Nowhere, also known in Japanese materials as Unknown, is the final location in the first Silent Hill game and its adaptations. It is a maze-like amalgamation of different areas of Alessa Gillespie's nightmares, including areas previously visited in the Otherworld.[1][2][3][4]
Harry Mason wakes up here after he uses the Flauros on Alessa at Lakeside Amusement Park, and he meets up once again with Lisa Garland. He must proceed through many puzzles and witness many astral projections. Finally, he meets with Dahlia Gillespie, who is ready to finish the ritual needed to resurrect God. This is also the stage where the final boss fight against the Incubator or Incubus takes place.
Design[]
Nowhere appears as a unique part of the Otherworld, condensing various locations of the game into one smaller environment, and is linked to a few of the main hallways resembling those of Alchemilla Hospital. There is no map for the entire area. Despite what the elevator buttons say, there are only three floors here. The first floor (which Harry enters through the elevator), the basement, and the third floor. When Harry presses the elevator's second floor button, it will transport him to another area on the same floor. The elevator where Harry begins the level does not work, and the elevator at the end of the jewelry store's hallway cannot be used either, but he will be transported there if he uses the "Hagith" elevator and tries to get to the second floor.
Basement floor[]
- Classroom (教室): A classroom with a desk, modeled after Midwich Elementary School.
- Basement sickroom (地下病室): A room containing a screwdriver and pliers.
First floor[]
- Birdcage Room (鳥かごの部屋): This room is located next to the "Phaleg" door and contains a bird cage with the key of "Phaleg" in it. To open the bird cage, Harry must complete the Light Puzzle.
- First floor hallway 1 (1F廊下1): The first main hallway on the first floor.
- Faucet room (蛇口の部屋): This is located across from the "Phaleg" door. Inside, Harry finds some Puppet Nurses and the key of "Ophiel" stuck in the drain. He needs the pliers to remove the key.
- Clock room (時計の部屋): This is modeled off of Green Lion Antiques and contains a save notepad and a clock. Harry needs the Stone of Time to get the key of "Hagith".
- Stairwell (階段室): This leads Harry to the basement.
- 1F elevator hall (1Fエレベーターホール): This is unlocked with the Key of "Hagith" and leads to an elevator.
- Elevator (エレベーター): Pressing the second floor button brings Harry to the hallway with the jewelry shop. The third floor button brings him to the third floor, where he can find the Light Puzzle.
- First floor hallway 2 (1F廊下2): Hallway unlocked with the key of "Ophiel".
- Constellation room (星座の部屋): Room containing the Zodiac Puzzle which grants the Stone of Time.
- 1F stock room (1F貯蔵庫): The room Harry encounters Lisa in after completing the Grim Reaper's List. Her diary is found here.
- Morgue (死体安置所): A morgue connected to the storeroom where the Amulet of Solomon is found.
- First floor hallway 3 (1F廊下3): Hallway unlocked with the key of "Phaleg".
- Girl's bedroom (少女の部屋): This is Alessa's bedroom. Harry must place the Disk of Ouroboros, Crest of Mercury, Amulet of Solomon, Ankh, and the Dagger of Melchior into the holes in the door to access the end of the game.
- Graffitied room (落書きの部屋): This room has an apparition of Alessa, and the walls are covered in writing. Harry finds the ankh here.
- Power room (動力室): Harry unlocks this room with the key of "Bethor". It contains a generator, much like the generator room in the hospital's basement. Turning the generator off allows Harry to obtain the key of "Aratron" with the screwdriver.
- Alessa's sickroom (アレッサの病室): This leads to a room where Harry sees a flashback of Dahlia, Michael Kaufmann, Alessa, and two doctors. It is modeled after Alessa's hospital room in the basement and is unlocked with the key of "Aratron". Harry finds the Disk of Ouroboros here.
- 1F storage room (1F物置): This is also modeled after the hospital storage room. On the shelf, Harry finds a package of jelly beans, in which he finds the key of "Bethor".
- 1F sickroom (1F病室): A room with a bed, TV, and VCR. Harry can watch the video tape here.
- Kitchen (調理室): This is modeled after the hospital kitchen, but here Harry must use the Ring of Contract on the refrigerator to obtain the Dagger of Melchior. Otherwise, a Bloodsucker will break out and drag him to his death.
Second floor[]
- 2F sickroom (2F病室): This room contains the key of "Aratron".
- Second floor hallway 1 (2F廊下1): This hallway can be accessed from the second floor hallway 2 and unlocked from the inside.
- Dispensary (医局): Contains the camera, needed for the Light Puzzle on the third floor.
- 2F elevator hall (2Fエレベーターホール): This hall leads to the elevator.
- Second floor hallway 2 (2F廊下2): The large double doors in the hall lead to another hallway. Harry can unlock this door from the inside.
- Jewelry store (宝石屋): Inside, Harry finds the Ring of Contract and the Crest of Mercury. This is modeled after Kazanian Jewelry, a store in the Silent Hill Town Center, which was modeled after Kazanian Antiques from the 1980 film Inferno.
Third floor[]
- Altar (祭壇): Contains an altar, much like the one in the hidden room of Green Lion Antiques, where Harry sees a kneeling apparition of Alessa and two paintings. He must use the camera to complete the Light Puzzle to get the combinations for the two doors.
- 3F sickroom (3F病室): Contains the bird cage key.
- Director's office (院長室): Contains health items, as well as the White Claudia article and the fire article (PAL and Japanese versions only).[citation needed]
Other iterations[]
Any similar levels in games developed after the franchise's initial installment could arguably be classified as a Nowhere. Such levels share the same fundamental characteristics as Alessa's Nowhere, including:
- A raw amalgamation of the memories of the person whose subconscious mind is manifested;
- Greater explicitness of manifestations' meanings;
- A greater disregard for normal physical constraints and spatial reasoning.
Silent Hill 2[]
The entire sequence starting within the basement of the Silent Hill Historical Society and ending with the Lakeview Hotel could be considered James Sunderland's Nowhere. It is apparent from the spiral-writing key found in Toluca Prison that James interprets this world as an effective "purgatory". Additionally, Angela Orosco and Eddie Dombrowski seem to experience Nowheres of their own during this portion of the game, with their Nowheres intersecting with James's.
James's Nowhere initially leads him down a gradual descent, from the first jump into the well under the Historical Society; to the improbably long, dark stairway filled with the sound of foghorns; to the many square holes in Toluca Prison through which James takes leaps of faith; to the stairs leading from the furnished hallways of the labyrinth to the meat locker. Some time after James climbs the stairway down to the meat locker — in his last definitive act of descent in the game — James finds himself doubting that his wife Mary had died three years ago. James exits the meat locker thereafter, only to appear at water level: on a dock in the middle of Toluca Lake. In contrast, after James watches the videotape in the Lakeview Hotel and accepts his previously repressed memories, he gradually ascends to the hotel's rooftop.
Silent Hill 3[]
Leading from the main chapel to the inner chapel are a series of rooms and tunnels formed largely from distinct memories of Alessa Gillespie and Heather Mason. Moreover, some rooms — namely K. Gordon's classroom in Midwich Elementary School, Alessa's sick room in Alchemilla Hospital, and Alessa's bedroom — are identical to rooms in the Nowhere of the first Silent Hill game.
Silent Hill 4: The Room[]
The revisiting of Walter's Otherworlds is a Nowhere of sorts, manifesting the memories of Walter Sullivan vaguely within the walls of South Ashfield Heights. Among the memories manifested are Room 302 of the Past, Walter's childhood drawings, and representations of Walter's parents when they abandoned him in their apartment on the day of his birth.
Trivia[]
- The name of the area used in the official English localization is "Nowhere". While this could be considered an accurate translation, the name "Unknown" (in English) is featured more prominently in official guidebooks and documents, which are closer to the source. This wiki, however, must use official English terminology unless it is proven to be an error, and it is unclear if Nowhere is a poor translation or a localized artistic choice.
- The names "Phaleg", "Ophiel", "Hagith", "Bethor", and "Aratron" refer to five of the seven Olympian spirits, which are often referenced in the occult.
- Three photos that appear in Alessa's room and in the examination room of the Otherworld hospital are the same.
References[]
- ↑ Play Novel: Silent Hill Official Guidebook, pg. 13.
- ↑ Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle, pg. 22-23.
- ↑ Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle, pg. 114-115.