Shes one of my favorite silent hill characters, her whole situation is tragic because even if by some miracle her and james did run off and she managed to survive shed have to live knowing that shes simply a replacement for Mary and that he doesn't really love her for who she is. But without him she has no purpose or reason to keep going and would be just as lonely.
Great analysis. Maria is such an interesting character, because it's difficult to know how much it's her and how much it's how James saw Mary's negative traits.
This is true. I'm not sure if she in herself actually exists without an established identity though. It's like waking up one day and you are a lawyer but the prior day you didn't even exist.
8:46 I do think Maria is genuinely scared and she is indeed afraid of loneliness She does obviously want to seduce James but she is afraid of loneliness too
I like to believe the reason that Maria always acted so flirty yet desperate during James's story is because the only way she would ever be able to escape silent hill is if James didn't learn his mistakes and stayed with her, that would be the reason her personality in born for a wish is so different that her original one
9:00 Maria's desire to protect Laura is Mary's memories affecting Maria's natural instincts. The longer she lives, the more of Mary's memories bleed into her own. Also it seems to be linked to her many resurrections. Whenever she is brought back from death, she brings a piece of Mary back with her and the line between the two becomes more blurred(becoming Mary's exact double by the end). Mary loved Laura, so by default , so does Maria, even though she's never met her. It's a really cool concept.
There's no hope for Maria as person of her own. She is a manifestation of Mary, warped by James. Her entire purpose is to be both a punishment and a truth that James has to face and reconcile with. If Pyramid head is the administrator of punishment, then Maria is the tool he uses. It's doubtful even in the Maria ending that she'll live long... if James can even leave with her at all. The cough at the end suggests she'll die the same as Mary did... but it's unclear if anyone will be able to see her. Laura runs by Maria many times and doesn't see her (she also can't see monsters and other abnormalities in Silent Hill.) But it isn't clear if by the end, Maria is real enough to become more than just a conjured up thing by the town since she does become more like Mary each time she dies. It's really interesting to theorize either way.
Maria's desire to protect Laura is likely a remenet of the original Mary's identity. Just as is the knowledge of what happened in the hotel between Mary and James. Maria has some portion of the original Mary projected onto her by James and this is that surfacing.
9:00 for one Maria doesn’t need a direct connection to Laura to want to make sure she’s safe. She’s a little girl running around a monster town. That aside however she does. She’s a silent hill manifestation of Mary, who had a close relationship with Laura. Also James is looking for Laura so it benefits her to be interested.
The reason she holds the gun to her head at the end is because she realizes she’s a monster like all the ones she’s seen, she just looks different. Her only purpose is to punish James. She wants to kill herself because she doesn’t want that, but understands that it’s her purpose and that if she were to die, she would just come back and that she can’t truly die because she isn’t truly alive. So she throws the gun away because she doesn’t need it for protection, she can’t die, she isn’t real.
@@davidrojas7909It's more because she wants to believe she's real, being another type of monster doesn't erase her emotions.But because she doesn't want to be alone, she won't let James go and that's why she becomes truly a monster and final boss.
I honestly think that Maria, especially in born from a wish, is both manifested by James and Mary Especially her tendency to protect children, specifically Laura, in fact i wonder if Maria was in part created by Mary to lead James to Laura
Wow, this completely changed my perspective on her. I usually don’t see ppl go deeper than Maria just being a reflection of James subconscious, but this goes into her actual character as a human being. Amazing work!
The reason why I love silent hill is the nuance of the characters which isn't in a lot of other series. I also like the stereotype of the girl that James prefers. Great video
Thanks for stopping by. The depth of these characters is amazing especially in terms of interpretation. I'm sure when they made these games they weren't thinking as deeply as the videos but without thinking that still made some great games.
I always felt bad for Maria she was born into a nightmare world with her only purpose being some sort of “lesson” for some crazy guy who killed his wife. She clearly had her own will but it was slowly stripped away as the game went on. And she received so much punishment from the pyramid heads even tho she did nothing wrong.
Amazing video! It also gave me an opportunity to take a different look at Maria's character in general and actually helped me understand her on a new level. But talking about connection with Laura, the easiest explanation is that she have some memories/feelings of Mary (like in labyrinth scene). She mentions Laura in BFW but at that moment she don't have any idea who is it. Also somehow children stuff gives her some snap on this memory. We also can see some kind of mother instinct at scene where we find scared Maria. She doesn't know that child at all but yet still she have some worries for her.
Great video man. Silent Hill 2, though my intro and love for the world was the 1st game, has haunted me for years. Maria was such an interesting character and I remember my first playthrough, i thought she was the actual "antagonist" of the plot until playing her prequel story. As is the commonly known consensus now, depending on the perspective, the town itself is, or the player character is.
I feel as thought her behaviors are unintentional manipulation, I just feel she genuinely feels love towards him, just fears being alone ie how Mary probably felt when James left her hospital room to go do whatever he needed while she was sick. She just needed to keep him close and she lashed out when she felt unloved or abandoned.
Silent Hill 2 Remake is an excellent masterpiece by Bloober Team, noting the fact the original Silent Hill 2 was considered a sales failure back in 2001 by Team Silent. The game is a representational artform where I believe (in my opinion) that James is already dead (or somewhat his body is unconscious) after taking SUICIDE (my theory is just one to three weeks after ending Mary's life, also by time loop). His soul is delusional and somehow trapped to find his lost memories in Silent Hill. This to either to be RESURECTED (Rebirth) or become a sacrifice to INCUBUS (Alessa). If reference to Maria DLC, born from a wish, and Silent Hill 4: The Room mythology coincides, the wish is not from James but from Alessa, to make James a sacrifice to the god-like entity that possesses Alessa. In SH4 and SH: Homecoming, the entity after sacrificing 21 souls, the entity requires another sacrifice thereafter. And James, serves this purpose, the DLC Born from a wish, was not actually from James but by Alessa. The Pyramid-head man is actually the executioner, that James is a convicted SINNER, he deserves to die. The executioner, back from the middle-ages in Europe, wears a red (suggest it was from a cult) or brown cone-like cloth (not metal in the game) head covering face to conceal the beheader of a convicted criminal (reference to images found on the internet). The wish, where through psyche-influence people: Maria, a facial resemblance to Mary (but not body figure and personality, also Maria is blonde and blue-eyes, Mary is a brunette and hazel-eyes) to make James regret his action to end Mary's life. Angela is a rape victim, to imply Mary is victim. Eddie is a serial killer, suggesting that James is a murderer. Laura is a child Mary did not have, even said, "You didn't love her anyway." In Silent Hill 2 DLC: Born from a Wish, Maria was drawn back to Silent Hill just to find that her gun and knife was appropriate from the monsters surprisedly found there. She helped Ernest Baldwin to find a "white liquid" from Blue Creek Apartment to supposedly, and miraculously bring her dead daughter back, Amy. She found herself doubting and delusional about the idea of resurrection. After undergoing such terror, and finding out that she was speaking to a ghost, but I believe Ernest is speaking from the other dimension. Also, I think Ernest is an occult member. But, he ask her to be careful about James, that he is a danger (as the cult presumes). She pursues to find him, otherwise. I believe the summoned UNKNOWN god-like entity by the cult is preparing James, and Maria is one of the objects to start this test. The dimension theory where there are at least three (3): (1) Reality, (2) Fog world (in catholic Christianity is called Purgatory), and (3) the otherworld (or Hell). James seems to be delusional and has amnesia, he is in Purgatory. His soul is searching (Silent Hill 4). For Alessa to take his soul as a sacrifice, James must kill himself by suicide. His corruption (SH4) is evident by having dirty fingers and bugged eyes as game progresses. Alessa made a way for other people to influence this (Alessa's wish). The best is ending is about REBIRTH (reference to Tibetan Book of the Dead), and the worst ending to end James life by SUICIDE where he literally drove his car to lake drowning. This achieves Alessa's wish to make James willingly sacrifice his soul to INCUBUS.
In my opinion, Maria is an existence created by silent hill cus of James, but even though she's created to make him suffer in try to forget Mary and stay with her (his perfect image of his wife) that's the biggest torture possible to him..even tho she has a conscious and feeling and will, she just trying to stay with James instead of Mary cus that's the only way she won't be trapped alone...cus no one real can see or feel her, so she has no choice, staying alone trapped in the city with no one else but James's monsters, or going with him and making him live his delusion (staying with his best image of his dead wife) and that's what happened in Maria ending, if i said something wrong, please anyone correct me, thanks for reading
Yeah I have came to same conclusion about her. I am interested in her portrayal for the remake as well. What would you think would happen to her if she did convince James to take her along?
I felt that Maria is like the god of SH for The Cult, Mary is god for James, therefore this Maria was a fabrication of the town, just like the god for the cult. Maria is an upgrade version of Mary for James, but there is a catch, seems to me that Maria has the soul of Mary, therefore I doubt she can leave the town, because like SH4 explained, James and Mary were missing, therefore probably James never got out of SH, that means he is no longer in the world of living. For now, we know that only Heather, and maybe Henry managed to got out from the darkness. Alex, Mary, and James were confirmed swallow by the town's energy.
@@nave712 Frank Sunderland said that to Henry. Alex was gone in almost all endings, figure out the result. Also he said to Elle, "I will find Josh, then I'm gone", he knew he was like Maria, he was there just for a wish of Elle, seems like the devs wasted the character of Elle, she was more interesting, and complex, but they just reduce her, in a sort of metal gear girl like.
9:09 I feel like she has that connection with Laura because she wants to feel like a mother. Maybe if she can think of her self as a mother. Then maybe she can feel like she whole, like she’s alive. (I don’t know much about sh2 sorry if I’m wrong lol)
The discord around Maria and her autonomy seems similar to another discord about another female character joy the female AI and the love interest of the protagonist agent K in blade runner 2049
9:00 do you think its a further exploration of the abuse circle you mention? Bringing in the child as a threat over James? This was a well written analysis, thank you
You know it’s odd I last saw Maria not really as her own person but as a version of Mary made by silent hill to basically help him see the truth especially from the little lines and situation they get into. James was denying the truth and Maria constantly throws that in his and our face and upon rewatching or playing through the game it’s very obvious In hindsight. But I never saw it as Maria trying to manipulate James into being with her a fake version of Mary over accepting the truth things nice to know though .
I've never played these games..but this so insightful!! I would love to collaborate with you sometime. I do character analysis as well on tv show characters and need some editing help. I would love to be able to pick your 🧠 You seem very bright
Thats the whole point im trying to figure out bro! but anyway i think she's a human created for james because game have different endings you know... -Maria's desire to protect Laura is Mary's memories affecting Maria's natural instincts. The longer she lives, the more of Mary's memories bleed into her own. Also it seems to be linked to her many resurrections. Whenever she is brought back from death, she brings a piece of Mary back with her and the line between the two becomes more blurred(becoming Mary's exact double by the end). Mary loved Laura, so by default , so does Maria, even though she's never met her. It's a really cool concept
Shes one of my favorite silent hill characters, her whole situation is tragic because even if by some miracle her and james did run off and she managed to survive shed have to live knowing that shes simply a replacement for Mary and that he doesn't really love her for who she is. But without him she has no purpose or reason to keep going and would be just as lonely.
Great analysis. Maria is such an interesting character, because it's difficult to know how much it's her and how much it's how James saw Mary's negative traits.
This is true. I'm not sure if she in herself actually exists without an established identity though. It's like waking up one day and you are a lawyer but the prior day you didn't even exist.
8:46
I do think Maria is genuinely scared and she is indeed afraid of loneliness
She does obviously want to seduce James but she is afraid of loneliness too
I like to believe the reason that Maria always acted so flirty yet desperate during James's story is because the only way she would ever be able to escape silent hill is if James didn't learn his mistakes and stayed with her, that would be the reason her personality in born for a wish is so different that her original one
That does make sense.
9:00
Maria's desire to protect Laura is Mary's memories affecting Maria's natural instincts. The longer she lives, the more of Mary's memories bleed into her own. Also it seems to be linked to her many resurrections. Whenever she is brought back from death, she brings a piece of Mary back with her and the line between the two becomes more blurred(becoming Mary's exact double by the end). Mary loved Laura, so by default , so does Maria, even though she's never met her. It's a really cool concept.
Hmm I never thought about it like that! Very interesting take and thank you for sharing!
This actually makes a lot of sense
That "I'm not your Mary" is so scary
Right? It’s so cold, and short. Especially when contrasted against her usual nice/flirty tone. She almost sounds resentful towards James.
There's no hope for Maria as person of her own. She is a manifestation of Mary, warped by James. Her entire purpose is to be both a punishment and a truth that James has to face and reconcile with. If Pyramid head is the administrator of punishment, then Maria is the tool he uses. It's doubtful even in the Maria ending that she'll live long... if James can even leave with her at all. The cough at the end suggests she'll die the same as Mary did... but it's unclear if anyone will be able to see her. Laura runs by Maria many times and doesn't see her (she also can't see monsters and other abnormalities in Silent Hill.) But it isn't clear if by the end, Maria is real enough to become more than just a conjured up thing by the town since she does become more like Mary each time she dies. It's really interesting to theorize either way.
Maria's desire to protect Laura is likely a remenet of the original Mary's identity. Just as is the knowledge of what happened in the hotel between Mary and James. Maria has some portion of the original Mary projected onto her by James and this is that surfacing.
9:00 for one Maria doesn’t need a direct connection to Laura to want to make sure she’s safe. She’s a little girl running around a monster town. That aside however she does. She’s a silent hill manifestation of Mary, who had a close relationship with Laura. Also James is looking for Laura so it benefits her to be interested.
The reason she holds the gun to her head at the end is because she realizes she’s a monster like all the ones she’s seen, she just looks different. Her only purpose is to punish James. She wants to kill herself because she doesn’t want that, but understands that it’s her purpose and that if she were to die, she would just come back and that she can’t truly die because she isn’t truly alive. So she throws the gun away because she doesn’t need it for protection, she can’t die, she isn’t real.
So why she keep telling to James that she's real
@@João-u8b because she is a lier and a demon. Have you played the game?
@@davidrojas7909It's more because she wants to believe she's real, being another type of monster doesn't erase her emotions.But because she doesn't want to be alone, she won't let James go and that's why she becomes truly a monster and final boss.
I honestly think that Maria, especially in born from a wish, is both manifested by James and Mary
Especially her tendency to protect children, specifically Laura, in fact i wonder if Maria was in part created by Mary to lead James to Laura
That could be a possibility but I think Born From a Wish happened at the same time as James entering Silent Hill so Maria was already dead.
This game as well as Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days are the reason I love existential crisis stories
Wow, this completely changed my perspective on her. I usually don’t see ppl go deeper than Maria just being a reflection of James subconscious, but this goes into her actual character as a human being. Amazing work!
Thanks for stopping by!
The reason why I love silent hill is the nuance of the characters which isn't in a lot of other series. I also like the stereotype of the girl that James prefers. Great video
Thanks for stopping by. The depth of these characters is amazing especially in terms of interpretation. I'm sure when they made these games they weren't thinking as deeply as the videos but without thinking that still made some great games.
I always felt bad for Maria she was born into a nightmare world with her only purpose being some sort of “lesson” for some crazy guy who killed his wife. She clearly had her own will but it was slowly stripped away as the game went on. And she received so much punishment from the pyramid heads even tho she did nothing wrong.
Queen maria overpowering james we love to see it. Great video and analysis! One of my favorite manipulators and gaslighting icon.
That is a very, weird thing to say...
She was trying to for sure. Too bad Silent Hill is a terrible place to be in for all parties xD
@@stnorocwzo lol they're clearly joking around
You are so underrated, it's sad. I hope your subscriber count explodes one day.
Thanks man. Any idea for a future video?
Wow Jezei sure knows how to make a guy feel wanted,needed,crazy and terrified 😅 oh wait! I meant Maria 😂 🪜
Amazing video! It also gave me an opportunity to take a different look at Maria's character in general and actually helped me understand her on a new level.
But talking about connection with Laura, the easiest explanation is that she have some memories/feelings of Mary (like in labyrinth scene). She mentions Laura in BFW but at that moment she don't have any idea who is it. Also somehow children stuff gives her some snap on this memory. We also can see some kind of mother instinct at scene where we find scared Maria. She doesn't know that child at all but yet still she have some worries for her.
Welcome to dead by daylight maria
Great video man. Silent Hill 2, though my intro and love for the world was the 1st game, has haunted me for years. Maria was such an interesting character and I remember my first playthrough, i thought she was the actual "antagonist" of the plot until playing her prequel story. As is the commonly known consensus now, depending on the perspective, the town itself is, or the player character is.
Do a video of Laura, if there is that much information on her. Love the content
I'll see what I can come up with.
SH2 is my favorite game in the series.
I feel as thought her behaviors are unintentional manipulation, I just feel she genuinely feels love towards him, just fears being alone ie how Mary probably felt when James left her hospital room to go do whatever he needed while she was sick. She just needed to keep him close and she lashed out when she felt unloved or abandoned.
Awesome video. Deserves more views !
Fantastic analysis 👏
BTW, excellent analysis.
Thank you kindly!
Silent Hill 2 Remake is an excellent masterpiece by Bloober Team, noting the fact the original Silent Hill 2 was considered a sales failure back in 2001 by Team Silent. The game is a representational artform where I believe (in my opinion) that James is already dead (or somewhat his body is unconscious) after taking SUICIDE (my theory is just one to three weeks after ending Mary's life, also by time loop). His soul is delusional and somehow trapped to find his lost memories in Silent Hill. This to either to be RESURECTED (Rebirth) or become a sacrifice to INCUBUS (Alessa). If reference to Maria DLC, born from a wish, and Silent Hill 4: The Room mythology coincides, the wish is not from James but from Alessa, to make James a sacrifice to the god-like entity that possesses Alessa. In SH4 and SH: Homecoming, the entity after sacrificing 21 souls, the entity requires another sacrifice thereafter. And James, serves this purpose, the DLC Born from a wish, was not actually from James but by Alessa. The Pyramid-head man is actually the executioner, that James is a convicted SINNER, he deserves to die. The executioner, back from the middle-ages in Europe, wears a red (suggest it was from a cult) or brown cone-like cloth (not metal in the game) head covering face to conceal the beheader of a convicted criminal (reference to images found on the internet). The wish, where through psyche-influence people: Maria, a facial resemblance to Mary (but not body figure and personality, also Maria is blonde and blue-eyes, Mary is a brunette and hazel-eyes) to make James regret his action to end Mary's life. Angela is a rape victim, to imply Mary is victim. Eddie is a serial killer, suggesting that James is a murderer. Laura is a child Mary did not have, even said, "You didn't love her anyway."
In Silent Hill 2 DLC: Born from a Wish, Maria was drawn back to Silent Hill just to find that her gun and knife was appropriate from the monsters surprisedly found there. She helped Ernest Baldwin to find a "white liquid" from Blue Creek Apartment to supposedly, and miraculously bring her dead daughter back, Amy. She found herself doubting and delusional about the idea of resurrection. After undergoing such terror, and finding out that she was speaking to a ghost, but I believe Ernest is speaking from the other dimension. Also, I think Ernest is an occult member. But, he ask her to be careful about James, that he is a danger (as the cult presumes). She pursues to find him, otherwise. I believe the summoned UNKNOWN god-like entity by the cult is preparing James, and Maria is one of the objects to start this test.
The dimension theory where there are at least three (3): (1) Reality, (2) Fog world (in catholic Christianity is called Purgatory), and (3) the otherworld (or Hell). James seems to be delusional and has amnesia, he is in Purgatory. His soul is searching (Silent Hill 4). For Alessa to take his soul as a sacrifice, James must kill himself by suicide. His corruption (SH4) is evident by having dirty fingers and bugged eyes as game progresses. Alessa made a way for other people to influence this (Alessa's wish). The best is ending is about REBIRTH (reference to Tibetan Book of the Dead), and the worst ending to end James life by SUICIDE where he literally drove his car to lake drowning. This achieves Alessa's wish to make James willingly sacrifice his soul to INCUBUS.
I like how you used kim k. A++ for me
In my opinion, Maria is an existence created by silent hill cus of James, but even though she's created to make him suffer in try to forget Mary and stay with her (his perfect image of his wife) that's the biggest torture possible to him..even tho she has a conscious and feeling and will, she just trying to stay with James instead of Mary cus that's the only way she won't be trapped alone...cus no one real can see or feel her, so she has no choice, staying alone trapped in the city with no one else but James's monsters, or going with him and making him live his delusion (staying with his best image of his dead wife) and that's what happened in Maria ending, if i said something wrong, please anyone correct me, thanks for reading
Yeah I have came to same conclusion about her. I am interested in her portrayal for the remake as well. What would you think would happen to her if she did convince James to take her along?
I felt that Maria is like the god of SH for The Cult, Mary is god for James, therefore this Maria was a fabrication of the town, just like the god for the cult. Maria is an upgrade version of Mary for James, but there is a catch, seems to me that Maria has the soul of Mary, therefore I doubt she can leave the town, because like SH4 explained, James and Mary were missing, therefore probably James never got out of SH, that means he is no longer in the world of living. For now, we know that only Heather, and maybe Henry managed to got out from the darkness. Alex, Mary, and James were confirmed swallow by the town's energy.
When in silent hill 4 was it confirmed James was missing? And where was it confirmed that Alex didn’t survive?
@@nave712 Frank Sunderland said that to Henry. Alex was gone in almost all endings, figure out the result. Also he said to Elle, "I will find Josh, then I'm gone", he knew he was like Maria, he was there just for a wish of Elle, seems like the devs wasted the character of Elle, she was more interesting, and complex, but they just reduce her, in a sort of metal gear girl like.
9:09 I feel like she has that connection with Laura because she wants to feel like a mother. Maybe if she can think of her self as a mother. Then maybe she can feel like she whole, like she’s alive.
(I don’t know much about sh2 sorry if I’m wrong lol)
Great video thank you
The discord around Maria and her autonomy seems similar to another discord about another female character joy the female AI and the love interest of the protagonist agent K in blade runner 2049
Like number 1.
9:00 do you think its a further exploration of the abuse circle you mention? Bringing in the child as a threat over James? This was a well written analysis, thank you
In reference to Laura? I do think that is possible though James does not have a deep connection with Laura like Mary did.
No
She is genuinely afraid and caring for Laura because Mary liked Laura and so does Maria
You know it’s odd I last saw Maria not really as her own person but as a version of Mary made by silent hill to basically help him see the truth especially from the little lines and situation they get into. James was denying the truth and Maria constantly throws that in his and our face and upon rewatching or playing through the game it’s very obvious In hindsight. But I never saw it as Maria trying to manipulate James into being with her a fake version of Mary over accepting the truth things nice to know though .
Xtina Aguilera is my queen 👸🏼 ❤
this video is really interesting
Very good episode
thank you kindly
I've never played these games..but this so insightful!! I would love to collaborate with you sometime. I do character analysis as well on tv show characters and need some editing help.
I would love to be able to pick your 🧠
You seem very bright
Hey man. Would be glad to help. Do you have a discord or anything?
@@Callyxi I can get discord. I had it once before. What is your discord name?
@@AnalyzewithAstephen it's Eileo #0921
@@Callyxi sent friend request!
Maria is born from Mary's Wish, not James'.
Can i ask, is anyone can have a connection with Maria? Instead of James, is anyone can touch or see her?
Thats the whole point im trying to figure out bro!
but anyway i think she's a human created for james because game have different endings you know...
-Maria's desire to protect Laura is Mary's memories affecting Maria's natural instincts. The longer she lives, the more of Mary's memories bleed into her own. Also it seems to be linked to her many resurrections. Whenever she is brought back from death, she brings a piece of Mary back with her and the line between the two becomes more blurred(becoming Mary's exact double by the end). Mary loved Laura, so by default , so does Maria, even though she's never met her. It's a really cool concept
Existentinal crisis?