Alessa Gillespie
From Silent Hill Wiki
7 (Origins)
Jennifer Woodward (SHO)
- This article is about the video game character. For the character in the film, see Alessa Gillespie (film).
| “ | But mommy, I just want to be with you. Just the two of us. Please understand.
- Alessa as a young girl to her mother, Dahlia Gillespie | ” |
Alessa Gillespie is a fictional character in the Silent Hill video game series. Her first appearance took place in the original 1999 Silent Hill video game, and has since been a influence on all the strange events that have occurred in the town of Silent Hill.
Contents |
Biography
Alessa is the daughter of Dahlia Gillespie, the priestess of a cult known as the Order (prior to Dahlia's death and the new priestess who appears in Silent Hill 3) that operates out of the fictitious resort town of Silent Hill. Any information regarding Alessa's father is unknown. Dahlia and Alessa lived together in a house at Silent Hill's business district. Alessa kept a butterfly and insect collection in her room, and had two dolls (one of which she named "Scarlett").
Alessa was born with incredible psychic powers, including spiritual intuition and premonition. This also included killing people just by wishing for it. Her powers eventually lead her to being ostracized at Midwich Elementary School and was branded a witch. At her elementary school, her friends abandoned her and scribbled on her desk with statements such as "Go home." "Drop dead". "Thief." Alessa's teacher, K. Gordon, noticed her bullying.
| “ | There's a girl named Alessa in my class. If your memory is any good, you may remember her she's the one I said they called a witch. Most likely her mother is abusing her. I've never seen her come in without some sort of scrape or bruise. Her expression is pitifully dark for a 6 year old.
- K. Gordon | ” |
Alessa's only friend during childhood was Claudia Wolf, who sympathized with her because she also came from an abusive family background. Their relationship together was strong, as Alessa thought of her as a "little sister", despite not being related. On Claudia's 6th birthday, Alessa gave her a card that stated "I love you as if you were my real sister. Here's to you!" They did activities such as playing cards (which often made Claudia cry as she had a hard time winning) and drawing. Alessa would always draw monsters whenever she was alone. She wished for a nice daddy and mommy and a fun school, and a happy world where everyone smiled and laughed all day long, which was in short everything Alessa and Claudia never had.
Alessa dreamed of a paradise, another world, and believed that their world must be cleansed with fire before creating another one. She shared these thoughts with Claudia with good intentions of eternal happiness and bliss.
As a young girl, Alessa grew up with the teachings of the Order. Dahlia brought Alessa to the Order's chapel frequently and Alessa often looked up at the stained glass which depicted God and the man and woman who birthed Her. Alessa came to worship God and to ask for her prayers to be answered, however, none were ever answered.
Ritual
At seven years old, Dahlia became convinced that a certain ritual to summon the cult's God would likely be a success if she used her daughter as its birth mother. The technique had been performed on other girls that the Order abducted, but all previous attempts had failed. Alessa was offered as a sacrifice by Dahlia to the God on the second floor of their house by immolating her body. Despite the interfering actions of Travis Grady the plan was a success, with Alessa becoming pregnant with the deity in embryonic form. However, due to Travis, part of Alessa's soul was able to escape and was reborn as a baby which was later found by Harry Mason and his wife on a road outside of Silent Hill. They named the baby Cheryl and begin to raise her as their own daughter. Dahlia fled from the scene of the fire and people believed that she became crazy due to Alessa's supposed "death".
| “ | The fire in the business district? How awful. I heard about that. No one knows how it got started. And that poor girl, Alessa Gillespie... To die like that.
- Lisa Garland before discovering Alessa is still alive | ” |
Aftermath of fire
Due to the ritual's fire, Alessa had many burns on her body. The ritual performed by Dahlia was unknown and the residents of Silent Hill assumed that the Gillespies' house burned down due to an accident. She was transported to Alchemilla Hospital and was hidden inside a room in the hospital's basement by Dahlia and the director of the hospital, Michael Kaufmann, who was convinced of Dahlia's plans. She was known to the public as having passed away from her injuries, and was declared a saint by the Order as the "Mother of God and Daughter of God". Only Dahlia, Michael, a few members of the Order, and a young nurse working at the hospital knew Alessa was still alive. The young nurse, Lisa Garland, often cared for Alessa and in return, was supplied drugs from Michael Kaufmann.
Sick room
Although God was inside of Alessa's womb, Alessa was unable to deliver Her. Everyday was driving Alessa mad with suffering, as "God" was eating away at her from within. Alessa was kept alive, suffering a fate worse than death, trapped in an endless nightmare from which she never awakened. Alessa wished she would die and be over with it, but the nightmare went on for seven years. However, at fourteen, Alessa was eventually saved by Harry Mason.
| “ | It would be better for "myself" to die. After all, it's nothing to be afraid of...
That child...that demon... When I think of the endless pain it will bring when it is birthed... I decided that, instead of the suffering and cruelty I endured in that sick room, that I would like to bestow a more gentle and peaceful death on "myself". Why do "I" resist? I never thought of "myself" as such a fool..... - Alessa Gillespie's thoughts | ” |
Aftermath
Before the final boss of Silent Hill, Alessa reunites with the other half of her soul (Cheryl) and transforms into either the Incubus or Incubator (depending on the player's actions). If Harry defeats the Incubus, Alessa will appear in the Incubator's form. The light surrounding Alessa disappears when she gives Harry a reincarnation of herself as a baby (presumably to give Cheryl back to Harry as Cheryl was half of Alessa's soul).
Alessa then points towards a light as a path for Harry to escape (whether or not Cybil is with Harry is also determined by the player's actions). Harry looks at the reincarnation of Alessa and ponders what to do, and eventually decides to carry her with him as he escapes. Alessa, with her remaining power, stops the fire surrounding Harry (and Cybil if she is by Harry's side) before collapsing to the floor.
From then on, Alessa's soul lives on in the new baby (who Harry names Heather). With no memories of her previous life as Alessa, Heather lives a life without pain or suffering (the life which Alessa wanted). Silent Hill 3 is about Heather remembering about who she was and what happened to her father in Silent Hill 17 years prior to the game.
Appearances
- (In chronological order)
Silent Hill: Origins
Alessa appears in the Silent Hill prequel, Silent Hill: Origins. The game begins with Travis Grady rescuing Alessa from the house fire started by her mother.
Alessa is shown as a 7 year old girl who gives hints to Travis, initially to save her from the fire in her house, but later to help her to create the Flauros, an artifact that would "trap" the evil half in her.
Alessa seems a little indifferent to Travis throughout the game, even when he helps her continuously, she remains quiet. When he asks her "Why won't you let me forget? Why are you doing this to me? Come out, come out, I got your thing for ya!" she then appears, hanging her head, like a regular scolded girl, to which he keeps saying "Happy? You dug up my parents, what now? Why don't we get inside your sick little mind?" and she looks him in the eyes, with a menacing look provoking a headache and returning him to the "normal" world.
She later appears at the end of the game, holding a baby, when Travis is finally able to get back into his truck in the good ending.
Silent Hill
In order to lure the missing portion of Alessa's spirit back to its point of origin, Dahlia intentionally keeps her daughter in a state of excruciating pain for the years prior to the first game to compel Cheryl to return. Confined to Alchemilla Hospital's basement and tended to by Lisa Garland, Alessa is given hallucinogenic drugs, further intensifying her torment. Upon Cheryl's return, Alessa's latent psychic abilities are triggered; she shrouds Silent Hill in fog and an altered reality to prevent her mother's scheme from advancing. Many of the drastic changes that befall the town in the game, such as the horrific creatures that come to inhabit it, are conjured from her imagination and delusions.
While searching for the missing Cheryl in Silent Hill, Harry is manipulated by Dahlia into believing that Alessa possesses the "Mark of Samael," the mark of a demon. She instructs him to use a sacred item, the Flauros, to stop Alessa from completing Samael's five crests and plunging the entire town into a hellish alternate dimension known as "Otherworld". Taking the bait, Harry neutralizes Alessa, only to learn that she was really trying to contain the Otherworld herself with the "Seal of Metatron" (a talisman that recurs in Silent Hill 3). At the end of the game Dahlia finally combines both halves of Alessa's soul into one to complete the ceremony of the God's birth. Depending on the player's actions during gameplay, Alessa emerges either as a white-clad figure named "Incubator" or the demonic "Incubus", the latter coming about by Dahlia's former associate Dr. Kaufmann throwing a sample of Aglaophotis onto Alessa to prematurely expel the God. In either case the birthed deity kills Dahlia and fights Harry as the final boss.
Following the defeat of the "Incubus" a fading apparition of Alessa creates a small portal back to the real world to enable Harry's escape after handing him a newborn child containing the fused soul of herself and Cheryl, who he raises as his own child.
Silent Hill 3
In Silent Hill 3, seventeen years after the events of the first Silent Hill game, the child given to Harry by Alessa (going by the name Heather) is approached by Claudia Wolf (now a priestess for The Order), who intends to bring about the descent of the cult's God to usher in Paradise. For this to happen Heather must remember her "true self" (Alessa). To nourish the growing fetus within her with hatred and also seventeen years of revenge for taking Heather/Alessa away, Claudia has Harry murdered. A "memory" of Alessa, a dark emotion mimicking her likeness, is encountered by Heather in Silent Hill's Lakeside Amusement Park. The Memory of Alessa attacks Heather as a boss enemy, intent on ending Heather's life herself to spare her and everyone from further pain after the God is born.
To rid herself of the God, Heather swallows a tablet of Aglaophotis given to her by her father, causing her to vomit it out of her body. Claudia, however, in desperation, devours its remains to birth the God herself. Being born of Claudia's womb, the God personifies her vision of what God would look like, and therefore vaguely resembles Alessa.
Trivia
- One of Alessa’s favorite books, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, is the in-universe basis for the "Air Screamer" monster.
Gallery
 A portrait of Alessa in Silent Hill |
 Alessa's spirit in Silent Hill: Origins |
 Alessa just before causing Harry Mason's crash |
 Alessa Gillespie |
 Alessa in Silent Hill: Origins |
 Alessa's bio portrait from Origins |
