I:  THE MAGICIAN

Valtiel

A mysterious creature that is always lurking near Heather.  What is his true 
purpose?

Valtiel shadows Heather as if stalking her ever since her encounter with him 
in the shopping mall.

While this strange creature observes Heather, he makes no effort to inflict 
harm upon her; the truth is that he has a unique purpose, a role he plays
which enters into the game.

The fact of the matter is that in the religious tradition of Silent Hill, 
Valtiel is a saintly being corresponding to an angel.

Concerning that complex and profound reason for existence, let us consider 
such things as his design and behavior from various angles.

IMAGE:  Valtiel
Whenever there is a shift to the otherworld, Valtiel appears before Heather.
It can be said that this being is a guide to the otherworld.

IMAGE:  from the elevator scene
First encounter in the shopping mall's elevator.  This is after Heather was
found for the first time.

SECTION TWO:  Watcher

To ensure the protection of the unborn deity, he watches Heather, mother 
of God

Since the name Valtiel means "attendant" by way of the English word 
"valet," his existence as an angel is derived from suffixing "-el."  In 
short, he is the being that attends to and watches over God.  For the 
purpose of carrying out his duty of watching and protecting the mother 
until the time comes for God to be born, he does not harm Heather.

IMAGE:  exploring the church
Valtiel persists in watching Heather in the church near the end of the game.

IMAGE:  Claudia's final scene  
Claudia assumes the role as mother and takes the necessary steps to birth 
God.

SECTION THREE:  Messenger

An angel in the town's religious organization that governs the cycle of 
rebirth, he appears as a symbol of the otherworld

Valtiel's intentions have little to do with Heather; his concern is 
primarily with the god that sleeps inside her.  It can be thought that in 
order to restore God to this world, every time Heather (Alessa) dies, he 
is the one responsible for resurrecting her many times over.  Additionally, 
the valve handle that Valtiel turns with his left hand represents the idea 
that "God can be reborn any number of times," which can be thought of as 
having significance to the basis of the sect's doctrine.  

IMAGE:  dragging Heather's corpse away
If Heather should die, Valtiel takes action to resurrect the mother of God.

IMAGE:  Heather stands opposite Valtiel in the church
In many places Valtiel is seen turning the handle, which signifies the cycle 
of rebirth.

SECTION FOUR:  Deciphering the meaning hidden in the design of the being
that ties together the three works of the series

In the long-standing religious tradition of Silent Hill, Valtiel is worshipped 
as a being that is close to God.  And so even in the previous works of the 
series, Valtiel has appeared in different forms.  In other words this is why 
Valtiel ties together various events that have taken place in Silent Hill.  

In the case that any events transpire in Silent Hill in the future, Valtiel
may again appear before players in another form.

IMAGE:  Valtiel before the fight with God
Noting the significance of Valtiel's design, the relevance between the three 
works becomes clear.

Ceremonial robes from Silent Hill

In the school's otherworld, a number of body-shaped figures can be seen.  If
one looks closely, it becomes clear that there is something familiar about what
the figure is wearing.  What looks like a body bag is actually the ceremonial 
robe of the town's religion.  This robe is modeled after the appearance of an 
angel from Silent Hill's traditions, namely Valtiel.

IMAGE:  the hanging robed figures seen throughout the game
The rags the figures appear to be wrapped in are actually ceremonial robes.

Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2

One notable connection between Pyramid Head and Valtiel is the fact that they
both stalk the protagonist persistently.  

If the helmet that conceals Pyramid Head's face were to be removed, it would 
become apparent that the designs of the two are surprisingly similar.  When the 
executioner's outfit that is Pyramid Head was designed, it was modeled after 
Valtiel, an angel from the indigenous religion.

IMAGE:  Pyramid Head
Pyramid Head's gloves are very similar to Valtiel's.

IMAGE:  molesting the mannequin
At the back of the garment Pyramid Head wears, there is a mark where the cloth 
is stitched together, which is also a shared characteristic.

Creator's Commentary:  In Silent Hill 3 the connection to the first game is quite 
clear, but the point of contact with the second game isn't so obvious.  I created 
Valtiel because I wanted to relate the works of the series through a creature.  
In the religion of Silent Hill, Valtiel exists as one who is close to God, and 
Pyramid Head takes the shape of Valtiel's reason for existence.  That is to say, 
the Pyramid Head character was born from the townspeoples' idolatrous ideologies.  
In the first game, the ceremonial robes were in homage to Valtiel.

-Masahiro Ito

SECTION FIVE:  Making of Valtiel
(note: the three images here are hand-drawn sketches)

IMAGE:  turning the valves
One of the early designs of Valtiel turning the valve handle.  The central hole 
closely resembles the one in the final church.

IMAGE:  from the elevator scene
A rough sketch of a design in which multiple creatures seem to be intertwined.
The hole at the top of the creature's head is the same as in the final design.

IMAGE:  behind the propeller blades
There is also a scene in the elevator with a giant propeller and Valtiel.  The
propeller has a handle as well, which has the same implication as the valve.

(note:  Not only are some of Masahiro Ito's comments in this section extremely
vague, but I had a particularly tough time deciding how to express parts of his 
commentary in English.  In case there's anything I didn't express clearly the 
way I decided to translate it, I'll try to explain in depth certain parts of 
the third and fourth sentences of Ito's paragraph. "Pyramid Head takes the 
shape of Valtiel's reason for existence--" literally, "Pyramid Head also exists 
with the form (shape) in which that reason for existence is borrowed" (or "with 
the form that borrows that reason for existence.")  To put it another way:  
Pyramid Head embodies Valtiel's reason for existence.  Although Ito doesn't 
explicitly state what this "reason for existence" is, from the fact that Pyramid 
Head is the image of an executioner's outfit, I think we should be able to infer 
that the aspect of Valtiel Pyramid Head embodies is that of "executioner."  
Indeed, other supplemental material from Konami states that to the cult, 
Valtiel signifies "executioner."  "The Pyramid Head character was born from 
the townspeoples' idolatrous ideologies--" literally, "Pyramid Head is a 
character that was born (created) from idolatrous ideologies (ideas) among 
the townspeople (the locals)."  Originally I'd decided to omit the word 
"character" because it didn't seem necessary to the sentence, but it then 
occurred to me that Ito may have used it to indicate (although it seems to 
me this should be evident regardless...) that of course he's not saying 
the Pyramid Head creature which stalks James was literally "born" from the 
cult's ideas involving idol worship, but that Pyramid Head (the executioner's 
outfit) came about as a result of the cult's ideas involving idol worship.  
This outfit is something that was created by the cult because of their 
"idolatrous ideologies"-- in other words, because they worshipped the image 
of Valtiel and incorporated it into the attire of the cult members who carried 
out executions.) 




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