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Angela, it\'s worse than you think.
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[[WMG: Angela's story is worse than you think.]]
While [b]Silent Hill 2[/b] was in development "Repressed Memory Syndrome" was debunked. Women had been convinced by their therapists that their fathers had molested them, but they had "repressed" the memory. The resulting false accusations where frequently believed, resulting in trials and incarceration. If this is what happened to Angela, if she killed her father due to a false memory implanted by a therapist, then her murder wasn't justified. Which would explain why she remained in [b]Silent Hill[/b].
Eddie stays because his killings weren't justified. James can leave after working through his guilt. Angela staying makes no sense if she had cause for her action.
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Moving WMG from Analysis.
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[[WMG:James is a burgeoning serial killer, and Silent Hill (2) is a reflection of his psychosis.]]
Major unmasked spoilers ahead.
The major supposition of this WMG is that the Silent Hill presented in the second game is unrelated to the town in the other games, and is instead a product of James's mind. You can (if you like this theory, which I do) find a lot of evidence and interpretation to support this.
First of all, the biggest jumping-off point is the highly sexualized nature of the violence and monsters in the game. A lot of players seem to assume that this is a product of James's repression due to not having had a sexual relationship since Mary's death. I believe, however, that it indicates, instead, a sexually sadistic streak in James--put simply, he's a misogynist who gets off on hurting and killing women. Look at the mannequins, for example: they're composed solely of the lower half of the female body, which can easily be interpreted as a tendency toward objectification of women. The nurses are similar, nurse outfits and sexy female nurses being a common fetish or fantasy. The abstract daddy monsters are symbols of sexual violence and exploitation against a female character, who later simply gives up and dies.
In fact, almost all the female characters in this game represent misogynistic ideation. Angela is sexually abused by her father, kills him, and then gives in to her own despair and disappears (we can assume that she dies, or maybe was Dead All Along), which makes her a sort of archetype of the woman as victim. Her mother was an uncaring woman who not only knew about the abuse but told Angela that she deserved it! Woman as villain. Maria represents a number of things in the game, but her overtly and inappropriately sexual behavior can be seen as woman as tempter/seducer and her multiple violent deaths, usually incorporating or shortly following a sexually suggestive theme show James's disdain for women and possibly even a disgust or fear of female sexuality (at least as relates to his interactions with women). This image is taken further during the fight with the 'lustful lips' after Laura locks you into the office in the hospital--the monsters in question are, essentially, female genitalia encased in a bed frame. This suggests a character who feels threatened by female sexuality.
Speaking of Laura, she is only female in the game not portrayed in an overtly negative fashion, and even she's shown as annoying and often provokes James to irritation or hampers his progress, interesting since she's also the only female in the game who is even vaguely capable or surviving without his interference or protection. The lack of negativity could be tied into the fact that Laura is not viewed as a sexual object--she's a child, not yet having achieved puberty, and therefore not threatening in the same way that a grown woman would be. However, her relationship with Mary brings to mind the idea that eventually, Laura too will grow up and become just another woman, which makes James react somewhat more negatively to her.
Pyramid Head, likewise, is manifestation of James (this is played pretty overtly in the game). James says towards the end of the game that he ''created'' Pyramid Head as a means of punishment. Specifically, Pyramid Head is presumed to be a manifestation of James's guilt over killing Mary, who is now punishing James for his crimes. However, Pyramid Head can also be read as a personification of James's misogyny, because he/it is often shown raping and killing other (female) monsters as well as killing Maria (the sexual temptress) in a VERY sexually suggestive way by "penetrating" her body with his spear. Thus, Pyramid Head punishes females for their perceived sins or weaknesses, just as James, in a sense, punished Mary for her weakness (her illness) which he says took over his life (because he had to take care of her). James being able to later acquire and use Pyramid Head's great knife is also an interesting connection between the two. It's not until James is able to somewhat recognize these tendencies that Pyramid Head is defeated and James can move on to his final confrontation.
All well and good, but where do I get "serial killer" out of this, you ask. Well, aside from the fact that violent misogyny is a hallmark of many, many real-life serial killers, there's the fact of James's relationship with and--more importantly--preoccupation with Mary and her death. Many serial killers' first victim is someone close to them, and often that first murder will take place early in life, with subsequent killings happening years later and usually more frequently. Many such killers also follow a pattern of killing victims who have some perceived or symbolic similarity to that first victim.
In James's case, killing Mary would be his first murder. His preoccupation with her and her death, combined with the misogynist tendencies discussed above, would lead to the subsequent killings. Maria represents his victim archetype: a woman who is visually reminiscent of Mary, whom he had grown to hate, and who is blatantly and inappropriately seductive. (It's worth noting that James reacts with anger and sometimes disgust to her innuendos, while at the same time trying to sneak a peek down her blouse when her back is turned.) This is particularly evident if you believe that Mary was actually created by Silent Hill as an amalgamation of James's feelings about women. She dresses and acts provocatively, is implied to be a stripper or involved with the strip club (given that she has keys to the locks on the club's door), and is physically fragile and weak, needing James to protect her from monsters and being unable to keep up with him because she tires easily. She's also shown coughing and taking medicine, similar to the way we see Mary in flashbacks, which indicates that illness is also an aspect of James's victim profile.
During the cutscene that precedes the final boss fight (which is also with a female entity), the boss can be either Mary or Maria, depending on the player's actions during the game. Mary in that scene represents James's guilt over and preoccupation with his proto-victim, while Maria symbolizes his hatred of women in general. The boss fight is James's struggle to overcome his murderous urges.
The various endings indicate the various possible outcomes of that struggle. James can become consumed by his obsession with Mary, neither able to forgive himself (and her) and move on, nor willing to wholly give in to his hatred, leading to the In Water ending where he kills himself to end the conflict. In the Leave ending, James is able to come to terms with his past crimes and the darker side of himself and to move beyond it, with raising Laura as a chance at redemption. In the Maria ending, however, James is unable to overcome his misogyny, feels himself justified in killing Mary, and is likely to repeat the same sequence of events, with Maria representing his future victims.
There's also some tangential evidence that suggests that this version of Silent Hill is most a symbolic representation of James's mental landscape, with many of the newspaper clippings and other scraps of paper you encounter dealing with other murderers and mental patients, as well as the odd little detail in which, if/when you return to the area where you killed your first monster, it's surrounded by police tape. Eddie is also clearly well on the way to becoming a sociopath, and he's one of the first characters James encounters, as well as the only fully-human character James actually kills.
Overall, this WMG seems to make a lot of sense, especially if you're not too concerned about tying SH2 in with the other games in the series. I think the game works better as a standalone story set in the same universe as the other games but with a plot that's not actually related to them.
** I think you've hit on a lot of good points with the misogyny and fear of sexuality that seems to be present in the game, but I don't think that it's a fear of female sexuality, I think it's a fear of male heterosexuality...specifically, James' fear of his own sexuality. James is wracked with guilt and self-loathing after Mary's death. He can't get past the fact that he is a murderer, he's murdered his beloved wife. He sees himself as a predator, as something loathsome and disgusting. Therefore I think that all of the imagery of violence against women and sexual violence is a manifestation of his self-hatred and guilt being thrown back at him, saying "this is what you are" because he feels that he needs to be punished for what he did, continually reminded that he is a monster. I also think that he is dealing with the sexual frustration of having a recently departed wife. It seemed to me that Mary's illness was quite long, and, I think it was stated in the game, physically debilitating. We can safely assume that in the time that James was taking care of Mary, he wasn't [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean getting any]], and, considering the way that Mary treated him during that time, it isn't that much of a stretch to imagine that he might have entertained the thought of cheating on her. I think that at one point in the game Angela accuses James of wanting to be rid of Mary because he "wanted someone new" or something like that. He may have had these feelings, but would not act on them, and perhaps felt deeply ashamed of them. This I think is part of what Maria represents, as she is both appealing and repulsive to James. He might have, in his guilt and shame, seen his own sexual desire as dirty and a betrayal to Mary, who he also betrayed by killing. In conclusion, I don't think James is a budding serial killer, he just has issues.
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[[WMG: James is just crazy and went on a murdering spree throughout the quiet, peaceful town of Silent Hill]]
This one is kind of an old idea but not yet on this page, so here we go. Treating the rest of the series as discontinuity, there is little to suggest there is anything evil about the town besides James's experiences. It's a real, populated town that people like James and Mary vacation to with no signs of being known for leading to the dissapearances or deaths of random people like James, Eddie, and Angela, so either it rarely turns into its evil otherworld form, has a horrible track record of actually killing its victims, or is just an ordinary town. If so, then James is simply insane, either due to killing Mary or just latently and it lead to his killing her, and sees the town's innocent inhabitants as monsters that he beats or shoots to death. The place where James kills his first monster becomes, later in the game, surrounded by police tape, supporting this idea. The other human characters and Pyramid Head are alll likely just delusions. Eddie could also even be a cop, being the only enemy to attack James with a gun, and James simply projects his delusions to make him into a murdering fatso rather than a cop trying to stop James.
* For additional wild mass guessing on this WMG, the daytime outdoors part of Silent Hill is actually nighttime, hence why there are just a few scattered enemies. When you are outdoors later and James percieves it to be nighttime, it is actually daytime, hence the larger number of enemies about. Furthermore, James insanity may also project a latent misogyny, so the sexualized monsters are the females he encounters in the town, with men being the weird straitjacketed enemies and Doormen.
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[[WMG: James is just crazy and went on a murdering spree throughout the quiet, peaceful town of Silent Hill]]
This one is kind of an old idea but not yet on this page, so here we go. Treating the rest of the series as discontinuity, there is little to suggest there is anything evil about the town besides James's experiences. It's a real, populated town that people like James and Mary vacation to with no signs of being known for leading to the dissapearances or deaths of random people like James, Eddie, and Angela, so either it rarely turns into its evil otherworld form, has a horrible track record of actually killing its victims, or is just an ordinary town. If so, then James is simply insane, either due to killing Mary or just latently and it lead to his killing her, and sees the town's innocent inhabitants as monsters that he beats or shoots to death. The place where James kills his first monster becomes, later in the game, surrounded by police tape, supporting this idea. The other human characters and Pyramid Head are alll likely just delusions. Eddie could also even be a cop, being the only enemy to attack James with a gun, and James simply projects his delusions to make him into a murdering fatso rather than a cop trying to stop James.
*For additional wild mass guessing on this WMG, the daytime outdoors part of Silent Hill is actually nighttime, hence why there are just a few scattered enemies. When you are outdoors later and James percieves it to be nighttime, it is actually daytime, hence the larger number of enemies about. Furthermore, James insanity may also project a latent misogyny, so the sexualized monsters are the females he encounters in the town, with men being the weird straitjacketed enemies and Doormen.
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This is mainly a ForTheLulz theory, since it's pretty much already been confirmed that Pyramid Head is the manifestation of James's repressed guilt brought to life by the town, but let's go with it. James killed Mary, meaning that he committed murder (even if it was a mercy kill, it was still murder). That's why Pyramid Head is coming after James - he wants to punish him for his crime. Also note that Pyramid Head doesn't appear in any other games (SilentHillV doesn't count, since it was made in America and that game's Pyramid Head was based on the movie version). When it stabbed Maria, it was trying to stab James but missed (it probably can't see very well with that helmet).
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This is mainly a ForTheLulz JustForFun theory, since it's pretty much already been confirmed that Pyramid Head is the manifestation of James's repressed guilt brought to life by the town, but let's go with it. James killed Mary, meaning that he committed murder (even if it was a mercy kill, it was still murder). That's why Pyramid Head is coming after James - he wants to punish him for his crime. Also note that Pyramid Head doesn't appear in any other games (SilentHillV doesn't count, since it was made in America and that game's Pyramid Head was based on the movie version). When it stabbed Maria, it was trying to stab James but missed (it probably can't see very well with that helmet).
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[[WMG: Pyramid Head is an authoritative figure in Silent Hill.]]
This is mainly a ForTheLulz theory, since it's pretty much already been confirmed that Pyramid Head is the manifestation of James's repressed guilt brought to life by the town, but let's go with it. James killed Mary, meaning that he committed murder (even if it was a mercy kill, it was still murder). That's why Pyramid Head is coming after James - he wants to punish him for his crime. Also note that Pyramid Head doesn't appear in any other games (SilentHillV doesn't count, since it was made in America and that game's Pyramid Head was based on the movie version). When it stabbed Maria, it was trying to stab James but missed (it probably can't see very well with that helmet).
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[[WMG: Laura is dead.]]
Laura keeps saying that she knew Mary and is looking for her, and eventually reveals that she met her in a hospital. She also keeps saying that Silent Hill is "her world" and seems to only exist in the "normal" Silent Hill (well, as normal as it gets) - she is never present in the "dark world". Also note that Laura is most often seen in the hospital, and most of the events concerning her (such as when she locks James in a room with a monster) happen there. She is often said to have wanted a world without adults, which Silent Hill manifests as for her (she does interact with Eddie, but she doesn't think much of him, and she doesn't seem to be aware of Maria - also note that she acts hostile to James, who is also an adult). It is entirely possible that Laura died in the hospital, and Silent Hill is "heaven" for her - an empty town void of adults in which she can play and do whatever she wants.
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*****Not the OP, but I have an idea. The second Pyramid Head is also James, but from a different ending. This is possible since the "Leave" ending is the only one where he actually moves on with his life.
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[[WMG: The Good+ Ending is Canon.]]
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[[WMG: The Good+ Ending is Canon.canon.]]
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 -- not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around -- unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name (Shepherd, Mary's maiden name) so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 -- not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around -- unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name (Shepherd, Mary's maiden name) name), so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name -- so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not -- not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) around -- unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, (Shepherd, Mary's maiden name -- name) so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting Pyramid Head's appearance, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name -- so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head's appearance, Head, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name -- so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting Pyramid Head's appearance, since he was based on [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name -- so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting Pyramid Head's appearance, since he was based on off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name -- so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name -- so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head, Head's appearance, since he was based off of on [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name -- so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name (Shephard, Mary's maiden name), so you never know.
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** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 (not counting the appearance of Pyramid Head, since he was based off of [[Film/SilentHill the movie version]] this time around) unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name (Shephard, -- Shephard, Mary's maiden name), name -- so you never know.
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James Sunderland escaped, Adopted Laura, got back in his Job as a Clerk, got over Mary and moved on with his life.
Silent Hill 5 is going to be about Laura coming back to Silent Hill....
Silent Hill 5 is going to be about Laura coming back to Silent Hill....
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James Sunderland escaped, Adopted adopted Laura, got back in into his Job job as a Clerk, store clerk, got over Mary and moved on with his life.
Silent Hill 5 is going to be about Laura coming back to SilentHill....Hill...
** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name (Shephard, Mary's maiden name), so you never know.
Silent Hill 5 is going to be about Laura coming back to Silent
** {{Jossed}}; [[SilentHillHomecoming Silent Hill 5]] has nothing at all to do with Silent Hill 2 unless Alex and Mary are somehow related. Then again, they ''do'' have the same last name (Shephard, Mary's maiden name), so you never know.
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[[WMG: The Good+ Ending is Canon.]]
James Sunderland escaped, Adopted Laura, got back in his Job as a Clerk, got over Mary and moved on with his life.
Silent Hill 5 is going to be about Laura coming back to Silent Hill....
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** This troper is guilty of not factoring in age for this WMG.
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* age discrepancies there man, James was 29 at Silent Hill 2
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* age discrepancies there man, James was 29 at Silent Hill 22 while Harry was 32 in the Original Silent Hill
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* age discrepancies there man, James was 29 at Silent Hill 2
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[[WMG: James Sunderland is Harry Mason, even if {{Word of God}} says otherwise.]]
After escaping Silent Hill with his daughter, Harry got remarried and legally changed his name to avoid the Order. For a time, however, he repressed his memories of what Silent Hill was truly like, or he thought that if he went to a different part of the town, he could avoid the Order. After the events of Silent Hill 2, he came back home to raise Cheryl/Heather. The Order was able to track him down due to the second he came to Silent Hill, and kill him.
After escaping Silent Hill with his daughter, Harry got remarried and legally changed his name to avoid the Order. For a time, however, he repressed his memories of what Silent Hill was truly like, or he thought that if he went to a different part of the town, he could avoid the Order. After the events of Silent Hill 2, he came back home to raise Cheryl/Heather. The Order was able to track him down due to the second he came to Silent Hill, and kill him.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Silent Hill 2 is based on ''The Wind Cries Mary'' by Jimi Hendrix.]]
[[folder:Silent Hill 2 is based on ''The Wind Cries Mary'' by Jimi Hendrix.]]
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[[folder:Silent
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Silent Hill 2 is actually based on Blue Velvet and Lost Highway.]]
[[folder:Silent Hill 2 is actually based on Blue Velvet and Lost Highway.]]
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[[folder:Silent
[[WMG:Silent Hill 2 is actually based on Blue Velvet and Lost Highway.]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Alessa and Mira the Dog are the same person!]]
[[folder:Alessa and Mira the Dog are the same person!]]
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[[folder:Alessa
[[WMG:Alessa and Mira the Dog are the same person!]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder: Alessa is afraid of dogs because of Mira (the god of Silent Hill).]]
[[folder: Alessa is afraid of dogs because of Mira (the god of Silent Hill).]]
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[[folder:
[[WMG: Alessa is afraid of dogs because of Mira (the god of Silent Hill).]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Pyramid Head doesn't just represent James' latent guilt, he ''is'' James, post the "In Water" ending via the TimeyWimeyBall.]]
[[folder:Pyramid Head doesn't just represent James' latent guilt, he ''is'' James, post the "In Water" ending via the TimeyWimeyBall.]]
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[[folder:Pyramid
[[WMG:Pyramid Head doesn't just represent James' latent guilt, he ''is'' James, post the "In Water" ending via the TimeyWimeyBall.]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder: Maria is the God of Silent Hill's cult, or at least a piece of her she uses to interact with humans.]]
[[folder: Maria is the God of Silent Hill's cult, or at least a piece of her she uses to interact with humans.]]
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[[folder:
[[WMG: Maria is the God of Silent Hill's cult, or at least a piece of her she uses to interact with humans.]]
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From the first and third game it's obvious that the cult's God feeds on suffering and misery, either to sustain herself or merely as part of her summoning ritual. However, while Alessa had to live in misery for seven years before she could birth God and a further seven years in unending agony for God to regain her power after Alessa’s soul was split, Heather only had to nurture God for a day at most with her hatred for Claudia until God was born. This is because after being defeated by Harry and returning to a dormant state within the newly-born Heather, a piece of God remained in Silent Hill. Unable to either leave the town or exercise much influence over it, she spent the seventeen years between her two summoning attempts attracting people "with darkness in their hearts" towards Silent Hill in order to gain power from them, employing whatever form and methods necessary to draw the most (the Maria ending being the ending where she wins, ensuring James will repeat his actions and provide her with power for years to come), guaranteeing that when Heather returned with her other piece she could be summoned far more promptly (also explaining why she was far larger than in the first game).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Laura CAN See Monsters]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Laura CAN See Monsters]]
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From the first and third game it's obvious that the cult's God feeds on suffering and misery, either to sustain herself or merely as part of her summoning ritual. However, while Alessa had to live in misery for seven years before she could birth God and a further seven years in unending agony for God to regain her power after Alessa’s Alessa's soul was split, Heather only had to nurture God for a day at most with her hatred for Claudia until God was born. This is because after being defeated by Harry and returning to a dormant state within the newly-born Heather, a piece of God remained in Silent Hill. Unable to either leave the town or exercise much influence over it, she spent the seventeen years between her two summoning attempts attracting people "with darkness in their hearts" towards Silent Hill in order to gain power from them, employing whatever form and methods necessary to draw the most (the Maria ending being the ending where she wins, ensuring James will repeat his actions and provide her with power for years to come), guaranteeing that when Heather returned with her other piece she could be summoned far more promptly (also explaining why she was far larger than in the first game).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lauragame).
[[WMG:Laura CAN See Monsters]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Laura
[[WMG:Laura CAN See Monsters]]
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[[folder: Pyramid head is someone who ''didn't'' overcome Silent Hill's torture.]]
[[folder: Pyramid head is someone who ''didn't'' overcome Silent Hill's torture.]]
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[[folder:
[[WMG: Pyramid head is someone who ''didn't'' overcome Silent Hill's torture.]]
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[[folder: In contrast to Maria, Laura is a figment of James imagination to represent the other side of Mary.]]
[[folder: In contrast to Maria, Laura is a figment of James imagination to represent the other side of Mary.]]
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[[WMG: In contrast to Maria, Laura is a figment of James imagination to represent the other side of Mary.]]
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[[folder: Everyone in the town is high out of their minds on White Claudia.]]
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[[WMG: Everyone in the town is high out of their minds on White Claudia.]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder: Nobody except James in Silent Hill 2 was real.]]
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[[WMG: Nobody except James in Silent Hill 2 was real.]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder: The Pyramid Heads are the direct servants of Silent Hill's power.]]
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[[WMG: The Pyramid Heads are the direct servants of Silent Hill's power.]]
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[[folder: Angela represents Mary as victim.]]
[[folder: Angela represents Mary as victim.]]
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[[WMG: Angela represents Mary as victim.]]
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*** How about more of an in-depth explanation? If you notice that whenever you fight Pyramid Head in the game and he thrusts his big sword or spear at you, he will make the same grunt that James makes whenever he gets hit by a monster. Perhaps it's just laziness on Konami's part and they couldn't find a random person to provide vocals for PH so they recycled James' voice actor's grunts and used them, but even that too would be a bit of a stretch. Why bother making PH sound like James? Everyone seems to agree that Pyramid Head is a part of the protagonist of SH2. IF the In Water ending happens then James doesn't get a chance to really 'go on' with his life as Mary had wished and he's doomed himself to Silent Hill purgatory for a while. Pyramid Head walks as if he's carrying a heavy burden and it's his job to deal out sentences to the guilty. It's only fitting that this is what James becomes if he fails to see the point of his whole trip and selfishly takes his life instead. Like James, Pyramid Head is not a villain, but merely a misunderstood character whose actions are not entirely laden with ill intent after the whole story is revealed. It seems his intentions throughout the game were ultimately good in the end. He had to break James' delusion and make him see the truth before it is too late. Maria was a distraction for James and the one thing preventing him from being able to own up to what he did to his wife. So one can conclude: James, although he smothered his sick wife with a pillow, is still at the core of his being a good man who is a victim of circumstance caused by not being able to handle the pain and the stress from seeing his wife deteriorate before his eyes. His need to find his wife and concern for the other characters indicate he is not an entirely bad person. And Pyramid Head was born from James' need to correct his wrong and the only part of James that knows the truth. James is also able to wield the Great Knife after finding it. Perhaps this is PH's way of reminding James of what he could become. But back to the In Water ending if it's the ending you want to believe. It would actually explain a lot as to why Pyramid Head seems bigger in size in the Arcade game and Silent Hill Homecoming. He is James Sunderland with all of the guilt of his actions realized and now a permanent apparatus of Silent Hill as opposed to being a tool from his own mind that the town exploited to "help" him.
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If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, which he felt guilty for, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder. This is why Angela alternately appears as the victimized female in need of James' assistance, and someone who is antagonistic towards him.
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If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, which he felt guilty for, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder. This is why Angela alternately appears as the victimized female in need of James' assistance, and someone who is antagonistic and directing blame towards him.
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Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity, which he felt guilty for, as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder. This is why Angela alternately appears as the victimized female in need of James' assistance, and someone who is antagonistic towards him.
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If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity, which he felt guilty for, infidelity as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, which he felt guilty for, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder. This is why Angela alternately appears as the victimized female in need of James' assistance, and someone who is antagonistic towards him.
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Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity, which he felt guilty for, as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder.
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If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity, which he felt guilty for, as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder. This is why Angela alternately appears as the victimized female in need of James' assistance, and someone who is antagonistic towards him.
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[[folder: Angela represents Mary as victim.]]
If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity, which he felt guilty for, as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder.
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If Maria is the sexualized version of Mary, and Laura is the innocent, nonsexual ideal, and Eddie is James as murderer, then Angela represents Mary as the victimized female. Angela is the victim of a violent abusive male who was a member of her own family and supposed to be her protector, just as James failed to fulfill his duty to his wife as her protector and was eventually her killer. There's also the imagery of sexual violence that surrounds Angela, and the fact that she accuses James of being like her father because she says that all men are alike and only want one thing. This is an abstraction of James' unfulfilled sexual desire and thoughts of infidelity, which he felt guilty for, as his wife was bedridden and no longer attractive to him, and his tortured mind conflated this as the motivation for her murder.
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[[folder: The Pyramid Heads are the direct servants of Silent Hill's power.]]
Every single other monster in the game functions as a metaphor for James' sorrow/guilt/sexuality/whatever in their form but not their actions (with the exception of the Doorman, but that's for another folder), all of them attacking James indiscriminately. The Pyramid Heads however function as a metaphor in their ''actions'' but not their ''form'', raping other monsters and killing Maria but appearing as something James wouldn’t recognise. As all the games more than heavily suggest that the appearance of Silent Hill and its denizens is influenced by whomever is currently the focus of the town, this is an anomaly.
The Historical Society offers the main clue, that executioners, "the punishers of the guilty" in the town's past, most likely related to its ubiquitous cult, wore almost identical outfits, which were either inspired by the Pyramid Heads or were used as inspiration themselves. This means that the Pyramid Heads are a manifestation of the town's power ''directly'' instead of a manifestation of another's mind, perhaps possessing only the role of a punisher or perhaps fulfilling different roles required by different people, but always retaining the same appearance.
This also has some implications for Maria, who functions as a metaphor in both form ''and'' actions, suggesting that like the Pyramid Heads she is a direct manifestation of the town but is capable of altering her appearance (which brings new meaning to when James asks her "Aren't you Maria?" and she replies with "I am... if you want me to be").
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[[folder: In contrast to Maria, Laura is a figment of James imagination to represent the other side of Mary.]]
Laura is the non sexual, innocent side that hates James for smothering Mary.
[[folder: Everyone in the town is high out of their minds on White Claudia.]]
Maybe all of the White Claudia plants growing nearby have been releasing pollen spores into the air [[strike:ensuring complete global saturation]], or some crazy cultist sabotaged the town's water supply, or what-have-you, but thanks to the blessings of White Claudia, nothing that's ever allegedly happened in the games reflects what happened in real life. In reality, Silent Hill's population simply lost their minds a long time ago, the protagonists included, and they've been running around the town smashing windows and shooting at each other in between smearing blood and graffiti all over the walls. The alleged DarkWorld we've seen in the games is nothing more than an incredibly vivid hallucination- a fever dream of a town gone mad.
[[folder: Nobody except James in Silent Hill 2 was real.]]
Eddie and Angela represent the two different conflicting sides of James' personality: the idea of fleeing from guilt vs the idea of being consumed by it. Eddie is only concerned about himself, and doesn't really care about the violence he caused, in the end, accepting the idea that it actually made his life better. This is directly relational to the fact that his crime was the least motivated, and thus, James sees Eddie as being unsympathetic, much like he is unwilling to forgive himself (this troper takes the In Water ending as canon) for the perceived selfish nature of his crime. Notably, Eddie isn't looking for anyone. He's just trying to get away from his crime, much like James repressed the memory of what he did to himself, effectively "getting away from his crime." Angela, on the other hand, was arguably the most justified in what she did, killing her father, who abused her (before she died, Mary verbally abused James). This ties in to the sympathetic nature of the act that James did, performing a mercy killing on Mary. Yet Angela clearly is consumed by guilt, and is trying to find her mother, perhaps to find some for of forgiveness. James, likewise, is also subconsciously seeking forgiveness for what could be perceived as a sympathetic act. Maria and Laura are a bit more clear cut, with Maria obviously representing the idealized sexual form of Mary, and Laura representing the idea of a Mary that is sexually unavailable to James, is openly antagonistic to him, and that he doesn't really care for.
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Laura is the non sexual, innocent side that hates James for smothering Mary.
[[folder: Everyone in the town is high out of their minds on White Claudia.]]
Maybe all of the White Claudia plants growing nearby have been releasing pollen spores into the air [[strike:ensuring complete global saturation]], or some crazy cultist sabotaged the town's water supply, or what-have-you, but thanks to the blessings of White Claudia, nothing that's ever allegedly happened in the games reflects what happened in real life. In reality, Silent Hill's population simply lost their minds a long time ago, the protagonists included, and they've been running around the town smashing windows and shooting at each other in between smearing blood and graffiti all over the walls. The alleged DarkWorld we've seen in the games is nothing more than an incredibly vivid hallucination- a fever dream of a town gone mad.
[[folder: Nobody except James in Silent Hill 2 was real.]]
Eddie and Angela represent the two different conflicting sides of James' personality: the idea of fleeing from guilt vs the idea of being consumed by it. Eddie is only concerned about himself, and doesn't really care about the violence he caused, in the end, accepting the idea that it actually made his life better. This is directly relational to the fact that his crime was the least motivated, and thus, James sees Eddie as being unsympathetic, much like he is unwilling to forgive himself (this troper takes the In Water ending as canon) for the perceived selfish nature of his crime. Notably, Eddie isn't looking for anyone. He's just trying to get away from his crime, much like James repressed the memory of what he did to himself, effectively "getting away from his crime." Angela, on the other hand, was arguably the most justified in what she did, killing her father, who abused her (before she died, Mary verbally abused James). This ties in to the sympathetic nature of the act that James did, performing a mercy killing on Mary. Yet Angela clearly is consumed by guilt, and is trying to find her mother, perhaps to find some for of forgiveness. James, likewise, is also subconsciously seeking forgiveness for what could be perceived as a sympathetic act. Maria and Laura are a bit more clear cut, with Maria obviously representing the idealized sexual form of Mary, and Laura representing the idea of a Mary that is sexually unavailable to James, is openly antagonistic to him, and that he doesn't really care for.
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