The world view of Silent Hill

The story of Silent Hill unfolds in Silent Hill in the real world and Silent Hill in another world (the surface world and the inner world). Most of the time, the characters have adventures in the outside and inside worlds.

Silent Hill in the real world

Silent Hill is a fictional American town located in the northeastern United States, presumably on the border of Maine. According to the setting of the game, Silent Hill is located in Toluca Lake (This lake is also fictional). Toluca Lake is full of water vapor, it is wrapped in thick fog all year round, and there have been supernatural incidents such as the mysterious disappearance of yachts, so it is considered an unlucky lake. There is a small island in Toluca Lake with a church built on the island. Silent Hill is a quiet town surrounded by forests, and it is also a resort and health resort. The town has been self-sufficient due to its commercial boom; it has a primary school, shopping mall, church, sanatorium, two independent hospitals, as well as other shops and tourist attractions. The main commercial activities in the town are small retail stores run by locals, and chain stores or dealers with little impact, except for Happy Burger and Shell gas stations. Located to the northwest of Toluca Lake is Paleville, and to the east are Old Silent Hill and Central Silent Hill. Old Silent Hill is a neighborhood with a large number of apartments and apartments. The residential area of ??the house also has a primary school and a church; while the central area of ??Silent Hill is a commercial area, with a commercial center and various shops. There is also Alchemilla Hospital and several motels. There is also a South Park. Paleville is a resort area. There is a lighthouse and Lakeside Amusement Park on the lakeside, as well as the Lakeview Hotel (Lakeview Hotel, which was destroyed by fire before the events of Silent Hill 2).

To the south is the almost abandoned South Vale, which nevertheless has many tourist attractions, shops and entertainment facilities. For example, the lookout point where "Silent Hill 2" begins, from which you can see Parville across the lake; Rosewater Park, where James and Mary stayed for a whole day; Night in Paradise Strip Club (Heaven's Night), Brookhaven Hospital (Brookhaven Hospital), Silent Hill Historical Society (Silent Hill Historical Society) and Toluca Prison (Jacks Inn) where Heather and Douglas stayed , the Baldwin Mansion where Ernest and Amy lived, and Pete's Bowl-O-Roma. (See Silent Hill map, "Silent Hill 2" bonus questions and answers in the hospital) To the east of the South Valley is the town where the murderer Walter Sullivan once lived - Pleasant River.

(Although Silent Hill is set in the United States, the reference materials for making the map are all taken from Japan, such as Lake Towada and Lake Tasaku. In Silent Hill 1, players can see the gas station The price of oil is the value of Japanese yen)

The basis of a different world

Silent Hill was originally a religious holy land for the Indians. They called it "the habitat of the Silent Elves". The "elves" mentioned here not only refer to the souls of their ancestors, but also include the spirits that live in flowers, trees, rocks, and rivers.

The town’s earliest history can be traced back to the early 17th century, when early British colonists settled here; before that, this place was a sacred place used for religious activities by local aborigines. In the 18th century, a strange plague killed a large number of residents in the town. The surviving people fled one after another, leaving the town uninhabited for a long time. The original name of this place has also been lost. In the early 19th century, the British used Silent Hill as an overseas exile and opened a prison and "Brookhaven Hospital" here. Around 1840, the prison closed and Silent Hill was once again abandoned. In the 1850s, another group of pioneers discovered coal deposits in Silent Hill, and Silent Hill prospered again. During the Civil War, this place was used as a prisoner of war camp, during which large-scale torture and killing of prisoners of war occurred. After the Civil War, the prison camp closed and Silent Hill began to become a tourist attraction.

But this supernatural power has not disappeared. Although it was originally neither good nor evil, after historical changes and countless sufferings, this power has gradually been distorted.

Due to the large-scale transformation of the world that occurred in "Silent Hill 1", the town has become a powerful catalyst for the materialization of people's deep consciousness. This has become a place to summon those who hide the dark side in their hearts. People with tortured consciousness will be easily pulled into another world. Travis, James, Eddie, Angela, Alex, Mo Fei is an example.

The current Silent Hill can drag characters in the real world into a "different world". In other words, the power of the town absorbs people's hearts and materializes people's hallucinations and subconsciousness.

Different worlds usually show two states: the outer world and the inner world. In some cases, the transition between the inner and outer world occurs suddenly. Therefore, in fact, consciousness is the factor that makes the difference between the inner and outer worlds. This power does not simply manifest the characteristics of their nightmares, but truly materializes what is in their subconscious. If the subject's consciousness is in a state of chaos, the state of the other world is also chaotic. In another world, time and physical limitations are transcended, consciousness is connected, and human minds can communicate directly. Just like in "Silent Hill 2", James, Angela and Eddie can see each other's other worlds; in "Silent Hill 3", Heather received a "Happy Birthday" call and saw Stanley Coleman's letter, etc. According to Yamato Hiroyuki, the transformation of the inner world that occurs outside the small town relies entirely on a special power. This power to absorb and reflect the human psyche is certainly unique to Silent Hill. But occasionally, the transition between the inner and outer worlds occurs in places other than Silent Hill. This situation is quite special and relies on another kind of power. Currently, only Heather Mason and Ass are the ones who carry the embryo of God in their bodies. Warlock's Walter Sullivan can do it.

It is said that after the release of Silent Hill 1, Team Silent did not have the concept of internal and external worlds. This was proposed by players. But in fact, the official website of "Silent Hill 1" already calls the world full of dense fog the outside world; the dark world is called the inside, another world, and another world. On the official website of "Silent Hill 2", when introducing the monster Mandarin, the words "inner world" have clearly appeared.

Religion in Silent Hill

In the early twentieth century, people based on the original Indian beliefs established "churches". No one knew the name of the church, people simply called it "the church." Despised by most of the population, the "church" operates in secret. The church was originally a series of loosely organized small groups. Although there was an unknown female main god, they each believed in different sub-gods, such as Lobsel Vith and Xuchilbara. , Valtiel, Holy Mother, etc. The name of the main god has never appeared in any game, but she is called "Creator of Paradise" and "Lord of Serpents and Reeds" by believers; and those who oppose the church People call her after certain demons (for example, Memo in Origins calls God Samael). Therefore, anyone who thinks that the name of a god or a cult is Samael is wrong.

The church practices human sacrifice, alchemy and other occult techniques in an attempt to resurrect "god". True believers among these people fervently believe that they are among God's chosen elite. They believed that through God's resurrection, they would enter "Paradise" and that other humans who did not believe in God would be destroyed. They also use "Gyromancy", "Talisman of Metraton", "Advent of the Virgin 21 Sacraments" and other techniques that are difficult for ordinary people to understand.

In order to raise funds for their activities, church member Dr. Michael Kaufman used the plant "White Claudia" native to Silent Hill to create a drug called PTV. The drug trade helps residents from neighboring areas travel to obtain PTV and increases local tourism revenue. But the drug trade was banned by the local government, and during the conflict the church murdered the mayor and several police officers. And their power has gradually penetrated into public institutions. The church's organization "Silent Hill Smile Support Society" (4S for short) operates an orphanage called "Hope House". Although the organization is called a charity, it is actually a kidnapping organization for children and kidnaps children. It is an institution that tortures, brainwashes and turns them into cultists.

In "Silent Hill 1", several important believers such as Dahlia Gillespie died, and the church's vitality was greatly damaged, so it fell silent for a period of time. After Claudia and Vincent took power in the church, the church was reorganized. Due to Vincent's exploits, the church expanded rapidly within a few years. In "Silent Hill 1" the church used a Christian church to carry out religious activities, but in "Silent Hill 3" they already have a church of their own style. It can be seen that in these 17 years, the influence of the church has expanded.

Main factions in the church

There are three main factions in the church.

Saint sect:

Believe that by performing special rituals, "gods" can reside in qualified women (saints) in the form of fetuses, and then resurrect "gods". The goal is to make the saint give birth to a "god".

Led by Dahlia Gillespie, it is the most powerful faction. The final boss that appears at the end of "Silent Hill 1" is a monster that Dalia calls a god, a male god. But since Dalia's death, the power has begun to decline.

Claudia, who appears in Silent Hill 3, is Alessa's childhood playmate. She is persistently looking for Heather Mason, hoping to make Heather give birth to a "god". Logically speaking, she should Belongs to the Saint Sect. However, in the additional Memo of Silent Hill 4, Claudia Wolf's name does not appear in the explanation of the Saint Faction. This makes Claudia's faction very nuanced. In the 17 years between Silent Hill 1 and 3, Claudia reorganized the church with the help of Father Vincent, resulting in a significant increase in believers. There are six oil paintings in the church's chapel depicting the story of God, in which God is a woman. Claudia hopes that everyone can enter "Paradise". However, the original conservative believers in the church believe that only the selected elite can enter "Paradise", so she and her father Leonard Wolf ( Leonard Wolf), I wonder if it was Claudia's conspiracy. Leonard was sent to Brookhaven Hospital because he stabbed someone during an argument over religious differences and was treated as a mental patient.

Does this mean that in the era of Silent Hill 3, Claudia’s status is superior to the three major factions?

Holy Mother Sect:

Believe in the Holy Mother (Holy Mother), a relatively weak sect. With Toby Archbolt as leader. They believe they can communicate with God through the Virgin Rock, located in the Silent Hill forest. By cultivating "warlocks" and having them complete the "Adventure of the Virgin - 21 Sacraments" to allow God (the Holy Mother) to descend. After the decline of the Angels, Toby Archibalt raised a large amount of money by developing tourism and selling cannabis, took over and reopened the House of Hope. After reopening the Hope House orphanage, Toby was elected as a city councilor for his contribution to the people of the town. It is said that after Claudia's death, Toby was the last priest of the church, and after he was killed by "Warlock" Walter Sullivan, the church ceased to exist.

God's Messenger Sect (Valtiel Sect):

Worship the angel Valtiel (Valtiel), who is known as God's agent and God's midwife. It is a new sect composed of Founded by Jimmy Stone, nicknamed the "Red Devil", he considers himself the being closest to God and acts as an executioner. He existed as a mediator to mediate the hatred and disputes between the Saints and Saints, and gradually gained great power through mediation. After the deaths of priests Jimmy Stone and George Rosten, the House of Hope and the Water Prison were closed.

Other sects:

In addition, there are some people in the church who believe in the red god Xuchilbara. In "Silent Hill 3", the myth in the church said that God created gods and angels including the yellow god Lobsel Vith and the red god Sucherbala. In the literature of Silent Hill 2, there is a god named Xuchilpaba. It's unclear whether the Suchel Prabha mentioned in Silent Hill 2 is the same god as the red god Suchel Bala mentioned in Silent Hill 3. The gender of Suchel Prabha is also not known. Earnest Baldwin is known to be a devotee of Suchel Prabha.

It has the ability to resurrect the dead. But judging from the fact that Suchel Prabha represents lies, fog, night and resurrection (bringing the dead back to the living world), it has a strong conflict with the gods in Silent Hill 1, 3 and 4 - Silent Hill 1 The god of Silent Hill 3 represents wisdom, light and the paradise of death; the god of Silent Hill 3 represents the sun, death and the paradise of death; the Virgin of Silent Hill 4 tries to purify the world (which is also the paradise of death). Since the book "Crimson Tome" in "Silent Hill 2" has a red cover, the "Crimson Tome" (Red Book) in "Silent Hill 4: Chamber of Secrets" that teaches people to destroy the Advent of the Virgin is also in a red cover. book, and it was originally hidden on the second floor of Hope House. Therefore, there is reason to suspect that Xuchilpaba believers have been secretly sabotaging other sects' plans to summon gods.

In "Silent Hill: Heavy Rain", a god named Kwekwaxawe appears, implying that this god is related to crows. Kwekwaxawe was worshiped by ancient Indians, but it is unknown whether it is still worshiped in modern times.