Short answers, pulled from the story.
James Sunderland is a twenty-nine-year-old former store clerk who travels to the town of Silent Hill, Maine. He wears an army jacket over a gray polo shirt and blue jeans while searching for his deceased wife Mary Shepherd-Sunderland.
James killed his own wife by pressing a pillow over her face until she stopped breathing. This act occurred inside a hospital bed within the town before he walked out without looking back at the body.
Konami began development on Silent Hill 2 in the early 1990s under Team Silent. The original game featuring Guy Cihi as the voice actor was released in 2001 with a remake following later.
James goes to Silent Hill because he received a letter from his deceased wife Mary telling him to come to their special place. He follows the instructions on the page despite not knowing why he came there initially.
Guy Cihi performed both voice acting and motion capture for the original 2001 release. Troy Baker recorded new dialogue for the 2012 collection, Luke Roberts took over the role again for the 2024 remake, and Jeremy Irvine portrayed James in the film Return to Silent Hill scheduled for release in 2026.