Silent Hill: Plot Analysis by cvxfreak / ORCA782 *********************************************************************** |+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| ======================================================================= | | | ####### ### | | / ### # ### | | / ## ### ## # | | ## # # ## ## | | ### ## ## | | ## ### ### ## /## ### /### ######## | | ### ### ### ## / ### ###/ #### / ######## | | ### ### ## ## / ### ## ###/ ## | | ### /## ## ## ## ### ## ## ## | | #/ /## ## ## ######## ## ## ## | | #/ ## ## ## ####### ## ## ## | | # / ## ## ## ## ## ## | | /## / ## ## #### / ## ## ## | | / ########/ ### / ### / ######/ ### ### ## | | / ##### ##/ ##/ ##### ### ### ## | | | | | \) ------------------------- | | 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/PC) | | | |Version 6.5 | |May 13, 2007 | |E-mail: Orca782[at]hotmail[dot]com (Orca782) | | FireEmblemPride[at]gmail[dot]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 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. Other Potential Areas I. 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 series unlike any other. The storyline, in particular, is extremely deep and thought-provoking. The series is 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 and actual outside research to properly analyze them, and even then, there might be more than one way to analyze a given message. Therefore, another plot document for the Silent Hill series exists, in addition to Dan Birlew's guides. There are so many ways to analyze this series, and the authors feel this document is an adequate alternative, not substitute, to other plot guides on the Silent Hill series. So please enjoy this guide, and decide what views work best for you. Orca782 originally started this document alone with only miniscule support from cvxfreak, who became co-author after the initial version was posted. The two authors had complimentary views and different writing strengths, so they put their effort into one document. 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. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 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 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------ May 13, 2007 ------------ Version 7.0 I added more information to the guide and fixed up anything else that needed to be fixed. -------------- April 22, 2007 -------------- Version 6.5 cvxfreak here. This plot analysis has not been updated in three years. Well, I'm here to fix up any of the writing that needed improvements. The plot summaries often omitted important details and were far too brief; this new update restores them so they now have detailed and accurate descriptions. The previous version also had some awkward writing and grammar; these two have also been proofread and fixed. I also removed the Silent Hill 4 section, as I do not plan on covering that game in this guide anymore, and apparently neither does Orca782. Silent Hill 0rigins, a prequel to the original Silent Hill, is coming to the Sony PSP. Hopefully analysis for that title can be added into this document, but no promises just yet. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 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 innovated the survival horror genre. Released in early 1999 for the original PlayStation, the game was met with great acclaim and praise and earned a spot in many PlayStation gamers' game collection alongside the Resident Evil series. Immediately removed from being called a Resident Evil clone, Silent Hill created a dedicated fanbase that follows the games very closely, especially in regards to plotline. 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 - In a jeep on a nearly deserted freeway, Harry Mason and his daughter Cheryl are approaching Silent Hill, a small resort lakeside town, at night. Car trouble has pushed them behind schedule, hence the evening drive. As Harry drives the jeep, a female police officer drives passed his vehicle on her motorcycle. Moments later, he sees the motorcycle on the side of the road, abandoned, with the driver nowhere to be seen. Harry looks at the motorcycle, wondering where the driver has disappeared to, before focusing on the road once again. Seconds later, as Harry's car finally reaches Silent Hill, he sees a woman in a school dress crossing the road, and swerves the car, going off the road and unexpectedly through a fence into a section of the town. He is loses consciousness for the rest of the night, and wakes up in the morning, seemingly unharmed. It's foggy, and it's snowing out of season. Harry looks to the passengers seat, and notices that Cheryl is missing, with the passengers side door left open. Harry decides to look for his daughter, and leaves the vehicle. He walks for a few seconds before sees a shadow of Cheryl in the distance. After realizing it's Cheryl, Harry approaches her, but Cheryl starts to run off. Harry tells his daughter to stop, but Cheryl keeps running. Harry chases Cheryl up a small, thin alleyway, and into a back area past some gates and fences. As he gives chase, it becomes increasingly dark. Suddenly, the skies become pitch black, surprising Harry. But this ominous sign fails to stop him, so he takes his lighter out and uses it to aid in his vision. With just the slight illumination of his lighter, Harry proceeds down the alleyway, where he sees increasingly disturbing scenes; an empty wheel chair, a gurney, and larger and larger puddles of blood. The fences go from normal metal to barbed wire with chunks of bodies and blood hanging from them. He comes to a sight of a crucified corpse. The surroundings disturb and trouble Harry, and he runs into a dead end without seeing Cheryl anywhere. Harry turns around, and suddenly is attacked by vicious looking, children-like demons that wield knives. (note: In the Japanese version, the demon children are replaced by those orange creatures with one eye and claws. However, demon children make more sense as far as the plot goes, so I'm going with that.) Harry, unarmed, can only endure the attacks by the demon children, and falls to the ground, losing consciousness, as he is slowly killed... Sometime later, Harry awakes on a cushioned seat in a cafe. He is not alone; the police officer from the road is there too. She introduces herself as Cybil, and asks if Harry knows what's going on with the abandoned town and broken communications. (Harry doesn't question Cybil about abandoning the motorcycle earlier) He replies, of course, that he doesn't know what's going on, since he's just a tourist that arrived recently. Harry remembers that his daughter is missing, and asks Cybil if she has seen Cheryl. Unfortunately, Cybil has not seen Cheryl, and tells Harry as much. Harry then gets up to leave, in order to look for his daughter. Cybil tries to stop Harry from leaving, warning him of the dangers outside (unexplained dangers). But, Harry protests, and Cybil finally allows him to leave. She gives Harry a handgun for protection, warning him about the dangers of the weapon. Cybil warns for Harry not to shoot her by accident (important later). Cybil leaves the cafe in order to return to Brahms, the next town over, so she can get backup. She vows to return as soon as she can, leaving Harry alone in the cafe. Harry sees a few supplies that will be useful to him on his search; a map, flashlight, health drinks, and even a kitchen knife, in case he runs out of bullets. As he leaves the cafe, a broken radio begins to emit static noise, and as Harry examines the radio, a flying demon breaks through the cafe window and knocks Harry off his feet. Harry uses Cybil's gun to dispose of the creature. It's at this point that Harry realizes just what kind of a situation he's caught up in. He decides to take the radio with him, and finally leaves the cafe. He decides to resume his search by beginning in the alleyway he was in earlier. He uses his map to guide him there. Returning to the alleyway, the area leading to the bloody mess is blocked off by a wall, but on the ground are pages from Cheryl's sketchbook that Harry bought her as a birthday gift. On the front of the book is a scribbled drawing of Harry, and on a page in large, red ink is written "to School." Checking the map he found in the cafe, Harry locates Midwich Elementary, a school in his vicinity, in southwest Old Silent Hill. Attempting to head there, Harry notices that all possible paths to the school are blocked due to mysterious chasms in in the streets. He is also attacked by dozens of flying demons and demon dogs, but Harry manages to dispose of them with Cybil's handgun. Near one of the chasms, he finds more notes from Cheryl, and after a goose hunt for some oddly themed "Keys for Eclipse", he finds a path through a house which bypasses the chasms, allowing Harry to reach Midwich. However, as soon as he steps into the backyard of the house, the town becomes blanketed in darkness once again, with the Keys for Eclipse living up to their name. Instead of a lighter, Harry uses the flashlight from the cafe, hanging from his front pocket, allowing him to continue holding onto his weapons. More creatures attack Harry, and in the darkness, they become difficult to see and attack, so Harry runs as fast as his legs can carry him to the school. In Midwich, Harry finds the place is deserted, with Cheryl nowhere to be found, as Harry searches the empty classrooms and offices. Harry, in order to advance, solves several puzzles related to time, birds, a dissolution chemical and a boiler room. After solving all these puzzles, Harry steps into the school's clock tower, now unlocked thanks to completing the puzzles, and ends up... back in the school courtyard, from where he entered the clock tower. But he couldn't have ended up back in the schoolyard, because that's where he came from... However, Harry looks onto the ground at his feet, and sees an odd, circular image engraved onto the ground that wasn't there earlier. It seems like a strange symbol with a meaning Harry doesn't seem to know. In awe, he discovers that the school has become a mess hall, just like the alleyway. Still eager to find Cheryl, he does continues to explore. In one room, Harry finds an open book about teenage girls and poltergeist activity (important, read further). After some unpleasant encounters, including a ringing telephone that emits Cheryl's voice, Harry makes his way to the school basement. He encounters a lizard with a giant mouth that Harry manages to kill with a Shotgun he finds, thanks to a tip from a book he read as he wandered through the dark school. Killing the lizard apparently reverses the transformation of the school. As Harry reappears in the school boiler room, he sees the girl from the road, the one he almost hit. But before Harry could say or do anything, the girl smiles at him and vanishes into thin air, quite literally. Harry wonders what just happened, and realizes the school has returned to its relatively normal state. The darkness has also disappeared, with the fog and snowing dominating the Silent Hill air. Harry hears church bells ringing, and sees a Balkan Church on his map, so he decides to try searching for who rang the bells. More chasms attempt to block Harry from reaching the church, but he lucked across a key when the girl vanished, and it happened to be the key to access the back door of a house on Levin Street he discovered in the school directory, allowing him to once again bypass a chasm. At the church, Harry sees an old woman in ragged clothing, walking barefoot. Harry wonders just who this strange woman is, but all she does is clue him to go to the hospital, after leaving him with a pyramid-shaped relic, the Flauros. The lady leaves, with Harry having little choice but to proceed to the hospital, located in another part of Silent Hill, across the bridge, in Central Silent Hill. Using a key he found at the church, Harry lowers the bridge to Central Silent Hill. Before heading to the hospital, Harry stops by the police station to look for anything useful. He finds some mysterious files that speak of some hallucinogenic drug called "White Claudia". There seems to be a large market for them in Silent Hill. But none of this seems to be relevant, so Harry proceeds to Alchemilla Hospital in the southern portion of Central Silent Hill. After Harry enters the hospital, he hears a bullet shot in one of the rooms. Harry enters the room where the shot came from, and meets an irritable doctor, Michael Kaufmann. Kaufmann, gruff in tone and nature, just shot one of the flying demons. He also shoots his gun towards Harry, but luckily misses, realizing Harry is a human. Harry and Kaufmann speak, with Harry asking if he's seen Cheryl. Like Cybil, Kaufmann hasn't seen her. Kaufmann explains that he went to sleep in a break room, and when he woke up, he saw that the hospital became empty, the weather out of season, and monsters everywhere. He even asks Harry about his wife. Harry tells Kaufmann that his wife died four years ago. Kaufmann decides to take his leave, Harry wishing him luck as he explores the rest of the 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 suspicious-looking red liquid that had seemingly been dropped on purpose. The rest of the room has been ransacked, and it appears as if the liquid was the object of the search. Harry restores power to the hospital in the basement. He uses the elevator to reach the upper floors, but a search of the upper floors is impossible due to jammed doors. As Harry returns to the elevator, a mysterious fourth floor appears! It's an ominous sight, but Harry has no choice but to take the elevator up to this mysterious fourth floor. As Harry gets off the elevator, he ends up in a dark, bloody hallway. The hospital, like the elementary school and the alleyway, has transformed into darkness, and Harry has to reverse this on his own. Harry proceeds down this fourth floor, but he doesn't seem much, ending up at a staircase that will take him to the third floor. He encounters demon nurses that have weird, wiggling bulges on their backs. Harry also sees demon doctors, and avoids or kills whoever he runs into. He can't let any monster stop him from finding Cheryl. As with the school, Harry goes through fruitless searching of the now-unlocked second and third floors. After unlocking a few doors and reaching the basement, Harry pushes a shelf in the basement storeroom, revealing a secret door. He enters it, finding another passage guarded by metal grating. Harry stumbles onto a hallway containing six rooms. One of the rooms is a hospital room whose patient is identified by a photo on a machine -- the same girl who Harry nearly hit on the road, and saw appear and vanish at the elementary school. The name on the photo reads "Alessa". Alessa's hospital room contains a stretcher, her photo, and some medicinal pills. Harry searches elsewhere, and finds another key, one that leads him into the room he met Kaufmann in. But instead of finding Kaufmann, Harry shines his flashlight at a woman hiding beneath a desk, a panicked but human nurse. When the nurse realizes Harry isn't a demon, she hugs him, looking relieved, smiling. Harry chats with the nurse, who identifies herself as Lisa Garland. Of course, she works at this hospital. Harry asks Lisa if she's seen Cheryl, but as with everyone else Harry's met in Silent Hill, Lisa hasn't seen Cheryl. Harry asks Lisa about the hidden basement, but Lisa is ignorant of such matters, as nurses are instructed not to enter the basement storeroom on strict orders. Lisa asks Harry if he's seen anything, but before Harry can explain, he is hit with a headache, and suddenly loses consciousness. Lisa tries to help Harry, but Harry blacks out. Harry ends up back in the room he met Kaufmann in, the hospital having returned to its normal state. No lizards or other demons to kill this time, apparently. Someone enters the room. It's the old woman from the church, who reveals herself as Dahlia Gillespie. Once again, she speaks to Harry in cryptic language, explaining that the town is being swallowed by darkness. Harry is clueless about this, but does know about a circular symbol appearing all over town, as he encountered it at the schoolyard. Dahlia explains that this is the Mark of Samael, a symbol of evil. Dahlia commands Harry not to let it be "completed". She leaves a key on the desk, telling Harry to visit the "Other Church" of this town. She leaves, leaving Harry alone again. Harry looks at his map and cannot find any church on the map except for Balkan Church, which he already visited. However, the key Dahlia leaves behind is an antique shop key, so Harry decides to find one. Using a phonebook at the hospital, Harry finds an antique shop in the northeastern part of Central Silent Hill, across town. It's a long run, avoiding monsters amidst the fog and snow, but Harry eventually finds the shop. Harry takes a flight of stairs down from its entrance, and enters the shop. Inside, Harry moves aside a shelf, finding a hidden, mysterious tunnel in the wall. Before Harry could explore it, Cybil enters the shop and begins to speak to Harry. She explains to Harry that she was unable to find a way out of town due to all the chasms in the roads. Harry explains that he's still on his hunt for Cheryl, but still hasn't found her. Cybil points out that she did see a girl on Bachman Road, but the girl got away from Cybil because the girl literally crossed over one of the chasms leading towards the Silent Hill lakeside. Harry is shocked at thus revelation. He asks Cybil if she knows anything about Dahlia and the darkness she spoke of. Cybil answers that the people of Silent Hill were addicted to drugs, and that there was trafficking going on. Cybil was investigating it, but all leads have gone cold. Harry doesn't seem to see a connection to the current situation, though. Although, he did read up on drug trafficking in the police station... He tries to tell Cybil about the dark transformations he's experienced all over town, mentioning his meeting with Lisa, but Cybil doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. She thinks Harry is tired and imagining things, and Harry seems to concur, uninterested in convincing Cybil to believe something so strange and unbelievable. Cybil asks Harry about the tunnel in the wall, and Harry says he found it before she came in. Harry decides to have a look, while Cybil, after protesting the logic of a cop covering for a civilian. Cybil guards the entrance as Harry explores. The tunnel is short, and leads to a simple room with an altar, and a picture of a flying, naked demon. Harry concludes this to be the "Other Church" Dahlia spoke of. Harry sees an axe on a wall, and decides to use it for a weapon. Harry finds a jammed door, but nothing else of interest. He tries to return to Cybil, but suddenly, the altar begins emitting fire from cups set atop the altar, which surprises Harry. Cybil, still guarding the entrance to the tunnel, calls out to Harry, stunned by the silence in the room. She decides to check the secret tunnel out for herself, but as she arrives in the altar room, still flaring, she sees no sign of Harry, wondering just what happened to him... 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. Apparently, Dahlia went insane after her child died in a fire. The cult that existed in Silent Hill apparently had been around for a long time, but when the lakeside resort was built, younger people moved into the town, all drawn in by drug trafficking. Lisa decides that she's rambled on too much, and stops speaking afterwards. Harry wakes up in the antique shop again. However, it's now become the dark, decaying environment Harry experienced at the school and hospital. Cybil is no longer here, but Harry remembers what she said about Cheryl crossing a chasm towards the lake. But, with a chasm there, Harry can't access the lake area. There should be another way to get there. Lisa should know, so Harry decides to brave the nightmarishly transformed town and return to Alchemilla Hospital. The town has not been spared from the dark transformation to evil. Chasms have appeared, trying to block Harry from returning to the hospital. Harry goes through a mall, and as he tries to reach the second floor, a set of television screens turn on, showing Cheryl in a panicked, suffering state, asking for her daddy to help her. The screens go blank, prompting Harry to continue his search. After taking down a type of larva creature, Harry manages to make a break for the hospital, taking a hunting rifle with him for added firepower. Harry runs into Lisa again, asking her if she knows another path to the sewers. Lisa tells Harry of a sewer waterworks located next to Midwich Elementary School (in fact, Harry had passed by it earlier). However, Lisa demands Harry to stay in with her and keep her company. However, Harry needs to find Cheryl, but offers for Lisa to go with him. Lisa, unfortunately, finds herself unable to leave to the hospital. Not arguing, Harry promises to come back for Lisa after he finds Cheryl. Harry leaves the hospital again, but chasms have blocked him from getting anywhere except the rooftop of a building across the hospital. On the roof, a giant moth has arrived to attack Harry and prevent him from advancing. The moth apparently evolved from the larva he fought at the mall (Pokemon style!). Using his new rifle, Harry kills the moth. As the moth collapses onto the ground, a light shines, restoring Silent Hill to "normal" daylight. The chasms have vanished, and Harry is free to return to Old Silent Hill. After a long run, backtracking through the Gordan residence, Harry arrives at the waterworks next door to Midwich School. There's a padlock keeping the entrance locked, but being a waterworks, the padlock has become rusty over the years, allowing Harry to break it with the axe he found at the antique shop. Harry traverses into the sewers, and it doesn't take him very long to find the way out, despite the presence of odd lizard demons that harass him as he finds his way through the long tunnels. He ends up in an area not far from the lake, and it has become dark again, but not actually in the evil, decaying state. Harry finds a map of Lakeside Silent Hill, and tries the nearest building first, a nearby pool hall. As soon as he enters the pool hall, Harry sees Kaufmann, the doctor from the hospital, being attacked by a bear-like demon. How he reached the lake before Harry is a mystery. However, Kaufmann, on the ground, about to be bitten by the creature, is saved when Harry uses Cybil's handgun to kills it. Kaufmann, seemingly grateful to Harry, asks him if he's found a way out yet. Neither of the two men have. Kaufmann seems optimistic that help will arrive soon, and decides to continue searching for a way out. It seems that Kaufmann dropped a wallet, and Harry examines it. Harry finds a motel key, and a store receipt. The store receipt is for the Indian Runner shop nearby, which Harry searches. In a safe, he finds drugs. Clues take him to the motel, which he accesses using the key Kaufmann dropped. After uncovering a set of motorcycle keys, Harry uses them on a motorcycle he finds in the motel garage, and then uncovers the same red liquid he found at the hospital. Kaufmann returns, and angrily snatches the liquid from Harry. Kaufmann is irritated that Harry seems to have been wasting time searching in places he shouldn't be searching. Harry asks Kaufmann to calm down, but Kaufmann leaves, warning Harry to concentrate on leaving town instead of wasting time. Harry wonders just why Kaufmann appeared so irritated. He decides to concur with Kaufmann's message about having wasted time, so Harry resumes his search for Cheryl. The lakeside area is quite a bit smaller than the other two sections of town, so Harry only has two places to look: the lighthouse out on the lake, and the amusement park. On his way, Silent Hill transforms into pure evil once again. A chasm appears behind Harry, so he won't be able to get back to the motel area or to the sewers anymore. The path to the amusement park is blocked, so he decides to try the lighthouse. On his way there, he sees Cybil again, in a cruise boat. Cybil managed to follow Harry by using the sewer tunnels, wondering if Harry was the one who cut the fence. After confirming that, Harry, having learned much since their last meeting, tells Cybil of a demon taking over Silent Hill. Cybil is pretty shocked, but Harry assures her that he isn't becoming insane. Dahlia enters the boat, telling Harry to go to the lighthouse and the amusement park, as those are the places where the Mark of Samael are to be completed. Cybil offers to help Harry, and decides to go to the amusement park while Harry runs for the lighthouse. Cybil leaves first, while Dahlia reminds Harry to use the Flauros before leaving herself. Harry attempts to ask Dahlia about what Cybil would do without a Flauros, but she ignores him. Harry reaches the lighthouse, seeing Alessa. Before he can speak to her, she vanishes once again. Harry was too late. Harry returns to the boat, realizing that Cybil hasn't returned yet. Harry decides to follow Cybil to the amusement park, returning to the main road. The chasm to the park is still there, but Harry sees an open door leading to another set of waterworks. It seems as if Cybil had gone that way. As Harry enters the sewer tunnels, Cybil, a few paces ahead of him, turns to check the next tunnel from a corner. Suddenly, she is pushed forward by a strong force and knocked out. Compared to the first set of sewers, this second set is linear, and Harry reaches the ladder at the end in no time. He ends up in the amusement park, and searches the park for signs of Cybil or Alessa. On one of the rides, Harry encounters Cybil, but she is no longer herself. Cybil, unable to speak or walk properly, stumbles towards Harry, and begins attacking him. She seems to have been taken over by the same symptoms that plagued the hospital nurses and doctors, with a bulging creature protruding from Cybil's back. Left with no choice, Harry shoots Cybil with her very own gun, eventually killing her. Harry mourns Cybil's death, having been unable to protect the ally who had aligned herself to his cause to find his daughter ever since they met. But, Harry realizes he can't mourn forever, and searches the rest of the park, finally discovering Alessa. Harry tries to question Alessa, who doesn't vanish this time. As Harry approaches Alessa, Alessa holds her arm out, palm facing out, and knocks Harry back with some kind of magic force. Suddenly, Harry's Flauros activates itself, as it begins floating. Suddenly, the Flauros, becoming brighter, shoots a ray straight into Alessa, hurting her. Dahlia appears, and speaks to Alessa, telling her that she can no longer escape, or continue running away from her. Alessa resists being captured by Dahlia, but now that the Flauros attacked her, she is powerless again Dahlia. Harry wonders what's going on and attempts to intervene, but everything becomes dark once again... Harry wakes up in the hospital again, with Lisa. He speaks to Lisa, who admits she checked the hospital basement after he mentioned it to her. Lisa admits that there was nothing really strange in there, other than the feeling that she had been there before. Lisa, now uncontrollably emotional, runs away. With Cybil dead and Lisa no longer a reliable ally, Harry leaves the hospital room, now on his own. Harry follows Lisa, but he realizes that he's in some weird form of the hospital, a place he calls "Nowhere" Nowhere seems to be randomly laid out, making a map useless and nonexistent. It's dominated by the hospital layout, but rooms Harry's explored throughout his adventure appear beyond random doors. He finds a classroom from Midwich, a jewelry store like the one from the mall, the antique shop (without the secret passage) and another hospital room, with a TV and VCR. Harry found a VHS tape earlier, but he finally decides to play it. On the tape is obviously Lisa Garland, confessing her inability to stop a patient's wounds from bleeding, as well as her drug addiction. Harry finds Lisa again, but Lisa is no longer human. She begins to bleed uncontrollably from all parts of her body. She stumbles towards Harry, asking him to help her, but Harry is just repulsed by the bleeding Lisa. Harry leaves the room, and prevents Lisa from getting out. Lisa tries to break through the door, but Harry's push is too strong, and Lisa eventually gives up and runs off. Harry returns to the room, to find Lisa's diary, speaking of her addiction. Harry explores the rest of Nowhere, and eventually finds the hospital room Alessa had stayed in. There, he sees a recollection from Alessa's life, with Dahlia, Kaufmann and two other men looking over the incinerated and heavily bandaged Alessa. Dahlia tells the situation they're in, realizing that only half of a god's soul has entered Alessa's body, wondering how to manifest the other half. Harry travels some more, and encounters another struggle between Alessa and Dahlia, before Alessa was burned. Dahlia demands for Alessa to be a goodgirl and for her to cooperate with Dahlia's orders. Alessa wishes for her and her mother to just live a happy, simple life, but Dahlia resists. Harry arrives at the bottom floor, the same place where he fought the lizard at Midwich. He sees Dahlia and a burned woman in a wheelchair, as well as Alessa, sitting on the ground. Harry demands Cheryl back, but Dahlia tells Harry that she's right there, just like she has been the entire game. Harry knows that's preposterous, but Dahlia explains that Alessa is simply Cheryl restored to her former self. Therefore, the Alessa sitting on the ground is actually Cheryl, and the burned woman is the true Alessa. Suddenly. a bright light emits through the whole room, and the two girls, Alessa/Cheryl and the burned woman, merge to become a beautiful angel. Suddenly, Dahlia is shot from a distance, by Kaufmann. Kaufmann screams at Dahlia, accusing her of not meeting her end of the bargain. Kaufmann didn't expect to be taken to a living hell. Dahlia responds that Kaufmann is no longer needed in her grand scheme. Kaufmann planned for a betrayal, and pulls out the red liquid Harry found at the motel, which Dahlia calls Aglophatis. Kaufmann tosses it straight into the angel Alessa, which causes Alessa to scream. Dahlia begins to laugh in an evil manner, and the flying goat-like creature Harry saw in the painting at the antique shop appears, emitting lightning bolts. One of them strikes Dahlia, engulfing her in flames, perhaps a kind of ironic, poetic justice. Kaufmann steps back, while Harry uses every gun he has to shoot the creature. Eventually, the creature falls to the ground, dying. Alessa, the angel, reappears, and looks at Harry. She then pulls a baby from her arms, and presents it to Harry. Harry realized that Cheryl isn't going to come back, but has to take care of this new child. Taking the child, Harry is guided to a light by Alessa. The room is collapsing, with debris falling everywhere. Harry runs for the light. Kaufmann attempts to join Harry in his escape, but Lisa returns from below the metal grating, still bleeding. She laughs as she grabs onto Kaufmann and drags him into the abyss with her, Lisa finally having her revenge. Harry escapes with the baby in his arms. He ends up in a street, and looks up a lighted streetlight. He's made it back into the real world. ++++++++++ B. Endings ++++++++++ This is a description of all the endings available in Silent Hill. This section does not explain 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 Dahlia's strange power. Harry confronts Dahlia, and Kaufmann arrives, 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 the new baby girl, and runs off with Cybil, while demonic Lisa drags Kaufmann into the flames of Hell. As of Silent Hill 3, it's probable that this ending did not occur. Good Ending ----------- In this ending, Cybil is dead and Harry found the Aglophatis for Kaufmann. Harry confronts Dahlia, and Kaufmann arrives, 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 the new baby girl, and runs off with Cybil, while demonic Lisa drags Kaufmann into the flames of Hell. As of Silent Hill 3, it's probable that this ending is the one that actually occurred. 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 Dahlia's strange power. Harry confronts Dahlia and Mother Alessa arrives, burning Dahlia. Harry kills Mother Alessa. He sobs about having lost Cheryl. Cybil wakes up and slaps Harry, telling him to "go" (as in escape and move on with his life). As of Silent Hill 3, this ending definitely did not occur. Bad Ending ---------- In this ending, Cybil is dead and Harry didn't find the Aglophatis for Kaufmann. Harry confronts Dahlia and Mother Alessa arrives, burning 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. As of Silent Hill 3, it is impossible for this ending to have occurred. 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. Play Novel: Silent Hill ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When the original Game Boy Advance model launched in Japan in March of 2001, one of the launch games was Play Novel: Silent Hill. The game didn't sell too well due to being in a niche genre, but some people picked it up and played it. The game is not like Silent Hill for the PSone. It takes many photographic images from the first Silent Hill and places Japanese text over them, presenting the game in a storylike "Play Novel" format. Due to the niche genre this game falls in, it was never released outside of Japan. It does contain important plot elements, but unfortunately without a proper translation, only Japanese readers will know what the plot is about, +++++++++++++ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Alessa Gillespie ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 occurrences. 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 almost hits Alessa. She is here, because she senses the presence of her sister, and wants to see her. It is not to complete Samael, but it is partially that, because Samael inside of her wants completion (reunification). School Basement: ---------------- She appears here, after Harry beats the lizard. Alessa, as a child, is pleased that Harry killed one of her nightmares, but Samael inside of her is angry because Harry have defeated his minion. Thus, Alessa somewhat smiles at you as she disappears. I like that theory of Alessa being happy that Harry 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 (the player, since Harry doesn't seem to realize this scene is taking place) to go in there after Dahlia gives Harry 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 Harry is after Cheryl, and not wanting him 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 Harry was getting too close to her, and Cybil, who she has taken control of, failed to stop him. She has to deal with Harry 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. Dahlia then takes her away. If you're wondering why Alessa attacks Harry, it's because he's following orders from Dahlia and harboring the Flauros. 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 Garland ----------------------------------------------------------------------- She was the nurse of Alessa, and Cheryl, and she was addicted to the drug, White Claudia, which caused hallucinations similar to dark Silent Hill. 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. 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 died at some point. 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 Harry will only see her in the darker realm of Silent Hill. Hospital: --------- After passing out in the antique shop, Harry wakes up here, with Lisa. She has almost a demonic look in her eyes as Harry comes to. This is because she was just about to drink Harry's blood, or suck his power, or whatever it is that the other nurses do to Harry, but then Harry regained consciousness. She has to restrain the evil urges within herself, brought on by Samael, and become human again. She tells Harry that he were having a bad dream, because she doesn't know what's happening, and to her, Harry were asleep when he was in the other world, but intangible until he entered that realm completely. Hospital [Nowhere]: ------------------- Here, after having gotten through the dark realm of the town, to the hospital again, Harry finds her, in the same room. She is relieved to see Harry, 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 Harry, not to attack him, but for security and safety (a hug). She falters, and dies, partially because her physical form is falling apart, partially because Harry is afraid, and can offer no friendship. Final Room: ----------- Depending on the ending, she appears here to drag Kaufman to his doom (as Harry and maybe Cybil make their escape). This is a double meaning, because Kaufmann 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 Kaufmann there, because he caused her much pain, by throwing the Aglophatis at her, and by burning her. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dahlia Gillespie ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. During the game, 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. Meeting in a church is also an interesting place to first meet, perhaps so Dahlia could make Harry think that she means well by using a house of God to speak out to him and guide him. Hospital: --------- Dahlia comes in person, having called Harry from the darker Silent Hill, to urge him onward and move faster. She is becoming more impatient as Harry makes relatively little progress. Boat: ----- Once again, Dahlia is impatient, and urges Harry to move faster. She reminds Harry of what to do when she encounters Alessa. Carnival: --------- Dahlia has finally succeeded because 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," (Cheryl and Alessa joined) and Samael is finally born into the real world. 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 as she laughs maniacally, thinking she had accomplished her goals. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Kaufmann ----------------------------------------------------------------------- He inseminates Dahlia (ugh), and sells the drugs to tourists. Besides being in the cult, he is left in the foggy 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 Harry saves him. He is in the hospital trying to find out what happened when Harry finds him, even thinking Harry is another monster he shoots towards. 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 because of the situation he's in. Annie's Bar: ------------ He is here, about to be killed as he is attacked by a teddy bear creature. Harry saves him, and he leaves, thankful. It doesn't explain why he was in the bar, of all locations, but he was probably here in order to find a few items he may have needed. Bates Motel: ------------ He appears when you find the Aglophatis bottle in the motorcycle. This is his secret stash, and the fact that you are messing with it angers him. He threatens Harry, and leaves in order 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 Aglaophotis on "Mother," to stop it. However, Samael 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 Bennett ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 on his search, and when she leads Harry to Alessa, Alessa takes matters into her own hands and controls and then attempts to kill Cybil. Overall she is not meant to be where she is. She was working together with the Silent Hill Police Department to investigate the drug trafficking, but of course could find no evidence. Appearances Intro: ------ Cybil passes you on the road, on her way to investigating the lack of communication coming from Silent Hill. You later see her motorcycle, which leads Harry to wonder what happened to her. In the process of bringing Harry to Silent Hill, as she was also in the vicinity, her abandonment of her motorcycle likely shows she was transported to the hell-like Silent Hill by Dahlia. Cafe: ----- She is here, having saved Harry from the child demons. She makes no mention of it, in order to not scare him. She also gives Harry a gun, and advice, telling him to stay near. She doesn't know what is happening, and as an officer, she is only trying to protect Harry as a regular citizen. Antique Shop: ------------- She finds Harry here, after having followed him inside. She wants, once again, to help Harry. When Harry go into the secret passage, she loses him again, and goes off looking on her own. Boat: ----- She meets Harry here, trying to help him with Cheryl, and to find out what is going on. She goes to the amusement park while Harry checks the lighthouse. When he gets back, she's not there, and Harry decides to look for him.. Carnival: --------- Here, Cybil has been taken over by Alessa, because she was helping Harry find Alessa. So, Alessa plays them off against each other, and Harry can only save her with the Aglophatis. If he saves her, she and Harry talk about why this is happening, giving Harry the opportunity to explain to Cybil that Cheryl was actually adopted. Final Room: ----------- Cybil is here, trying to stop whatever is going on. However, she is quickly knocked aside by Alessa. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl Mason ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl was born X-Gallespie-Kaufmann (aka Dahlia is her mother and Kaufmann *might* be her father). After she was separated from the cult, Harry found her and raised her as his own. Dahlia eventually drew her back into Silent Hill. The pain of her sister also draws her in, because she is still a good person, 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, once again named Cheryl. However, her story continues in Silent Hill. Appearances Jeep: ----- When you start the game, Cheryl is just a happy little girl with her sketch book. She looks like an ordinary child and there's nothing apparently special or unique about her. Crashed Jeep: ------------- Harry sees a shadow of Cheryl in the mist, and goes after her. Dahlia is already drawing Cheryl to her and Alessa, who are her mother and sister. She is safe in both realms though, due to the realms' keepers desires to keep her safe. School: ------- Cheryl is calling Harry from a phone, because Dahlia wants to meet with him, 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 and for him to come help her. This is once again Dahlia's work, trying to get Harry to try harder and move faster, because she relies on him to find Alessa, while he wants to get his daughter. Final Room: ----------- This room has Cheryl already in her original form for the creation of Samael. She looks like Alessa, because she is actually the other part of Samael. Alessa is also in the room, wrapped in bandages due to being badly burned. +++++++++ E. Angels +++++++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Samael ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Also called Sammael, Samael is a dark and fallen angel. It has been said that he is the devil himself, but not for certain. In any case, he is the evil in Silent Hill, and it is he that was summoned into Alessa's form. However, after being defeated in his physical form, because he was premature, and weak, he can now only watch over the town, and only has the power 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. Dahlia's ethnicity is revealed through 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, an 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 Alessa's dark power over 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 counteract 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 obvious the third game 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, as well as a death in the family. Silent Hill 3 is far more up front than Silent Hill or Silent Hill 2 is about its plot, and thus isn't nearly as deep as those games. It's the direct sequel to the first Silent Hill, which is fitting. The game nearly explains itself through the files and dialogue, so not much analysis is needed. 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 or with Silent Hill 4. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A. A Synopsis of Silent Hill 3 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A girl named Heather is strolling through a dark amusement park. As she arrives, she explores the park, encountering monsters and such (you know the drill). As she finds her way to the tracks of a tall ride, she is run over by a track car. As Heather is hit, the screen blacks out... Suddenly, Heather wakes up in a burger shop at the mall. The amusement park was just a nasty dream. Noticing that she fell asleep and needs to be home, Heather gets up and leaves. Outside, she calls her dad, telling him she didn't fullfill his errand, but reassures her love for her father. As she hangs up, she sees an older-aged man looking straight at her. She offers him the phone as Heather walks away. The old mans shakes his head, not needing to use the phone, and follows Heather. Heather is naturally creeped out, and the man introduces himself as Douglas Cartland, a detective. He wants a little of Heather's time to tell her about her birth, but Heather's not interested. Heather walks away, and Douglas follows. Heather is now just irritated. She walks into the women's bathroom as Douglas waits outside, in order to get away from him. Heather, wanting to avoid Douglas, leaves the bathroom through a window leading to the side of the mall, and she runs toward the exit. Unfortunately, a truck blocks the way out, so she takes a door back into a different area of the mall, but far enough away from Douglas. There, she finds her way through the mall, only to find that it's filled with all kinds of monsters. In a clothing store, she finds a gun to defend herself with. As she wanders, she meets a woman named Claudia. Claudia says that the "Hand of God" caused all this and that Heather seems to be needed. Heather is hit with a hangover as Claudia walks away. Heather tries to follow her. But Claudia's gone, so Heather gets into an elevator. As she rides it down, she finds a radio emitting static when monsters are near. The elevator takes her to an alternate version of the mall. There are more monsters everywhere and the mall doesn't look like a mall anymore. Heather is naturally astonished and afraid, noting that even a child couldn't believe the world she's now in. Heather wanders the mall again, avoiding various monsters, running for her life. She finds a bulletproof vest for protection, though it slows her down. Eventually, Heather meets up with a worm boss. She shoots directly into it's mouth and kills it. After the worm dies, the mall returns to normal and she sees Douglas again. Douglas wonders what the hell just happened, and Heather associates Douglas with Claudia. Douglas says that Claudia hired him to find her. Not wanting to deal with him, Heather runs off. Afterwards, Heather decides to head home using a train station below the mall. Unfortunately, the train station is infested with monsters but she finds the appropriate street. She jumps on a train which locks her in and takes her to a sewer system. After that, she wanders through it, avoiding all the monsters that come after her. Heather then reaches a construction site. There, she runs her way through the building, killing monsters, trying to find a way out. After examining a bathtub, the building becomes another hellhole. Shortly after the office complex becomes an alternate realm, Heather meets Vincent. Vincent says he's on Heather's side, and demands Heather not to associate him with Claudia. Vincent talks about Heather's father, Harry, and Heather is angered at Vincent's negative comments about him. Heather sees something wrong with Vincent, too, and runs away from him. Heather reaches the bottom floor of the office building. She sees a creature blocking the exit. She also runs into several pages of fairly tales. She reads the story, about a village of people trying to kill a guardian monster using a special command phrase. Heather recites the command phrase, which is composed of the Latin words "tu fui, ego eris." Like the story, the monster blocking the exit vanishes upon the recital of the phrase. Heather escapes the building and finds her way to her apartment, among the dark streets of the town she lives in. The alternate reality has vanished once again. At her apartment, she sees her father dead, having been stabbed in the chest by a huge blade. Heather cries over her father's dead body, and as she cries, she sees a trail of blood leading to the roof of the building. She sees Claudia, and Claudia says admits that ordered the monster to kill her father. Heather vows revenge on Claudia, and Claudia says that she's heading to the town of Silent Hill. Heather manages to kill the monster, called the Missionary and, returns to her apartment. Douglas is there, praying for Harry. Heather is angry at Douglas, thinking this is his fault, but eventually she regains her senses and calms down. Heather covers Harry in his bed with a sheet and flowers, saying that no one's around to give him a decent burial. Heather then vows to go to Silent Hill and kill Claudia herself, in order to have her revenge. Douglas offers to take Heather and gets his car ready. Heather says her final goodbye to her late father, and heads outside. Douglas has the car, ready to go, but Douglas tells Heather that he just met Vincent. Vincent told Douglas to go find a man named Leonard, and gives Heather the Silent Hill map. Heather is suspicious of Vincent, but decides to just ride in the car. They get in the car and drive on the long journey to Silent Hill. During the car ride, Heather speaks to Douglas about her past. Her father, Harry Mason, found Heather after he defeated a god of Silent Hill. Harry raised Heather as his very own daughter and always loved her. Heather then repeats the events that occurred 17 years ago in Silent Hill (see below, and above). Douglas is amazed at this story, and mentions that he has heard nasty rumors about Silent Hill over the years. He also was there once to look for a missing person, but never found him. They reach Silent Hill, ending up in the same part of town James Sunderland visited in Silent Hill 2. Their base location is Jack's Inn, near Rosewater Park. Douglas decides to go search Leonard's house, while Heather searches the hospital, which is Brookhaven Hospital. Douglas and Heather exchange remarks about being afraid of what is to come, but they realize they have to face their fears. They each leave the motel towards their destinations. Heather travels across the still-foggy streets of Southvale Silent Hill, and looks for supplies in the bar of Heaven's Night. After that, she enters Brookhaven Hospital. It's not exactly the same as when James Sunderland and Maria explored it, but there are still evil nurses about, ready to kill Heather. The hospital definitely doesn't look as old as it does in Silent Hill 2. As Heather explores the insane asylum, she finds a doll in several locations with files written by a patient named Stanley Coleman. Stanley seems to know Heather and is obssessed with her. Heather eventually finds a phone and answers it. It's Leonard. Leonard thinks Heather is Claudia and speaks about an irresponsible woman named Claudia. Heather says she's not Claudia and that her name is Heather. Upon hearing this, Leonard apologizes for the confusion, and mentions Claudia is his daughter. Leonard sends Heather to release him from his prison on the hospital's second floor. She heads there, and she finds a familar red mark, not like the marks she's been seeing (the save points). It's the Mark of Samael, and when she examines it, a video of Lisa Garland pops up; it's the same videotape Harry viewed 17 years ago. Heather, now that she knows that she has memories of Alessa, remembers about Lisa's kindness (and strangeness, as a result of her drug addiction). Heather finds herself in a maze that definitely doesn't fit within the hospital geography, and she finds herself in alternate Brookhaven. This isn't the first time Brookhaven took on a hellish alternate form, but it's VERY different from the one James Sunderland experienced. Heather finds another phone and some guy, who isn't Leonard or Stanley, tells Heather it's her birthday and hangs up. Of course, it isn't actually Heather's birthday. Astonished, Heather finds her way to an altar and pours blood that she finds on it, revealing a passage below the hellish hospital. She meets Leonard, but he's not a human being. He's a monster (big surprise!). Leonard attempts to explain to Heather about his beliefs, but when Heather reveals her lack of interest in the topic, Leonard feels that Heather has betrayed him. Leonard then suspects that Heather only wanted his seal, proving Leonard is obviously a member of the cult. Leonard attacks Heather, but Heather manages to kill him. Upon Leonard's death, the hospital restores to normal. Heather finds a round coin called the "Seal of Metatron", which Leonard previously held. Done with her search, Heather leaves Brookhaven and returns to Jack's Inn to meet up with Douglas. In the actual room, Claudia and Vincent have a conversation about how Heather was sent to Leonard, as well as the fact Leonard, Claudia's father, abused her, and made her cry, which is why Claudia now believes in the cult's ideals. She feels that god is needed to reverse her abuse as a child. Heather reaches Jack's Inn and then sees only Vincent inside. Vincent tells Heather that Douglas left her a message, to explore a church in northern Silent Hill, passed the amusement park. Heather, still astounded by Vincent, leaves for Northern Silent Hill. In the streets, she spends time heading northwest on Nathan Avenue. She reaches the amusement park and it becomes hell on earth, just like her dream at the beginning of the game. She reaches the ride she walked on in her dream, and shuts it off before getting on. As she walks, the ride is repowered and a car is about to run her over. This time, she jumps off the tracks to avoid being run over... Meanwhile, elsewhere in the park, Douglas confronts Claudia. Claudia says that Douglas fullfilled his job and isn't needed anymore. Douglas, in order to end the ordeal, is about to shoot Claudia... Meanwhile, Heather recovers, over a trashcan near the ride. To get elsewhere, she goes through the standard haunted house of the amusement park. The haunted house is merely only meant to scare Heather as she reaches other sections of the park. After finding her way, she meets Douglas, and finally seems to accept Douglas as an ally, telling him not to die on her. Douglas mentions to Heather the story of his son, who robbed a bank because Douglas was too poor to support his family. Heather is sympathetic, and thanks Douglas for his help, knowing that he is not at fault for any of this. She reaches a portion of the park where Harry Mason was, and finds notes left by him 17 years ago (in the first game's save points). Heather gets onto the same carousel where Harry killed Cybil. Cybil isn't around, but a clone of Heather, with black hair, greets her. Heather kills four of the clones, and then proceeds to the church Vincent spoke about. Claudia's there and Heather threatens to kill her and finally avenge her father's death. However, Claudia leaves. Heather follows her, and reaches a confession box and listens to a woman confess her sins. Thinking Heather is a priest, the woman begs for her forgiveness (fork in the plot road). Heather either forgives the woman or doesn't. Heather proceeds to meet Vincent in an old library and Vincent wonders if Heather took the Seal of Metatron from Leonard, discovering she did. Heather then explains to Vincent about the monsters she's been seeing, but Vincent questions her. Apparently, they aren't monsters to him, which causes Heather to panic, as she may have been killing real people. But Vincent was only teasing her, and lashes out at Heather because of the killing streak she's been on. Vincent then takes his leave. Claudia is at the church again, when Heather sees her with Vincent. Claudia and Heather speak of the whole cult and the God, and Claudia stabs Vincent twice after he tells Heather to use the Seal of Metatron (which proves to be useless). Heather decides to get her revenge on Claudia. Heather takes her necklace and drinks the red liquid in it. Heather then regurgitates out a little humanoid fetus, which is the god she's been harboring for 17 years. Claudia takes it and swallows it before Heather can kill it, and she becomes the bearer of the God. Heather, tired and vengeful, kills the creature after a hard-fought battle. To make sure its dead, and for her to completely end the thing's miserable existence, Heather steps on its head a few times after it falls. Heather then sobs, because she managed to get her revenge, but her father is still dead... ++++++++++ B. Endings ++++++++++ Normal Ending ------------- Heather returns to the amusement park where Douglas is at. She acts posssessed, with a knife, and nearly kills Douglas. However, at the last second, she startles him. It was a joke. Douglas says Heather has bad taste. Heather tells Douglas to call her "Cheryl," which is Heather's real name. Douglas then makes a comment about Heather's dyed hair, saying that blondes have more fun. At the end, Heather is looking over Harry's tombstone, where Harry is finally at peace. Possessed Ending ---------------- Heather, after she kills the god, returns to the amusement park. A demented woman, she stabs Douglas with her pocket knife several times, killing him. Heather examines her knife, wondering what she just did, seemingly without regret... Revenge Ending -------------- If Heather obtains the Heather Beam weapon in a replay game and kills at least 30 enemies with it, then when she visits Harry's Apartment, a new ending will occur, where Harry is still alive (although obviously possessed by the aliens from the last two Silent Hill games). Heather tells Harry what happened to her, and Harry vows to get his "revenge" on Silent Hill. (During the whole encounter, James Sunderland is in the background). The UFOs fly to Silent Hill, and blow the place up. Literally. The UFOs fly away, and Japanese music plays. This ending, like the last two UFO endings, is a joke at best and isn't true, because Silent Hill gets blown up but returns in Silent Hill 4 (unless it's a prequel). +++++++++++++ C. Characters +++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Heather Mason ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, carefree attitude and lacks sleep. As you play, the fact is revealed that Heather is Alessa from the original Silent Hill. Or, more appropriately, Heather is the little baby Alessa gave to Harry at the end of the first Silent Hill. Heather is essentially drawn into the nightmare that Claudia created for her. When Heather has a dream, it's because Claudia is finally close by and senses Heather. Much of the information about Heather's past is essentially what happened to Alessa. Alessa was a tortured, abused little girl because she was due to be the sacrifice of Dahlia to give birth to the god. So Heather is Alessa, which means that Heather is Cheryl because Cheryl was Alessa. But how can that be? Didn't Mother Alessa die? Shouldn't Heather be the daughter of Alessa? Not necessarily. It's implied in Silent Hill 3 that Mother Alessa's spirit and memories were transferred into the baby she gave to Harry. Why it is done isn't officially explained, but I (cvxfreak) tend to believe that it was for her spirit to be saved and to grant the polite man, Harry, a new daughter and a new beginning. It's not a bad assumption, since one would assume that with Dahlia dead and Silent Hill abandoned, the cult would have died out. But Silent Hill 3 and 4 prove this to be incorrect. What also is a conflict of question is how Heather now possesses the god even though Harry killed it. You'll notice in the original Silent Hill's final battle, that when the goat-like creature, Samael, fell to the ground, it immediately transformed back to Mother Alessa. So, if that visual cue is correct, the spiritual transfer from Mother Alessa to Baby Alessa carried Samael along with it. Intentional or not, it is never explained. But Heather is definitely Harry's Cheryl and the "original" Alessa combined, because before the final showdown of Silent Hill 1, they combined, so in a way, Dahlia accomplished one of her goals. Toward the end of the game (Silent Hill 3), Heather uses Aglophatis that was stored in the pendant Harry gave her, and released the baby god (a physical baby god). Now that Aglophatis has been applied to Heather, she is no longer harboring a demon, or god of some sort. So, in theory, Heather's troubles are over. Despite not being Harry's biological daughter, Heather lived a happy life for 17 years. That love easily caused the god inside of Heather to be dormant for 17 years. As Claudia would later mention, filling Heather's heart with hatred would nurture the god. Clearly that makes sense, as this god Claudia and Dahlia worshipped is clearly not the god everyone would have in mind; in fact, it's the opposite. Samael is one of the names for Satan, and obviously, Satan's not the nicest man ever. As long as Heather was happy, Samael or the god couldn't become nurtured. This is why Heather has those weird headaches and body transformations toward the end. Her hatred and need for revenge against Claudia has clouded her good mind, and has clearly started nurturing the god. However, it obviously hasn't been long enough. So, when Heather released the little fetus, it's not quite as powerful as it could have been. Silent Hill 3 ends with the god finally destroyed and the cult officially gone (hopefully). Heather finally lets her father rest in peace, and we can only assume the options she has from here. She could get adopted by Douglas, or enter foster care as she's about a year too young to be on her own. It's finally revealed that Heather's real name was Cheryl, as Heather was given the alias "Heather" to hide from the cult. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Douglas Cartland ----------------------------------------------------------------------- An 50+ year-old 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 Wolf hired Douglas to find Heather. Over the course of the game, Douglas and Heather become friends and allies in this nightmare. Douglas also had a son, and if he had a son, he had a wife/girlfriend. Where his wife/girlfriend went is not explained, but we can assume she's dead since Douglas clearly mentions that if he died, no one would cry for him. Douglas' son was killed trying to rob a bank because Douglas was poor and penniless, so his son went to the bank for money. From there, we can assume Douglas joined law enforcement to be the opposite of his son, and to finally have a real money-making career. Appearances Shopping Mall ------------- Douglas walks to Heather after Heather finishes her phone conversation with her father. Douglas asks for some of Heather's time, and Heather clearly isn't interested. Douglas says it's about Heather's birth, but that isn't good enough to interest her. Douglas follows Heather but can only go so far as Heather enters the bathroom. Shopping Mall (After Splitworm) ------------------------------- Douglas finds Heather after she kills the Splitworm. Heather acuses Douglas of being in on it with Claudia, but Douglas is just as shocked as she is. Douglas wonders what the monster was, and Heather decides to head home using the subway. Harry's Apartment ----------------- After praying for Harry, Douglas calms Heather down and they lay him in bed. Douglas says he feels partially responsible and offers to take Heather to Silent Hill. He heads to get his car ready. Outside Apartment ----------------- Douglas greets Heather, saying Vincent gave him a map and told him to go look for Leonard upon arriving in Silent Hill. Douglas gives Heather the map and they get in the car. Car Ride -------- Douglas and Heather discuss about the nasty rumors of Silent Hill, and Heather/Alessa's past. Heather also recaps the events of the first Silent Hill. Jack's Inn ---------- Douglas and Heather discuss about being afraid to be alone. Douglas admits to being afraid, and then heads for Leonard's house. Amusement Park -------------- Douglas speaks with Claudia and is angry she deceived him. Claudia once again explains her whole plot, and Douglas, like everyone else, disagrees and mocks her. Douglas points his gun at Claudia, but whatever happens after causes Douglas to break his leg. Amusement Park 2 ---------------- Douglas' leg is broken, and Heather arrives. Douglas tells Heather she reminds him of his son, and also tells Heather, as she leaves to confront Claudia, that if killed her, it'd all be over. Heather doesn't feel offended, and continues on her way. Amusement Park 3 ---------------- After Heather kills Claudia, she pretends to be possessed and startles Douglas before nearly stabbing him. Douglas says Heather had bad taste, but Heather interrupts, telling Douglas to call her Cheryl. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Claudia Wolf ----------------------------------------------------------------------- An old woman with long hair, and clothing similar to what Dahlia wore. She definitely knows a lot about Silent Hill, Alessa and the cult itself. Claudia is a force to be reckoned with, stopping at nothing to summon the God of Silent Hill. As a young girl, she was friends with Alessa. Her father, Leonard, abused her and made her cry when she was young, although she eventually had him committed to Brookhaven Hospital. The abuse she endured as a child reinforced her belief in the cult, believing that her suffering would be reversed upon the arrival of the Samael god. Appearances Mall ---- She sees Heather, and tells her of her destiny to fulfill her duty to summon and give birth to the Silent Hill God. She tells Heather to remember her "true self" as well as herself. Daisy Villa Apartment Rooftop ----------------------------- After Heather follows bloody footsteps to the roof, she sees Claudia who commanded the mercenary boss to kill Harry. Claudia says that Harry had to die to continue the plan for Heather, and tells her that she's going to Silent Hill. She then leaves. Jack's Inn ---------- Claudia and Vincent chat about Leonard and Heather visiting him. Claudia says that the torture she received from Leonard is a reason why God must save them all. Vincent once again disagrees with Claudia and mocks her, and Claudia responds saying Vincent and everyone else doesn't understand the whole plan. Amusement Park -------------- Douglas speaks with Claudia and is angry she deceived him. Claudia once again explains her whole plot, and Douglas, like everyone else, disagrees and mocks her. Douglas points his gun at Claudia, but whatever happens after causes Douglas to break his leg. Church ------ Claudia once again explains her plot to Heather, and leaves. Alternate Church ---------------- Claudia kills Vincent after they have yet another arguement about the cult and everyone's motives. Heather meanwhile uses the Aglophatis her father gave her to take the fetus God out of her (since the Seal of Metatron is basically worthless when Heather tries to use it). Claudia swallows the fetus after explaining her plan _AGAIN_ and becomes the God. Heather kills the God afterwards. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Harry Mason ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Harry is the hero of the first Silent Hill (please check on him in the Silent Hill section). He's Heather's father, and gets killed by Claudia's soldier mercenary. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vincent ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vincent is another cult-member with his own agenda. He seems to favor the whole cult, but seems to be a bit more realistic than Claudia is - that he's glad to believe in the religion and all, but he opposes the summoning of the god as it would mean the end of his world as he knows it, a world he enjoys thanks to money and mundane pleasures. He opposes Claudia, manipulates Heather to take the Seal of Metatron from Leonard, and gets killed by Claudia. He was a church father for whatever religion they believed in. Vincent's also a bit of a hypocrite, opposing the cult for removing his pleasures, while favoring the cult in principle. Appearances Construction Building --------------------- Vincent explains that he's Heather's ally and Claudia's enemy, and wonders why Harry Mason didn't tell Heather about her past. Heather sees Vincent as weird, and leaves. Outside Harry's Apartment ------------------------- Vincent gives Douglas instructions to go to Silent Hill, and a map. He tells Douglas to look for Leonard at Brookhaven Hospital upon their arrival. Jack's Inn ---------- Claudia and Vincent chat about Leonard and Heather visiting him. Claudia says that the torture she received from Leonard is a reason why God must save them all. Vincent once again disagrees with Claudia and mocks her, and Claudia responds saying Vincent and everyone else doesn't understand the whole plan. Jack's Inn (2) -------------- Vincent directs Douglas to the church on the north side of the lake. Jack's Inn (3) -------------- Vincent directs Heather to follow Douglas to the church after she returns from her Brookhaven search. Heather then leaves for northern Silent Hill. Church Library -------------- Vincent explains to Heather the Seal of Metatron, and hands her a book about the ancient Gods. He also has a personality change, saying that Heather's the "worst person in the room." He leaves after explaining more to Heather. Church Finale ------------- Claudia kills Vincent after they have yet another arguement about the cult and everyone's motives. She stabs him twice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Leonard Wolf ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Leonard is Claudia's father, and he's mentally insane. He was a cult member before being committed to Brookhaven Hospital. He abused the young Claudia. He might've wanted to stop the cult because he carried the Seal of Metatron around, which, as you saw in Silent Hill 1, a tool Alessa used to stop Dahlia. Appearances Telephone --------- Heather talks to Leonard who says he's trapped in the hospital. He mentions that he's Claudia's father, and mentions that he has the Seal of Metatron. Brookhaven Sewers ----------------- Leonard feels that Heather only wanted his seal, since he thinks that Heather wants to kill God. Heather and Leonard duke it out with Heather as the winner. Heather takes the Seal of Metatron afterwards. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 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 and related themes. Silent Hill 2 is the story of James Sunderland, who receives 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, as 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 Hill, 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, a nightclub with Southvale Silent Hill, on the other side of the lake, and one of the buildings Heather Mason visited on her visit to town. A woman sits in a chair; her name is Maria, and she just woke up and cannot find anybody else in town. She holds a revolver in her hands, and considers suicide due to her sense of loneliness. However, she decides to leave and go look for another person. In the main room of the strip club, she grabs a Chinese cleaver for a secondary weapon, since her revolver only has 1 bullet in it, not quite enough for what she's about to encounter. Outside, Maria passes by Brookhaven Hospital, an insane asylum, but she doesn't seem to have any business there, so she keeps going down the street. Unfortunately, the only way she can go is up the street by the Blue Creek Apartments. Barricades have blocked her from reaching the main roadway. As Maria travels, she sees monsters that are coated in blood, and is forced to either run from them or try fighting them with her weapons. The only open door she finds leads to a mansion, called the Baldwin Mansion. It is a fairly big house, with many rooms to explore. She begins searching the upper floors. Maria comes upon an unlocked door. She tries to open it, but the door is forced shut by someone behind it. Maria knocks to get the person's attention; she then hears a man's voice behind it . Maria and the man converse; Maria is pleased to have finally found someone else in town. The man refuses to open, and at first doesn't want to cooperate with Maria, but eventually he begins to tell Maria. Ernest ponders if it's not the town that's insane, but her and Maria. Maria tells the man her name. The man's name is Ernest, as he reveals to Maria. Maria then mutters the surname "Hemmingway?", a reference to the late author. Not finding the joke funny, Ernest says his last name is Baldwin. Maria tells Ernest that she'll return soon. 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 an oddly located mini-cemetery with a puzzle to solve. Using the red board, white board and black boards she finds, she solves a puzzle and grabs an acacia key. It unlocks the door to another area of the house, in which Maria also explores. A hallway leads to a child's bedroom. She finds matches that might be useful. She then finds her way to an attic, where a mysterious voice says something cryptic; a girl falls from a window and her parents are wondering what just happened. She finds a birthday card and hears another voice, telling her to take the birthday card to Ernest. She does just that, but Ernest still refuses to open the door after Maria discovers that Ernest was a father to a girl. Ernest realizes the truth. He finally realizes why his daughter, Amy, was in the attic, and how she met her doom. Maria apologizes for reminding, but Ernest never forgot the incident. He says that some things just cannot be forgotten, even after ten years. Ernest then says something cryptic, about how Maria can see (or sense) him. Ernest then says he can hope for a miracle. Ernest asks Maria to get a white liquid for him in the nearby Blue Creek Apartment Building. Maria at first wonders why Ernest just couldn't get the liquid himself, but eventually doesn't bother to force it on Ernest, who claims that if he could get it himself, he would have done so already. Ernest unlocks the stairway door, allowing Maria to reach the apartment building. Maria searches the complex, and makes it to room 105. James hasn't been there yet, so the drawer in 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 finds the white liquid after a short search, and returns to Ernest's mansion. She delivers the liquid, and Ernest thanks Maria for her deed. When Ernest finally knew about the white liquid, he says that he was no longer able to leave the house. Ernest then tells Maria that the gods are in Silent Hill, and that Maria was born in the town. Ernest asks Maria if she believes in fate, and she says no. Maria asks to enter the room, but Ernest says it's no use. Maria then wonders what would have happened if she said she did believe in fate. Ernest simply responds that "James" is a bad man. James is looking for the Maria that isn't actually Maria. Maria then wonders what Ernest knows, but decides he doesn't actually know anything. Maria finally opens the door, and in the room, no one is there, except the birthday card from Amy. Maria realizes that Ernest was only a ghost, which is what he meant by not being able to leave the house to get the white liquid himself. Maria leaves the mansion. As she walks down a street outside Rosewater Park, Maria looks at her revolver, contemplating suicide once again. She points the gun to her head, ready to pull the trigger. But she slowly eases the gun away from her head, before throwing it over a stone wall. She turns around and begins walking towards Rosewater Park, whispering James' name... ----------------------------- 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 sees Angela from the graveyard again, where this time she's just become suicidal, holding a blood-stained knife and acting very irritated and tired. Angela gives James the knife and runs off. 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 Young 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 its location makes sense as it cannot be placed in the shopping district or the tourist area. 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. The Alchemilla Hospital is located here. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 Young Motel, and the hotel bordering the amusement park is for the higher-class folks. There is an old viewing 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 in terms of generalizing. 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 a combination of 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. There is another hospital here, Brookhaven Hospital, but it is a mental institution rather than a physical treatment hospital. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ H. Other Potential Areas ++++++++++++++++++++++++ While Silent Hill now seems quite large, there are still other places that need to be covered, perhaps in future areas: there is no high school or middle school around, and there doesn't seem to be a city hall anywhere. +++++++++++ I. 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 Young motel owner. Norman was working with Kaufmann and Dahlia in getting drugs around Silent Hill, and hiding them as well. These people were there primarily to show that the cult was no two-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/SH3? A. No, unfortunately, we can only explore a little bit of Lakeside Silent Hill by exploring Paleville. The amusement park in Silent Hill 3 is the closest we'll get to the SH1 areas. However, the upcoming Silent Hill Origins for the PSP allows us to explore Old and Central Silent Hill once again. Q. How do Cybil, Kaufmann, Laura, Eddie, Angela, Vincent, Douglas and Claudia get around town with all the blocked roads and chasms? 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. As of Silent Hill 3, the roadblocks aren't really an issue in this game. Getting around isn't much of a problem. 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, but deep meanings. Ernest Hemingway married several times, and killed himself in 1961. He held 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 2/3? 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. Also notice that though it snowed it never actually collected snow anywhere (due to the limits of the PSone). 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 understandable, 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 because of reported glitches. The Xbox game has a terrible framerate and blurrier CG. The PS2 version has less dynamic lighting. Pick and choose, people. Q. Where can I buy ALL the 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, even in Japan, so try Ebay. Silent Hill 3 and 4 have become rare over the years, so check Ebay or your used game store. Q. What are film inspirations of the Silent Hill series? A. The games were 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. Silent Hill 2 sold very well in Europe, while sales fell slightly in Japan compared to the original game and were consistent in North America. Therefore, Konami placed top priority in the European version of the title. Q. Why do you choose for Cybil to die in Silent Hill? A. In Silent Hill 3, Heather's pendant contains Aglophatis. She obviously received it from Harry, and Harry only acquires Aglophatis once in Silent Hill. If Harry saved Cybil with it, then Heather couldn't end up with a sample (Harry discards the bottle after he uses it). So, Harry escaped with his scooped up sample because didn't know to use it on Cybil. Him not knowing what to do with the bottle made sense, because no one actually told him what the stuff was for. However, he witnesses the power of Aglophatis when Kaufmann uses it. His suspicions of the god still residing in Heather caused him to give her the pendant with the Aglophatis in it. Also, Cybil is never mentioned in Silent Hill 3. It's quite unfortunate because Cybil was a good character. Q. How does Silent Hill Origins fit into the plot? A. It's a prequel to the original Silent Hill, and features Alessa. Alchemilla Hospital is one of the locations, providing a good tie-in to the original game (and to SH3). Q. Will you cover Silent Hill Origins? A. Maybe, but no guarantees. Q. Does the movie tie into the games? A. The Silent Hill movie was based on the original Silent Hill with elements from the other games, but didn't follow the plot exactly the same. Therefore it should not be considered in the universe of the games. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 10. C O N C L U S I O N c o n c l u s i o n +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Thanks for reading this guide. We hope it was a useful resource for information on the first three Silent Hill games. 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. End of document. ---