Heather Mason

• 1. The Reincarnated Child

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  In the small American town of Silent Hill, a seven-year-old girl named Alessa Gillespie suffered severe burns during a ritual intended to birth a god. Her mother Dahlia and a cult known as The Order had forced her into this ceremony after years of abuse and bullying. A baby was found by Harry Mason and his wife Jodie, who named the child Cheryl. Alessa remained burned and hidden away in secret care provided by a nurse named Lisa Garland. Seven years later, Harry decided to take Cheryl on vacation to Silent Hill. An apparition sent by Alessa caused their jeep to crash, separating Harry from the girl. During the events of the original game, Alessa merged back with Cheryl's soul. When the process concluded, Alessa handed Harry an infant girl containing the reincarnation of both souls before dying. Harry initially hesitated but eventually raised the child, changing her name from Cheryl to Heather.

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• 2. A Mall And A Murdered Father

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  At seventeen, Heather met a private investigator named Douglas Cartland inside a shopping mall. She attempted to escape him only to encounter monsters from the Otherworld. Claudia Wolf, now a high-ranking member of The Order, approached Heather claiming they needed her. Heather spent the night trekking through a nightmare version of the mall, abandoned subway stations, sewers, and department buildings. Inside her home, she discovered her father murdered. On the rooftop, Claudia admitted to ordering Harry's death as revenge for actions taken in the previous game. Claudia wanted Heather to hate her enough to follow her back to Silent Hill. After killing the monster responsible for the murder, a remorseful Douglas offered to take Heather to the town to kill Claudia. They split up at the hospital where Heather encountered Leonard, Claudia's father who had transformed into a giant monster. She destroyed the creature and proceeded toward the church past the local amusement park.

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• 3. The Fetus Within Her Belly

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  Deep within the church, Heather walked into an argument between Claudia and Vincent Smith. Vincent was actually a priest for The Order who opposed the birth of God. He aided Heather until Claudia stabbed him to death. Heather then felt agonizing pain in her abdomen because God's fetus had been reborn within her during her reincarnation. Claudia had been nourishing the fetus with Heather's growing hatred. Before God could be born, Heather removed a red pellet from a necklace given by her father. This liquid known as Aglaophotis allowed her to vomit up the fetus of God. Claudia swallowed the fetus before dying but resurrected The Order's God anyway. Heather managed to kill God while thinking about her father. Three different endings exist for this story including one where she meets Douglas and decides to go by Cheryl again. Another ending sees her stab Douglas to death while a joke ending involves sending UFOs to destroy the town.

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• 4. From Sketches To Motion Capture

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  Development team members initially modeled Heather after French actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Vanessa Paradis in rough sketches. They portrayed her as an innocent type of character which the team found too nice. The next version drew inspiration from Sophie Marceau and Gainsbourg to give her attitude. Character designer Shingo Yuri imagined Heather wearing jeans but female team members convinced him otherwise. They believed she should show her legs to look more feminine. Her hair was originally natural but changed to curly hair to suit a young girl better. Designers gave her shorter hair because longer realistic hair would consume excessive PlayStation 2 processing power. That power was instead used to increase monster numbers. Her original design later appeared on Elle Holloway in Silent Hill: Homecoming. Voice actress Heather Morris provided motion capture for combat scenes using childhood taekwondo training. Creators originally named the character Helen until they realized it sounded old-fashioned during talks with Morris.

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• 5. A Badass With A Sharp Tongue

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  Bernard Perron wrote that Heather's temper and sharp tongue distinguished her from other female protagonists like those in Rule of Rose or Clock Tower 3. He described characters in those games as frail or innocent compared to Heather. Chris Hudak of Game Revolution preferred Heather over prior series protagonists Harry Mason and James Sunderland who felt bland to him. He praised her attitude, vulnerability, and snarky teenaged wit. James Hawkins placed her tenth on his 2010 list of top ten badass ladies in video game history. He stated she showed how whiny teenage girls can become incredible badasses. Briana Lawrence ranked her fifth on her list of thirteen Video Game Women That Kick Ass calling her a really cool lead character. Schuyler J. Dievendorf included her on his eight most badass videogame ladies list noting she had gone through hell yet kept going. CNET writers added that she may not have the toughness of others but is absolutely human and eminently relatable.

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• 6. Crossing Into Other Worlds

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  Heather appears as a downloadable content character in Silent Hill: Book of Memories alongside cameo appearances in endings for that title and Silent Hill: Downpour. She also makes an unrelated appearance in Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. Going by Cheryl, the character plays in Dead by Daylight alongside Pyramid Head, Lisa Garland, Cybil Bennett, Maria, and James Sunderland. Skins based on Alessa Gillespie and Robbie the Rabbit are available for her use. In the canon of Dead by Daylight, Heather works at a center for troubled youths while still haunted by events from Silent Hill 3. She is part of a DLC expansion pack for Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals , Silent Hill. Adelaide Clemens portrayed Heather in the film Silent Hill: Revelation where she worked with physically existing monsters on set. Clemens stated she had to get incredibly strong and fit to immerse herself fully in the role compared to voice actress Heather Morris who used imagination during motion capture sessions.

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