information

[heavensnight]

it doesn't matter who i am.

i'm here for you, james.

Name: Maria
Canon: Silent Hill 2: remake
Species: Tulpa? A wish???
Age: 30s.

Maria is a manic pixie dream girl in a horror setting. With her tight dress, hot pink jacket, and high-heeled boots, Maria doesn’t look like she belongs in Silent Hill. She’s an exotic dancer, flirty and hits on James while there are monsters wandering around in Silent Hill. She’s playful and it’s as if she doesn’t seem to realize the hellscape she’s in. Until James tries to leave her and she becomes a damsel in distress, helpless and unable to protect herself. It’s up to James to protect her when she’s with him because she has no weapon and won’t defend herself from monsters. Maria is completely reliant on James and will manipulate him to get what she wants.

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And that’s because Maria is a construct made from James’ desires, not even a real person herself. Maria is supposed to be what James secretly wants. It’s evident by how she looks and sounds just like his late wife Mary, the very reason he’s here in Silent Hill. Yet she doesn’t act like Mary, who was depressed and angry for being destined to die thanks to her illness. Mary was quiet and sweet, Maria is outgoing and seductive. But she isn’t there to just be his sexy sidekick but also as a constant reminder of his guilt and his inability to save his wife. Maria is killed four times as a way to punish James. WHICH IS OVERKILL FOR SUCH A SHORT GAME. It seems everything about Maria is always tied to James. She has a role to play and she needs James to play his for her sake.

Yet there are aspects about her that aren’t tied to James. Like her worry for a little girl named Laura who is wandering around Silent Hill. Maria is panicking for her, always wanting to go find her. James remarks she seems to care a lot about Laura and asks why. Maria cannot answer, saying she has never even met her but that something tells her she needs to protect her because she’s all alone. Unknown to James, Mary had made friends with Laura and loved her dearly. Mary’s love for Laura is alive in Maria. It shows she’s not just James’ desires, but Mary’s as well since James didn’t know about Laura.

In the original game, there’s a side story called Born From a Wish, where you follow Maria, who behaves differently from the main game. Here, she is timid and quiet. But she fights back against the monsters in the town, trying to figure out what’s happening. As she realizes what she is, and what is going to happen, she almost commits suicide. Before deciding to have faith that maybe she can have a happy ending and tosses her gun, her only means of defense. In the remake, Maria seems to be far more of a hopeless romantic, which ties into Born from a Wish. She’s never bothered by how much James loves Mary, she’s smitten about it until it gets in the way of her own needs and yells at him for caring more about his wife than her.

Maria knows that without James, she’s got nothing. It’s why she does turn into the final boss after James tells her he’s done with her. Maria fights back against this. This is her final attempt at being able to exist because if James says he won’t have her then what will happen to her? A girl has to do what she’s gotta to survive. Like, turn into a monster. She just wants to survive and unfortunately, James is the key to that for her.

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Comments

▸ headcanons

[heavensnight]

▸ The way Maria is dressed is greatly influenced by Mary's desires rather than James's desires. Her style was what Mary sometimes wished she could wear but felt she could never pull off. This includes her hair as well and her eyes since James Sunderland did not know his wife's eye color (seriously he never once mentions Maria has blue eyes and Mary never did lmao). However, the length of the skirt is absolutely based on James's desires.

▸ Maria cannot stand to be seen without makeup. It makes her look a little too much like Mary. She will not leave the house without it. Also she is naturally a brunette but dyes her hair. Again, for similar reasons.

▸ She's a cat person. She wants to see your cat if you got one.

▸ Maria has the butterfly tattoo on her left clavicle and on her right hip, like the tattoo she has in the OG.

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[heavensnight]

CHARACTER INFO

Character Name: Maria
Canon: Silent Hill 2
Age: Nothing canonically known but she is supposed to be an adult. The original game has her at 25 but she is older in the remake. I put her at 33-35.
If Under 16, why is this character a good thematic fit for Somnia?: N/A
Canon Point: After her defeat in the Rebirth ending, when James plans to sacrifice her to bring back Mary.
Wiki Link(s): Link

SOMNIA-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

1. Dreams are how Sleep chooses you. What might draw your character into Somnia— a wound, a wish, a weakness? Would they follow the dream, or run from it?
A wish, really. Maria herself is a wish but she was someone else’s wish. Due to her fate being tied to someone else, there is not much that Maria can say she owns. Is her desire to be with James really her own? Or is it because she is his manifestation? Is it because of Mary? Maria wants her own freedom, her own independence. She desires to pursue the opportunity to be more than what is expected of her, rather than simply fulfilling one man's desires.

And she just wants to escape her own cruel circumstances. To Maria, any place seems far better than the hell she has been given. Maria will follow the dream because she is truly desperate to survive and will take any chance to do so. Even if it’s going into another terrible situation.

2. Somnia is a slow unraveling—of worlds, and of selves. How does your character respond to fear, transformation, and losing control? Do they fight, adapt, collapse?
In Born from a Wish, a bonus story to the original game, Maria ponders if she should simply give up or if she should fight when she is afraid and doesn’t actually know what is happening. Ultimately, in her own words when she decides to help a ghost in the town, she states “I don’t mind fighting for an impossible cause. Beats doing nothing.” At the end of Born from a Wish, we see her consider ending her existence before deciding against it. Maria both fights and adapts but she doesn’t collapse. She doesn’t give up and we see that throughout the story. She is always adapting to what she thinks will keep her with James, conforming to his expectations and needs. She’ll flirt, she’ll use fake tears to make him sympathize with her, and she’ll try to comfort him to show him she can be there for him.

And then when he rejects her 100%, she immediately will not take no for an answer because accepting his rejection means she will stop existing. Quickly Maria turns into a monster to fight him and try to keep surviving. Like she said, beats doing nothing. She’ll never just take things as they are.

3. Connection is the only constant. What kind of bonds does your character form— fast and burning, slow and wary, deep and desperate? How might that shape their time in this world?
Maria only ever had James, the only person to see her and talk to her, the only person who could acknowledge her. But she talks so much and is eager to form a connection with him. During their travels in the remake, she is constantly looking for opportunities to talk. Maria attaches herself to him very quickly, coming onto him in mere minutes of meeting him. In Born from a Wish, Maria is desperate to talk to Ernest even when he makes it clear he doesn’t want to talk to her. Maria states she hates being alone but she is also born from a dying, lonely woman. Maria will be quick to form bonds. Any kind she can get. Deep friendships, easy acquaintances, and even not liking someone will feel like a gift. Her loneliness will make her outgoing and she will want to do what she can to be around people as much as possible. Trying to help others, learn more about the world they are in, and about the people who are here.

4. What are two major forces in your character’s personality that are often in conflict? (Ex: logic vs emotion, power vs guilt, obedience vs rage, etc.)
To use an example that was given, I would say that Maria’s tendency to try for obedience and then fighting back showing her disobedience. Maria is meant to be the manifestation of James’s desires and only James’s desires. She starts out comforting and sympathetic to him, flirting with him and focusing solely on him. Maria does her best to fit into what she knows he desires but you see as the game drags on, she is not happy about this at times. Mainly because deep down she knows this isn’t going to work and this is pointless. Up until the hospital and he mistakes her for Mary, Maria is kind and soft with him. Always trying to flirt or do what she can to appeal to him.

But when he makes it known that he doesn’t care about her, it’s like a switch. Her actions become quickly exasperated with him such as when he doesn’t understand her joke or when she subtly mocks him for needing her help. Gone is the Maria trying to be what she thinks James wants from her. When he finally rejects her completely, James himself is shocked when she glares and coldly tells him no. For so long, Maria wants to be what he wants but her last action in the game is not going away like he wants her to.

VESSEL SELECTION
Which Vessel Type are you choosing: Token or Offering?
Offering


Why does this Vessel type feel appropriate for your character? It’s on the nose because Maria does turn into a monster and one could argue that monster could truly be her truest form. During Born from a Wish, Maria is searching for understanding of herself and that’s never an answer given to her. Even fandom will argue if that monster is what Maria truly is rather than the woman we see. I think Maria having to face being a monster, a beast, is part of what she is would be important to play out. Identity is not something Maria has a good idea of and this would be a good chance to play with.
Choose one OR list three subclass options within your chosen Vessel type that you think would suit them: Wraith


items
WHEN YOU AWAKEN: A hooked rod that also works as a torch can be found beside you. When lit (only needing a little flick), it casts a soft red glow and makes everything feel closer than it is. The hook on its opposite end can catch and pull, dragging threats into striking range (or keep them away with enough effort).