Alessa from Silent Hill possible inspiration for Ariane?

[Saturn]

Not so hot take, since Signalis is partially an homage to Silent Hill, maybe Ariane has parallels with Alessa Gillespie from the franchise. Both Ariane and Alessa were mercilssly bullied as children. Both were reduced to a life of essentially bed-ridden misery and in great pain (Alessa from severe burns, Ariane with ARS. From the Silent Hill wiki: "Alessa had suffered burns over her entire body that were far beyond fatal level, but she continued to live--that is because she was kept alive.'' Her soul was also split into two, one half became Cheryl (later reincarnated as Heather). Alessa also had vast psychic powers that afforded her the ability to astral project, use telekinesis, and it also allows her to act as a catalyst for the Otherworld's state (Given this is due to the fact the land holds an ancient mystical power tied to ancient gods).

I initially got the vibe that maybe Alessa/Cheryl is like Falke/Ariane (the two halves made whole after the reunion of Alessa and Cheryl)...however, it also may be like a Mary/James situation. Because Mary also had an agonizing terminal illness, lashed out at James in anger, and expressed a profound wish to be euthanized to end her suffering. He eventually smothers her and represses the memory. When he encounters her in the last boss in the Maria (Maria was an idealized form of Mary born from Jame's subconscious) ending, she shouts "Do you think I could ever forgive you for what you did?" And turns into a monster attacking James. So maybe Falke partly is an amalgamation of Ariane's suffering, fear, and anger...maybe with Elster's memories projected onto her? "This God won't forgive you."

Another parallel with the Silent Hill series is SH2 Rebirth ending where he takes his wife's corpse and uses relics collected throughout the game to resurrect her with the help of the old gods of Silent Hill (Samael, Lobsel Vith the Yellow God, Xuchilbara, etc.) "The Crimson Ceremony''

Was just thinking about it at work, not definitive, Signalis is too multilayered for that, but just fun to think about. :D

[mdesaleah]

Theres more. The intro with crawling through the hole in first person is a clear SH4 reference.

The game then starts again with Elster looking at a mirror.

The whole game is full of SH1-4 references, a bit of Ghost in the Shell, some Evangelion.

[Saturn]

I totally missed the SH4 reference with the going through the hole in Henry's apartment, good catch! I was hoping if Ariane was related to Alessa, it might explain the potential connection to Falke or Alina Seo. Then again, theorizing is half the fun.

[mdesaleah]

Originally posted by saturngirl180:

I totally missed the SH4 reference with the going through the hole in Henry's apartment, good catch! I was hoping if Ariane was related to Alessa, it might explain the potential connection to Falke or Alina Seo. Then again, theorizing is half the fun. :k8happy:

You also go to Nowhere. Which is the final location of SH1, where you also dont have a map.

Lisa too is a very clear comparison.

The series arent directly connected, but you do get more out of Signalis if you know what they are inspired from.

[Saturn]

I completely neglected the correlation with Lisa as well! I vaguely remember the Nowhere location, it’s been too long since I have played SH1. Perhaps a replay is in order!

[Wind_Falcon]

Yeah, that's a pretty on the nose inspiration, as well as the whole original Silent Hill in many other narrative and structural aspects as well.

[Saturn]

That seems to be one of the several mutli-layer interpretations. I feel like our fandom is the Always Sunny in Philadelphia meme of Charlie with the conspiracy board