The Order is the primary antagonistic organization of the Silent Hill series. They are a religiously crooked doomsday cult residing within the town of Silent Hill and have expanded into other towns across the region, such as Shepherd's Glen. After the events of Silent Hill: Homecoming, the Order was destroyed.

The Order is a primary source of struggle for most of the games, and are responsible for the many dilemmas that the protagonists of the series face. The cult often resorts to murder, kidnapping, torture, and other acts of violence to meet its needs, though not all of their members are insane or violent.

The Order is prevalent in all of the games, and are deeply rooted in Silent Hill's history and culture. They are responsible for Alessa Gillespie's immolation and rise to power, as well as the attempts to contain it. Pyramid Head takes the form of an iconic figure of judgment and punishment of the Order's mythos, Valtiel. The creature itself even makes an appearance to follow Heather Mason and the God sleeping in her womb. They also ran the Wish House Orphanage, and were responsible for Walter Sullivan's descent into madness. They do not believe in "good" and "evil", only chaos and order, and feel this somehow justifies their wicked ways.

The cult's official seal is known as the Halo of the Sun, and is often used or seen in the presence of cult members, particularly while conducting rituals.

The Order takes inspiration and draws elements from other religions, such as the origins of Christianity, Japanese folklore, Aztec rituals, and Native American beliefs. [1]

Background

It is important to note that the cult is not the same as the native religion before the settlers arrived. The cult's roots date back as far as the 17th century, with the burning of Jennifer Carroll. However, back then, they were not formally known as the Order.

When Silent Hill became a tourist location around the 1900s, the Order was formed at the same time, and were despised by most of the citizens, thus their union was carried out in secret. With time, the cult infiltrated the public institutions of the town, gradually gaining more influence and power.

After the events of the first game in 1983, the cult was left in shambles and went through a period of inactivity. Vincent Smith invested in the cult and revived it. After the events of the third game in 2000, it can be speculated that all but one sect were destroyed. After the events of Homecoming in 2007, the presumed final sect in Shepherd's Glen was destroyed, leading to the death of the cult.

Beliefs

The Order worships the entities of the Otherworld of Silent Hill, which they believe house their faith's incarnation of God, which is often depicted as a woman; it has been stated that this belief is the foundation for the whole cult. Their mythos has a wide variety of angels and saints, including:

• Alessa's Dream
• Valtiel
• Metatron
• Lobsel Vith
• Xuchilbara

The Order's main goal, as many of its members state, is to usher in the apocalypse and deliver the faithful to Paradise. This paradise means many different things to different members, but the goals remain the same; this is brought about in ways that vary from sect to sect. Some try to actively aid it while others simply prepare for the inevitable.  The prevalent belief of the Order is that a true God can only know salvation and offer utopia via being born and exposed to an aura of madness and agony, hence their belief that the Otherworld is a just existence.

As stated on several occasions, the Order does not believe in terms of "good" or "evil", only "chaos" and "order". Their ways are cruel and brutal, to ensure order remains in place. To ensure loyalty and discipline, many children under the Order's care are cruelly treated and disciplined harshly in some sects. Human life is inconsequential to them, as they are more than willing to sacrifice and kill to appease God.

Their occult and seemingly magical abilities are further unexplained, as many of their rituals produce arcane effects that defy all logic. Their tie to the forces of the Otherworld are also quite strong, as some members of the Order can even go so far as to manipulate it to a degree.

System of beliefs

1. Commitment

All members of the Order must have fully committed themselves to this purpose in their beliefs, their activities and their lives.

2. Membership

Membership within the Order is extended to all that seek the Old Ways.

Levels of Membership:

• Mother Circle

The Mother is considered the founding group of the Order. The name of the founding group is The Mother.

• Daughter Circle

Any Second Generation group hived off of The Mother.

• Servant Circle

Any Third Generation group stemming from The Mother.

3. The High Council

The High Council is set in place as a tool for all within the Order to make use of. The purpose of the High Council is to aid in the process of group formation as needed, act as governing body in matters pertaining to the Order as a whole, and to be a judge/jury if asked to settle disputes.

4. Grievances and Discipline Procedures

All decisions made by the High Council are binding. Presenting one's case before the Council implies one's acceptance of their decision. Those seeking mediation must contact the Scribe.

• The High Council shall be called in to preside over disputes within a group, to hear complaints and accusations of inappropriate acts, heresy, abuse of power by leaders any other complaints that are deemed worthy to preserve the public image or internal integrity of the Order.
• The nature of the disciplinary action shall be decided at the sole discretion of The High Council. These actions shall contain, but not be limited to, assignment of manual labor, persecution of an individual member, execution or torture, and the banishment of a group.
• If an individual member wishes to leave the Order, they are required to bring their request to the High Council.

Sects

The Order is divided into several sects.

Sect of the Holy Woman

This sect is centered around a priestess named Dahlia Gillespie. They believed that God would return to Earth one day and awaited her coming faithfully. However, Dahlia had attempted to hasten God's rebirth by using an immolation ritual which meant her daughter, Alessa, would be used as a sacrifice. Members of this sect include Dahlia Gillespie, Claudia Wolf, Vincent Smith and Leonard Wolf. They believe that once God has come, She will cause the apocalypse and usher the faithful to paradise. Not all of their members are active in this, however, such as Vincent. Claudia believes that a God born from pain and hatred would thereby be more sympathetic.

Sect of the Holy Mother

Members of the sect of the Holy Mother (not to be confused with Alessa Gillespie, known as the Mother of God) used their self-run Wish House to raise a conjurer. They respected the Mother Stone as something sacred, and called the God "Holy Mother". This sect believed that the Holy Mother would be brought by a conjurer performing a ritual to descend the God into a sacred object. Members of this sect include Toby Archbolt. They are slightly more pacifistic than the Sect of the Holy Woman, though their cruelty is still directly shown by their treatment of the orphans in their care, including a young Walter Sullivan. They also held a ritual for the resurrection of the dead, which James Sunderland may find in Silent Hill 2.

Sect of Valtiel

This sect is centered around the priest Jimmy Stone. This sect would don red pointed hoods and act as executioners in honor of Valtiel. Members of this sect include Jimmy Stone, and George Rosten.

Sect of Shepherd's Glen

An unnamed sect of the Order resides in Shepherd's Glen. They are a splinter group, having broken away from the core of the Order to live more peaceful, stable lives. Though separate from the Order, many of its core beliefs are still upheld, including faith in their God and a desire for discipline.

The Founding Families that made up this sect entered into a pact with their God; if one child from each of the four families was sacrificed every 50 years, Shepherd's Glen would be spared from the effects of the Otherworld.

The families are the Shepherds, the Holloways, the Bartletts and the Fitches.

With Adam Shepherd's failure to fulfill his portion of the Pact, the agreement was broken, and Shepherd's Glen was left to the ravages of the Otherworld.

Members of this sect include Curtis Ackers, Adam Shepherd, Lillian Shepherd, Sam Bartlett, Martin Fitch, Margaret Holloway and various unnamed Order Soldiers.

Films

The Silent Hill film features a fanatical religious cult as well; however, the director has stated they are two separate cults and that the Order is not the cult in the film. He implies that Jennifer Carroll was burned alive by the movie's cult, tying the Order to the movie cult and says they have "opposite" beliefs.

The sequel to the first film, Silent Hill: Revelation, contradicts Gans's statements by saying the Order and the first film's cult are actually one and the same. Like the games, the Order's members are seen in the sequel as cloaked figures dressed in dark belted clothing. In the movie, they are renamed the Order of Valtiel. Oddly, Revelation writer/director Michael J. Bassett stated before the film's release that they were two separate cults.

Comics

In contrast to the Order's presentation in the game series, the Order of the comics universe is not a central element to the plot.

Presented as a clandestine group of human individuals, the Order's goal is to facilitate the birth of the entity Samael. In addition to being servants of Samael, the Order is also said to be able to control the monsters of Silent Hill. Whately appears to serve as the intermediary between the otherworldly Samael and members of the Order.

Though their connection is unclear, Christabella LaRoache appears to have entered into some kind of agreement with the Order, but is said to be guilty of betrayals against the group by trying to obtain the powers of Samael for herself.

External links

• Book of Lost Memories on the Order

Gallery

The members of the Order wearing demonic masks in the ending scene of Silent Hill: Origins.

The robed Order members wearing two-faced masks in a leaked scene of Silent Hill: Origins.

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

These paintings represents the Order's religious beliefs and mythology.

The costumes of both the Order Soldiers and the robed Order members on the set of Silent Hill: Revelation.

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