Alessa Gillespie

**Alessa Gillespie** is a young girl who lives in the cursed American ghost town of Silent Hill. She is the main character/anti-heroine in the *Silent Hill* series. Her first appearance took place in the original 1999 *Silent Hill*videogame.

## Personality

Alessa was a tragic, tortured and misunderstood soul who wanted empathy and love. The absence of Alessa’s father very well may be the cause of her involuntary attachment to certain individuals (i.e. Claudia Wolf, Lisa Garland, [as Heather Mason] Douglas Cartland and Harry Mason). Alessa has also proven that once she has given one her affection, she clings to them, never forgets them and treats them like family. In a strange sense, she cared about Cheryl/Heather more than herself, wanting to spare them the hellish nightmare she endured at the hands of both her mother and the cult. And she certainly loves Harry Mason like a father due to the seven years of proper love and care he showered on her other half, Cheryl, and the fact that he, one way or the other, ended her torment and fulfilled her dearest wish of being accepted and loved.

Alessa has a great deal of spite which is shown more in Silent Hill: Origins, though this likely stems from cruel and malicious treatment from her peers, the cult and her mother. The Otherworld and the Fog World are representations of Alessa’s distorted perception of Silent Hill and her experiences there. Alessa is also known to be vindictive, scorned and dark-spirited. In addition, Alessa is undoubtedly wrathful and easily lost sight of her pleasant visions of Paradise and the desire to be loved. However, it has been shown that Alessa has astounding amounts of willpower, demonstrated by resolutely enduring seven long years of pain, fear and madness and refusing to let herself be used.

## Trivia

* Alessa was likely inspired by the tragic main character of Stephen King's Carrie. Both are teenage girls born with supernatural powers. They also have fanatical religious mothers and were ostracized at school. There are many other Stephen King homages in the series, including Carrie posters across from Green Lion Antiques.
* Alessa is the first character to appear in the Silent Hill series, making her debut within seconds of the opening sequence of Silent Hill.
* One of Alessa's favorite books, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, is the in-universe basis for the "Air Screamer" monster. Alice in Wonderland, another of her favorite books, is referenced in a puzzle that unlocks a door in Alchemilla Hospital. It can even be found on the bookshelf in her bedroom, if examined.
* The Book of Lost Memories refers to Alessa as "The Empress" the third of the Major Arcanas of a Tarot Deck, due to her absolute dominion over the town.
* Alessa is the only major character in Silent Hill that did not appear in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
* It appears as if Alessa was originally supposed to have brown or hazel eyes according to the images from the original Silent Hill; however, in Origins, her eyes are notably blue. This is most likely a goof by the developers of Silent Hill: Origins. It also makes much more sense for her to have brown eyes, considering how Cheryl has brown eyes, and Heather has hazel. If she does indeed have blue eyes, it is possible she has inherited the gene from her mother.
* According to the Book of Lost Memories, Alessa called Cheryl Mason to Silent Hill when she was 14, intending to reunite the souls and commit suicide. Origins shows a different version of this, claiming it was Dahlia, not Alessa, who called Cheryl to the town, hoping to use the recombined souls to birth God.
* In Silent Hill: Origins, Alessa's school uniform has a red tie, rather than a red ribbon seen in the original game.
* Also, in the first game, Alessa's outfit is so extremely Japanese-styled to the point of being unbelievable and historically inaccurate. Silent Hill is set in Maine, America, in the 1960s-80s. Most North American schools do not require uniforms and even then, ribbons are extremely unusual and are more common in Japan. Alessa has dark hair and eyes which appear almost dark brown.
* Because of it, the later game that serves as its prequel, Silent Hill: Origins, attempts to rectify this by making Alessa's hair color a lighter shade of brown, and changing her eye color to blue, like Dahlia. Her school uniform has a more traditional red tie, rather than a red ribbon. Her hairline and bangs are also inexplicably on the opposite side and she has a ponytail which she shouldn't have (7-year-old Alessa should not have a ponytail, 14-year-old Alessa should have a ponytail, and Alessa is 7 years old in Origins).
* Alessa's name in Italian means "defender of mankind". This may be an allusion to her mother using her sacrifice to birth a "god" and bring about a "paradise".
* Alessa's name is similar to Alissa, which is the name of a girl in Moomin who is a good-natured girl who is the grandchild of a wicked witch, a relationship which is somewhat like the relationship between Alessa and Dahlia.
* Alessa is similar to Alma Wade from F.E.A.R., a horror/survival title developed by Vivendi. Both have a parent never mentioned (Alma's mother and Alessa's father) and suffered great abuse at the hands of the other, and the two later use their psychic powers to take revenge on those who caused their suffering. Both exhibit immense psionic powers, including the ability to create monsters from the depths of their minds. At the age of 7, it was decided they would be used to give birth. The two of them were forcibly impregnated through unnatural means and were still adolescents when they gave birth (Alma 16). It's also important to note that both Alessa and Alma delivered newborns to the protagonists in the endings of their respective games before disappearing. Coincidentally, both their names start with 'Al'. In personality and physical appearance, Alma is very closely matched with the film version of Alessa, who is much more emotionally unstable and vengeful than her game counterpart. Like Alma, the film version of Alessa also appears as a child throughout the film, until near the end, where she is seen as a badly injured adult woman.
* Alessa Gillespie is also very similar to Aggie Prenderghast, the main antagonist of Paranorman. Both have a loving mother, both are treated badly by the society, both are ghosts or restless spirits, both are thought and accused by many to be a witch, both are children, both are legends in their hometown, both their names start with an A, and both have the ability to create horrific illusions. Coincidentally, both were portrayed by the same actress Jodelle Ferland, who portrayed her in the 2006 live action film.