Alessa Gillespie
From SilentHill
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Movie Version
Alessa Gillespie is the daughter of Dahlia Gillespie and niece to Christabella, both of whom are members of a fanatical religious cult based out of the town of Silent Hill. Her child version as well as her two doubles are portrayed by Canadian actress Jodelle Ferland and her adult form is portrayed by Lorry Ayers.
Reincarnations/ Doppelgangers
Sharon Da Silva
The adopted daughter of Chris and Rose Da Silva, Sharon suffers constant and violent nightmares that lead her to cry out the words 'Silent Hill!' in her sleep. When Rose takes Sharon to Silent Hill, a car wreck occurs and Sharon disappears into the town. It is later revealed that Sharon is the manifestation of the remaining goodness in Alessa's soul and she eventually becomes the body into which a fully recombined Alessa is reborn.
Dark Alessa
Dark Alessa is a supernatural manifestation of the dark side of Alessa's soul. After Alessa's final revenge, Dark Alessa and Sharon Da Silva recombine, creating a complete rebirth of Alessa.
Alessa in the Silent Hill Movie
Alessa Gillespie was born sometime during the sixties to an out-of-wedlock relationship and is ostracized by the townspeople for being "sin incarnate". Alessa is teased by her classmates and hated by the people of the town.
When Alessa is nine years old, she runs to hide from her classmates and is sexually molested and possibly raped by the school janitor, Colin. Alessa is left alone in the bathroom stall until her mother arrives at the school to take her home.
Christabella decides that the only way to remove this "filth" is to burn Alessa as a witch in a ritual that was meant to "restore innocence and purity". Alessa is taken into a secret church hidden within the hotel, where she is shackled onto a large seal bearing the symbol of the cult's faith and is laid over a pit of burning coals. Sometime during the burning, one of the chains holding the seal over the pit breaks and Alessa is swung free, setting the church and then the coal mines beneath the town on fire.
Alessa is found still shackled to the seal sometime later by her mother and police. Officer Thomas Gucci removes Alessa from her shackles and personally carries her to the ambulance. Alessa is then taken to Brookhaven Hospital, where she lies in pain. As Alessa's pain builds, all of her negative emotions begin to build into a fury of hate, leading the child to wilt the flowers next to her bed and painfully burn the nurse who was caught peeking into her hospital tent. Alessa's dark emotions then become strong enough to split from her physical body and create a doppelgänger of herself; Dark Alessa. Jodelle Ferland states "Dark Alessa is sort of the bad part of Alessa, so that's why she's so scary and strange." Alessa gives in to the dark side of her own soul and the dark world is born out of her hate. It is thought that the foggy world is also created at this time. Alessa lays within the dark world version of the hospital for 21 years before deciding to split her soul again sometime in the mid-nineties. Sharon Da Silva is created out of the remaining goodness of Alessa's soul and is carried to the Toluca County Orphanage by Dark Alessa; where she is later adopted by Rose Da Silva and her husband, Christopher Da Silva.
Nine years later, in 2003, Sharon is called back to the town by Dark Alessa, bringing her doting mother along with her. Dark Alessa quickly acts to lead Rose through the town, leaving clues as to Alessa's dark fate along the way. Once Rose is shown Alessa's story, she finds herself in Alessa's hospital room and sees the now-thirty-nine-year-old version of Alessa lying in her hospital bed. Dark Alessa brokers a deal with Rose to allow she and Alessa to enter the church and uses Rose's body as a physical conduit through which she can open a portal.
Once Rose's blood drips onto the church floor and the portal is opened, Alessa rises into the church. Large amounts of telepathically controlled barbed wire snake out from behind her bed and attack the cultists, killing them in grisly fashion. Minutes later, Dark Alessa also climbs into the church, and goes up a ladder to find Sharon and her mother hiding in the corner. When the two sides of Alessa's soul (the good, Sharon, and the bad, Dark Alessa) lock eyes, the soul is recombined and Alessa is reborn in full into Sharon's body.
As Rose and Alessa leave the church, Dahlia stares strangely at Alessa. Alessa then telepathically starts Rose's car for her and allows Rose to go to a version of her home that exists in the foggy world. It is implied that Alessa is happy in this alternate world and wants to stay there, at least for the time being.
External Links
- Ms. Ferland Audio Clips Jodelle Ferland Audio
- Christophe Gans Silent Hill blog On Adapting Silent Hill
Game
Alessa appears in the first game (voiced by Sandra Wayne), and Origins (voiced by Jennifer Woodward). A form of her also appears in Silent Hill 3, in the Lakeside Amusement Park.
Alessa is the daughter of Dahlia Gillespie (father unknown), and possessed incredible psychic powers, leaving her an outcast at Midwich Elementary School and branded a witch. At the age of seven, Dahlia offers Alessa as a sacrifice in a ritual to birth the god of the Cult, but the ritual fails as Alessa's soul is split and reborn as a baby (Cheryl Mason). In order to call back the missing part of Alessa's soul Dahlia keeps Alessa in torment, confined to the basement of Alchemilla Hospital where she is nursed by Lisa Garland. At the end of the game, both halves of her soul are combined to complete God's birth. Depending on the players actions during the game, Alessa emerges either as a white-clad figure (Incubator) or a demonic "Incubus". In ending the birthed deity kills Dahlia and fights Harry as the final boss.
Appearances In Silent Hill 3
Alessa, who lies dormant inside of Heather, makes appearances in SH3 as memories are revived.
On the Merry-Go-Round in Lakeside Amusement Park, the "Memory of Alessa (Alessa's Obsession)" appears.
In the Church near the final stage of the game, a young girls sobs can be heard and bloody footsteps materialize showing the way for Heather.
