Valtiel

Valtiel is a monster in Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill: Revelation, as well as a governing "angel" in the Order of Silent Hill, despite his demonic appearance in Silent Hill 3.

His name means "attendant" by way of the French word "valet"; his existence as an angel is derived from suffixing "-el". Thus, he is "Attendant of God", a title attributed to theological angels.

Valtiel has appeared in different forms prior to Silent Hill 3. The ceremonial robes worn by the figures in the Otherworld elementary school that appeared in Silent Hill were a homage to Valtiel, while Pyramid Head himself was a being or form connected to Valtiel's existence. Pyramid Head is connected to Valtiel as both of them are described as taking different forms depending on the viewer. A further connection is that Pyramid Head is stated to be the shape of Valtiel's reason for existence. The Butcher also resembles Valtiel, though possessing a much more violent and bloodthirsty nature; it is unknown whether the two are related beyond superficial similarities.

Appearance
Valtiel is humanoid in appearance, but his head vibrates and twitches rapidly, obscuring his facial features; although there are not many features to behold, as his face is blank and leathery, with a series of crude stitches where his mouth should be. His head has a lip-like object on its back, like Glutton or Closer has, and an ear on the left side of the head. He is garbed in ceremonial robes resembling a butcher's apron and wears gloves. His hands and parts of his body are smudged in what appears to be blood.

Valtiel has the Seal of Metatron on both of his shoulders. Metatron and Valtiel are both considered the "Agents of God", and this mark could suggest that Valtiel is in Metatron's servitude or that he himself is actually Metatron.

Character


Because of his passive role in the game and his designation as a servant, it is thought that Valtiel is the subordinate of another dominant supernatural presence in Silent Hill. In the long standing tradition of Silent Hill, Valtiel is a saintly being corresponding to an angel, possibly Metatron.

In the religious tradition of Silent Hill, Valtiel was one of the beings said to be created by God in order to lead people to obey Her. A special sect was made in the honor of Valtiel, founded by Jimmy Stone, called the Valtiel Sect. In it, this angel is venerated as a way to become closer to God. Likewise, Pyramid Head wears similar ceremonial robes and gloves and appears to have cloth stitching, all in homage to this being. Valtiel was worshiped as the one close to God and also as an executioner.



When a shift in the Otherworld occurs, Valtiel appears before Heather Mason, the protagonist of Silent Hill 3. In many instances, Valtiel is seen turning a valve; this is both a symbolic gesture of the cycle of rebirth, which he governs, and an implication that Valtiel has some control over the shifting to the Otherworld that takes place throughout the series. Valtiel seemingly has little to no concern for Heather, but rather for the god that sleeps within her. Should Heather die, there is a random chance of Valtiel dragging her corpse back to a nearby Halo of the Sun, intending to resurrect the "Mother of God". Thus, Valtiel should not necessarily be thought of as Heather's "caretaker" or "guardian" because he is merely sending Heather on another way to her death, as God's birth ensures the death of the host mother.

Silent Hill 3


Heather first encounters Valtiel when going down an elevator in the shopping mall, where he appears to be hanging/grabbing another monster who is theorized to be the Fukuro Lady or Brookhaven Nurse. There, Heather sees Valtiel behind a fan.

Her next major encounter with Valtiel is in Brookhaven Hospital, when she is climbing up a ladder. Valtiel is seen turning a valve in the background. Below Valtiel is a mattress with syringes and worm like creature. The mattress has a blurred image of "Mortal Coil" on it. In the hallway immediately after, if the player looks at the scaffolding quickly enough, Valtiel can be seen dragging a Nurse away from a ledge. If Heather returns to the room wher she climbed up, no valve scratch can be heard and the ladder disappears.

Heather also encounters Valtiel twice on the second floor of the Hospital. First time Valtiel can be seen behind smoked glass in the hall. Then Heather sees Valtiel in the Woman's locker room, and this is the only time when Heather somehow reacts to Valtiel and comments its presence:"Something strange is cooped up in the locker. I think I'm safe, but I shouldn't get too close. Actually, the more I look at it, the more pitiful it seems. Like a child locked up in there with no chance of escape...". She doesn't recognize it and is afraid of at first, but then her emotions change. The front side of the locker's door has small image of "Mortal Coil" on it.



Valtiel can be seen several times in the chapel, hanging nurses and crawling around in vents. He last appears in the final battle, watching over God; he first yanks Claudia Wolf into the mysterious hole in the floor, then can be seen in the cutscene tending to the newborn god, covering Her head in a red veil.

Valtiel may have a similar role to that of Pyramid Head; however, while the latter takes the role of an executioner, hurting and abusing monsters or stalking James Sunderland, the former's following of Heather is largely passive. If Heather dies, Valtiel even removes her corpse to a presumably safer location to resurrect the god inside her. However, this courtesy does not seem to extend beyond her, as Valtiel is often seen violently abusing nurses and other female monsters while twisting the valve, and he appears to torture them.

Silent Hill 4: The Room
During Walter Sullivan's forced traumatic conditioning at Wish House Orphanage, Jimmy Stone's right-hand man George Rosten attempted to insert Valtiel's influence into Walter's subconscious. This would presumably allow Valtiel to clandestinely guide Walter's actions, permitting the ritual of the 21 Sacraments to take place. By putting this demonic entity in Walter's subconscious, it would also likely give Walter some supernatural powers. Walter was also given the nickname "The Red Devil".

The attempt was successful, but unknown to George Rosten, he had authored his own doom, as he became Walter's 6th victim in his spree of ritual killings.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories


Valtiel appears in the tutorial of the game, commanding the protagonist to find Howard Blackwood's shop. He also appears at the start of each zone, offering the player an optional mission. If the player succeeds in completing the mission, Valtiel will reappear at the end of the zone and reward the player with a rare weapon or artifact.

Silent Hill: Revelation


A large sculpture of Valtiel is seen in Silent Hill: Revelation in the Order's sanctuary, which Christopher Da Silva is tied to. The Order's name is also extended to "The Order of Valtiel". Other than this, Valtiel has no active role; however, he is possibly alluded to multiple times in the film, most noticeably when Heather Mason comes across a homeless man; his face briefly morphs to a disfigured appearance that bears a strong resemblance to Valtiel's. There is another instance when Heather tries to speak to a man for help after seeing a delusion of a birthday party, and when he turns to Heather, she sees his face as a sewn mass similar to Valtiel's own.

Cancelled Silent Hill (2013)
In 2013, Masahiro Ito was involved in a Silent Hill title. Displeased with Pyramid Head's usage in the later games, he felt that it would be too difficult to greenlight a new game without the character's inclusion. He thought that if it were to appear again, he would need an "impressive new direction." Brand new incarnations of both Pyramid Head and Valtiel were created, different from what was previously seen in Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. An opening scene in the Otherworld involving a baby carriage was envisioned, in which Valtiel would slaughter Pyramid Head.

The game was eventually cancelled, but as late as 2017, Ito has stated that if he ever makes a new game, he would carry out his plan to kill Pyramid Head or just not use him.

Symbolism


Unlike most monsters in the series, Valtiel doesn't appear to be a manifestation of any person's emotions or subconscious. It is possible he is a unique being that exists in the Otherworld whose existence is independent of humans, directly serving God.

As God's attendant, Valtiel observes Heather in order to ensure the birth of God. His garb consisting of a mask, smock, and gloves is reminiscent of surgical wear, symbolizing his role as a midwife, where he helps to deliver the reborn god. This is a rather emergent theme in Silent Hill 3, which focuses around maternity as seen in Heather being a "mother" of God.

Although he makes no appearance outside of Silent Hill 3, the presence of the Otherworld in the rest of the series suggests Valtiel is there, watching over the safety of the "Holy Mother".

Valtiel could be identified with either Lobsel Vith or Xuchilbara, the Yellow Angel and Red Angel respectively, mentioned in "Myth 4: Creation". Both having been created to assist God in keeping humanity obedient to Her, both are tasked with a rather important duty. Given Valtiel's distinction as being the closest to God, he could be synonymous with either one. In the same myth, there is a being similar to Valtiel, if not Valtiel himself, in the bottom left of the painting. This, coupled with the fact that Valtiel and Pyramid Head have yellow and red colored heads respectively, could be further proof of a connection to the Yellow and Red gods. However, Masahiro Ito verified that Pyramid Head and Xuchilbara have no connections.

Creator's comment
"In Silent Hill 3 the connection to the first game is quite clear, but the point of contact with the second game isn't so obvious. I created Valtiel because I wanted to relate the works of the series through a creature. In the religion of Silent Hill, Valtiel exists as one who is close to the God, and Pyramid Head takes shape of Valtiel's reason for existence. That is to say, the Pyramid Head character was born from the townspeoples' idolatrous ideologies. In the first game, the ceremonial robes were in homage to Valtiel.
 * —Masahiro Ito"

Trivia

 * Although Valtiel was created by Masahiro Ito, scenario writer Hiroyuki Owaku came up with the name. Owaku has stated that he did not fully understand Valtiel's significance until information for Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle was compiled, to which Ito joked that he would have to start explaining it more.
 * Masahiro Ito believes that Valtiel might have brought Heather back to the "normal world" after she defeated the God boss.
 * In Silent Hill: Cage of Cradle, written by Hiroyuki Owaku, it is ultimately revealed that Valtiel was responsible for killing Lisa Garland after she was driven insane by drug abuse.
 * In Silent Hill: Origins, a pamphlet inside the Artaud Theater references the Sect of Valtiel.
 * Valtiel is referred to in the Book of Lost Memories as "The Magician", the first of the Major Arcanas in a tarot deck, which signifies creation, wisdom, beginnings, or destruction and fraud according to a memo in Silent Hill 3, probably alluding to his peculiar ability to shift the state of the world to another and his power to revive the dead. The opposite meaning of destruction and fraud could be how individuals outside of the Order could see Valtiel, so devout in protecting a god believed to be so insidious in nature.
 * According to Masahiro Ito, Valtiel is the monster in the locker as seen in Silent Hill 3.


 * A figure in the Hilltop Center can be seen wearing clothing similar to Valtiel, and by extension, Pyramid Head. It appears to be caring for a baby by clinging onto it and preventing it from falling, a possible metaphor for Valtiel looking after the "baby" (or perhaps, more accurately, demonic god fetus) in Heather's womb.
 * In Silent Hill: Revelation, Roger Avary had an original concept of Red Pyramid actually being Valtiel underneath the helmet.
 * Valtiel's head in Silent Hill 3 was inspired by leather BDSM masks.