Walter Sullivan
From Silent Hill Wiki
Part-time employee at Ashfield
| “ | (Walter): Henry... You're it... The last of the 21 Sacraments. The Final Sign. The Receiver of Wisdom. | ” |
| “ | (Young Walter): Mom. Why doesn't you wake up? | ” |
Walter Sullivan is a fictional character and antagonist of the video game Silent Hill 4: The Room. He is a religious fanatic, courtesy of the Order's brainwashing while he was a child, who considers the apartment he was born in to be his mother, to replace his real mother, who abandoned him at birth.
Contents |
Biography
Birth
| “ | I told you we shouldn't have had a baby, didn't I!?
- Walter's father to his wife | ” |
Around 30 years before the events of the game, Walter's biological parents lived in the town of Ashfield in Room 302 of the South Ashfield Heights apartment building. His father was possibly abusive, saying things like, "Stupid little crybaby!" and "Oh, shut the hell up! You can't blame it all on me!" while his mother appears to have been kept silent. It is speculated by the building superintendent that they may have had money troubles, or had got themselves into some kind of danger.
The young couple fled the apartment and left the newborn baby behind. The infant was later discovered by the building superintendent, Frank Sunderland, who turned the child over to the nearby St. Jerome's Hospital (while he secretly kept the baby's umbilical cord). After a stay in the hospital, he became a ward of the state and was adopted by the Wish House orphanage in a forest near Silent Hill. It was there that he began his tutelage in the ways of the Order, the cult that operated the orphanage, and was given the name "Walter".
Prepubescence
When Walter was six years old, Dahlia Gillespie, another member of the cult, came to Wish House and told Walter that Room 302 was his "mother". Every week, he travelled from the orphanage to South Ashfield Heights, a very long trip for a young child by taking the subway or the bus. Unfortunately, someone else was living in Room 302, preventing him from being reunited with his "mother". For years, he continued to come to South Ashfield Heights, almost as if he was possessed, just to peek into the apartment. The tenants began to complain and treat him badly when they saw him hanging around (especially one tenant, Richard Braintree) and Walter began to fear the tenants and saw them as obstacles preventing him from seeing his mother. Around this time, Walter had also learned to write and kept a diary.
As the years passed and Walter matured, he began to be more and more influenced by the teachings of the cult. Walter became preoccupied with one particular tract from the cult's "Bible." (The Descent of the Holy Mother -- The 21 Sacraments).
- "By the 21 Sacraments, the Holy Mother shall appear in the countries of the world and shall bring salvation to the sinful ones."
Dahlia Gillespie continued to watch Walter's progress coming along.
Adolescence
After Walter left Wish House when he was matured, he moved to Pleasant River, a town neighboring Silent Hill. For a while, he lived the life of a normal student, but he was still filled with bitterness and resentment towards the rest of the world. Several years later, he launched his murder spree.
Silent Hill 4: The Room's Japanese website stated he was homeless at one point. This was when he encounted five-year old Eileen Galvin. Eileen, out of sympathy, gave Walter one of her dolls and then walked away, conversing with her mother. This inspired a profound sorrow within Walter to which he sobbed uncontrollably. He also met Cynthia Velasquez at one point, who called him filthy in front of her friends.
21 Sacraments
The 10 Hearts
Sullivan began the 21 Sacraments by murdering 10 people in as many days, removing their hearts and carving numbers into their bodies. The first corpse had 01121 carved into it, the second 02121, the third 03121, and so on up to 10121. He made no effort to cover his tracks, even going as far as to carve his own name into the flesh of his victims. It became famously known as the "Walter Sullivan Case."
False report
A false newspaper stated that he was captured, tried, and convicted, and was thought to have committed suicide by stabbing himself in the neck with a metal soup spoon and severing his own carotid artery while in prison. Joseph Schreiber, the current resident of Room 302 at the time, was a journalist investigating his case. Joseph firmly believed that the real Walter Sullivan had never died at the prison and that it may have been someone else who commited suicide, or the person who the police arrested was not the real Walter Sullivan.
Ritual of the Holy Assumption
A few days after the "fake" Walter Sullivan committed suicide, several residents witnessed a long-haired man with a coat in South Ashfield Heights. Through his window, Richard Braintree in 207 saw the man moving something heavy and doing something in Room 302. Frank Sunderland also saw the man with the coat hanging around Room 302, and confirmed there were signs of someone having been in there. Joseph Schreiber knew that the real Walter Sullivan was still alive.
Oblivious to Joseph, Walter had finally entered Room 302 and secretly performed the Ritual of the Holy Assumption in the back of the apartment's storage room.
Round 2
Three years later, another body was found, killed in a very similar manner to Sullivan's previous victims, and the numbers 12121 were carved into the body. The police suspected a copycat, though the heart was not removed, nor was a name carved into the body. However, Joseph developed his own theory at this time. He believed that the police had failed to capture the real Walter Sullivan, and began to investigate Walter's life in conjunction with an earlier investigation into the Silent Hill cult. Eventually finding Walter's grave, Joseph discovered there was no body inside and that numbers, 11121, were carved into the coffin. Two more bodies surfaced over the next few weeks, carved with the numbers 13121 and 14121 respectively. Joseph Schreiber went missing from room 302 shortly thereafter. What the police failed to realize was that the numbers, 01121-14121, actually meant 01/21-14/21, meaning that Sullivan intended to kill 21 victims in all.
Through the Order's teachings, Sullivan believed that the deaths of these 21 victims would help free his "mother," Room 302, and wake her up again so that he could live within her "womb" once more, safe from the world that terrorized him. In the game, most of his victims appear as ghosts.
Role in the game
Victims
Each person listed below is someone Walter murders (or intends to kill) either prior to the game's beginning or during the game itself. For an unexplained reason (possibly due to the occult ritual of which their deaths are a part, or even Walter's own imagination) nearly all of Walter's victims return as ghosts, including Walter himself, who are hostile to Henry Townshend (the protagonist) and attack him at every opportunity with the exception of Joseph as he gives information to Henry and doesn't harm him. There were 16 male victims (including Walter Sullivan, but not Henry Townshend) and 4 female victims (including Eileen Galvin). All of them left something behind, like an item or close memory that worked as a contribution for Walter's nightmare world. The player will constantly see these items troughout the game.
Round 1 victims (The Ten Hearts)
01/21 - Jimmy Stone: First of the Ten Hearts - Jimmy Stone was a priest in the Valtiel Sect, a division of The Order. He was nicknamed "The Red Devil" by members of the Order in reference to the triangular red hood he wore during ritualistic executions, much like Pyramid Head of Silent Hill 2 fame. Sullivan shot him in the back of the head inside the Wish House orphanage and removed his heart. Jimmy Stone is known as Victim 1 in the game. His ghost appears the most during the game. His "contribution" to Walter's memories was a shard of scripture left at the scene.
02/21 - Bobby Randolph: Second of the Ten Hearts - Randolph was a college student who attended the same school as Sullivan. He and two of his friends, Sein Martin and Jasper Gein, were fascinated by the lore of The Order and tried to learn all about it. Sullivan strangled him to death, removed his heart and dumped his body on the college campus in Pleasant River alongside the third victim. Bobby Randolph is known as Victim 2 in the game. His ghost does not appear. His memory in Walter's Otherworld is a book about ocultism found at the scene.
03/21 - Sein Martin: Third of the Ten Hearts - Like his friend Randolph, Martin was also interested in the legends surrounding the Order and his curiosity likely led to his death. Sullivan strangled him to death, removed his heart and dumped his body on the college campus in Pleasant River alongside Bobby Randolph. Sein Martin is known as Victim 3 in the game. His ghost does not appear. The item he left behind is a small camera found at the scene.
04/21 - Steve Garland: Fourth of the Ten Hearts - Steve Garland operated a pet store in Ashfield. His murder was particularly gruesome; after Sullivan riddled his body with bullets from a submachine gun (leaving his chest undamaged so the heart could be removed), he proceeded to brutally kill all the animals in the store. Given his name, Garland could be related to Lisa Garland from Silent Hill 1, but this is neither confirmed nor denied. Steve Garland is known as Victim 4 in the game. His ghost appears first in the Forest World. The item he left behind is a small shovel that normally is used to clean animal excrement at the crime scene.
05/21 - Rick Albert: Fifth of the Ten Hearts - Rick Albert was the manager of a sporting goods store in Ashfield. Sullivan (possibly a part-time employee at the store) bludgeoned him to death with a golf club and removed his heart. He was murdered on the same day as Steve Garland. Rick Albert is known as Victim 5 in the game. His ghost does not appear. His item is a Volleyball found at the same spot he was murdered.
06/21 - George Rosten: Sixth of the Ten Hearts - George Rosten was a priest in the Valtiel Sect and the right-hand man of Jimmy Stone. He personally instructed Sullivan on the 21 Sacraments, then ironically fell victim to his own teaching when Sullivan beat him to death with an iron pipe and removed his heart. George Rosten is known as Victim 6 in the game. He was probably one of the more important characters to the fourth game's connection to Silent Hill as the Book of Lost Memories indicates. The Book stated that he let Valtiel into the young Walter to permit the "21 Sacraments." His ghost does not appear. His item is a scripture from the sect he worked for at the scene.
07/21 - Billy Locane: Seventh of the Ten Hearts - Billy Locane was a child living in Silent Hill. Sullivan killed him with a single blow from an axe and removed his heart. He was not turned into a ghost like the others. Instead, he is half of the Twin Victims monster. Billy's item is one of his own shoes found near where he was killed.
08/21 - Miriam Locane: Eighth of the Ten Hearts - Miriam was Billy's twin sister and killed just after her brother. Unlike Billy, who was killed with a single blow from an axe, Sullivan brutally dismembered Miriam's body before removing her heart, most likely due to his violent misogyny. Unlike Sullivan's other victims, Billy and Miriam do not appear as ghosts but rather fused together as a monster which is known as Victim 07+08, Twin Victims, or "Seveneight". Miriam's item is part of her hair found near where she was killed.
09/21 - William Gregory: Ninth of the Ten Hearts - William Gregory was an elderly man that owned the Watch & Clock store in Ashfield. Sullivan stabbed him with a screwdriver and removed his heart. William Gregory is known as Victim 9 in the game. His ghost does not appear. His item is a flat screwdiver found at the spot.
10/21 - Eric Walsh: Tenth/Last of the Ten Hearts - The final victim of Sullivan's initial rampage. Walsh worked as a bartender at Bar Ashfield. On his birthday, a middle-aged customer told him that the pet store owner was murdered and the murderer was still at large, causing the bar's owner to close the bar early. Walsh then went home, only to find Sullivan waiting for him. Sullivan shot him in the face and removed his heart. Eric Walsh is known as Victim 10 in the game. His ghost is found pinned at the Building World. His item is a billiard ball found at his house's bathroom.
Suicide (Victim 11/21)
11/21 - Walter Sullivan: Assumption - After his capture, Sullivan committed suicide in his jail cell by stabbing himself in the neck with a spoon that severed his carotid artery. His body was buried in an unmarked grave near the Wish House, but after the first copycat murder, his grave was exhumed and was discovered to be empty. Although the game is never fully clear on this matter, it is debated that either his body was taken from its grave by his own ghost to the hidden room in Room 302 to await the last of the 21 Sacraments, or that it was never him in the first place (Joseph Schreiber mentions this possibility in a memo in the game). Walter, for the first half of the game, is docile towards Henry, though his behavior (such as standing in front of Henry's apartment door and simply smiling and staring at him through the peephole) is bizarre and unnerving. However, though restricted to certain boundaries, the latter half of the game presents a malignant Walter who will maniacally attack Henry and Eileen with different sets of weapons. He is also the end boss of the game. Walter himself made a contribution for his own world: the same spoon he used for his suicide.
Round 2 victims
12/21 - Peter Walls: Void - The first of Sullivan's postmortem victims. Walls was a notorious drug addict known for his crazed ranting, and a wimp without marijuana. His body was found in a room in the Hotel South Ashfield some six months after his death. He had apparently been beaten to death after he claimed he could see God. Peter Walls is known as Victim 12 in the game. His item is a marijuana joint found at an alley near the hotel.
13/21 - Sharon Blake: Darkness - Sharon Blake had been a target of the Order for some time. Her family had all been taken in by the Order, but she refused their requests (and later demands) to join. When she went looking for her family in the woods near Silent Hill, she discovered her family's gravestones, at which point Sullivan caught her and drowned her in the lake. Sharon Blake is known as Victim 13 in the game. Her ghost is considered the weakest of them all. Sharon's item is her black hat found at the scene.
14/21 - Toby Archbolt: Gloom - Toby Archbolt was a priest of the Holy Mother Sect of the Order, which operated the Wish House. After the deaths of Jimmy Stone and George Rosten and the subsequent weakening of the Valtiel Sect, Archbolt tried to increase the influence of his own sect within the Order. During a trip to Mexico, Sullivan pushed Toby off of a cliff, making him the only victim in the series to be killed outside of the United States. Toby Archbolt is known as Victim 14 in the game. Archbolt is also the first African-American character in the series. His item is an old picture book found at the spot.
15/21 - Joseph Schreiber: Despair (Giver of Wisdom) - Joseph Schreiber was an investigative reporter who lived in Room 302 before Henry Townshend (see below). He was investigating the Order, which led to an exposé on the Wish House. While investigating ties between the Order and the Walter Sullivan murders, he suddenly found himself sealed inside his apartment with the only means of escape being a mysterious hole in his bathroom wall. Schreiber apparently never made it out of his apartment and he eventually became Sullivan's 15th victim. The means of his murder and the location of his body are unknown (although it is probable, as seen in the beginning, that Jimmy Stone's ghost murdered him). Joseph Schreiber is known as Victim 15 in the game. Schreiber is the only victim that is not hostile to the protagonist. His item remains unknown troughout the game, but it is possible that his diary is a strong-enough memory of him.
Round 3 victims
16/21 - Cynthia Velasquez: Temptation - Cynthia Velasquez was a woman living in Ashfield. She is the first victim killed to be witnessed by Henry Townshend. He met her in the South Ashfield Station where she believed herself to be dreaming, and Townshend just a figment of her imagination (though that does not prevent her from making advances). While Henry tried to find a way out of the station, Sullivan killed her by multiple stab wounds, along with carving "16121" into her left breast. Cynthia Velasquez is known as Victim 16 in the game. Her ghost haunts the subway world in the game, and is one of the hardest ghosts to pin. Her "contribution" to Walter's World are the very make-up items she left right before her death spot.
17/21 - Jasper Gein: Source - Jasper Gein was a somewhat mentally unbalanced youth who, along with his friends Bobby Randolph and Sein Martin, was fascinated by the mythology of the Order. While exploring the ruins of the Wish House, Sullivan immolated Gein, who seemed almost appreciative of the act. Henry Townshend meets Gein while walking on a path through a forest outside of Wish House. After giving him chocolate milk, Gein gives Townshend a shovel. He finds the key to Wish House with the help of the shovel and Gein enters and disappears into one of the rooms. Not too long after, Townshend hears a blood-curdling scream and investigates the room that Gein entered. Upon opening the door, Jasper is seen writhing in agony. After Henry witnesses this act, Gein calls out that he had seen the red devil he had been searching for. While screaming through the flames, Jasper carves the number "17121" into his own chest with an altar candle. His character is named for American killer and film inspiration Ed Gein. His ghost (still on fire) haunts the forest world in the game, and his ghostly "aura" is the most dangerous one. His item is the Chocolate Milk bottle Henry gave him before he was burned.
18/21 - Andrew DeSalvo: Watchfulness - Andrew DeSalvo was an abusive guard at the Water Prison where children at the Wish House were sent for punishment. Somehow, he became locked in one of his own cells and, after being released by Henry, was captured by Walter and drowned. Before this incident occurred, he sees Little Walter, a childlike apparition of Walter's that split with his "spirit" after his assumption. Henry also sees Little Walter multiple times throughout the game, the first time being just outside of Wish House. The number "18121" is carved onto DeSalvo's stomach. His character is named for American serial killer Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler". His ghost (singing) haunts the water prison world in the game. His item is the bloodied shirt found at the prison's death chamber.
19/21 - Richard Braintree: Chaos - Richard Braintree lived in Room 207 of South Ashfield Heights. He was an eccentric, somewhat violent (and possibly sadistic) man. Remembering what happened to Joseph Schreiber, he becomes concerned when he notices the same thing happening again in Room 302. He tries to find a way to help Henry, but Walter captures Braintree, carves the number "19121" into his forehead and electrocutes him in his own apartment, despite Henry's attempts to stop him. Later on in the game, it is revealed that many of Ashfield Heights' tenants were wary of Braintree due to an incident in which he assaulted another resident and stripped him of his clothes--"skinning" him. His ghost haunts the building world in the game, and is the only ghost that actually walks instead of floating, and also the fastest in the game. Richard's item is his trademark revolver found at his apartment.
Possible victims
20/21 - Eileen Galvin: Mother (Reborn) - Eileen Galvin is Henry's next-door neighbor. She first encountered Walter at the Subway when she was five, and she gave him her favorite doll to cheer him up. Towards the middle of the game, Walter breaks into her apartment and assaults her, breaking her arm and carving "20/21" into her back. However, Little Walter's interference stopped her from being killed. Walter summons Eileen toward the end of the game in an attempt to finish the job once and for all. Whether Eileen lives or dies effects which game ending the player receives. If you get the two endings: "21 Sacraments" and/or "Eileen's Death" ending, she will die. If you get the "Mother" and "Escape" ending, she will live. Eileen's supposed item is her handbag found at St. Jerome's Hospital's main hall.
21/21 - Henry Townshend: Wisdom (Receiver of Wisdom) - Sullivan felt that his final intended victim, the current resident of Room 302, had to die in order to purify his "mother" so she could finally be reborn and he could be reunited with her. Depending on the actions of the player, Townshend either defeats Sullivan or dies at his hands. If you get the "21 Sacraments", Henry will die. If you get "Mother" and "Escape" Ending, both Eileen and Henry will live. Henry's memory is never explained troughout the game, but a strong possibility is that his life's strongest memory is Room 302 itself. With his death, Room 302 would finally enter Walter's mind completely and finish the ritual. If such action will come to be, it depends on the player's actions.
Trivia
- By far, Walter is the only major antagonist in the Silent Hill series to be the final boss of his game.
| Walter Sullivan Victims | |
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