James Sunderland

Don't worry, I'm not crazy... at least, I don't think so.

James Sunderland is the 29-year old protagonist in Silent Hill 2. James visits the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his now dead wife (who died 3 years ago from an illness), Mary Shepherd-Sunderland.

It is revealed later in the plot of the game that Mary had in fact not died from an illness at all and she was in fact killed by James. James wanted to cease her suffering from her illness, and perhaps wanted to release his own burden and sexual frustration. The letter he received never existed; the world of Silent Hill is at least partially if not fully created out of a need for James to escape reality after the murder of his wife.

James worked as a clerk¹ and took Mary to holiday in Silent Hill. Later as she became terminally ill James was led to drinking alcohol to escape reality however he was unable to find peace through this. James became gradually more and more obsessed with trying to cure Mary despite medical advice advising she was terminal; his emotional pain was severely strong.

Silent Hill 2 is essentially James' journey through his past and subconsious, a twisted and horrifying look at someone deeply disturbed.

While it is unclear exactly what occurs to James after Silent Hill 2 (largely due to the multiple endings), Silent Hill 4: The Room revealed that James actually vanished upon embarking for Silent Hill. Konami has officially stated that each ending indicates a different possibility and there is no one correct interpretation of actually what occurred.²

Dossier

Videogame Debut

Silent Hill 2

Videogame Appearances

Silent Hill 3 (cameo)

Silent Hill 4: The Room (mentioned)

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (cameo)

Voice Actors

Guy Cihi (Silent Hill 2 - also motion actor)

Tomm Hulett (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories)

Troy Baker (Silent Hill 2 - new dub in Silent Hill HD Collection)

Trivia

• In the initial stages of the game James had two personalities: "Joseph" and "James". The name Joseph was taken from the name of a man suspected of being Jack the Ripper, and "James" is a derivative.³
• It is actually unknown exactly when Mary died, the concept that she died three years ago could be part of James' delusion.⁴
• Pyramid Head is actually incarnated from the part of James' consciousness that feels he deserves punishment.⁵