Robert Tower

"Christ. I need a smoke.
 * —Tower, after listening to Mayberry's view of the world."

Robert Tower is the lead character of The Grinning Man. A retiring state police officer, Tower was to spend his last day on the force giving his replacement the rundown of his beat. However, when a strange accident happens outside of the town of Silent Hill, Tower and his replacement, Mayberry, head into Silent Hill to stop a murdering madman and rescue the civilians left to the madness of Silent Hill.

Background
Before starting a twenty-five year career with a state police department, Robert Tower was a married father of one and working for the NYPD, having been field decorated twice. A man who doesn't allow things to to get inside unless he lets them, it was this attitude that may have cost Tower his marriage. Taking his job to heart, Robert doesn't take the events and disappearances in the town of Silent Hill lightly. It's his view that those who have lost loved ones in town don't need people to feel sorry for them, but someone to take action for them, and those lost in that town need to be respected and remembered.

Contrary to rumors surrounding the strange events in the abandoned town, Tower has seen no oddities, and believes all the happenings are probably the result of any of the drug dealers or murderers that may squat in Silent Hill.

The Grinning Man
As a distraught mother, whose son had gone missing in the town of Silent Hill, left the State Police precinct, Tower was ushered into a meeting with his replacement. In preparation for his retirement, Tower was given the chance to name his replacement, but was told his choice had been denied. Instead, a former FBI agent and conspiracy theorist known only as Mayberry had been chosen by the state police commissioner for the position. Respected and well educated, those higher up the chain of command felt Mayberry would be able to bring closure to many of the open cases involving Silent Hill.



The men are unable to introduce themselves before they are carted off to respond to an emergency call; a car wreck near Silent Hill. Arriving on the scene, Tower is ready to label the scene as that of a murder, when Mayberry interjects. Noting key pieces of evidence nearby, Tower's replacement deduces that what they have is most likely an abduction, as a pair of nearby tire treads head off into Silent Hill. Impressed with his replacement's deductive reasoning, Tower informs Mayberry that his 'song and dance' wasn't nearly enough to convince the older man that Mayberry had what it took to do this kind of job.

Still, following Mayberry's suggestion, Tower declared that any answers to be had could be found in Silent Hill.

Tower had intended this trip into Silent Hill to be nothing more than an opportunity to give Mayberry a chance to rethink accepting Tower's position on the force. Mayberry tried to use the opportunity to engage Tower in conversation regarding his world views and conspiracy theories, but Tower only grew aggravated. Coming upon the Lakeview Hotel and a strange light being emitted from the building, Tower instructed Mayberry to call the occurrence in. Getting nothing but static on the radio and with the car refusing to start, the two have no choice but journey in without backup.

Searching the hotel corridors, Mayberry inquires about Tower's beliefs of Silent Hill, and if he actually believes something may be there. Tower replies that he does indeed; He believes drug dealers, crazies who'd skin dogs alive, burn victims, and freaks who get off on cutting people off may be. Mayberry asks if Tower had truly seen people like that, but Tower gives his replacement the brush-off. Pressing the issue, Mayberry confides in Tower that he may have seen something inhuman flying over the town. This statement pushes Tower past his breaking point and he begins to get physical with Mayberry, until three identical, white-haired men appear before the scuffling officers.



Tower demands they submit themselves to arrest, but they pay his request no heed. One of the men suggests consuming the two men, while another makes note of their weapons, claiming them to be armed "like their enemy", though they haven't yet been branded by him. The leader of the trio recognizes Tower, and instructs the men be left alone. The trio then vanishes in a flash of light.

As the light fades, screams can be heard from the top of the stairwell where the three strangers had been standing. Rushing to the source, Tower and Mayberry find a pair of women seated on a bed, glowing marks on their foreheads and a circle of similar marks surrounding them. The women claim they can't leave the circle, or the marks upon their foreheads begin to burn. Mayberry seems familiar with the markings and suggests he may be able to offer a counter-incantation. Tower, however, fires his pistol at the markings that rest on the wall, weakening the enchantment on the women.

Leaving the hotel with the rescued women in tow, Mayberry asks Tower how he's managing to hold himself together, but Tower ignores him. The police cruiser the pair had arrived in has been smashed, leaving the four of them no choice but to walk. The women begin to panic, thinking they'll never escape Silent Hill or the grinning man who brought them here. Tower asks for a description of the man, but the women remain silent. Mayberry suggests it may be the brand that's keeping them from speaking. Before anything can be elaborated on, two men, appearing to have long since died, arrive. Claiming to have once lived in the town, they say it killed them ten years prior. With the arrival of the Grinning Man, things have begun to change and the Grinning Man is attempting to take control of Silent Hill and make it his own.



They then ask Tower to release them from the Grinning Man's service, and the officer promptly shoots them both in the head. Tower accepts the ghouls' story as fact, and would be more than happy to allow the Grinning Man to continue. Innocent people, however, have become involved and Tower can't sit by and allow that to happen. Going from building to building in hopes of locating other prisoners of the Grinning Man, the group is instead brought face-to-face with the madman responsible for their predicament.

The Grinning Man complements Tower on his skills with a gun before asking the lawman to return what he considers his. Unfazed, the officer asks the madman what his deal is, with "hunting" as his only response. Tower, in turn, shoots the Grinning Man but is forced to run for cover as the madman is unharmed.

Putting distance between their group and the grinning madman, Tower orders Mayberry to take the two women in their company and flee. Mayberry begins to protest, but Tower reminds him of the people missing from the accident they were called to earlier. Tower has no intention of leaving them behind. Mayberry concedes and takes his leave as Tower resumes his search of Silent Hill.

Discovering a group of reanimated townsfolk, branded by the Grinning Man, Tower offers his assistance, but is told it's too late for them. A young man steps forward, however, and offers his assistance to Tower, instead. The young man leads Tower to an unnamed hospital, saying the remaining victims are kept here. Finding and releasing the Grinning Man's other prisoners, Tower is informed by the undead youth of the purpose of the Grinning Man's brand; It agitates the creatures of Silent Hill and draws them to those who bear the brand. The brand also draws strength from those who wear it, killing them slowly. While the brand kills them, it also protects against the effects of the town and its creatures. It won't, however, protect its wearers against any action Tower may take.

As the group exits the hospital, a large group of monsters lie in wait. As a final piece of advice, the undead kid tells Tower that monsters don't really want to hurt him, but the spells at work make them voracious and since those bearing the brand can't be harmed, Tower is their target. In thanks for his help, Tower shoots the kid and releases him from the Grinning Man's influence.

Before Tower can react to the monsters' presence, the Grinning Man begins to pick them off, revealing himself behind the line of creatures, with Mayberry as a hostage. Grinning, the madman points out that each man has something that belongs to the other, and expresses regret at not meeting Tower under other circumstances. However, the officer has done too much damage, and must be stopped. Tower doesn't respond, he just shoots the Grinning Man, causing him considerable harm.



By rescuing his prisoners, Tower was able to weaken the enchantments the Grinning Man had woven on himself, and was vulnerable. As he stares down the Grinning Man, Tower rhetorically asks if the madman had ever woken one morning and felt that something wasn't right. As he begins to fire again, Tower contemplates the possible reasons he had been blind to the oddities of Silent Hill.

As the Grinning Man dies, his victims are completely free of his influence, yet the monsters of Silent Hill still approach the group. Tower levels his gun at the creatures, and advises they draw.

Dead/Alive
Appearing only in a flashback of Christabella's, Tower is seen filling out paperwork at his desk as Christabella looks on, commenting that she had thought she killed the "sheriff".