Memory of Alessa

"It would be better for "myself" to die. After all, it's nothing to be afraid of..."

- Words of the Memory of Alessa (Alessa Gillespie).

The Memory of Alessa is a dark entity that is based the memory of Alessa Gillespie and a minor villain in Silent Hill 3. Heather Mason encounters her in the Otherworld's Lakeside Amusement Park, where combat ensues. She appears as a bloody, ragged doppelgänger of Heather, save the dead, pale, rotting skin and Alessa Gillespie's head of dark hair. She attacks Heather on the carousel after Claudia Wolf confirms that God is currently in her womb, feeding off her hatred.

Background
The Memory of Alessa attacks Heather using weapons normally at the heroine's disposal. She begins combat with the knife, which is Heather's default and starting melee weapon. Her attacks are weak, but fast, and she'll parry most of Heather's attacks, including gunfire. Blocking her attacks and then counter-attacking is the wisest method with which to defeat her, the katana being the best tool to do this. She will collapse and appears to "evaporate" in a pool of blood, appearing elsewhere on the carousel with a steel pipe. The same strategy endures, save for she is slightly slower and more powerful.

Her second defeat will force her to return with a handgun, which is much more dangerous. Heather can take cover behind the horses to avoid being shot, and once melee range has been reached, she will attempt to strike Heather with the pistol. After this, she can be treated like she was previously, but will attempt to retreat to shooting distance. After her third defeat, she will reappear with a submachine gun. The same tactics apply, save for her increased damage and firing rate. Take note that engaging her third and fourth stages using a melee weapon will cause her to try using her firearms as melee weapons too, rarely attacking Heather with gunfire. After she is beaten the fourth time, she will finally be defeated.

Upon dying she leaves a message printed in red on the carousel floor.

Symbolism
The Memory of Alessa is just that, the imprint of Alessa (now Heather) left in the Otherworld by her powers and mind. It is a manifestation of Alessa's mind that wants, above all else, to stop "God's" birth, and to spare the world (and herself, Heather) from the event should it occur, reasoning a relatively quick death was preferable to the alternate fate.

Silent Hill: Revelation
The Memory of Alessa appears in the 2012 sequel Silent Hill: Revelation as she is seen hugging Heather on the carousel and trying to merge with her in order to be the reborn Alessa Gillespie. In the movie, Dark Alessa who while hunting the surviving members of the Brethren and the rest of its parent cult known as the Order of Valtiel, was changed into the Memory of Alessa as the tortured soul of the dead girl seeks to be renewed by becoming one with Heather (Sharon). However, Heather resisted and the transformation failed, killing the angry ghost of Alessa and transferring both her life energy and great powers to Heather herself.

Trivia

 * The carousel that Heather fights the Memory of Alessa on is the same one where her father, Harry Mason, fought Cybil Bennett back in the first Silent Hill.
 * On "Hard" mode, the Memory of Alessa needs to be knocked down a few times when she is using the Sub-Machine Gun.
 * The message left by the Memory of Alessa reveals her intention to free "herself" from the suffering she must endure as the Mother of God:
 * It would be better for "myself" to die. After all, it's nothing to be afraid of...
 * That child... that demon...
 * When I think of the endless pain it will bring when it is birthed...
 * I decided that, instead of the suffering and cruelty I endured in that sick room...
 * That I would like to bestow a more gentle and peaceful death on "myself."
 * Why do "I" resist? I never thought of "myself" as such a fool...


 * However, after reading the above message, Heather comments that she does not think in the same way as "Alessa", and that she is going to confront her fates, no matter how gruesome they may be:
 * Alessa...
 * I guess it's kinda strange for me to call you that, since you are me.
 * But y'know what? "You" and I don't think alike, after all...
 * And it's not that I don't remember that sick room either...