Valtiel (Character)

Valtiel

CHARACTER» Valtiel

Valtiel is one of the governing angels in Silent Hills religion - Charged with safeguarding the passage of the reborn God.

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Basic Description

Valtiel is a character in Silent Hill 3 (Game) that is spotted in the opening events of the game, he then shadows the protagonist Heather Mason (Character) - throughout the course of the the storyline. He appears at several points throughout the game and is an integral part of Silent Hill lore. Here is a rundown of the myth, the fact and the purpose of Valtiel.

The Origins of Valtiel

Valtiel gets his name from a combination of -'Valet' - Meaning attendant ,or servant and the suffixion of 'el' dictating his existence as an angel (of sorts). Put together they roughly translate as attendant or servant of God - more on this later.

Physical Appearance

Valtiel is more or less humanoid in shape and crawls around on all fours - usually on the floor but also along the walls, vents and ceilings.

His body and extremities all jerk erratically - his elbows and knees dislocating and disjointing themselves regularly and his head vibrates constantly to a point where it is unnerving to look at. its is unclear whether this is causing him pain or not, although during The opening FMV before gameplay, a muffled agonised cry is rang out over a video of his face vibrating and dislocating, however this FMV also takes place in one of the the ending locations of the game (the roundabout horses) so the cry could also quite easily be read as a call out ot Heather - enticing her and 'God' to the birthing location.

His face is also covered in something resembling skin (Could be his own or someone elses this is silent hill after all!) or some kind of ceremonial mask to match the rets of his attire.

His body is not overly masculine, citing that of a man with slightly above average build.
His skin is also incredibly pale in patches that arent covered by clothing although his muscles around the elbow are torn and visible, it is clear that he cannot be comfortable most of the time.
He is also hued in the classic Silent Hill 'Bllod and Rust' Colouring that many of the characters, locations and enemies are put in.

Some basic human face features can be made out on occasion, his ears are clearly visible on the side of his head, and on occasion im pretty sure theres an eye or two in there, whether his 'skin mask' is basically just burnt into him and his features come out of it, or something else is unclear. Also worth a mention are the two tattoos - one on each shoulder, these are seals of Metatron (will be important later)

Clothing

Valtiel Is draped totally in ceremonial robes and religious insignia

The robes are similar to the 'Butcher apron' worn by Pyramid head - and those are smeared in the 'Blood and Rust' theme, leaving his arms bare

Valtiels full body back shot showing the clothing straps

all the way down to his hands.

His hands are covered by 'gloves' that seem to mold his hands into a three pronged grip, whether this was to save resources graphically (a la Silent Hill 2 (Game))or due to design is unknown.

The ceremonial garments he wears are tied at the back with straps and buckles and stitches - this seems to be the standard for most of the characters in relation to valtiel

The straps - twinned with the fact that Valtiel also has a hole towards the top of his head, has lead to a lot of speculation as to the fact that Valtiel is actually no more than an 'un-masked' Pyramid head - however despite the remarkable similarities between the two:

The religious meaning.
The same kinda design.
The same plot role and element.
Same attire, etc.

There are also a couple of contradicting points that argue against this theory:

* Pyramid head was a personal creation in the mind of the silent hill 2 protagainst in order to punish himself for his sins and really has no relevance to Silent Hill 3.

Pyramid head had a huge chuffing sword.
Pyramid head was much taller and slower in movement, nowhere near as nimble as Valtiel.
Valtiel is not quite as masculine as pyramid head is depicted as being - although they do both enjoy raping nurses.

As such there is no official word as to whether Valtiel is definitely a relative, distant or nay - of pyramid head, so despite the similarities it is not regarded as Canon.

Valtiel's Role

Valtiel serves a complex and profound function in Silent Hill 3, born out of a sense of selflessness and a desire to achieve utopia. As such, his name is well deserved.

His primary purpose is to safeguard the passage of the unborn 'God' via Heather , as such you witness him at various points throughout the game - but never get to interact with him, and he never harms Heather quite the contrary , at various points you witness Valtiel Abusing and murdering other creatures in order to ensure Heather passes through unscathed.

However this is not done out of the kindness of Valtiel's dear old heart, his only focus is for the sleeping 'God' within Heather, he has little to no concern for Heather herself. But until the moment of the 'God's' birthing he watches over and protects Heather - in service to his master

As well as his role as protector and watcher of 'God' he is also a messenger, and a keeper to the 'Otherworld'.

Shortly Before or during the transition from normal Silent Hillto its otherworldly counterpart, it is often possible to see Valtiel turning one or two valves - this has both symbolic and physical implementations for the course of the game

Firstly it serves as a symbolic gesture in line with the order of rebirth ,a vital part of the silent hill religions doctrine being that the God is able to be reborn an infinite number of times :

Valtiel playing with his valves again

" An angel in the towns religious organization that governs the cycle of rebirth - he appears as a symbol of the otherworld"

(Extract from silent hill doctrine)

Also the sight of him rotating this particular valve throughout the course of the game shows his role 'in the background' in pushing the rebirthing cycle (ie the main driving plot of the game) through without having much first hand involvement.

The valve turnings also implicate that Valtiel (at least in this iteration of the game) seems to have some kind of control over the Transitions to the otherworld that occur throughout the series.

Valtiel Spotted!

So now we know a little about Valtiel and what he is there for, lest go over where he is found in the game - and how he behaves.

The first time we witness Valtiel is during the elevatorFVM in whcih Heather exclaims

"Not even a kid could believe in this stuff!"

Valtier is behind a fan and appears to be hanging another monster up by it - possibly as some kind of punishment.

Valtiel up to his old tricks, abusing other monsters!

From this point he is witnessed a number of times throughout the course of the game - a couple are unmissible and take palce in fmv's, but most of them are only visible if the player is paying careful attention to their surroundings, keep your eyes peeled while playing and see if you can spot each of Valtiels ' Behind the scenes' apperances They are all generally creepy:

The Elevator scene mentioned above
After all the gates in 'otherworld' Brookhaven, as Heather climbs the ladder she witnesses Valtiel turning vavlves, and a nurse (see pic)
In the church you can see Valtiel Sneaking around on all fours in the hallways
Over the abyss, Valtiel is strangling a nurse to death (in church again)
In the church at the end of the hallway whereAlessa'streatment room is located, you can witness Valtiel turning a valve and two girls legs dangling apperaing to be electrocuted??? (see above valve pic)
Valtiel also appears and drapes a cloth like veil over 'God's face during one of the final FMV's

Valtiel's Behaviour

Throughout the course of the game Valtiel doesn't really so much 'help' as 'not hinder' Heather, although he seems to do his best to freak the Jesus out of her (geddit?) whenever he gets the chance.

He shares a few traits that are common with other silent hill demi-semi-god bosses - mostly (as mentioned) Pyramid Head.

Although he doesn't attack Heather, he is capable of harm, and is seen quite frequently beating, strangling, maiming and raping living and or dead creatures.

Valtiel 'Procuring' Heathers body in the mall

There is a small in game animation that plays depending on if Heather dies in a specific location - which shows Valtiel appearing and 'Securing' Heathers body - presumably to go and remove the 'God' from her himself, or just to take the body to the site of the ritual

His stance towards Heather heftily changes after she vomits up the unborn God fetus, what he does after tho seems to be a matter of opinion with some saying he dies sacrificing himself to the god - others saying he scuttles of to rape some more nurses.

Unconfirmed Myth - Coincidence and References

Now as well as being a character in the game , there is a lot of outside reference or theory that makes a lot of sense in the Silent hill universe, but has not been officially declared canon.

* By far the most intriguing comes from a painting in the chapel towards the end of the game.

In biblical terms The actual name Valtiel comes from a fallen angel who was originally the protector of God (Christian God), but later turned on God during the Lucifer rebellion. After this, God proclaimed Valtiel "useless" making him devoid of all natural power.
In this painting it shows the Goddess with two 'servants' known as the Yellow God, Lobsel Vith,- who is said to be made to lead people in obedience to God.
And the Red God - Xuchilbara, a god of judgment who presides over rebirth and has been known to be used in a ceremony to resurrect the dead, called the "Crimson Ceremony".
The theory is that one of these (probably the yellow) demi-gods is Valtiel, and that the Red god of judgment is Pyramid head, however both of these theories have canon issues with the series lore, and are suggested for the bomb readers leisure to pick up and use whichever they choose :). Also speculated is Metatron - though he is not actually mentioned in any Silent hill text and is derived from a Hebrew holy figure.
Also there is an alternative theory as to why he can't harm Heather - because if the God casting him out of heaven thing is true and holds reference to Valtriel - he isnt not killing Heather to be nice, its because he's powerless, though he does have the Seal of Metatron tattooed to both shoulders, indicating that he is trying to draw power into his body.
(Though both Metatron and Valtiel are both considered the "Agents of God" this mark suggests that Valtiel is in Metatron's servitude or that he himself is actually Metatron.)
Of all the connection Between Pyramid head and metatron and Valtiel however, the most Canon and possibly easiest to connect is that Valtriel is basically a loing worshippe demi-god that holds references back to the first game
In the religion of Silent Hill, Valtiel was one of the beings said to be created by God in order to lead people to obey her.
In the first game a special group in the religion was made in the honor of him, founded by Jimmy Stone, called the Valtiel Sect. seen as a way to get closer to God.
Likewise, the Pyramid Head wears similar ceremonial robes, gloves, and appears to have cloth stitching, all in homage to this being.
This connects the robes from the first game, Pyramid Heads similarities, and Valtiels purpose into one neat package, and wraps up this description!

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