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Template:SH Character (film)

This article is about the film character. For the antagonist of the comics, see Christabella LaRoache.
That child was sin incarnate!
—Christabella defends her decision to torture Alessa

Christabella is the main antagonist of the Silent Hill film and the leader of a fanatical religious cult based in the town of Silent Hill, West Virginia. She is portrayed by Alice Krige.

She is the sister of Dahlia Gillespie and aunt to Alessa Gillespie in the canon of the first movie. In the sequel, she is sister to Claudia Wolf and presumably the daughter of Leonard Wolf.

Background

Christabella is manipulative and believes in finding and burning those who are considered to be witches. Before she and her religious group were trapped in the Fog World, Christabella also worked as the headmistress at Midwich Elementary School.

Christabella had Alessa Gillespie condemned as a witch. Alessa was bullied and abused daily, while the members of the cult not only allowed it, but encouraged it in their children. When Alessa was nine years old, Christabella convinced Dahlia that she needed to be "purified", calling her "filth" and saying her innocence must be restored. Christabella then had Alessa laid over a bed of burning coals to be burned alive as a witch. When one of the chains holding Alessa in place had broken, Christabella and her followers fled from the sacrificial chamber. All of the members of the cult, including Christabella, were then pulled into the Otherworld after Alessa split her soul and started taking revenge.

Silent Hill

Roseconfront

Rose speaking to Christabella.

Rose Da Silva meets Christabella after she and Cybil Bennett flee to the local church to hide from the coming Darkness. Christabella becomes agitated when Cybil fires a shot in the church to stop the cult members from attacking Rose, declaring that the church "is a sanctuary" and casting an ugly look at Cybil and Rose. She then questions the two women on how they came to be in Silent Hill, and agrees to lead them to the local hospital, where she says a "demon" lies in wait. When Christabella discovers that Rose's adoptive daughter, Sharon, is identical to Alessa, she has her followers attempt to kidnap Rose and Cybil. Rose escapes, but Christabella orders her men to beat Cybil as she lays on the ground bleeding.

Silent_Hill_-_Christabella's_death

Silent Hill - Christabella's death

Christabella's death.

Christabella then goes to Dahlia's apartment where she finds Sharon and kidnaps her. At the church, Christabella has Cybil burned alive as a witch, and attempts to do the same to Sharon when Rose arrives. After Rose begins to tell the cult members the "truth" that Dark Alessa asked of her to do, Christabella stabs Rose with a dagger, which causes Alessa's dark essence to spill out of her and to overtake the church. Alessa and Dark Alessa then rise into the church with mounds of rusted barbed wire, which she then uses to rape and sodomize Christabella; the barbed wire exits Christabella's body through her back, chest and mouth, culminating in her being torn in half. As Christabella dies, Dark Alessa dances in her blood.

Silent Hill: Revelation

Christabella does not appear in the sequel to Silent Hill, but she is mentioned. According to Revelation, Christabella believed that Alessa could be used to birth god, and so burned her alive with the intention that Alessa would survive and would become a vessel for the god. Instead, Christabella underestimated Alessa's powers, and Alessa split her soul and trapped the cult in an alternate reality.

Though it's never mentioned in the first film, Revelation antagonist Claudia Wolf claims to be the sister of Christabella.

Relation to the Gillespies

According to the canon of the first movie, Christabella is the sister of Dahlia Gillespie, which would also make her the aunt of Alessa. It is unclear whether this relationship is retconned in Revelation, in which Christabella is said to have been the sister of Claudia Wolf and there is no mention of Claudia and Dahlia being sisters.

Quotes

  • "And then I saw them, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away. And no home was left to them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, and they were judged according to their deeds. And anyone's name not found written in the book of life, they will be thrown into the lake of fire."
  • "Are you a person of faith?"
  • "We judge because the souls of history hang in the balance. Because our faith has never failed us. Our faith keeps the darkness of hell at bay."
  • "No one has ever returned from the core of the darkness, where the demon lies in wait."
  • "Only the demon knows where she is."
  • "To find your daughter, you must face the darkness of hell."
  • "If you wish to face the demon to find your daughter, I won't stop you."
  • "Your memory may save your life."
  • "Her child is the likeness of Alessa! Her child is the next vessel!"
  • "We know it, even the children know it, your daughter... Why you won't just name the father? You've brought sin amongst us, the faithful must gather in judgement for we are called to purify this filth. You're weak, my dear sister, you always were. Have faith in our virtue, we will restore innocence."
  • "You may leave, Dahlia. We fight the sin, not the sinner."
  • "Weep not, for the demon comes again and walks in mortal battle. Praise God for our clarity! Praise the innocent for their sacrifice!"
  • "The truth is clear to those who see, just as I saw you hid this child."
  • "Look at her! She's the whelp of your daughter! The demon! The demon fathered this disgusting abomination from her child!"
  • "Those who aid the demon, they will be cleansed by the fire from whence they came."
  • "Here is where the Apocalypse began. This is where we stopped the annihilation of the world. We drew a line in the sand and said "Demon, you will not cross!". But the demon is wicked, full of treachery. Yet again he comes to tempt us in the guise of an innocent. To rid the world of this demon, we must burn this child!"
  • "She was... a blasphemer."
  • "Oh, Lord, give me the strength to stay pure."

Trivia

  • Christabella has many similarities with the Silent Hill 3 character Claudia Wolf, the most notable one is that both want to purify sin with fire. Both also wield daggers.
  • Christabella was not in Silent Hill. In the video game, Dahlia was the cult member; here, Dahlia is given to be a loving mother who is sympathetic and Christabella was created to replace Dahlia's role in the Order.
  • Christabella's profile on the official Silent Hill: Revelation website incorrectly shows a picture of Sister Margaret.

Gallery

v · e · d
Characters
Major Characters
Rose Da Silva - Christopher Da Silva - Cybil Bennett - Dahlia Gillespie - Thomas Gucci - Anna - Christabella - Sharon Da Silva - Alessa Gillespie - Dark Alessa
Other Characters
Sister Margaret - Eleanor - Adam - Colin - Lisa Garland - Jennifer Carroll
Monsters
Armless Man - Colin - Creeper - Dark Nurse - Grey Child - Red Pyramid
Locations
Brahms - Brookhaven Hospital - Church - Da Silva House - Gans County - Grand Hotel - Midwich Elementary School - Nathan Drugs - Pete's Bowl-O-Rama - Sacrificial Chamber - Silent Hill, West Virginia - Smitty's - Toluca County Archives - Toluca County Mining Museum - Toluca County Orphanage - Toluca Lake
Terms
The Brethren - Monster - Flashlight - Manifestation - Otherworld - Fog World - Real World - Siren - Great Knife - Welcome Sign - Brethren Symbol
Archives
Soundtrack
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