I'm not sure exactly why I love Harry as much as I do. Haha, I say that all the time. But along with all of da reasons I'll list here, there's still just that underlying love I have for him. I can explain everything, but it doesn't explain that amount of affection I have fer him. Not really. I hope that makes sense. Well, heck, Silent Hill didn't make much sense ta begin with, so WOO.

Anyway, Harry is earnest. I mean, while later on in da series ya may have characters who are self-centered or lie or just are totally crazy (coughJAMEScough), Harry is honest. He's sincere and he's dedicated ta a cause with no illusions or pretenses. Harry has one goal and he works fer that goal. He doesn't lie about it, he doesn't deviate from it, and he doesn't doubt this goal. I mean, Harry is dedicated. But I'll get ta that later. More than that, Harry is ultimately sincere to everyone. Harry just wants ta find his daughter, that's all. All the machinations and plotting around him is completely lost on him. He's guileless, but he's honest. I mean, Harry's refreshing. He's a good guy more then anything.

Harry is endearing in how doofy he is too. I mean, I cracked up when I first crashed into a wall with him. He's a bad shot with a gun, he's clumsy, he can't stop, and he always sounds a little too enthusiastic about weird stuff. His voice actor is lovably bad. He reacts ta things in such a weird way ("Huh? Radio?") and he really just doesn't get it. That's summing up Harry right there. He just doesn't get it. He's just got that doofy "Huh?" expression all da time and falls off of benches.

But I guess what really impresses me about Harry is his dedication. I mentioned that above, but I'm gonna get inta more detail ta it here. More then anything, Harry is kind. He's loving. And he gives that love freely and without any kind of consequence. When Harry and his wife found Cheryl, they adopted her, and Harry loved her like she was his own daughter. Harry loved Cheryl, this little girl he just found, enough to travel through Silent Hill to find her. Harry was that dedicated to someone who was not his flesh and blood. Think about it. If you ended up in Silent Hill, alone, surrounded by monsters, switching universes, how far would you go to save someone you loved? Even at the end, when Harry found out the truth about Cheryl and Alessa, he didn't care. When she gave him the new baby, he took it without question, and he raised her with as much love as he could. Harry loves deeply and truly. I mean, he defeated GOD for Cheryl. He withstood mental and physical pain and torture for her. And why? Because he was her father. That's what I love about Harry. His motives in Silent Hill are completely and totally pure. His desire to go through Silent Hill is to help and rescue someone. Harry isn't responsible for what happened there. He had no part in the entire rebirth-of-Samael nonsense. He adopted a girl who needed a family, and he went to the depths of madness to rescue her.

Later on, in Silent Hill 3, Heather often talks about Harry. She loves her dad, and he loves her too. When she finds his notes later on in the amusement park, he talks about what he's feeling, what he's learned. How, even after he finds that Cheryl is really Alessa, he wants to save her. Help her. He feels her pain, her anguish, and he wants to help her. Despite his reservations about "God", at the end, he resolves that he will save not only Cheryl, but Alessa as well. Harry makes notes that after Alessa gives him Heather, he does have doubts. He wonders if he can allow himself to love Heather because he blames Alessa for the loss of his Cheryl, and at times considered abandoning the baby. But he couldn't let her go. She needed a father. Harry knew that, and he couldn't deny that he loved her even then.

Harry is often described as an everyday guy. He is, and I guess that's what makes him so appealing. While he may not have some strange angsty past (JAMES) or anything like that, I find the depth of his character to be in his strength, his courage, and in his devotion to Cheryl and Heather. I love Harry, and I cheered for him throughout the game. I wanted to find Cheryl from the very beginning, and I was worried whenever Harry got hurt.

And in Silent Hill 3, my love for Harry only grew. Every new tidbit of information about Harry only reinforced what I had already come to love. I loved Harry, I loved any mention of him, and I was happy to find that in SH3, his character had remained unchanged. He was still Harry Mason, writer, even after all this time, and he still wanted to help his daughter. When he is attacked when he first stepped into Silent Hill, Harry was not concerned for himself, but for Cheryl.

"Have you seen my daughter? Short, black hair..."

I make fun of Harry at times for the many times he repeats that phrase, but I still admire the sentiment behind it. Harry will do anything to get Cheryl back, and I admire that about him. He's a normal, sweet, loving, brave, courageous guy, and that's why I love him.

That and he runs into walls. Hee hee.