Henry Townshend

Henry Townshend is the main character of the video game Silent Hill 4: The Room. He lives in room 302, in South Ashfield, a town which is adjacent to Silent Hill. Room 302 is his apartment, and the setting for the video game. He is a Caucasian male who is 185 cm tall, and 85 kg. He is the last of The 21 Sacraments, and is defined as the Receiver of Wisdom.

Henry seems to the player as if he is a really 'nice guy.' He exemplifies kindness, as he seems to care about anyone he meets, despite some of their more odd characteristics. He attempts to save everyone he can even though he knows that his efforts are futile, and no matter how many times he is force fed this fact. Henry seems to be the bright, kind, and beautiful center of the universe, and through this portrayal, we begin to feel sympathy for this man who ended up stuck in the hellish nightmare that is SH4.

Two years before present day, however, something changed within Henry. He started acting strangely, and decided to rent an apartment in South Ashfield Heights, an apartment known to us as Room 302. His reasons for coming seem strange, he "was immediately attracted by the outside of the building, as well as the view from the window here. When he moved here two years ago, he almost felt like he was being drawn here." In Henry's own words, it seemed like more than coincidence that it was him who decided to move into Room 302, and find himself as the 21st victim of Walter Sullivan.

Through the two years of life in his apartment, he began a "new life," one of a recluse. He had not met a single neighbor, and only one even knew his name. He had locked himself off from the rest of the world. This explains his lack of difficulty living for five days without the ability to leave Room 302 before the game SH4 begins.

"These were two years of "un-existence", two years, that passed momentarily, a series of gray, monotonic, useless days, blurring together and leaving no memories..."

However, before the events which occur in SH4, and this sudden change, Henry was a free and open person, who traveled, was interested in photography, and was a frequent visitor of Silent Hill. We know this from his comments through the early stages of the game, such as "I went sightseeing there a few years ago," and "I visited Silent Hill a lot of times when I was that age."

In SH4 we see Henry coming to understand that he cannot continue his meaningless existence in a sealed, isolated world. Instead, he begins to realize that he wants to hear somebody's voice again, as we can see when he wishes for a phone call. He wants to interact with people again, as he looks through the peephole at his neighbors. He realizes that his life as a hermit, sealed in his apartment is not how he wants to live, and instead he desires freedom. The idea of freedom from isolation is the main goal for Henry Townshend, and while attempting to achieve his goal, Henry shows us that he is willing to do anything.