Maybe he was making reference to the movie? It did seem that the residents could be sent to rusted other world when the rest of the town was.

Does this mean that your little dog is a groaner?

Why would you even refer to the movie? This is a SH1 thread, not that AU that the movie is.

I have no idea, that was the only context in which his comment about the citizens of Silent Hill and the cult's paradise made sense. The movie at least pretends to have a brushing semblance to SH1.

Explain.

Basically, the town has the ability to take someone's deepest beliefs and make them "reality". There isn't actually a god, it only exists because Dahlia and by proxy Alessa believe it exists.Similar to Alessa's powers. She may actually have some semblance of psychic ability, but the town either exacerbates it or completely creates it based on Dahlia and Alessa's beliefs.

That's debateable, and not fact.

Exactly. Though it's hinted, we're not given confirmation, and if there is confirmation, that would kill a lot of would be discussion. Like how we receive hints to whereas if Heather is killing real people, if Vincent was playing a joke, etc.

Some people think that the powers of the town caused the woman who offered reeds and the man who offered a snake (see "Sun" OST SH3) manifested a "god" who was actually a sort of monster/Maria like creature.

It could be a bit of both couldn't it? The area was considered holy before settlers took it over, there is a possibility that there is a god/devil/spirit-thingy in Silent Hill but that it manifests as either Incubus or the Incubator because of the beliefs of the cult?

Or that the town has simply always had supernatural power to manifest beliefs. The native americans didn't think a God lived in the area, but that it could let them speak with the dead.

So it could be either way - either the God existed first and makes the town all weird, or the God exists now because the town is all weird. The former is more likely, though, given the fact that the Indians didn't encounter a deity, only "spoke with the dead."

They certainly gave use quite a bit to think on with that. Suppose that to start with the town's power was only speaking to the dead, and as belief grew so did the power until the woman who offered reeds and the man who offered a snake caused that power to manifest as a god. This could explain why the town's influence seems to be spreading as the games progress. If we assume (big one here) that Harry, Cheryl/Heather/Alessa/Bert, and Cybil all managed to escape the first game then that's three out-siders who believe in the town's power and probably fear it. Add in the remaining cultists and one wonders how much power the town gains.

You mean the "latter?" Because otherwise that line of reasoning doesn't make sense.



The woman with reeds thing is clearly just mythology, since she prayed to God to end humanity's eternal life, eternal night, and eternal suffering. My idea is that, while Silent Hill's power was originally a benign thing that may or may not be warped by belief, sometimes it just rubs off on people who are born there, giving them psychic powers independent of the belief of people around them (Alessa, Claudia, maybe Walter).

^Ok, I promised myself I was going to stay out of this thread, but

are you saying that the fetus/mother god that Heater (well, Claudia) "birthed" in 3 was due to this as well?
(seriously curious, no flaming intended. I personally do think so)

The Cult's idea of God came after the Native beliefs of the area. The Sun myth is the origin of the delusion of God, influenced by Judeo-Christian beliefs. This is said in a book in the Chapel in SH3.

God is a creation of the original Cult Members. It is the bastard child of Christianity and the Aboriginal beliefs regarding the area.

I'm now unsure of whether or not the town has the power to "grant" people supernatural beliefs. I think it could be either that, like the hypothesis in real life, that certain people are more "in tune" with the mystical (mediums, etc.) and thus are more susceptible to Silent Hill's mojo (this would explain James, Angela, Travis, and Eddie, who don't have delusional cultists believing they have powers but who clearly do interact with the town's manifestation abilities). On the other hand, you have people like Alessa, Walter, Dahlia, and Claudia who seem to have extraordinary powers that I feel are fueled by personal and external beliefs in their powers which are then made real by the town.

It's worth pointing out that Dahlia's powers are magic she's borrowing from the religion, not intrinsic psychic powers she was born with. Considering that Alessa's powers were stronger than believed, and there were many women burned for the ritual that did not succeed despite belief, I don't think belief is the main factor here. I'm pretty certain Alessa has some objective powers, considering she still has them as Heather even if she doesn't believe in that stuff.

Ah, but HARRY believed after witnessing the events of SH1, as did Claudia and the fragment of Alessa's consciousness that remains within Heather.

And yet, they weren't within Silent Hill in the one instance Heather exhibited precognition.

Could it be the Memory of Alessa calling out to Heather to warn her? I ask because Cheryl wasn't in Silent Hill when Alessa called out for her.

Which only supports my idea that the existence of Alessa's powers are independent of Silent Hill's reality warping abilities, which still seem to only work in other planes of existence. Only by using a theory as it's own evidence that Silent Hill can effect the real world in any way outside of taking people out of it.

What one moment is this?