Ergänzungen zur Plot Analysis von ChildofValhalla

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      Ergänzungen zur Plot Analysis von ChildofValhalla

      Zuerstmal:
      Wenn ihr kein englisch könnt oder nicht zu Silent Hill Origins gespoilert werden wollt solltet ihr HIER aufhören zu lesen. Alles folgende wird sehr viele Spoiler und auch sehr viel englischen Text beinhalten!

      ChildofValhalla hat auf gamefaqs eine ziemlich gute (englische) Plot Analyse zu Silent Hill Origins erstellt, ich rate unbedingt dazu sie mal zu lesen, auch wenn ich nicht in ALLEN Punkten mit ihm übereinstimme. Aus rechtlichen Gründen werde ich sie nicht hier posten, aber ihr könnt sie euch jederzeit auf gamefaqs ansehen:
      gamefaqs.com./console/ps2/game/944634.html
      In der Rubrik "In-Depth FAQs".

      Jedenfalls hab ich einziges an Ergänzungen und andren Meinungen zusammengestellt, auf englisch abgetippt und an ihn gesendet. Einiges davon wird er auch in seine nächste Version übernehmen, die aber noch etwas dauern wird. Für euch stell ich hier aber schonmal alles rein, was ich an ihn gesendet hab. Wiegesagt auf englisch, denn es ist einfach zuviel um alles nochmal neu auf deutsch zu tippen. ^^°
      Ich beziehe mich dabei auf das was er geschrieben hat, deswegen solltet ihr das unbedingt vorher lesen.
      Oh: Und wenn ich jemandem im Text direkt anspreche meine ich ihn, nicht euch. Aber ich denke das geht aus dem Kontext hervor.

      Meine Ergänzungen sind sehr umfangreich, deswegen werde ich hier nur die Texte posten, für die Diskussion wird es einen seperaten Thread geben. Also bitte hier NICHTS antworten!!!
      Fragen und Diskussion jeder Art bitte DORTHIN:
      nightmaregames.de/thread.php?sid=&postid=26482#post26482

      Der eigentliche Text folgt im nächsten Post, um es etwas übersichtlicher zu halten.
      Most folks come through here, well, they don't tend to rush off. Seem to always find a REASON to stick around...
      ...or rather a reason FINDS them. Place is FUNNY that way, you know.
      (Silent Hill - Sinner's Reward, Vol.1)

      Dieser Beitrag wurde bereits 1 mal editiert, zuletzt von „Seta“ ()

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      TABLE OF CONTENTS
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      Part I: Additions and criticism about your following chapters:
      1.) Travis' Mental State/Overview
      2.1) PYRAMID HEAD/THE BUTCHER
      2.3) TRAVIS GRADY: SERIAL KILLER
      2.4) TRAVIS GRADY: INNOCENT MAN
      2.41) WOMEN AND MIRRORS
      5.05) Caliban
      5.06) Ariel
      5.07) Twoback

      Part II: All new chapters
      X.) The Photo Theory
      X.1) How this theory was born
      X.2) What we need to know about Travis here
      X.3) Memento as inspiration and its meaning for SH0
      X.4) More hints supporting this theory
      X.5) Supporting the serial killer theory
      Y.) Helen Grady - Just nuts after all?
      Y.1) Has she visited an Otherworld?
      Y.2) Then why does Travis experience similar things?


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      Part I: Additions and criticism
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      ++++++++++++++++
      ++++++++++++++++
      Additions to
      1.) TRAVIS' MENTAL STATE/OVERVIEW
      ++++++++++++++++
      ++++++++++++++++
      Just a little addition: When talking about Travis' attitude towards women, we should not forget about the Lisa scene at the theater. Next time you see it, don't look at Lisa, look at Travis! You can see that he feels REALLY uncomfortable when a woman comes that close and talks about love. He even avoids her eyes.
      Because of his parents, he "learned" that love brings pain, suffering and death. Therefore he avoids relationships. Like his "buddy" hints in the opening video, Travis hasn't had any girlfriends or even affairs for a long time because of that. And he probably he NEVER had in his whole life.

      ===
      Additions to
      2.1) PYRAMID HEAD/THE BUTCHER
      ===
      Talking about that we should not forget about the "guest appearance" of Pyramid Head! Travis's reaction when looking at that picture at the second floor of the Gillespie house (showing PH) is quite interesting. He says he has no time, but he still feels a strange attraction to that picture...
      There are two ways to interpret that:
      a) The Butcher's look has been born at that very moment. Of course Travis has had two personalities before, but up to that moment it had no special look.
      b) That picture makes him realize that there is something inside of him just like that, but he suppresses that thought as fast as he can (by saying he has no time for that).

      ===
      Additions to
      2.3) TRAVIS GRADY: SERIAL KILLER
      ===

      At the beginning, I did not like that theory. But the more I think about it, the more everything makes more sense that way. You had some wonderful hints that Travis could be a serial killer murdering women, but here are even more:

      1) Note that the first monster Travis kills in the game is FEMALE (a nurse). Every (real) SH game so far had nurses (or something similar) in it, but usually the nurses appear much later in the game...
      Also note that the first monster the Butcher kills is FEMALE, too (another nurse).
      2) The photo theorie at my new chapter X.) supports the serial killer theory, too.

      3) This one is rather complex, as we have to compare Silent Hill Origins to Silent Hill 4. Yes, FOUR. Because of Alessa we compare it to SH1, and because of the Butcher we compare it to SH2. So why caring about comparing it to SH4? Because it FITS! To see that let's first summarize a few important things about Travis:

      a) When he was a little boy, bad events happened and gave him a lot of (mental) pain and suffering.
      b) Those events resultet in him living without his parents.
      c) And another result was that he developed two personalities.
      d) One personality seems to be innocent and doesn't want to harm anyone.
      e) The other personality could be a serial killer.
      f) His influence on the Otherworld is really strong, it sometimes gets even stronger than Alessa's influence (especially at places linked to his past), and we don't really know why.
      g) Even strangers start to see elements of Travis' Otherworld, especially the Butcher. That's an important difference to James! No REAL person could see the things James has seen. So there must be a reason why the world of Travis is stronger...

      Enough about Travis. Now let's have a look at Walter from SH4:

      a) When he was a little boy, bad events happened and gave him a lot of (mental) pain and suffering.
      b) Those events resultet in him living without his parents.
      c) And another result was that he developed two personalities.
      d) One personality seems to be innocent and doesn't want to harm anyone ("Little Wally").
      e) The other personality is a crazy serial killer ("old" walter).
      f) His Otherworld is incredibly strong.
      g) Even other people can see it (completely). Because Walter made his world more powerfull by killing people.

      Now compare. Don't you see a "kind" of similarity there? :)
      This may be another hint that one of Travis' personalities is just the same kind of crazy serial killer as Walter. And only with Travis' victims (yeah, I'm using this word on purpose), his Otherworld could become that strong.

      And something else:
      I'm still wondering what exactly happens after Travis passes out (after finding each piece of the Flauros). Is he just lying around, or takes the Butcher control of his body? Maybe all the murders happened WHILE Travis was "unconscious" like that, NOT before the start of the game!
      And wait... isn't the number of photos of dead women we find at the motel equal to the number of times he passes out (BEFORE the motel, of course!)? I have to count both things when I play the game for the third time.

      ===
      Additions to
      2.4) TRAVIS GRADY: INNOCENT MAN
      ===
      WanderingOne wrote:
      > As was stated, Travis' dark half is the Butcher (a monster that
      > resembles Pyramid Head from SH2), a monster that manifests
      > itself in both the regular and otherworld of Silent Hill.

      Really? Either I missed something or you confused something, as I never met him at the Otherworld. I have only met him at the foggy SH several times. And that makes quite sense for me. As we noticed the mirrors do not only transfer from the foggy SH to the Otherworld, but also represent the change from the one personality to the other. Meaning: In the Otherworld Travis becomes one with the Butcher. The Otherworld is more or less the world how the Butcher sees it (that is if you exclude the parts influenced by Alessa).
      He's not seeing the Butcher as he IS him. Travis kills his mother and his father in the Otherworld, that are obviously actions supported by the Butcher inside of him.

      (Eigene Anmerkung: Das mit dem "he IS him" ist nich zu wörtlich zu nehmen, und natürlich tötet er "nur" die 'Erinnerungen', nicht die Eltern selbst.)

      --
      Additions to
      2.41) WOMEN AND MIRRORS
      --

      1) We don't get many clues if what his mother said was true or if she was just nuts (see my new chapter Y for more informations about that). But what's more important is that TRAVIS believed her (at least back then) that she can travel through mirrors. And faith is a VERY mighty thing in SH.
      [See the Seal of Metatron which is very powerful in SH1, but totally useless in SH3. Just because Heather doesn't really believe in it.]
      No matter if his mother really could travel through mirrors, a part of him THINKS it is true, and that is why HE is able to do it. Even the strangest fantasies can become "reality" in SH by believing in them.

      2) There is another, rather simple reason why Travis uses the mirrors of women's washrooms. The first time he heard about using a mirror to travel to an Otherworld was from his mother. Who was - as you might guess - a woman. ;)
      And the first time Travis travels himself, he is guided by Alessa - a girl. Both would use women's washrooms, not men's washrooms. And as Travis uses "their" ability, he does it just like they would do...


      ===
      Additions to
      5.05) Caliban
      ===
      Do you know that Konami asked the film makers of the SH movie if they are allowed to use the janitor monster in one of the next SH games? Knowing that, don't you think there is a kind of similarity? Not the meaning and the background, just the body deformation. The legs bend over backwards up to the head, the head trying to stay above the ground, and using the arms to move. Also note that both the janitor and Caliban have no (visible) eyes. The barbed wire is missing, and there are buffalo elements instead. But he still looks and moves very similar. I thought that may be worth mentioning.


      ===
      Criticism about
      5.06) Ariel
      ===
      I love most parts of your plot analysis, but I totally disagree with what you wrote about Ariel. Ariel is NOT created by Travis, but by Alessa. And therefore has a very different background.
      As one piece of paper told us, Ariel is an air spirit that was supposed to be part of a play. As it should fly the theater's workers wrote "Puppets?" and drew a picture of a doll with strings attached to it on that paper. That is just how Ariel is like. And another note tells us that a school girl skipped her class and came to the theater. I think we can be sure that is Alessa skipping school because the other pupils treated her bad (see SH1). The text also says that girl especially liked Ariel. So there is no way Ariel could be Travis' doing. It's a part of Alessas world. The whole theater is a place linked to ALESSA'S past, so her influence is stronger here and most of the monsters come from her. We can see just the opposite at places linked to Travis' past, especially the sanitarium and the motel.

      ===
      Additions to
      5.07) Twoback
      ===
      Your theory about Twoback is interesting, but I prefer a different theory. In my theory, not just the overall location (the motel) is important, but also the place you first meet it: room 306.
      [Note: Theoretically you could skip room 306 and meet Twoback in room 308 first, but I'm sure it's supposed to be introduced in room 306.]
      Because we do not just find the first Twoback in that room, but also the first "love letter" from Richard (it's in the Otherworld version of this room).

      The motel is the place where Travis and his Dad stayed overnight when visiting Helen. It is important to note that they were both in the same room (as the guest book tells us). Richard suffered from Helen's condition because of the visits, and at the same time he was not able to hide it very well as he and Travis were in the same room. (At home he would probably just go to his own bedroom.)
      That's why the motel is the place where Travis has seen his father suffer the most (at least mentally).
      Knowing that let's have a look at Twoback again to compare it and to gain more hints:

      Twoback: Looks like a combination of man (below) and woman (above).
      Richard & Helen: They are the man and woman shaping Travis' imagination of a couple.

      Twoback: The beings look like they are suffering and desperate.
      Richard & Helen: Well, both are suffering and desperate.

      Twoback: They are bound to each other, impossible to go their own ways even though the combination just gives them pain.
      Richard & Helen: They can't forget each other even though they try to do so because of the pain.

      Twoback: The man carries the woman's weight.
      Richard & Helen: Richard has to carry all the problems Helen's condition (not his own!) brought, and has to take care of Travis alone now.

      Twoback: Both beings have no hands.
      Richard & Helen: Both are unable to act, unable to go on living.

      In other words: Twoback is a personification of all the suffering Travis saw when looking at his parent's relationship. Of course that also results in influencing Travis' attitude towards relationships in general. So you could also call Twoback a personification of that attitude. See also my addition to chapter 1.) to read more about that attitude.
      Also note that the last meeting with Butcher could get a special meaning that way. Butcher (representing Travis' dark side) tortures a Twoback (representing his parent's relationship). This COULD mean that Travis thinks that he is the one that destroyed the relationship, as HE was the one being called "devil" by his mother. And that's how it all started to break down...

      Something completely else: Don't you think Twoback looks somewhat similar to Siam? Siam is a monster that will await us in SH5, here's an official artwork:
      silenthill5.net/images/monster…t_hill_v_monster_siam.jpg
      And by that I noticed that almost all monsters we have seen from SH5 so far have quite similar monsters in SH0: Again straightjacket-like monsters, again nurses, and also a doll-like monster. So I wonder who stole whose ideas... o___O


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      Part II: All new chapters
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      ++++++++++++++++
      ++++++++++++++++
      X.) The Photo Theory
      ++++++++++++++++
      ++++++++++++++++

      Note that this is another theory we can't prove. But there are hints it COULD indeed be true. And it would explain quite some things...

      ===
      X.1) How this theory was born
      ===
      I was always wondering about motel room 503, the one with the MANY photos and drawings. Who could be the one who made all these pictures? The room seems to give no clue at first sight, but I couldn't believe it's a person we just don't know. I thought about Joseph Schreiber from SH4, but it made no sense. But then...
      When I started a new game for the third time, I noticed something at the opening video that almost made my eyes fall out: You see it only for a short moment, but the back of the driver's cab has DOZENS of photos on it! And so I began to think about if there could be a connection... and found a LOT. But to explain that I have to say a few general things about Travis, first.

      ===
      X.2) What we need to know about Travis here
      ===
      We already learned in the plot analysis that Travis has two personalities, and that's one of the few things we can be pretty sure about. Those personalities are quite different:
      "Innocent Travis" tries to forget what happened in his past to be able to live on without suffering. And he's pretty good at forgetting. He suppresses his memories and suppresses that there is another personality.
      "Butcher Travis" lives by remembering everything, hating everything, and maybe killing everything. Driven by the memories, yes EXISTING because of them! And he seems to be very well aware of his other personality.
      So these personalities have opposing interests. One wants to forget, the other one wants to remember (and to make Travis remember).

      ===
      X.3) Memento as inspiration and its meaning for SH0
      ===
      Do you know the movie "Memento"? I'll try not to spoil too much: It's about a man trying to find a murderer. But his problem is that his memory looses ALL informations after a while. So he has to keep records of everything he finds out, and one of the most important ways to do that is that he makes photos of EVERYTHING related to the case.
      Do you get where I'm leading you? I could even give you some important similarities to the movie, but that would totally spoil the film.

      What does that mean for Travis? His Butcher personality wants to remember everything, and in order to net forget (as the other personality intends to do so) he makes photos of everything he does. Keeping them in Room 503, a room close to the place where his father died. As HE wants to confront what happened.

      A little variation of that theory is that the photos might be - like many things in SH - not real, but "Astral Projecions", too. What I'm trying to say: Maybe the Butcher personality never really used a camera: the photos could also just be symbols for the memories he wants to keep.
      I do prefer the theory that the photos are indeed real, but I guess both are possible.

      ===
      X.4) More hints supporting this theory
      ===
      - Like mentioned above Travis seems to like to take photos of things, as we can see at his driver's cabin. And there are just two places in the game with many photos: The driver's cabin and room 503. A driver's cabin is a kind of home for a trucker, and so is room 503 for his Butcher personality.
      - At one of the walls of motel room 503 we can see (but unfortunately not take) a drawing of something that looks quite similar to the Butcher.
      - Room 503 is one of the few at the motel that has a mirror. And as the text in the theater library says: The Butcher personality is a "reflection" of the Innocent personality...

      (Eigene Anmerkungen:
      Dank slayerhouse weiß ich, dass das im Führerhaus unter Umständen nur Postkarten sind, keine Fotos. der wegfallende hinweis wird aber durch einen neuen ersetzt, denn die Tatsache dass man den Butcher durch das Guckloch ausgerechnet in Raum 503 sieht unterstützt diese Theorie merklich! :) )


      ===
      X.5) Supporting the serial killer theory
      ===
      If this theory is true, it gets even more likely Travis REALLY killed women. The photos of the victims found at the motel are meant to remember what he did...


      ++++++++++++++++
      ++++++++++++++++
      Y.) Helen Grady - Just nuts after all?
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      ++++++++++++++++

      Some parts of your analysis sound as if you're sure that Helen Grady wasn't nuts. As Travis experiences things similar to the stuff she told. This chapter will show that this is no proof, and that it's absolutely possible that she was just nuts. I can't PROVE that she was nuts, I'm not even sure about that. I'm just saying it IS a possibility we can't ignore.

      ===
      Y.1) Has she visited an Otherworld?
      ===
      She told things that may sound like that, but we have no proof that she really did. Actually rather the opposite: She told the doctors she can use the mirrorworld to escape the sanitarium, but actually she couldn't. THAT may be an very important clue that we can't believe in her words, after all.

      An other important thing is that the game never mentions anyone who could have created the Otherworld she's talking about. Alessa hasn't even been born back then. To create an Otherworld, someone must have suffered A LOT even BEFORE the creation. But there is not a single hint to that. We have no informations of Helen or Travis suffering BEFORE Helen started to talk about that mirrorworld.
      And on a site note: This wouldn't be Silent Hill ORIGINS if there already was something like that BEFORE. ;)

      Furthermore you need the town's power to give birth to an Otherworld (though you can bring it to other places later on under certain circumstances). And the game seems to tell us that Helen's problem did NOT start at Silent Hill. We don't know the place where the Gradys used to live back then , but it was not in Silent Hill. Why I'm sure about that? Because:
      a) The game brought us neither to the place where the Gradys lived, nor to the place where Helen tried to kill her son. I'm pretty sure we would have visited those places if they were in Silent Hill.
      b) While they were visiting Helen, Richard and his son stayed at a MOTEL. That should make clear that their home is too far away to just drive there. So their home is not even CLOSE to Silent Hill.

      ===
      Y.2) Then why does Travis experience similar things?
      ===
      I'll start up with quoting myself:
      > We don't get many clues if what his mother said was true or if she
      > was just nuts. But what's more important is that TRAVIS believed her
      > (at least back then) that she can travel through mirrors. And faith
      > is a VERY mighty thing in SH. [See the Seal of Metatron which is
      > very powerful in SH1, but totally useless in SH3. Just because
      > Heather doesn't really believe in it.]
      > No matter if his mother really could travel through mirrors, a part
      > of him THINKS it is true, and that is why HE is able to do it. Even
      > the strangest fantasies can become "reality" in SH by believing in
      > them.

      With that, the most important things have already been said. I'll just add more examples that it is quiet common in the SH series that childhood memories can become "reality" even if they never were realistic.
      A frequently reappearing element of Alessa's Otherworlds in SH1 ans SH3 are fairy tales. Fairy tales that obviously weren't true, but nevertheless became part of the Otherworld. During the series we got to see parts of tales like Alice in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz, Cindarella and many more. Also newly invented tales like the story of the big monster eating everything (that we meet at the office building in SH3). Those were tales Alessa heard long ago, and most likely she doesn't even believe in them anymore. But they still became part of the Otherworld. So just having believed in them back in your childhood seems to be enough to become reality in the town of Silent Hill. So if Travis ever believed what his mother told him just for a short time (which is more than likely as young children tend to believe a lot their mothers tell them), that's more than enough.
      It's even likely that the part of Travis who still wants to love his mother still WANTS to think that her stories were true. As that would at least give a reason to her behaviour.

      ---

      Soviel fürs erste, mehr folgt bald. Bis hierhin war das auch schon alles in einem andren Thread, der aber zu unübersichtlich wurde und deswegen gelöscht werden soll. Alles weitere gabs da aber nicht. :)
      Most folks come through here, well, they don't tend to rush off. Seem to always find a REASON to stick around...
      ...or rather a reason FINDS them. Place is FUNNY that way, you know.
      (Silent Hill - Sinner's Reward, Vol.1)

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