James Sunderland

James Sunderland is the main protagonist of Silent Hill 2 game.

As the game begins, James remarks that his wife, Mary Shepherd-Sunderland, has been dead for three years. Regardless, he has received a mysterious letter in Mary's handwriting, claiming that she is waiting for him in their "special place", somewhere in Silent Hill. When James arrives at the town, he becomes ensnared in a series of bizarre and nightmarish events which force him to question his sanity, morality, memory and personality.

Personality
James was originally envisioned with having two different sides to his personality.

Maria describes James as kind; Mary, in her letter to Laura, describes him as a little surly and says he does not talk much, but is sweet underneath his enigmatic exterior. James is typically courteous to other characters he meets in Silent Hill. He is polite and mild-tempered. For example, he tries to help Angela Orosco cope with her emotional distress and tries to touch her shoulder to comfort her but fails. When James first encounters Eddie Dombrowski, he becomes concerned for Eddie's welfare and advises him to leave the town. He also expresses concern for Laura, attempting to follow her through Silent Hill so she won't come to harm.

However, James's darker side is revealed in some of his actions. James lost some of his confidence and self-respect when Mary became ill. James is in deep grief and depression from his relationship with Mary and her death. He denies the murder of his wife, attributing her death to her disease. James may be perceived as cowardly, running away from his guilt and blame. Upon being confronted about the truth or something uncomfortable, James tends to avoid eye contact, looks down, turns away, or remains silent. James is rather bad at consoling people; he often falls short in regards to helping Eddie and Angela.

James is borderline suicidal, yet seems to deny his suicidal feelings. James originally came to Silent Hill to kill himself, and actually does so in the In Water ending. In the novelization, James says, "Actually, I guess I am dead, heart's as good as dead anyway." He wasn't filled with a sense of loss, he just felt like his life wasn't worth living anymore. He had become indifferent. Work and free time – none of it really mattered anymore.

James' mental state is stilted and it shows through several questionable things throughout the game, including leaving his car door open; leaving his flashlight on while hiding from Pyramid Head; sticking his hand inside a hole in a wall after being pricked by something inside; dipping his hands inside a filthy toilet to retrieve a wallet and neglecting to wash his hands afterward; and asking a visibly armed Eddie if he's "gone nuts". James also says, "Did that just move or was it only my imagination?" when checking a corpse. If the player walks up to Angela again in the cemetery, she will ask "Aren't you looking for someone?", and a forgetful James will reply "That's right" and walk off. He also does risky things, such as jumping down long, dark holes that appear to be bottomless.

His determination to uncover the truth about Mary's fate and his implied suicidal tendencies may explain his reckless and illogical behavior. James is in grief and mourning, and would naturally be somewhat traumatized by both Mary's and Maria's deaths. He tells Angela, "I guess I really don't care if [Silent Hill]'s dangerous." Later, when Angela questions why James is looking for his wife if she's dead, he responds, "Don't worry—I'm not crazy... at least... I don't think so..."

Abilities
James is an action survivor, he uses a gun to defend himself and is good in stealth.

Trivia

 * The save menu's background is of James's face, stained with red which could represent anger or blood from a murder. His face appears to be blurred by water or glass. It could also simply be James's reflection on the Save Point's glossy surface.


 * The color green may have symbolism. James's jacket and eye color is green. In the beginning of the game, when James walks to Silent Hill, he walks through a forest, filled with green vegetation. In the Wood Side moth room, James sticks his hand in a hole with green liquid and the wallpaper is green. In the same room, there is green liquid on the wall and green cages. In Brookhaven Hospital, James obtains a key from a drain with green liquid. The Otherworld Brookhaven Hospital contains green tones. The Book of Lost Memories is green, the dry cell battery is green, and the wire cutter is green. The Rotating Cube Puzzle has a green tint to its face. Even the PlayStation 2 cover for the game is green.
 * Green is the color of fertility and growth in traditional Japanese culture. As the color of nature, the Japanese word for green, midori, is also the word for vegetation. In addition, the color green represents youth and vitality, and the energy of growth. Green can also represent eternity, since evergreen trees never lose their leaves or stop growing. This may relate to James's character growth, his unfaltering energy to find Mary, and possible desire to be with Mary for all eternity, no matter what. James will need a lot of "green" on his quest.
 * Red is the complementary color of green. Red may also be seen as a symbolic color in Silent Hill 2; Pyramid Head glows red, Maria is dressed in red, Maria has red soles on her boots, the save points are red, blood spilled from monsters is red, etc.


 * The reason why James hovers his hand in front of his face in the beginning of the game is to "check if he is in reality or if he is dreaming." For example, lucid dreamers may perform "reality checks" such as pinching their skin, looking at their hands, feeling solid objects, etc. Those who struggle with dissassociative periods, especially derealization, may cut or injure themselves, feel their body, or touch their face to try and help them feel "real". It also serves as foreshadowing and symbolism of James's mental state, unable to determine fantasy from reality, similar to psychosis.


 * If James wields the chainsaw, he may raise it above his head and scream if the player waits near a dead monster. If the player goes into standby mode with the chainsaw equipped, he will set it down blade first and lean on it like a cane.


 * It is possible to make James trip.


 * It can be speculated that because James had just recently killed Mary, her corpse is actually in the trunk of James's car at the beginning of the game. The Book of Lost Memories alludes to this and the novelization affirms this with the In Water ending. However, Masahiro Ito stated that he believed that Mary's body was actually in the back seat. When asked how James didn't notice her corpse, Ito replied that James had repressed the memory of her murder.
 * James' actor, Guy Cihi, has elaborated on Ito's statement, adding that having his dead wife in the backseat as he drives into the lake is more consistent with the common Japanese way of muri-shinjū ("forced love suicide").


 * The given name "James" is cognate with the name "Jacob." Jacob's Ladder is a film well stated to have influenced Team Silent in the creation of Silent Hill 2, as well as of their other games for the series. Namely, James has many similarities to the film's protagonist Jacob Singer, in that they both wear M-65olive-drab military jackets; they both grapple with guilt, lust, and lost marriages; and either of them endure a journey into his own tormented psyche.


 * James's surname could be seen as an allusion to his mental state; "sunder" meaning "to break or shatter", and "land" being representative of James's sense of reality, or his world.


 * James's beta design depicts him with slicked back, auburn hair. This hairstyle made him resemble Harry Mason. James shares other similarities with Harry: the two of them suffered for having lost their wives, who both died of diseases. Depending on the endings, both of them leave Silent Hill with a girl (Heather in the Good and Good+ Endings for Harry, Laura in the Leave Ending for James).


 * n the Wood Side Apartments, the body of a man sitting in front of a TV displaying static can be seen after James finds a pistol. The game's art director, Masashi Tsuboyama, said in "The Making of Silent Hill 2" that the man sitting in the chair is actually James himself and that he came straight out of James's imagination.
 * This scene also acts as heavy foreshadowing of the scene when James discovers the truth about his wife. He slumps back in the chair in a very similar position and the TV displays only static.


 * In the Blue Creek Apartments, inside of Room 209, James may be able to hear a whisper that appears to say, "See my dead wife and come home, do some laundry, do some..." It has been speculated that it may represent a part of James's thoughts about what to do after he murdered Mary, although Japanese translator Jeremy Blaustein stated in an interview that he believes it was just one of the voice actors talking to himself in the recording booth and that the Japanese sound recorders would not have known what it had meant as it was unscripted.


 * In Brookhaven Hospital, James finds records about three patients: Jack Davis, Joseph Barkin and Joshua Lewis. It may not be a coincidence that James and the three patients' names start with the letter J. It may be that Jack represents the part of James who is normally a model person, yet also has suicidal feelings. Joseph represents the part of James who feels guilt and regret for killing Mary and the delusions James is immersed in. Joshua represents the part of James who feels he needs to be persecuted and also represents his violent self (i.e. the act of killing).


 * The Tablet of "The Oppressor" represents James and his sins.


 * James may hear a man sobbing when he walks past Room 208 in the Lakeview Hotel. Room 208 is the room in the Wood Side Apartments where he sees the body of a man in front of a TV, which is a modified version of James's model. In Blue Creek Apartments, Room 208's doorknob may rattle if James attempts to enter and walks away from it. Room 208 is also written on the door where James discovers Maria is dead in her prison cell. The crying could be symbolic of James's inner sadness and sorrow.


 * During the scene with Angela on the burning staircase, before James says, "It's hot as hell in here", he raises his right hand to his face. When the scene's camera angle is hacked, James is shown apparently wiping his eye. While it may be interpreted as James fidgeting; having something in his eye; or wiping sweat off of his brow from the heat, it is also possible that James may be weeping for Angela and wiping a tear away.


 * Almost every corpse in the game (excluding the ones in the holes inside the prison) wears the exact same clothing as James.


 * The novelization cites James as having been proficient in track and field in his "school days".


 * James wears the same green M-1965 field jacket as Jacob Singer, the protagonist of the 1990 psychological thriller Jacob's Ladder. In the Book of Lost Memories, the developers stated that Jacob's Ladder was an influence, likely making this a homage. The jacket was also sold as licensed clothing for Insert Coin Clothing.


 * Guy Cihi reprised his role for a fan-fiction novelization of Silent Hill 2.


 * Guy Cihi initially thought the Leave ending to be his personal canon as it was the best outcome for James, but eventually changed to In Water because he felt it was more bittersweet and fit the tragic tone of the story better.


 * In Silent Hill: Homecoming, one of the achievements is known as "Shades of James", unlocked if the player defeats a Siam. This has led to a theory that Siam symbolizes James and Mary or actually is James and Mary, however it more likely reflects the fact that Siam's vulnerable behind is feminine in nature and the achievement was simply a reference to James.


 * In Silent Hill: Homecoming, if the player completes the game on Hard difficulty, they earn the achievement "The Old Gods haven't left this place", a reference to a comment made by James in the Rebirth Ending of Silent Hill 2.
 * Guy Cihi has stated that he had trouble doing the motion capture for the scene where James carries Mary because Mary's actor was heavier than she looked.