestreats her in different ways. If you got the water ending, James is so glad to see her, that when she dies, James is once again thrown into darkness, and he commits suicide, by driving into the lake. If you get the leave ending, James is glad to see her, but he is a bit cautious of how she will feel about what he did to her. She reassures him that she is happier now that he killed her, and the fact that he came after her shows he really cared, and that he is a good person. Final Letter: ------------- James receives this no matter what ending he gets. It shows that though he may have been inhumane, Mary's intentions were always noble. She explains that she did treat you badly, but that it was because of the sickness, and her inability to stop her oncoming death. She loved James, but depending upon your ending, James may not have loved her. Either way, Mary comes out with almost saintly proportions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Angela ----------------------------------------------------------------------- She was abused and molested, along with her mother, by her father. She is also schizophrenic because of her need to put the damage done on someone else, leaving her other personality harsh and angry. Though the game seems to point to Angela having killed her father, there is no concrete fact within the game, so I revert to criminal and sexual abuse studies, which point out that in this situation, it is much more likely that Angela's mother killed the father, not Angela herself. Then Angela took the knife, having seen her father dead, and holds onto it, thinking it is the last she will remember of her father, and also it represents safety to her from her father, as well as the last resort to life itself. She says at one point that her mother says she is bad, or wrong, or something to that nature. What her mother is saying is that she deserved what her father did to her. She is not saying that Angela killed her father. The mother too was afraid of the father, and thus she had to justify his violent tendencies, and she justified them by making Angela into a bad child in her own mind (the mother, this is). People often tell me that the gravestone in the second cemetery shows that Angela is guilty. I don't believe this. I think that it shows that similar to "The Matrix," Silent Hill allows the people in it to feel exactly how they want to, and if Angela FEELS guilty, then she gets to go to the darker Silent Hills, because she THINKS she has done something wrong. Sex crime victims often feel that they are to blame, not the offender, especially if the offender is a family member. Appearances: Cemetery: --------- Angela is actually the first character we meet in the game. She is in a cemetery on the outskirts of town, looking for the grave of her Father. She tells James however that she is looking for her father and mother and brother in the town, as if she did not know that her father at least was dead. Angela is still in denial at this point that her father is dead. She has the knife at this point, but it has not yet made its appearance, because this is the most sane Angela ever gets. She is looking for her father in the town because part of her wants to believe that he is not dead, but another part knows that he is dead, and is trying to prove the other part of her wrong by finding the gravestone. West Wing Apartment: -------------------- Angela is in a passive state in this meeting. She is holding the knife, probably having remembered that her father is dead, and that she is safe as long as she has the knife. She is already seeing the fires around her now, but there are no monsters in the room, so she does not see her father in this room. The tEddie bear outside the door shows that Angela is thinking of her childhood. She is looking in the mirror to determine who she really is, because she honestly doesn't know. Room in the Labyrinth: ---------------------- At this point, Angela sees the thing James sees as a monster to be her father. She is practically catatonic with fear in a corner, and she sits still while James kills the creature. She says "No daddy, don't," which is a key clue to realizing that Angela was very young when her father abused her, and that he most likely sexually abused her, because telling someone who's angry "don't" will get you nowhere, but if he is acting friendly towards her, in order to violate her, her saying "don't" can be construed as a request of a friend, a plea if you will. After you kill the creature, she drops a TV on the creature, which symbolizes her hate of what her father did to her. However, she then falls to the floor and retches, which shows that just that act of hate is enough to make her queasy. Then she addresses James, and becomes suddenly violent in attitude, in order to defend herself from anyone she sees as a danger, I.E. any male figure. James has saved her, so she looks up to him, but the only other male that she looked up to was her father, so James reminds her of her father, and she gets very defensive. Hotel Burning Hallway: ---------------------- This is the final encounter with Angela, so it attempts to sum up her meaningfulness in the game. She knows that whether it was her, or her mother who killed her father, she will never live in peace again. She asks James if he thinks he could protect her, of if he would just force her, like "he" did. She then realizes that James cannot help her, and she walks off into the blaze, most likely to her death. If you zoom the camera and watch Angela walk up the stairs, the fire eventually engulfs her. She's murdered by her own insanity that is Hell. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Eddie ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Eddie is not a victim. He is crazy, and more specifically, he is more or less a sociopath, a provoked sociopath, but a sociopath. He killed a dog out of desire to see it die, and then his evil mentality led him to the darker realms of Silent Hill. After finding that killing made him feel strange (not guilty, because sociopaths do not feel guilt), he decided that he needed an excuse. He wanted to see the dog die, and after that he wanted to see people die. After that, he makes it clear that he is making people in Silent Hill, and then killing them. He finally attacks James off a single remark, because secretly he wanted to attack James too, and James kills him in self-defense. Appearances: Apartment Bathroom: ------------------ Eddie is found vomiting in a bathroom, in an apartment with a dead man. The man has been shot. We can assume that it was Ed who killed the man in 208 as well, and he who filled the room with the carriage in it with shell casings. He is sick because he feels strange about the killing, not bad. It is just quite a change for him. He is excited as well, at the fact that he has completed what he wanted to do: kill a person. Though they were not actually people, they were people in his mind, and he killed them in reality, because the town manifested the images in his mind into reality. Bowling Alley: -------------- Eddie is here with Laura, eating Pizza, in whatever mysterious way he got it by. He feels good around others, because it makes him feel less strange, like he feels when he is alone. He feels different when he is around other living beings than he does when he is alone, which is why he feels the need to kill. He treats Laura well because he enjoys smaller children, especially their innocence. Prison Cafe: ------------ Eddie is here, having killed more people, but his glee is short lived when James falls into the room. He suddenly realizes that he is not supposed to be doing what he has done, and he makes up excuses. Here he is holding the gun, and we get to see his transition as he realizes that what he did is wrong. He then runs out, not wanting to have to face James's questions. It's also symbolic that Eddie is in a prison, a place for convicts, and he is in the cafeteria, which sums up his excuses, and maybe he even makes up the excuse here. James' Grave: ------------- Eddie has finally overstepped himself, and has killed a lot of people without guilt. He tells James another excuse when James seems unhappy with his explanation. Then, of course, he realizes that he doesn't want to have to deal with James' probing questions, and his questions about his own morality, and he attempts to kill James. Eddie, by some sixth sense, knows that James is in this town for his wife, which he killed. He then calls James a hypocrite, and he tells him that he's not guiltless either. However, more than being true, this is just more justification of what he is doing, hoping that James will think as he does. Eddie then dies after being shot to death by James, and James has to think to himself about what he has done. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Maria ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Maria is a creation of James' imagination. He needs to feel less guilty About what he has done, and creates a fantasy women similar to Mary. She fawns over him, yet also asks biting questions. Every time he sees her, he pretends to want to see his wife more than her, to make his facade even greater (to himself), but he must see in the end that Maria is of his own making. He must let her go in the end, and realize that his wife is gone. Maria says, "I am, if you want me to be," which brings up the point that she will do whatever he thinks of. She has the key to the strip club because that is as far as his fantasies go, whereas many males today would go much farther. It is important to remember that James created Maria, and she does what he subconsciously wills her to do, which is why she keeps coming back. (Note: I didn't feel up to analyzing Maria in her side quest, as the entire thing is on appearance. Basically it is her being turned from a normal shade of a person into an evil shade who is out to hurt James. Either way, you can check the Ernest analysis to see her dealings with him, or read on to see about what happens to her in the main game). Apparently, while James is running around the Apartment buildings, Maria is on her quest to find another person. Perhaps this shows that James doesn't exactly know he's creating and controlling Maria. Appearances: Heaven's Night (Born from a Wish): ---------------------------------- She has a gun in her hand, and seems to want to shoot herself. She knows that the town is becoming weirder and weirder with each passing moment. She sets off to find another person. Outside Ernest's door: ---------------------- She finds another person, but the guy won't flash his face. She decides to find something for Ernest. Outside Ernest's other door: ---------------------------- She gives Ernest the White Liquid. Then Ernest tells of a story, and she finds out Ernest was just a spirit, a hurt spirit due to the death of her daughter. Child drawing wall: ------------------- She decides to kill herself, but suddenly she changes her mind, throwing the gun over the wall, walking away, to Rosewater Park. Rosewater Park: --------------- This is her first appearance, because this is where James expected to meet his wife, but he knows that in reality she is dead, so he creates Maria here, to pretend he still does not know that his wife is dead. It should rather be that James WANTED her to be here, since Maria already exists at the beginning of the game. He pretends to think that Maria is Mary, then be unhappy when he finds her not to be. Silent Hill has turned James' desire to see a female in the park into reality, and she bears all the things James wants in a woman, which include Mary's looks, though the clothing is a bit more risk. She knows that James is going for the hotel, and she knows everything that Mary knew, because she is an incarnation of Mary, through James. Mental Hospital (S3): --------------------- Here Maria waits, knowing what will happen to James when he goes downstairs. She takes some pills, because she is almost the same as Mary in James' mind, so she too has a disease. Mental Hospital (C2): --------------------- After James' battle with the feet, he is wheeled out into the outside area on a gurney. Maria is responsible for this, and she calls his name, in order to simulate him dying, and being wheeled to an emergency room. However, she is doing the opposite, leaving him outside, to show that he is getting the opposite of help, he's getting left behind. In James' mind, Maria has to fight the image of Mary, or else he will be regretful, and remember what he did. So Maria does this in order to show that if Mary were in his position, she would hate him too, so what he did was justified, and he deserves to have Maria instead of Mary. Mental Hospital (basement): --------------------------- When James finally finds Maria here, in order to keep up his facade of looking for Mary, he has to pretend he is sad it is not her when he finds Maria. Maria however, has to fight for James affection, so she acts angry in order to get him to want her more than Maria. She then acts concerned for Laura, because Mary too would have acted concerned for a child. Mental Hospital (long hall): ---------------------------- When James is running, and Maria dies, one of the evils of the town, a Pyramid Head, kills Maria. This is done by Samael in order to make James feel even worse about killing his wife, because it is like it happening all over again, and he is a bystander this time and cannot do anything. He has to keep up the facade that he loved his wife, so this strikes a great emotional blow to him. He sees himself in the past as the Pyramid Head, and it is like watching himself kill Mary, so he agonizes over it. Labyrinth Cell: --------------- Maria is alive again, because James once again has need to believe that he is actually searching for his wife, instead of just running around on a goose chase. Maria this time however almost becomes Mary, in order to get James to appreciate her more than Mary. James wants to like Maria more than Mary, so he has to have her image do this; act as though she is a continuation of Mary, but better. She also says a dead giveaway about her being created of James' imagination here "I am, if you want me to be. I'm here for you James, see? I'm real." This is the real clue that she is made by James, and that she is too good to be true, yet she is. Labyrinth Cell (2nd time): -------------------------- Now Maria is dead. She has suffered severe trauma to the head, and there is blood on the bed suggesting internal bleeding. She has been killed by Samael in order to drag James back to the reality that HE killed his wife. James smothered his wife, and thus she suffocated. If a person suffocates, their lungs work harder to get air, until they burst, causing internal bleeding. Maria's face is also marred, which represents James holding the pillow over Mary's head. The blood would leak out of the mouth, causing a lot of the facial blood. Dark Hotel: ----------- Here, Maria is on a rack, as if sentenced to destruction. James' mind has feebly conjured one last vision of Maria to prove his innocence, but Samael destroys it, showing him that he is not innocent at all. She will no longer be able to replace Mary in James' mind. He realizes this also however, and realizes that he must live without her*. She is then impaled, and she dies. This is not symbolic of James killing his wife, as Maria's last two deaths were, because now he has realized the truth. Final Room: ----------- Depending upon your ending, you will find Maria here. She will either tell James that he will never get Mary back, and that he should be happy with her, or that she will not allow him to kill himself. At this point, Maria has ceased to be an incarnation from James' mind, and has become quite evil. When he kills her, and she keeps crying out his name, she is once again referring back to Mary calling to him from her sickbed. Rosewater Park (2nd time): -------------------------- If you got the Maria ending, James has decided that Maria is worth more than Mary, and he decides to forget about Mary altogether and take Maria with him to live with. She will be the perfect wife, and he leaves the town with her. This is an ending showing that the evil of Silent Hill has gotten the better of him, and that it's not the last time he will visit hell. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura is innocence. She does not see monsters, and thus they cannot affect her, even though through her connection with Mary she is brought into both the foggy and dark worlds of Silent Hill. Samael will not hurt her, because being innocent, Metatron has full protection over her, and she traipses around as she sees fit. She was a patient at the hospital with Mary, and Mary wished her a happy birthday right before she died. She has a letter from Mary for her birthday which she eventually gives to James. One may be lead to believe that she herself is dead, but I rather the idea that she is living happily in the real Silent Hill. Appearances: Apartment 3rd floor: -------------------- James is reaching for a key when she kicks him and runs off. Laura knew Mary, and (call it child's intuition) knows that James is responsible for Mary's death. She knew Mary, and thus she was around when James would visit, and she would know that he was not really acting with affection. She thus is angry with James for acting coldly to Mary, and she kicks the key away, in order to slow his progress. However, she does not act in spite, but in childish play. She knows nothing of real hate. Wall outside of apartment: -------------------------- She is here singing, or humming. (She was singing "Ring around a Rosie" in the original game, but it was deleted due to content). It is commonly known that "Ring around a Rosie" refers to deaths due to the Black Plague. It is meant to make you think when she is singing about death, yet she knows nothing of it. This is the part that clearly shows you that she is innocent, and makes it clear that she sees no evil in Silent Hill. She also has the birthday letter, which she has taken from Mary. She asks James if he's blind, meaning that there is no reason for a little girl like her to be in a normal American town, but on a symbolic level she is also asking James why he is clouding the truth in his own mind. She then walks away, stating what James has only reinforced in her mind; that he does not love Mary. Bowling Alley: -------------- Laura is here, talking to Eddie. She has to put forth that she is tough, and independent, so she asks Eddie if he has killed anyone. Eddie is in a calm state of mind, and he knows that he cannot tella little girl that he did. All children desire to be self dependent and tough. She has asked him if he has seen Mary, because she is looking for her, having not seen her since a week ago in the hospital. When she hears James coming, she runs, not wanting to be with someone who was not friendly to her friend. This is common practice to children, running rather than deal with someone they dislike. Outside Hospital: ----------------- She is once again playing around outside the hospital, but James sees her in the dark Silent Hill, while she is actually physically still in the light Silent Hill. Hotel Restaurant: ----------------- She is here, once again playing around, trying to scare James, who to her seems always a little too on edge. (The fact that he his holding a weapon does not bother her however). She is beginning to accept James, seeing as he follows her through Silent Hill. She tells him that she got a card from Mary a week ago, for her 8th birthday. This is a clue to James, and he instantly knows that something is wrong. Hotel Rm. 302: -------------- Laura has finally found what she is looking for, Mary's home in Silent Hill. Once here, she gives James the her letter, because he is now worthy of it, having accepted what he has done. She has no more problems with James, and he tells her that she will in all probability never see Mary again. As a child, she dismisses it with little thought to the matter, and leaves. Graveyard: ---------- Laura walks across the graveyard where James met Angela at the beginning of his adventure. She is leaving Silent Hill ahead of James because she knows now the truth about Mary, and about James, and decides to live her life with James. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pyramid Head ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pyramid Head's are the evil minions of Samael, and they do his bidding and physical work. They are created of evil souls of the past that inhabited the town. They subjugate the weaker creatures, and they chase sinners through the town, harassing them and killing them if need be, for fun. They do however follow Samael, and are thus subject to Metatron's wrath. In this manner, when they have overstepped their bounds, Metatron controls them into their suicidal state. I would have to say that even though they seem the least likely for the job, Pyramid Heads seem to me to be the comic relief for the game. All the other characters that seem like they are, are actually underlying messages and unhappiness. Pyramid Head is just like one of those cartoon characters who runs up and pokes the sleeping dog, then runs away laughing hysterically, though a little more evil. The evil spirits that compose Pyramid Head are limited to lesser evils, because they have died. However, if they accidentally kill James in their fun, it matters not to them. However, Pyramid Heads are actual monsters not created by James mind, and they are the only such monsters in the town. There could be any number of them, so we could assume that it was the same Pyramid Head following James all the way until the end, when he was joined by a friend, or we can assume that each and every Pyramid Head James sees is a different one. It doesn't really matter, because they are all the same. They have one of 2 weapons, the giant knife or the spear, and when you find a giant's knife in the labyrinth, it is because a Pyramid Head just switched to the spear. Appearances: Apartment Hallway: ------------------ Pyramid Head is standing out in the hallway, simply taunting James, attempting to throw him off. The main reason Pyramid Heads are in Silent Hill is to taunt and hurt James, but not to kill him. They are evil, but a bit of a lesser evil, and they only accomplish larger evils, such as killing Maria, at the behest of Samael. 3rd floor Apartment: -------------------- Pyramid Head is here, amusing himself, and tormenting lesser demons. He then sees James, and wonders whether to continue with his current activity, or to bother James. He does a little of both, gesturing wildly at James, but after James fires at him, he figures he's scared James enough, and leaves. Article about killings: ----------------------- The killer of the 2 children says he was driven to it by a red demon. This is of course Pyramid Head, but all Pyramid Head did was draw him to what he already wanted to do. He was already an evil man, but Pyramid was there when he committed the evil deed, so he had something to blame it on. Hospital Roof: -------------- Pyramid Head once again decides to pay James a visit, and sneaks up on him, and throws him from the roof, knowing that he has not killed him. Feeling quite satisfied, he leaves. Long Hall: ---------- Pyramid Head has been ordered to really remind James that he is in the town because he is looking for his wife, and that he killed her. Pyramid Head stabs Maria, and Samael holds the doors closed to the elevator, just allowing James to see the ensuing carnage. This is showing James basically what he himself did, by killing a person. However, Samael wants James to feel that what he did is truly evil, so he causes Maria to cry out in pain, and the killing to be gruesome, rather than a mercy killing, as James would (depending upon your ending) have wished it. Prison Gallows Plaque/ Picture of "Justice": -------------------------------------------- Here two/one Pyramid Head(s) are portrayed as executioner(s). Since they executioners were evil men, for killing possibly innocent people (as illustrated in the labyrinth puzzle) their souls stayed in the town, and compose some if the population of Pyramid Heads. Labyrinth: ---------- Pyramid Head appears 2 times in the labyrinth, and the first time he has just switched weapons, so you find his knife, the second time he is just messing around with the locals. He attacks James both times, but only if he gets in the way. Dark Hotel: ----------- Here 2 Pyramid Head's confront James, after being ordered to kill Maria by Samael. That was James' final attempt to create a vision of Mary, and Samael immediately eradicates it because James knows the truth, and cannot go back. Then, as James is getting near to leaving the town, Samael orders him killed. At this point, however, Metatron steps in. Side Quest Characters: ---------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ernest Baldwin ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ernest appears first, or is heard first from behind a door in a Victorian style mansion that Maria has entered. An important aspect to Ernest is to remember that the only person that interacts with him is Maria, and from above we know that she's not even a reality. Therefore my take on Ernest is that he is an incarnation of Samael, taking Ernest's soul/form to guide Maria to his bidding. Maria was created from James thoughts of his wife, but Samael wants Maria to follow him, and hurt him, and be hurt, so as to cause pain to James. To do this, he has to guide Maria somewhat as a newborn child to her cause. Hence throughout her entire side quest she is told James is evil, and she needs to trouble him. However, a thread of Ernest hangs on, and desires his letter from his child. Therefore, Ernest gets what he wants, and so does Samael, a mutual gain relationship. Appearances: Top of Stairs behind Door ------------------------- Here Ernest first greets Maria, and gives her the rundown on himself. He's a quite guy, who strangely enough doesn't want to be seen. This is because, being half Samael, he's not entirely corporeal. Basically he just shunts Maria off at this meeting. Study--Behind Door ----------------- Here, Maria already has Ernest's daughter's card, and she brings it to him. Ernest's true self steps in and tells her how he is sad about his daughter, and that he's never forgotten her. Then Samael steps back in and prompts Maria to go get the first item of the ritual for rebirth, the White Chrism. Maria goes. Study--Behind Door (2) --------------------- Maria has come with the liquid, and this time Samael really prompts her as to what she should be doing. James is evil. She needs to know that. Also he states that they are the same, noting that she and Samael are ethereal, and that both are against James. Both are also lost in this town for good, with no hope of escape. That statement alone clued me in as to Samael being in Ernest's form. Finally when Maria opens the door, Samael has vanished into shadow. +++++++++ D. Themes +++++++++ Silent Hill 2, and most likely all Silent Hill games are full of unsettling emotions and 'themes' that add to the game. It isn't enough to shock the audience every so often in a horror game, to be truly frightening you have to play upon their own fears and dislikes. With all the unhappiness going around in Silent Hill, one of these themes is sure to get most anyone who plays it. Guilt: ------ At least guilt shows that the person is showing some signs of sorrow and penitence though it also goes to show that something irrevocable has taken place. Primarily, when James rediscovers the fact he killed Mary, he starts feeling guilty, and as he couldn't anything about it. Eddie, on the contrary, feels no guilt in the adventure, but that's what makes you wonder more and more about him until you find out what he's truly about. Besides that, Harry feels guilt when he kills Cybil, wishing there is something he could have done. Often what's more unsettling than guilt is how the characters do not feel guilt. Such as the man that killed the children (Walter Sullivan) saying he wasn't responsible. Suicide: -------- Suicide is a constant possibility in Silent Hill, exemplified very well by Angela. When James sees her with the knife the first time, he knows what's going on and does his best to get the knife from her. Later, she asks for it back but James refuses. In an ambiguous end, she walks into the fire. At that point however she may or may not be walking into an illusion, and CVX even thinks she may have been walking into Hell itself. There are several other references to suicide, notably when Eddie puts his own gun to his head, and I thought at least one of the corpses had a note that said it was suicide. Eddie clearly didn't intend to commit suicide, but he was getting across the idea once again that it did happen. And any of the carcasses you found may have chosen suicide over what may have happened to them. Deception: ---------- Deception is a large issue in that everything Maria does is a deception. She was sent upon her way by Ernest, and seems a lot like Mary to James. She is trying to deceive him the entire game long into believing that she is just as good as Mary and that he should just stick with her. Also the town itself is deceiving in how it changes. It will lure you into one place that looks safe and in the blink of an eye it's far worse then where you used to be. Just about everything in Silent Hill is deception, but it may not be consciously so. Such as Cybil saying it isn't safe outside, but not every telling Harry the extent of it not being safe. Mental Issues: ---------- Eddie and Angela both have clear issues caused by past experiences. They each killed someone or many people to find relief to their problems. Eddie, in particular, took it way too far, shooting and endlessly taking people's lives just for the fun of it, showing that he's lost his sanity. Angela, on the other hand, may have killed her father because she was abused, but she seems to be having muted and changing thoughts about it. James isn't crazy per se, but the way he's imagining Maria and the monsters might prove he's not quite right in the head. I'd place Eddie more as a Sociopath, where as Angela has issues with Schizophrenia in that she is sometimes herself, and sometimes her mother. Denial: ---------- Just about everyone in Silent Hill 2 suffers issues of denial. James clearly has forcefully forgotten 3 years of his life, which Silent Hill all too brutally makes him remember. Eddie doesn't believe that he's killed the people he kills, until he completely flips and then he's just doing it for fun more or less. Angela isn't quite sure about if she killed her father or not, but she denies that she did it sometimes, and she is in denial about her mother. Anger and Hate: --------------- This is an easy one because everyone gets angry some time or another. But in Silent Hill it is often pulled to extremes. Before I go on and explain how everyone in Silent Hill 2 was hateful, I'd like to note that Harry was always composed and I think this says a lot for him. James was angry at Mary for taking all his time while she lay sick. Depending upon the ending, he may have killed her because of this hate. When Angela embodies her mother, she has nothing to say but spiteful words, because she has grown so distrusting of men. Eddie hated being called fat, to the point where he snapped and started killing people, even when only he envisioned them as insulting him. Abuse: ------ Eddie and Angela were abused. However they are on almost opposite sides of the spectrum, because Eddie was just called fat too many times and he couldn't take it, whereas Angela was physically and most likely sexually abused and she only killed her father, if that. Eddie used the abuse as an excuse, which many people condemn these days. While the abuse is guaranteed to cause problems for a person, it is always up to them as to how to deal with it. Eddie took a very violent path, whereas characteristic of a female Angela took the abuse for far longer, and when she finally did do something about it, she always considered it as her fault, and couldn't live with herself. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ E. Differences of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The main differences between Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams lie in three aspects: the features, the new ending, and Maria's mini game. Silent Hill 2 only contains James' game, Letter from Silent Heaven, while Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams contains James' scenario as well as Maria's scenario. Silent Hill 2 contains five endings, Leave, In Water, Rebirth, Maria and the DOG Ending. Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams contains those 5 endings as well as a sixth ending, the UFO ending. In Silent Hill 2, you must beat the game once to gain the extra options. In Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams, they are unlocked from the beginning. Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams is available for the Xbox. Although they do not contain the subtitle "Restless Dreams," the Greatest Hits PlayStation 2 version and the PC version of Silent Hill 2 are the same as Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams. Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams goes by the following names in various countries, with the systems named afterward: Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams (Xbox, North America, Europe) Silent Hill 2 GH (PlayStation 2, North America) Silent Hill 2 (PC, North America) Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut (PlayStation 2, PC, Europe) Silent Hill 2: Saigo no Uta (Xbox, PlayStation 2, Japan) Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears (Xbox, Australia/New Zealand) All the above names are names for the same game. The ONLY version that IS NOT Restless Dreams (i.e. Does NOT contain Maria's scenario or the UFO ending) is the PlayStation 2, NON-GREATEST HITS version released for North America, Europe and Japan. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 6. T H E T O W N I T S E L F t h e t o w n i t s e l f +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ++++++++++++++++ A. Cult Presence ++++++++++++++++ Silent Hill was and is a normal resort town, perfectly similar to any other town, except that it is home to a small cult that sells narcotics. There are 3 towns, normal Silent Hill, Dark Silent Hill, and Fog Silent Hill. In the original game, it is made clear that the cult, headed by Dahlia Gillespie is after raising a demon, one of the old Gods, Samael. He is an eagle-winged beast with winged ears and a dog's snout, legs of a goat and arms of a strong man. Members of the cult include Dahlia Gillespie, Dr. Kaufmann, and two others, one Asian doctor and another man (probably Norman, the owner of the Bates Motel). Dahlia, in charge of the cult, learns that Samael can be raised in an unborn infant, and proceeds to do ancient rituals to get her baby, conceived with Kaufmann, to be that infant. She fails however, and only gets half of the angel, resulting in Alessa. She then decides that she will try again, for the other half, and has Cheryl. Neither of these children is normal, and thus cannot be assumed normal. Alessa is burned alive, in an attempt to raise her power, so that the cult (Dahlia) can draw off of it. She never heals, and in order to tap the power, must be kept alive. Kaufmann does this, but he needs an assistant; enter Lisa. Lisa works for the cult for a little while, seven years, then decides that it is evil, and puts the new baby, Cheryl on the side of the road. Alessa, being angry, and imbued with great power, creates dark Silent Hill. She hides her soul in this world, from her mother, who cannot enter this realm. However, as her power comes from Samael, Samael is now in the town, and his presence will never be fully erased. Thus even after Alessa is killed, the town retains the power to be black and evil, or foggy, depending upon the person entering the town, and their character. Dahlia also gains her dark power from Samael, which she uses to create fog Silent Hill, where she hides from society to do her worships. She summons Cheryl to this town, along with Harry, so that she will reach Alessa, and get the other half of the god. She believes that Cheryl, the other half of the god, will be drawn to her sister's pain, and thus Dahlia will find Alessa, and make the dark god whole. After Dahlia dies, Samael retains this dimension as well. Harry eventually comes in contact with Dahlia in her foggy realm, and gets the Flauros, an item able to summon the light power of the Archangel Metratron. When Harry finally confronts Alessa, she is matured in her dark power more than Cheryl, and so she fights for what Harry sees as evil, whereas all Alessa is really trying to do is escape the pain she is inflicted with. Harry uses the Flauros, and Metatron comes to counter the evil effects of Samael. Now that Metatron has entered the town, his essence too will never be fully removed. Dahlia finds Alessa thus, and brings her together with Cheryl, whom she has taken. (Not truly by force either, because Cheryl is drawn to her sister). Then Harry finds Alessa and Dahlia, and he puts an end to Alessa/Samael. Samael is evil and thus Alessa is bent on destruction, due to the evil his power is used for. Once his form is destroyed, he is weakened, but his essence remains. Only evil people are allowed to enter this darker realm of Silent Hill. The town is somewhat of a smaller world in itself, because it is good and evil. Once Samael was summoned into the child, and Metatron was summoned to do battle, they both retained a special place in their hearts for Silent Hill, because it is somewhat of a battlefield for good and evil. In this manner, each person coming into the town is either allowed into the normal, almost saintly town of Silent Hill, or the darker realms. The normal town is a resort town, and it used to be a sacred area, says Mary. The normal town is still imbued with happiness and light, and this is why Mary wanted to go to the town again, and overall it is a wonderful place to be. It becomes even more so when the darker realms are separated from the light, leaving almost Heaven on earth. Neither good nor evil can outdo one another, but they can make sure that the other does not overstep their bounds. The history of the town also lends itself to a Jihad, because of the evil that had occurred in the past. Then James enters, having left only a week prior, but now he has a sin on his soul. James gets into Silent Hill, and is thus brought to Hell for his wrongdoings. ++++++++++++++++++ B. The Drug Market ++++++++++++++++++ Silent Hill had its own market of drugs which Cybil and the Silent Hill P.D. investigated. She never solved the case, but Silent Hill reveals that Kaufmann was behind the marketing to the drugs to the tourists. White Claudia was one of those drugs. Lisa was addicted to the drug. The drug also played a vital role to the Silent Hill cult. White Claudia is only grown in Silent Hill, according to a newspaper article. The drugs are thought to have killed Silent Hill's mayor as well as a police officer named Gucci. It seems that the drug influence was a large part of what happened in the town, but was not fully responsible. The drugs were just a part of the cult, and while Kaufmann worked the marketing, Dahlia used the drugs to enhance her control over the cult and get what she wanted. Where the real life issues with drugs and possible supernatural happenings in Silent Hill end and begin, I cannot say. But it is good how they are tied together... The drugs bring out the guilty pleasures in people. People clearly know that drugs might not be the best choice in life, and an example is smoking, but people do it anyway because their minds are too weak to overcome it. Lisa fell under that mind or lack of it. Lisa had a chance to escape Silent Hill, but in the end she could only save the second baby the cult created by leaving it to be found by Harry and his wife. Clearly, the world in real life has demonstrated that abusing something will not be good for you. Too much time relaxing gets you lazy. Eating too much causes you to become overweight and can be rather unhealthy. Drugs are the same. Too much can eventually harm your ability to think, and create unhealthy needs. Had Lisa been able to control herself, she could have escaped Silent Hill. The drugs exemplify several of the major sins of mankind, and bring perspective to how this cult is working. The Greed for money, and Gluttony on peoples parts to get the drug only aided the cult. Because the drugs also weakened the peoples minds, it made them all the more malleable for Dahlia. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ C. Silent Hill's History ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Silent Hill has had some bad occurrences in the past. There was evil all the way back from the Civil War, where a garrison was formed, and the town turned into a prison. Prisoners were all executed, regardless of crime, by either hanging or piercing. The guards and inhabitants who allowed this inhuman treatment to go on were evil, and their souls still haunt Silent Hill, a sort of purgatory if you will. They now act as minions of Samael. There have been several accidents in the town as well. A boat on Toluca Lake disappeared, and it is assumed it sank, with no survivors. The lake used to be a swamp, and it is where the prisoner's bodies were dumped. The water would be murky red. There was also persecution even before the war, of a Christian woman, and there have been traitors and killers in the town off and on. There was a killing of two small children, and the perpetrator was sentenced to life, but committed suicide with a spoon, 2" deep in his jugular vein. Despite being a lakeside town, it evolved like most towns do. Technology evolved the town, obviously, since the town is up-to-date with radios, TVs and definitely has that modern look to it. Given the description above, one might think that the town will seem old-like, but it obviously isn't. (True, modernity is more evident in SH2 than SH, but SH exploration was more indoor based than outdoor based, and they were in elder territory, another minus. SH2 does the best job at it.) ++++++++++++++++++ D. Old Silent Hill ++++++++++++++++++ This is the northwestern most area of Silent Hill we all know about so far (there could be territory to the west). As the name implies, this is mainly a residential area for people who lived in Silent Hill for quite awhile. The only non-elderly feature is the elementary school, but it has to be somewhere. Lakeside Silent Hill borders the southern area and across the river to the east in Central Silent Hill. This is the most traditional aspect you get when you think of Silent Hill. Small town houses on each side of the road, tilted mail boxes, and old hatchback cars. There are old shops here, and no apartments etc. This is a small town area. ++++++++++++++++++++++ E. Central Silent Hill ++++++++++++++++++++++ This is located across the river east of Old Silent Hill. This isn't too much of a residential area like Old Silent Hill. This is a shopping area. There are many shops here, a small police department and a local hospital. There are also many restaurants, and little boutiques. This is an area where vacationers want to go when they aren't out on the lake relaxing. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ F. Lakeside Silent Hill and Palevile ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Located south of Old Silent Hill is the lakeside resort, north of the Toluca Lake. This is a vacationing area. For lower-income people is the Bates Motel, and the hotel bordering the amusement park is for thehigher-class folks. There is an old watching lighthouse on the lake, as well as an island. The lake is also used as a dock, with warehouses on it. The amusement park and hotel are in a smaller sub-district called "Palevile." ++++++++++++++++++++++++ G. Southvale Silent Hill ++++++++++++++++++++++++ On the southern side of the lake is Southvale. There are 2 parts to Southvale: East Southvale and West Southvale, but just Southvale is fine. Southvale is a district of town still in development, as evidenced by the amount of construction still being done on the town. It is basically Old Silent Hill with a pinch of Lakeside Silent Hill topped with some Central Silent Hill. There is a park to look at the lake, a fire department, and a lot of restaurants. Apartment buildings provide cheap housing, and those who cannot afford to stay at the big hotel by the Amusement Park can opt for Jack's Inn. It's basically for the younger people to go to. Since Alchemilla Hospital somewhat far away (although it's a 5 minute drive, tops), they've built a sister hospital here, called "Brookhaven." However, Brookhaven is more of a psychological hospital than a emergency medical one. +++++++++++ H. The UFOs +++++++++++ In the universe as humans know it, there are 2 forces, good and evil. But this is a somewhat comic approach by Konami, but not entirely comic, to show a 3rd force. The aliens, strangely enough, are always summoned with a jewel, or amulet that looks quite valuable. This shows that they know human's well enough to put out an item that they know will be used. Since the opposite of following most religions is lust for money, the aliens have somewhat used this against humans. Any human who uses the "Mammon" will be captured by the aliens. (Mammon is a term used in old English to refer to money, the opposite of holiness). The aliens simply wish to learn of the human existence. Since this is a comedic side-quest to both Silent Hill games, it has little symbolism in the bigger picture. But the fact that the aliens used jewelry as bait is notable. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 7. T H E R A D I O A N D F L A S H L I G H T t h e r a d i o a n d f l a s h l i g h t +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// The Radio is the thing that keeps making noise when a monster is around. It makes a white noise full of static, but barely anything seems to come out of it that is understandable, except the messages from Mary, or that ominous contest message in the elevator at Brookhaven Hospital. Really, the radio is really meant to scare you, because it pretty much forces you to keep the volume up. It's really an ingenious trick by Konami. If you turn it off, you never know when Pyramid Head might come by, but if you turn it on, James or Harry will get a new sense of fear inside them, as well as you, the player. -CVX Now that we have our technical aspect from CVX, I'll add my thoughts on the Radio as to why it is in Silent Hill story-wise. First off, you get partial messages through it. These help you keep your goal in mind, and get you going on your journey. Secondly, it's a long shot, but it could be a Holy Artifact sent to protect you (yes, a long shot indeed). Other than that, I'm going to say that it keeps the user in touch with reality, and that when it goes static, it is like a normal radio going static, you are loosing contact with your music, your reality. This means a monster is near, and your character is venturing back into haziness, the unreality that is Silent Hill. The flashlight is also a symbolic element if you ask me. What does it do? It provides light in dark areas. Again it seems as if the flashlight is just barely keeping you in touch with reality, it's light keeps you from fading into complete darkness. Each character has had one, and if you notice they don't seem to ever run out of batteries (except James' conveniently timed light failure in the bug room). Again, I would say that this is more than a normal flashlight, and maybe it doesn't even exist, but the knowledge that the protagonist thinks that he/she has it is enough for them to see clearly what they want to, and to disregard what is in the dark. Also, though all other horror games have put the flashlight as an item that requires one hand to use, as an actual utility flashlight, Silent Hill characters have always kept it near their body, specifically their heart. Interpret that as you will. Seems kind of nice to me. -Orca /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 8. F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S f r e q u e n t l y a s k e d q u e s t i o n s +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Q. Where is Silent Hill? A. It is somewhere in America but no specific detail and location is given. There are lots of towns with lakes within them, but any outside features noting them would be nice, like a forest zone, mountain, river, etc. America will just be fine, though the northern accent in America is more common, making it seem like it wouldn't be somewhere in the south. Q. Who where those two guys with Dahlia and Kaufmann during the flashback in Nowhere? A. I'm willing to bet money that one of them was Norman, the Bates motel owner. Norman was working with Kaufmann and Dahlia in getting supplies around Silent Hill, and hiding them as well. These people were there primarily to show that the cult was no 2 bit operation, it was a large underground organization that had people such as doctors involved in it. Q. Can we explore Old, Central and Lakeside Silent Hill in SH2? A. No, unfortunately, we can only explore a little bit of Lakeside Silent Hill by exploring Paleville. Q. How do Cybil, Kaufmann, Laura, Eddie and Angela get around town with all the blocked roads? A. Why ask, that's part of the fun of the game. Anyway, as I've said before there are different Silent Hills, and getting around one of them is entirely different than getting around another version. Laura more than likely was just walking around a very nice town having a good time. As to the other characters, they probably either knew their way around, or (this is a reach) had teleporting devices (it was a magical mystical cult and all that). Anyway, as I said this shouldn't be one of your concerns, all that matters is how you get around. Dark and foggy Silent Hill are more illusions of reality than actual reality, so how people got places isn't an issue. Q. Who is Ernest Hemingway? A. Ernest Hemingway, who Maria jokingly accused Ernest Baldwin of being, was an author of many stories with very discreet explanations. Ernest Hemingway married several times, and killed himself in 1961. He had many kinds of beliefs in the world, all of which can be found here, where I got a bit of this information: http://www.ernest.hemingway.com/page9a.htm Q. Why does it snow in Silent Hill but not in Silent Hill 2? A. I do not know, really. Silent Hill 2 was essentially the foggy town itself while SH was fog and snow. It can be a lot of factors, from a different internal presence of the town to the limitations of the hardware the developers were using to develop SH2, though unlikely. Also notice that though it snowed it never actually collected snow anywhere. So This may have been just to show that there was turmoil in the atmosphere of Silent Hill and that the snow was a result. Q. What is it about James that makes Samael want to torture him? A. It's never fully explained WHY Silent Hill wants to hurt James so badly. Harry is understable, but not James. There could be a number of theories. Mary could have been addicted to White Claudia, causing her illness, she could have been part of the cult, or she could have been someone Samael just liked having around, but it's never explained. More than likely Samael wants to get at James for his denial of what he's done. That's his dark little secret, and Samael loves prodding him about it. Q. Which is the best version of SH2? A. Pretty much any versions that have the Maria minigame. They're all identical, though the PC version might lag behind in some aspects. Q. Where can I buy the ALL Silent Hill games? A. All videogame stores will carry Greatest Hits versions of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2, and most will carry Platinum Hits versions of Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams for Xbox. The Silent Hill: Play Novel is a rare item nowadays, so try Ebay. Q. What are film inspirations of the Silent Hill series? A. The game wasn't really inspired by any films. The game writer (Akihiro Immamura) said that he liked watching all sorts of horror films, but that he wanted his to be original. If anything, Silent Hill resembles the style of the movie "EraserHead" by David Lynch. Most any horror movie will resemble Silent Hill in one respect or another, but there are a few that look more like it, such as "Jacob's Ladder" or "The Ring," in a sense that "The Ring" just never ends unless you do something right. "Session 9" also held the atmosphere of the game for awhile. And who knows, maybe "28 Days Later" with its post apocalyptic feel will be a bit like it. Q. Why was Silent Hill 3 released in PAL territories first? A. Apparently, Konami just wanted to for once. There could be many reasons, some of them could be true, some of them could not. Anyway, Europe hardly ever gets a game first, they usually get the same games the U.S. or Japan get up to 6 months later. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 9. C O N C L U S I O N c o n c l u s i o n +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Well, this FAQ is finished for now, Silent Hill 3 is around the corner in Japan, and I will add to this document upon its release. Until next time, folks! - CVXFREAK (FireEmblemPride@hotmail.com) CVXFREAK would like to thank: -Family and friends -Orca782 for letting me add to this document -President Evil (Dan Birlew) for a lot of inspiration and ideas -CJayC for accepting this at GameFAQs -Stephen, Jon and Hilary for putting this on IGN -Konami for making Silent Hill Thank you for reading this guide, I hope it helped you understand this tremendous game. I am always here for questioning about the plot guide section, whereas I'm sure CVX is far more up to date on the technical aspects and such of the game. I'd recommend emailing me for questions on plot, and email CVX with game questions, game version questions, etc. Thanks a lot. -Orca (Orca782@hotmail.com) Orca782 would like to thank: -Gustav Davidson: Dictionary of Angels -GameFAQs: Cool site -Konami: Very ambiguous game. -President Evil: Some material in my guide, and his idea of a plot guide. -CVXFREAK: For lots great stuff in here, and his help/allowing of my help on other guides. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// FAQ POLICY: ----------- With 2003 in as of this writing, I have created a new policy for my FAQs. Please follow this policy. E-MAIL POLICY: I no longer answer e-mails about anything found in these guides. My FAQs comprehensively answer the questions, and any e-mail about content found IN the guides is not tolerated. Please read this and make sure what you're e-mailing is within bounds of answering. If I haven't answered a question of yours, then you overstepped the boundaries. HOSTING POLICY: These following websites can host all of my guides in one form of another. NO MORE WEBSITES MAY HOST MY GUIDES UNLESS THEY HAVE ANY FORM OF COMPENSATION. It's not very fair to have one website offer me something, and another one not offer me anything. It's not a greed factor, or anything personal, it's just that some websites do much better than others to refavor me for my own hard work, and rewarded they shall be. www.gamefaqs.com faqs.ign.com www.neoseeker.com www.new-blood.com cubed.biohazardextreme.com www.a2zcheats.com www.cheats.de www.psxcodez.com www.meristation.net (I might have missed one or two, but they likely have fewer visitors). COPYRIGHT POLICY: All my FAQs have copyrights starting 2002. Any copyrights before that are ineffective as of January 1, 2003. You probably don't care, so don't violate the copyright and you'll be fine. Sorry to waste your time reading this, but it has to be said in the form of the new year. ---CVXFREAK FireEmblemPride@hotmail.com /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// End of document. ---