Silent Hill 2: Every Ending, Ranked

Highlights

• Silent Hill 2 has multiple endings based on player actions, from encountering aliens to a heartbreaking farewell.
• The UFO ending is a developer joke, while the In Water ending deals with James’s deep guilt and despair.
• The Dog ending is a humorous twist, and the Rebirth ending hints at a lingering cult presence in Silent Hill.

Silent Hill 2 features multiple endings players can receive at the end of their adventure, depending on how they act throughout a playthrough. Though the game doesn’t actually explain this, there’s a hidden meter behind the scenes that will rise and drop if players perform certain actions, which can be as obscure as examining a specific item, to bumping into Maria a certain number of times while running around.

Landing on one particular ending can be fairly difficult considering how particular these requirements can be, but since all of them provide drastically different conclusions to James’ journey, it’s worth checking them all out. With that said, some of these endings are often seen as much more impactful and memorable than some of the others, and with the Silent Hill 2 Remake on its way, it seems fitting to look back on this classic survival horror gem, and how the endings rank after all these years.

6 UFO

James Is Ambushed By A Group Of Aliens And…Harry Mason?

Ending Requirements:

• Only available on Greatest Hits/HD versions
• Unlockable after beating the main and sub scenarios
• Use the Blue Gem item in Nightmare Hospital’s garden, Toluca Lake Dock, and Room 312

Admittedly, the UFO ending is a joke by the developers, which can only be seen in the Greatest Hits and HD Collection version of the game. Players don’t even need to technically reach the last level of the story to achieve this ending. All they need to do is boot up a new playthrough after beating the main scenario and pick up the Blue Gem which can be used in three different areas across Silent Hill.

After being used in Room 312, an army of UFOs will begin flying toward the room, and seemingly out of nowhere, Harry Mason from the first game shows up to ask James if he’s seen his daughter. James, understandably baffled by the whole thing, replies by asking if this mysterious stranger has seen anyone resembling his wife Maria. Things take a turn for the worse when an alien shoots James from behind with a laser gun, only for the UFOs to fly off once again. Saying this ending is absurd would be a massive understatement, and while it’s a nice easter egg, it can seem like little more than a quick sci-fi fan fiction of the series.

5 In Water

James Fails To Forgive Himself And Pays The Ultimate Price

Ending Requirements:

• Keep stamina in the red as much as possible
• Read the suicide note on the hospital rooftop
• Read the message to James on the Neely’s Bar wall
• Examine Angela’s knife
• Listen to the entire conversation between Mary and James before the final boss

As players venture deeper into the dark depths of Silent Hill, they’ll gradually begin to realize James is a pretty troubled guy who isn’t telling the whole story when he says his wife is waiting for him in the nearby town. The truth is, he’s struggling with an immense level of guilt, and the whole game is him learning how to conquer his underlying emotions and start a new life by overcoming the weight of his past.

The In Water ending, which sees James driving into a lake with his wife’s body in the car, suggests he failed to forgive himself, and ultimately decided to end it all in that moment. It’s still an emotional ending for sure, but it also makes the long and arduous journey of Silent Hill 2 feel a little worthless since James ultimately doesn’t learn anything from it and only drives himself deeper into despair. It’s one of those finales that encourages players to immediately jump into a new playthrough so they can receive an ending that is a bit more rewarding.

4 Dog

Team Silent Created A Classic Goof Finale With The Dog Ending

Ending Requirements:

• Available in New Game Plus mode
• Acquire the Dog Key near Rosewater Park
• Use the Dog Key to open the Observation Room on the third floor of the hotel

Similar to UFO, this is another bonus ending that can only be seen after receiving the game’s three main endings at least once each on the same save file. If players pick up the dog key located near Rosewater Park, they’ll be able to open up a secret observation room after leaving Room 312 near the end. Inside is a dog balancing on a chair as he controls a massive computer, which is revealed to have been monitoring and messing with James the entire time.

As James walks in, he drops to his knees after realizing this whole nightmarish adventure has been nothing more than a prank played by a cute little dog. It’s honestly surprising just how much detail Team Silent put into this comedic ending sequence. If players look closely at the dog’s computer, they can see plenty of little details, such as Maria and James’ faces being stuck on a map to show their current distance from one another. It ends with a hilarious credit sequence where the dog’s face covers half of the screen as he barks along to a familiar tune, while also growling at Eddie, for obvious reasons.

3 Rebirth

A Creepy Cinematic Which Indicates The Cult Is Still Lurking In Silent Hill

Ending Requirements:

• Available in New Game Plus mode
• Collect four ceremonial items:
• White Chrism – Room 105
• Lost Memories Book – Texxon Gas Station
• Obsidian Goblet – Historical Society Second Exhibition
• Crimson Ceremony – Nightmare Hotel Reading Room

For the most part, Silent Hill 2 doesn’t involve as much of the occult as the first game did, but the Rebirth ending suggests that maybe some sort of cult does still exist in this mysterious town, and if so, James is willing to give them a visit as a final last resort. To receive this ending, players will need to complete the game once, and then find four ceremonial items in New Game Plus mode.

Upon beating the final boss, the screen will switch to a scene of James rowing a small boat across a lake as he speaks to the corpse of his late wife. As if that wasn’t creepy enough, he starts babbling on about how the “Old Gods” haven’t yet left Silent Hill, and are said to have the ability to resurrect people, which is why he’s planning to see them. Just before the screen blacks out, players get a blurry view of what looks to be the Church of Rebirth, which is heavily covered in fog.

If anything, this ending implies James’ experiences in Silent Hill had messed with his mind so much that he’s beginning to believe his delusions, or perhaps he may have actually figured out a long-forgotten secret of the town that no one else is aware of. Hopefully, the remake can expand upon this mysterious ending sequence a little more, as it certainly leaves a lot of questions.

2 Maria

James Decides To Live In Ignorant Bliss, But The Delusion Won’t Last Long

Ending Requirements:

• Stay near Maria as much as possible
• Bump into Maria less than three times
• Check on Maria in Hospital Room S3
• Protect Maria from monster attacks
• Attempt to re-enter the cell to see Maria’s corpse twice

Maria is a character in Silent Hill 2 who bears a striking resemblance to James’ late wife, Mary. In truth though, she’s supposed to represent James’ idealized version of his wife, and for much of the game, he uses her almost like a mental “replacement” for Mary so that he can move on and remain ignorant of his guilt. For this ending, James decides to continue living in ignorant bliss rather than facing his sins, as he can be seen talking to Maria and claiming that she’s all he needs in life.

Clearly, James is repressing his memories even further than he was at the beginning of the game, but what makes this ending so eerie is the suggestion that James hasn’t, and can never, truly escape what he’s done. The first hint of this is when Mary’s letter plays in full after James accepts Maria as his new partner, but the second comes when Maria begins coughing, only for James to bluntly reply “You’d better do something about that cough.” It’s as if James’ memories of his sick wife are still there, but he’s so adamant about erasing them that he tells Maria to get rid of her sickness as soon as possible. It’s definitely a thought-provoking way to end the adventure.

1 Leave

A Beautiful Ending Where James Learns To Truly Forgive Himself After A Long And Arduous Journey

Ending Requirements:

• Recover health as soon as it drops to red
• Have Maria remind James which way to go in Rosewater Park
• Examine Mary’s letter at least twice
• Do not check back on Maria in Hospital Room S3
• Bump into Maria as much as possible
• Allow Maria to take damage from monsters

Leave is the only ending where James truly learns to forgive himself, and it’s without a doubt one of the most emotional conclusions to any video game. James gets the opportunity to speak with Mary one last time, but rather than lying to her, he comes clean and says openly that he killed her so that he could continue with his own life. Rather than scolding or insulting him, Mary begs James to continue with his life, despite the amount of mental torture he’s been putting himself through.

The scene then pans to a shot of the graveyard where Mary’s heartbreaking letter plays out in its entirety. In it, she talks about how much she cherished the moments she and James spent together, before ending on a line that no longtime Silent Hill fan can ever forget: “James…you made me happy”. The scene ends with a visual of James and Laura walking through a graveyard, suggesting that James may have adopted the young girl, free from the pain and guilt that had shackled him for so long.