10 Silent Hill Theories That Might Actually Be True
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VOICE OVER: Mathew Arter
WRITTEN BY: Mathew Arter
Although "Silent Hill" has received a ton of lore across its nine mainline entries, there are still some holes that have been filled by fan theories. For this list, we'll be looking at theories surrounding Konami's horror series that are actually pretty sound. Because we're talking plot points, we're issuing a spoiler warning. Our list includes Alex is Innocent, Travis Grady is a Serial Killer, Three Silent Hills, The Order, and more!
Script written by Mathew Arter
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we are looking at one of the most infamous video game towns, with 10 Silent Hill Theories That are Probably True. For this list, we’re trying to fill in some of the holes that Silent Hill has left open. Although the town has lore and history spread deeply throughout its 9 mainline entries, it still leaves a lot of room for interpretation and theories. We will be discussing some plot points in this video, so spoiler warning ahead. Did we miss any of your favs? Are we out of our minds? Let us know in the comments below.
Arguably the best entry in the series, Silent Hill 2 has a lot of strange individual moments that aren’t part of the larger picture - small glimpses of horror spread throughout the town that aren’t always caught by everyone. One of these moments comes in Room 209 of the Blue Creek Apartments. Many players claim they’ve never heard the whispers as they only played through television speakers, but with headphones on, the player will hear this whisper almost as if it was directly in their ear. The most popular theory online is that the inaudible whisper says “See my dead wife, came home to do some laundry to escape.” The claim is that this is James himself whispering about going to visit a hospitalized Mary, his “dead wife.” And with “coming home to do some laundry” being a common euphemism for masturbation, James is referring to escaping mentally from the burden of Mary. Dark stuff.
Although Silent Hill is talked about constantly, given a history, and filled with its own lore, it’s still difficult to understand how this supernatural ex-resort town has managed to evade interference from the outside world, or even the government. With the timeline as we know it, the resort town, as it was mentioned in Silent Hill 2, was still functioning during the events of Silent Hill 1, while protagonist Harry Mason was in the seemingly abandoned town. This has led to the popular theory that Silent Hill inhabits three separate planes of existence, which are all connected. The top plane being the functioning resort town, which still has a cult existing in the shadows. The middle plane being the “fog world”, where the majority of the games take place - this is where our protagonists and side characters who have some form of guilt or connection to Silent Hill are drawn. And finally, the hellish nightmare we encounter throughout the series known as the otherworld. It’s always been assumed that the Fog World and the Overworld are two alternate versions of the town we move between, but the addition of the top layer, the quote unquote ‘normal’ Silent Hill, helps to fill some of those plot holes.
One of the big plot twists of Alex’s story in Silent Hill: Homecoming is that, after some uncharacteristic bullying, a tussle driven by Alex causes Josh to injure his head, fall in the lake and drown. Due to the fact that Silent Hill can create false memories and illusions, a handful of players believe that these were not the real events that took place that night. Alex’s character inconsistencies during this cutscene, plus the lack of evidence throughout the rest of the game to hint towards this version of Alex, makes it seem as though we were seeing falsified events. Perhaps the strongest evidence comes in the form of the infamous Pyramid Head, who is known to punish those weighed down by great sin. Pyramid Head goes as far as to kill Alex’s dad for his abusive parenting, but never so much as looks at Alex the wrong way. And the Pyramid Head don’t lie.
Here is a common theory that has popped up all over the place. The theme of maternity is heavy throughout Silent Hill 3. Heather is told she carries the fetus of God within her, without her having done anything to make this happen, and this disgusts her and fuels her desire to end the order. At one point in the game, she encounters a ladder and says the infamous line that has created the most fuel for this theory, "If only I had something long to snag it." She then finds a coat hanger in a women's clothing store which she has to straighten out to pull the ladder. Many believe that this sequence is a metaphor for abortion. The theory isn't that crazy considering all of the symbolism seen throughout these games, but it is heavy.
In the underrated Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams ‘Born from a Wish’ scenario, (playing as Mary) the player encounters a voice through a door known as Ernest. Not much is known about Ernest, but considering that almost all of the entities encountered throughout Silent Hill 2 are manifestations of James’ brain (as per the rules of Silent Hill), many believe that this particular entity is more closely a piece of James’ mind than the game lets up. Ernest not only knows of Mary’s murder, and that James is the murderer, but the story of Ernest’s past also seems to mirror James’. A few key pieces of evidence also suggest that it is Ernest who guides James through Silent Hill via notes and messages, suggesting that he is the part of James’ mind that holds the memories of Mary’s murder, and he is guiding himself to resolution.
Even though The Order (the cult that inhabits Silent Hill and the surrounding areas) is given a major antagonistic part in almost all of the Silent Hill games, there is a lot that isn't known about them and their history. The “origins” theory sheds some light on the mysterious beginnings of The Order. Although the Silent Hill comics aren’t canon, they have created the theory that long before Silent Hill was formed, a malicious entity or demon served as patron deity to the Native Americans in the area, and once the settlers drove them off, the deity no longer received sacrifice and caused much of the famine and death seen up until The Order took over. It’s theorized that this entity influenced one or more of the founding members, and became the “god” that The Order often refers to, not as a figurative unproven God, but a physical being existing on another plane, much like Cthulhu. Creepy stuff.
In Silent Hill: Origins, Lisa Garland expresses her deepest desire to protagonist Travis Grady... To be an actress. Perhaps she was a far better actress than we realized. The “liar” theory suggests that throughout Silent Hill: Origins, Lisa was trying to drive Travis away from The Order to buy them time. She did this by lying and saying that “Alyssa was dead” after the house fire, even though we know from Silent Hill 1 that Lisa was in charge of caring for Alyssa post house fire. This is never revealed to be a lie, but it certainly doesn’t coincide with the Silent Hill 1 story. Other small pieces of evidence lead down the same rabbit hole. But why would she be helping the order? The most popular theory? …Drugs. We know Lisa is a PTV addict, and with knowledge that the order protects PTV dealers, it’s not hard to draw a line between Lisa and The Order.
Here’s an interesting theory developed by fans of Silent Hill 4. Even though this one is more theoretical than tangible, it’s fun to play through with this theory in mind. The paranoia theory suggests that at all times throughout Silent Hill 4, our protagonist (who is seemingly more alone than previous playable characters) is at all times being watched by somebody. The line from Joseph Schreibers of “I am always watching you” in room 302, has led players to believe they are always being observed by the previous occupants' ghosts whenever they are in room 302. For the rest of the game, when venturing outside the room, the theory suggests it is Walter Sullivan (who appears every so often to attack Henry) who keeps a close eye on our protagonist.
Possibly the MOST assured entry on our list, the theory that Silent Hill: Origins’ protagonist Travis Grady is actually a serial killer, is as old as the game itself. After his mother (suffering from psychotic delusion) tried to gas him as a child, she was sent to a sanitarium. Travis' father, on the other hand, hung himself in front of Travis. 15 years later, the game begins …and we know absolutely nothing that took place during that 15-year window! The theory suggests that Travis has dual personalities, and during these 15 years he was committing murder en masse. Travis observes crime photos throughout Silent Hill and collects them, possibly crimes he himself committed. When he finds a shovel and observes it, he says “Good for maiming bodies, and burying them” …Yeesh. And the most damning piece of evidence, the bad ending where after being injected by an unknown liquid by The Order, Travis sees flashes of The Butcher as well as his own bloody hands, suggesting that The Butcher may be another identity of Travis’.
James Sunderland arrives in Silent Hill during Silent Hill 2 with a letter from his deceased wife asking him to come to Silent Hill to find her. It’s one of the all time most interesting and engrossing openings in a video game. As the story unfolds, and as we reach our conclusion, we learn that James actually murdered his wife on her deathbed in an act of mercy and selfishness. In one of the endings, James drives his car into the lake and says “now we can be together.” This is an important line that many believe is open to interpretation, especially after we know James took Mary’s body somewhere after murdering her. The theory is that immediately after killing Mary, James stored her in the trunk of his car and immediately drove to Silent Hill. This half-day drive was where James fell deeper into his psychosis, eventually creating this temporary amnesia, and upon arriving in Silent Hill, and leaving his car, he unknowingly leaves Mary’s body in the trunk.. The theory was somewhat challenged in 2012 when game writer Misahiro Ito tweeted “The Mary's body is on the back seat of James's car, not in the trunk, if I remember correctly. #SilentHill2”. This led many to believe that James’ delusion and psychosis was so intense, he blocked his visible deceased wife out of his mind. But many have also considered the idea that Misahiro was just trolling, due to the phrasing of his Tweet. Whether she was in the boot, or the backseat, the theory is still bone chilling.
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we are looking at one of the most infamous video game towns, with 10 Silent Hill Theories That are Probably True. For this list, we’re trying to fill in some of the holes that Silent Hill has left open. Although the town has lore and history spread deeply throughout its 9 mainline entries, it still leaves a lot of room for interpretation and theories. We will be discussing some plot points in this video, so spoiler warning ahead. Did we miss any of your favs? Are we out of our minds? Let us know in the comments below.
Blue Creek Whispers
Arguably the best entry in the series, Silent Hill 2 has a lot of strange individual moments that aren’t part of the larger picture - small glimpses of horror spread throughout the town that aren’t always caught by everyone. One of these moments comes in Room 209 of the Blue Creek Apartments. Many players claim they’ve never heard the whispers as they only played through television speakers, but with headphones on, the player will hear this whisper almost as if it was directly in their ear. The most popular theory online is that the inaudible whisper says “See my dead wife, came home to do some laundry to escape.” The claim is that this is James himself whispering about going to visit a hospitalized Mary, his “dead wife.” And with “coming home to do some laundry” being a common euphemism for masturbation, James is referring to escaping mentally from the burden of Mary. Dark stuff.
Three Silent Hills
Although Silent Hill is talked about constantly, given a history, and filled with its own lore, it’s still difficult to understand how this supernatural ex-resort town has managed to evade interference from the outside world, or even the government. With the timeline as we know it, the resort town, as it was mentioned in Silent Hill 2, was still functioning during the events of Silent Hill 1, while protagonist Harry Mason was in the seemingly abandoned town. This has led to the popular theory that Silent Hill inhabits three separate planes of existence, which are all connected. The top plane being the functioning resort town, which still has a cult existing in the shadows. The middle plane being the “fog world”, where the majority of the games take place - this is where our protagonists and side characters who have some form of guilt or connection to Silent Hill are drawn. And finally, the hellish nightmare we encounter throughout the series known as the otherworld. It’s always been assumed that the Fog World and the Overworld are two alternate versions of the town we move between, but the addition of the top layer, the quote unquote ‘normal’ Silent Hill, helps to fill some of those plot holes.
Alex is Innocent
One of the big plot twists of Alex’s story in Silent Hill: Homecoming is that, after some uncharacteristic bullying, a tussle driven by Alex causes Josh to injure his head, fall in the lake and drown. Due to the fact that Silent Hill can create false memories and illusions, a handful of players believe that these were not the real events that took place that night. Alex’s character inconsistencies during this cutscene, plus the lack of evidence throughout the rest of the game to hint towards this version of Alex, makes it seem as though we were seeing falsified events. Perhaps the strongest evidence comes in the form of the infamous Pyramid Head, who is known to punish those weighed down by great sin. Pyramid Head goes as far as to kill Alex’s dad for his abusive parenting, but never so much as looks at Alex the wrong way. And the Pyramid Head don’t lie.
Pro Choice
Here is a common theory that has popped up all over the place. The theme of maternity is heavy throughout Silent Hill 3. Heather is told she carries the fetus of God within her, without her having done anything to make this happen, and this disgusts her and fuels her desire to end the order. At one point in the game, she encounters a ladder and says the infamous line that has created the most fuel for this theory, "If only I had something long to snag it." She then finds a coat hanger in a women's clothing store which she has to straighten out to pull the ladder. Many believe that this sequence is a metaphor for abortion. The theory isn't that crazy considering all of the symbolism seen throughout these games, but it is heavy.
Ernest
In the underrated Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams ‘Born from a Wish’ scenario, (playing as Mary) the player encounters a voice through a door known as Ernest. Not much is known about Ernest, but considering that almost all of the entities encountered throughout Silent Hill 2 are manifestations of James’ brain (as per the rules of Silent Hill), many believe that this particular entity is more closely a piece of James’ mind than the game lets up. Ernest not only knows of Mary’s murder, and that James is the murderer, but the story of Ernest’s past also seems to mirror James’. A few key pieces of evidence also suggest that it is Ernest who guides James through Silent Hill via notes and messages, suggesting that he is the part of James’ mind that holds the memories of Mary’s murder, and he is guiding himself to resolution.
The Order
Even though The Order (the cult that inhabits Silent Hill and the surrounding areas) is given a major antagonistic part in almost all of the Silent Hill games, there is a lot that isn't known about them and their history. The “origins” theory sheds some light on the mysterious beginnings of The Order. Although the Silent Hill comics aren’t canon, they have created the theory that long before Silent Hill was formed, a malicious entity or demon served as patron deity to the Native Americans in the area, and once the settlers drove them off, the deity no longer received sacrifice and caused much of the famine and death seen up until The Order took over. It’s theorized that this entity influenced one or more of the founding members, and became the “god” that The Order often refers to, not as a figurative unproven God, but a physical being existing on another plane, much like Cthulhu. Creepy stuff.
Lisa the Liar
In Silent Hill: Origins, Lisa Garland expresses her deepest desire to protagonist Travis Grady... To be an actress. Perhaps she was a far better actress than we realized. The “liar” theory suggests that throughout Silent Hill: Origins, Lisa was trying to drive Travis away from The Order to buy them time. She did this by lying and saying that “Alyssa was dead” after the house fire, even though we know from Silent Hill 1 that Lisa was in charge of caring for Alyssa post house fire. This is never revealed to be a lie, but it certainly doesn’t coincide with the Silent Hill 1 story. Other small pieces of evidence lead down the same rabbit hole. But why would she be helping the order? The most popular theory? …Drugs. We know Lisa is a PTV addict, and with knowledge that the order protects PTV dealers, it’s not hard to draw a line between Lisa and The Order.
Paranoia
Here’s an interesting theory developed by fans of Silent Hill 4. Even though this one is more theoretical than tangible, it’s fun to play through with this theory in mind. The paranoia theory suggests that at all times throughout Silent Hill 4, our protagonist (who is seemingly more alone than previous playable characters) is at all times being watched by somebody. The line from Joseph Schreibers of “I am always watching you” in room 302, has led players to believe they are always being observed by the previous occupants' ghosts whenever they are in room 302. For the rest of the game, when venturing outside the room, the theory suggests it is Walter Sullivan (who appears every so often to attack Henry) who keeps a close eye on our protagonist.
Travis Grady is a Serial Killer
Possibly the MOST assured entry on our list, the theory that Silent Hill: Origins’ protagonist Travis Grady is actually a serial killer, is as old as the game itself. After his mother (suffering from psychotic delusion) tried to gas him as a child, she was sent to a sanitarium. Travis' father, on the other hand, hung himself in front of Travis. 15 years later, the game begins …and we know absolutely nothing that took place during that 15-year window! The theory suggests that Travis has dual personalities, and during these 15 years he was committing murder en masse. Travis observes crime photos throughout Silent Hill and collects them, possibly crimes he himself committed. When he finds a shovel and observes it, he says “Good for maiming bodies, and burying them” …Yeesh. And the most damning piece of evidence, the bad ending where after being injected by an unknown liquid by The Order, Travis sees flashes of The Butcher as well as his own bloody hands, suggesting that The Butcher may be another identity of Travis’.
Mary is in the Trunk
James Sunderland arrives in Silent Hill during Silent Hill 2 with a letter from his deceased wife asking him to come to Silent Hill to find her. It’s one of the all time most interesting and engrossing openings in a video game. As the story unfolds, and as we reach our conclusion, we learn that James actually murdered his wife on her deathbed in an act of mercy and selfishness. In one of the endings, James drives his car into the lake and says “now we can be together.” This is an important line that many believe is open to interpretation, especially after we know James took Mary’s body somewhere after murdering her. The theory is that immediately after killing Mary, James stored her in the trunk of his car and immediately drove to Silent Hill. This half-day drive was where James fell deeper into his psychosis, eventually creating this temporary amnesia, and upon arriving in Silent Hill, and leaving his car, he unknowingly leaves Mary’s body in the trunk.. The theory was somewhat challenged in 2012 when game writer Misahiro Ito tweeted “The Mary's body is on the back seat of James's car, not in the trunk, if I remember correctly. #SilentHill2”. This led many to believe that James’ delusion and psychosis was so intense, he blocked his visible deceased wife out of his mind. But many have also considered the idea that Misahiro was just trolling, due to the phrasing of his Tweet. Whether she was in the boot, or the backseat, the theory is still bone chilling.
