The Brethren

Christabella and her congregation.

“

They are deceivers, they are damned. They are wolves in the skin of sheep. They brought about their own hell. They'll take you with them. —Dahlia Gillespie on the organization

”

The Brethren in the Silent Hill film is a fanatical religious sect based on the witch-hunts of various past cultures, led by a woman named Christabella, and is rooted in the town of Silent Hill, West Virginia. The cult believes in seeking out those who could be deemed "witches" and burning them alive in order to ensure a cleansed existence.

The Brethren's symbol.

The Brethren were the founders of the town of Silent Hill, and most of the town's buildings carry the cult's symbol, a sign of the townspeople's devotion to their religion. Because the cult was so powerful during the town's heyday, they were able to get away with actions that were reprehensible or illegal, such as abusing a young child and hanging a painting of a woman being tortured in the local hotel.

The Brethren are directly connected to the current abandoned state of Silent Hill, having been the ones responsible for setting the blaze that ate into the coal mines beneath the town, setting the entire town on fire and leading to its permanent evacuation. Most, if not all, of the Brethren are either dead or trapped in an alternate reality at the time of Silent Hill's events.

Beliefs

The deity presumably worshiped by the Brethren.

The cult appears to worship a female goddess, whose picture is seen in both Midwich Elementary School and Dahlia Gillespie's apartment.

They seem to have mainly Catholic leanings; however, it has been stated by the creators that the cult is not related to any one religion. To that end, their symbol is a mixture of icons from different religions.

The cult believes that sinful acts must be strictly punished and that it is possible for females to become possessed by demons if she is associated with a sinful act. The cultists are shown to be obsessed with the concepts of Hell and damnation. It is possible that they were the ones who etched the words "Heaven" and "Hell" on a child's hopscotch drawing at the elementary school.

According to the canon of Silent Hill, the Brethren stand in opposition to the Order, a fanatical cult seen in the game series who worship a pagan god. Jennifer Carroll, a saint of the Order in the games, was burned alive by the cultists, and her burning was memorialized in a painting that hangs in the Grand Hotel.

After the cultists are dragged into the Fog World and Otherworld, an alternate reality created by the rage of a child they had tortured, Alessa Gillespie, they refuse to believe that they are responsible for their own damnation. To that end, Christbella misleads them, telling them that the Apocalypse has occurred and that they were the only ones pure enough to survive the devil's wrath. The Brethren believe that their prayers hold back "the darkness", when in reality, the coming and going of the Otherworld is in no way affected by their beliefs.

Alessa and The Great Fire

The cultists leading 9-year-old Alessa to be burned alive as a witch.

In 1965, Brethren member Dahlia Gillespie gave birth to an illegitimate child named Alessa, who was immediately deemed a witch by the Brethren due to her lack of paternity and possible psychic powers. The cult abused Alessa for nine years, insulting, bullying, and ostracizing her, until she was eventually trapped in a bathroom with a pedophile while trying to hide from the bullying.

Christabella used this opportunity to insist that Alessa be "purified" for her sin of being born out of wedlock, and possibly for also possessing supernatural, witch-like powers. Dahlia was deceived and gave in, and on November 1st, 1974, Alessa was taken to a sacrificial chamber, where she was burned alive as a witch.

Dark Alessa promises revenge.

Despite the cult's efforts, Alessa survived the fire and was overcome by rage and pain. In her drive to take revenge on everyone responsible for her suffering, Alessa split her soul and created the Otherworld and the Fog World, two alternate realities infected by her split psyche. She dragged the Brethren into these worlds, where she punishes them for their crimes against her.

30 years of misery

The cult's church, which they take refuge in.

For 30 years, the cult remained in denial about the reason behind their fate, trapped in the Fog World and Otherworld, taking refuge in a church, which acts as their sanctuary. Christabella has convinced them that the "End of Days" has come and that their prayers will keep the devil from entering their sacred church. They are unaware, however, that Alessa's powers are not deterred by their prayers.

Anna, a cult member, scavenging for food.

Instead of outright killing them, Alessa and Dark Alessa seem to keep them in a perpetual state of fear and misery, forced to scavenge for canned and packaged food for survival in the town full of monsters.

It is unknown why Dark Alessa can't or won't keep the Otherworld continuing forever. However, because the film is inspired by the first game, it is likely that the Fog World and Otherworld are linked to Alessa's mental dream state. It can be compared to the cycles of NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. During the times when the town becomes darker, it may be because Alessa's dream is deepening, becoming more surreal and twisted. In addition, the reason for the Fog World may be because Alessa and Dark Alessa are giving the cultists a chance to repent, especially for Anna, who was only an innocent baby during The Great Fire.

It is unknown why Dark Alessa can't enter the cult's church. She vaguely tells Rose Da Silva, "Their blind conviction repels me from their church. I cannot enter while they deny their fate." It is possible that the alternate realms are part of Alessa's delusions. Alessa was strongly indoctrinated by the cult when she grew up, and she believed that their faith was too strong to overwhelm. Only when their faith was shaken - when they realized they had committed evil - could she finally enter the church and exact her revenge. This is why Alessa needs Rose to tell the cultists "the truth".

Soldiers

The Brethren's soldiers.

In the Otherworld, the cult has their own brute force of men who are used as guards to Christabella. They wear miner's outfits, complete with full body suits, helmets, and goggles, and they are armed with metal poles to protect them from the monsters. They show a sense of teamwork when they leave the church and enter the alternate reality together. They wear their church uniforms under their gear and often carry bulky flashlights.

A group can even be seen carrying a canary in a cage, used to detect shifts in realities. This is an allusion to the historical use of canaries in mine shafts to detect pockets of poisonous gases. The outfits are used to protection from the Otherworld and its inhabitants, though it does not do much good, as several Order soldiers are killed by Creepers that eat through their gear.

Cybil Bennett enters a melee fight with a group of them to help Rose Da Silva escape and appears to kill one with ease. These members of the church do not appear to be very adept at melee combat, as they are initially overwhelmed by Cybil's attacks. Several corpses of cult members are seen in the Otherworld, including one whose entrails have been torn out and spread about on the ground near him.

Silent Hill

Inside the school, several members of the Brethren chase Rose. Rose flees them presumably because they frighten her and she believes they could potentially kill her. They spot her in a bathroom, and Rose uses the keys she finds in the main office to keep them out of the room. The figures leave quickly as a warning siren blares. In the Otherworld, several members of the Brethren are killed, eaten alive by Creepers.

The Brethren run to the church for safety.

In the Grand Hotel, Rose and Cybil meet Anna, a member of the Brethren, and she follows them along. When the Otherworld appears again, Anna takes them to a church where they are introduced to Christabella after being mistaken as witches.

Christabella tells them that a "demon" controls the town and that Rose must face the "darkness of hell" if she wants to find her daughter. After convincing Christabella that she wants to find the "demon" for answers, Rose is taken to a hospital with Cybil to find it. There, Christabella discovers the likeness between Sharon and Alessa from Rose's locket and condemns both Rose and Cybil as witches. Cybil is captured as she defends Rose, who escapes the clutches of the cult and descends in an elevator into the basement of the Otherworld hospital.

Alessa Gillespie

Alessa Gillespie's story.

In a flashback, Rose discovers that Silent Hill had a history of ritual witch burnings. Alessa herself was deployed as a witch for not having a father and possibly possessing psychic powers. An attempt to burn her 30 years ago went disastrously awry, resulting in a devastating fire destroying the town. In her hatred, Alessa began manifesting psionic powers and ended up creating Dark Alessa and the Otherworld. Since then, she has been shifting reality to the hellish nightmare world in order to hunt down the cult members who hurt her decades ago.

After realizing what she needs to do, Rose agrees to help Alessa gain her final revenge to save her daughter. After explaining that the church's protection from the Otherworld prevents her from getting inside, Dark Alessa then makes Rose absorb her so that she can enter the church.

Rose enters the church soon after Cybil has been burned to death by the townspeople and sees Sharon is about to suffer a similar fate. She confronts the townspeople and Christabella with her new knowledge of the truth, attempting to convince the cult that they are in denial of their own fate. Christabella stabs Rose in anger, claiming that Rose has been corrupted and is an agent of the "demon".

Rose's wounds cause her blood to drip onto the church floor, releasing Alessa's tainted essence and opening a portal into the Otherworld. Dark Alessa and Alessa's adult form rise out of the portal and proceed to kill Christabella and the townspeople with long tangles of barbed wire, leaving Dahlia, Rose, and Sharon as the only survivors.

Silent Hill: Revelation

Claudia with the Order of Valtiel.

Silent Hill: Revelation changes the Brethren's belief system and motivations to being the opposite of that seen in the first film. In Revelation, the cult burned Alessa as part of a ritual to impregnate her with their god rather than because of her illegitimate birth. The Brethren in Revelation are stated to be the most fanatical members of the Order of Valtiel, the cult that they opposed in the first film's canon. The cult is also shown to mysteriously still have living members in the Otherworld, despite that the ending of the original Silent Hill depicts the deaths of all remaining members of the Brethren. The cult's symbol is also vastly altered, changing from having four crosses to being made up of various circles, with no crosses in sight.

Brethren members in Revelation.

It is stated that they will not breathe the air of the Otherworld, as they believe it taints their purity and that this is why they wear the mining outfits. When Heather Mason (the alias of Sharon) yanks the mask off of a member's face, he actually does die of asphyxiation, as his throat and mouth clog with an unknown black liquid.

In Revelation, the Brethren have the ability to temporarily leave the alternate reality by carving images of the Halo of the Sun into their chests; however, this ability does not exist in the first film's canon. Vincent Cooper is able to leave the Otherworld through this technique, and it is implied that Claudia Wolf uses it to hire a private detective to stalk Alessa's good side. How the cult knows that Alessa's positive side exists in a separate body is never explained.

In the finale, the Brethren/the Order flee their sanctuary during the fight between Red Pyramid and the Missionary, and thus it is presumed these members still survive.

Known Members

• Christabella
• Anna
• Dahlia Gillespie (ostracized from the other members)
• Eleanor
• Adam

Trivia

• The cult may have been inspired by the Molly Maguires (also called the "Mollies"), a secret society consisting of Irish and Irish-American coal miners that used to coincide within the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, which is the basis for Silent Hill, West Virginia. Although the cult aren't truly coal miners, they wear coal mining gear.
• The term "brethren" is the archaic Middle English word for "brothers".
• One misconception is that the Brethren are Christian, likely because Christabella quotes a part of Revelation 20 from the Bible, their symbol looks like a crucifix, and their history of witch hunting is reminiscent of the Salem witch trials. In addition, in the game canon, Jennifer Carroll was burned by Christians, and she was also burned by the Brethren in the film canon. However, the film's original script suggests the cult is a religion known as Manichaeism, and Christabella openly insults Christian beliefs:

“

We're not Christians. We're Manichaeans. The Testaments of Matthew and the other disciples of Jesus are what led to the End of Days that we are now in. We follow the old ways. Separation of Spirit and Flesh are the doctrines by which we live. And our faith has never failed us. It keeps the Darkness of Hell at bay. —Christabella about their faith

”

• Silent Hill: Revelation writer/director M.J. Bassett stated several times before the release of Revelation that the Brethren and the Order are two separate cults; however, Vincent Cooper explicitly states in the film that they are the same.
• The mining gear used by the Brethren was the main inspiration for the Order Soldiers seen in Silent Hill: Homecoming.

Gallery

Silent Hill

Sharon's sketch.

Sharon's sketch.

Sharon's sketch.

Sharon's sketch.

Sharon's sketch.

The Brethren burning Jennifer Carroll.

Christabella in the Grand Hotel.

The Brethren stops Dahlia from entering the sacrificial chamber.

The fanatics gather to watch the burning of Alessa.

A prop of the Brethren soldiers.

Brethren soldiers in the school.

Brethren soldiers attempt to open the bathroom door.

The members of the Brethren.

A painting of a "witch" being burned alive by the Brethren.

Brethren members watch Rose and Cybil enter the church.

A Brethren member yells at Rose.

Brethren members swarm Rose and Cybil.

Christabella comforting Eleanor.

Christabella and others pray.

Christabella and others pray.

Christabella and the Brethren Soldiers are ready to leave the church.

The cultists find Sharon hiding in Dahlia's apartment.

Female members of the Brethern are holding Dahlia.

The cultists hold Dahlia in place as they prepare to burn Cybil.

Christabella and the fanatics prepare to have Alessa's good side burned alive.

The Brethren members gather in the church.

Christabella.

Rose and the Brethren.

Christabella and other Brethern members are looking with horror.

Brethren members during Alessa's revenge.

Rose stabs a cultist in the throat.

Rose splattered in a cultist's blood.

A barbed wire about to grab a female cultist.

Silent Hill: Revelation

The outfits of both the Order Soldiers and the robed Order members.

The Order performed a "rite of passage" by branding the Halo of the Sun symbol on Vincent Cooper's chest.

The Order members stares at Heather.

Nurses killing Order Soldiers.

Nurses kill Brethren members.

The Order at Lakeside Amusement Park.

Dark Alessa sets Order members on fire.

The Order at their sanctuary.