What happened to Silent Hill 2's protagonist James Sunderland after the game? Survival horror was a gaming genre that existed before 1996's Resident Evil, but that was the title that made it popular. A slew of titles followed including Dino Crisis and Parasite Eve, but Silent Hill is considered one of the best. The game followed Harry Mason, who crashes his car on a trip to the title town and must find his missing daughter; adding to the stress is the fact the town is covered in fog and is crawling with monsters.
Silent Hill put a firm emphasis on psychological horror, with the game dropping players into the dark and surrounded by monsters from the worst possible Freudian nightmares. The franchise would spawn sequels, comics, and movies, though fans were disappointed with the quality of later titles like Silent Hill: Homecoming. There later heartbroken over the cancellation of Silent Hills, a planned sequel that would have been a collaboration between Metal Gear Solid's Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro. The game's teaser P.T. is in itself considered a horror masterpiece and hinted at what the final game could have offered. The series is on hiatus at present, with the last entry released in 2012.
Silent Hill 2 is regarded as not only the best in the franchise but one of the best games ever made. Its engrossing story and terrifying gameplay are two key reasons for this, in addition to great characters. The setup has James Sunderland come to the titular town after receiving a letter from his wife Mary - which should be impossible considering she's been dead for three years. James goes through hell fighting monsters - including the iconic Pyramid Head - before coming to realize the truth; Mary had been struck with a terminal illness and James, in a fit of depression and rage, smothered her to end her pain.
Silent Hill 2's final boss features James battling a demonic version of Mary, and many of the enemies he fought throughout the game are symbolic, with Pyramid Head existing to "punish" James for his actions; his repeated slaying of doppelganger Maria is so James will relive the pain of her death over and over. The game has several endings but Silent Hill 2's creators have stated anyone of them could be canon, depending on player preference. Two of these are unlockable gag endings, with one featuring James kidnapped by a UFO and another where he learns a dog has been controlling the events of the game. Considering they're joke endings, it's safe to assume they aren't canon.
The other Silent Hill 2 endings are "In Water," where James drowns himself after learning the truth. "Leave" sees him exit Silent Hill with young girl Laura and apparently adopting her, "Maria" finds him driving out of town with doppelganger Maria - but implying she'll die of the same illness as Mary - and "Rebirth" has James taking Mary's body to a church where she'll be resurrected. One detail that's canon is that James disappeared in the town, with his father Frank playing a supporting role in Silent Hill 4: The Room. While the answer will likely never be officially confirmed, the evidence seems to point to "In Water" as the real ending. All signs point to James being suicidal throughout the game, and designer Masahiro Ito later confirmed he created Pyramid Head with "In Water" in mind.
Voice actor Guy Cihi also believes "In Water" to be Silent Hill 2's canon ending, and believes it ties in with a Japanese social taboo called shinjū. This translates to "double suicide" and refers to spouses or family members who kill those they love - commonly by drowning or smothering - before killing themselves. According to Cihi, the person carrying out the killings then kills themselves, commonly by driving their car into water with the bodies of their loved ones with them. Since the developers have stated Mary's body is in the car with James when he drives to town, the idea is James Sunderland completes his plan to commit suicide when he drove to Silent Hill. This is just a theory however, and the answer is ultimately up to players to decide.
