[[caption-width-right:348:Now play dead!]]

->''Jack says the town is located on\\
old "spiritual ground"...\\
Hopefully we\\
will be blessed!''

A prequel released for the handheld PSP and later ported to the Playstation 2, ''Origins'' is a retelling of the events that happened seven years before ''SilentHill1''. It stars a trucker named Travis Grady, whose attempts to take a shortcut through Silent Hill get sidetracked by a figure running onto the road and a house on fire. After bailing a mysterious (and very, very crispy) girl out of her house, he passes out and awakes in the completely deserted streets of Silent Hill. His attempts to find out what exactly happened to the girl lead him all over the town and eventually get him embroiled in mysterious cult activity, as well as the [[DarkAndTroubledPast troubled past]] of his that appears to be a prerequisite for ''SilentHill'' protagonists.

Although ''Origins'' faithfully sticks to the ''Silent Hill'' formula for creepy atmospheres, nightmare worlds, and baffling puzzles, it introduces BreakableWeapons and being able to switch over to the [[DarkWorld Otherworld]] via mirrors--in practice, this just means twice as many areas (of which half are just a grimdark version of themselves) to explore.

Characters in ''Origins'', with the exception of Travis himself, are all younger versions of the characters found in ''SilentHill1'' -- Dahlia, Lisa, and Kaufmann. They wear different clothes and have slightly different personalities, but are ultimately the same. [[spoiler:(Except for the fact that Lisa is a real person and not dead - yet.)]]
!!Tropes specific to this game:
* ActionizedSequel: While the game does feature "better" controls and a bigger emphasis on killing monsters, the combat was going to be similar to that of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' with a close, over-the-shoulder camera view. There were also plans to introduce a laser aiming module for guns and a barricade system to block monsters from accessing certain areas. In October 2006, the U.S.-based team was sacked and production was moved to another studio in the U.K., and those plans were scrapped.
* AlreadyMetEveryone: Travis, his family, and the Butcher are the only characters unique to this game.
* BerserkButton: For Travis, it's the idea of a parent abusing their child.
* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: Travis stops his truck to avoid hitting a hooded figure. As soon as he gets out of the truck to check on this person, he sees Spectral Alessa in his rearview mirror and Silent Hill's signature fog starts rolling in.
* BigDamnFireExit: Travis has enough time to enter the burning Gillespie house and rescue Alessa from it, even if he takes his sweet time trying all of the locked doors (though he earns an accolade, [[AndYourRewardIsClothes an outfit]], and an axe if he's fast enough). At times, the '''' ''[[http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Halo_of_the_Sun Halo of the Sun]]'' shows up to extinguish some parts blocked by flames.
* BigDamnHero: Travis is possibly the most selfless and altruistic of Silent Hill protagonists yet. He willingly stays in town to help out the girl he just rescued from a burning building, while disinterestedly confronting his troubled past just because it's on the way.
* BigRedDevil: The FinalBoss is this.
* BloodyHandprint: Alessa leaves one on the glass of a mirror; touching it transports Travis to the Otherworld for the first time.
* BookEnds: Travis leaving Silent Hill is an almost exact mirror of how he entered the town.
* BreakableWeapons: Having a large inventory of backup weapons is why you end up stuffing something like half a dozen [=TVs=] into your HyperspaceArsenal.
* BuffySpeak: Travis, while holding up a piece of the MacGuffin: "Hey! I've got your... your THING for you!" Justified in that he had just faced the most traumatic event of his whole life. He wasn't exactly in the right state of mind. Plus, neither he nor the player (unless they've played ''SilentHill1'') actually know what it is at that point.
* TheButcher: [[spoiler:Travis, either literally or as his ShadowArchetype]].
* ContinuityNod: The whole game, but specific callbacks to ''SilentHill1'' include a redone version of [[spoiler:Dahlia and Alessa's conversation shortly before the poor girl was sacrificed]], a redone version of [[spoiler:Dahlia and Kaufmann's conversation about the summoning spell to draw Cheryl back to Alessa]], and [[spoiler:the graveyard in which Harry and his wife find Cheryl]].
** One of the memos Travis can find is a version of the "Manifestations of Delusions" article that Harry finds in the first game.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: But of course! Nary a person steps into Silent Hill without one of those.
* DegradedBoss: Happens twice. You see the first (Straight-Jacket) and third (Caliban) bosses stalking the streets of Silent Hill not long after you first fight them.
* DemonicDummy / CreepyDoll: The Ariels.
* DramaticIrony: Near the end of the game, Travis angrily asks Alessa when they're gonna get to see what's in ''her'' sick little head. [[SilentHill1 Oh, if he only knew...]]
* EpisodeZeroTheBeginning: Its Japanese title.
* FanNickname: The FinalBoss has been called Flauros (which is the name of the artifact he inhabits), Alessa's Dream (as an attempt to interpret his nature), Samael (due to WildMassGuessing he might be a proto-incarnation of the The Order's god), The Demon, etc.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The FinalBoss qualifies. It is entirely independent of Travis' psyche, which has so far inspired and codified the creatures inhabiting Silent Hill. All boss fights up to this point are unconsciously connected to Travis' past and feature as cathartic events, whereas the FinalBoss really comes out of nowhere, has no relation to Travis or his personal history whatsoever, and is only explained through inference of the previous games' canons ([[spoiler:it's Samael]]), rather than being mentioned or referenced by any of the characters or collectible documents.
* HyperspaceArsenal: Travis, like most other ''SilentHill'' protagonists, can carry a ''lot'' of stuff on him.
* ICantReachIt: Travis simply ''refuses'' to leave the demon-infested hospital before he finds the girl, who's probably already dead for all he knows.
** He also refuses to enter the pool at the Motel, despite there being an important item in there. You have to go to the Otherworld, where the pool is somehow drained.
* InterruptedIntimacy: At the motel, Travis walks in ([[ItMakesSenseInContext or, rather, falls in]]) on [[spoiler:Lisa and Kaufmann]] dressing after having had sex.
* IronicNurseryRhyme: "''Here comes a candle to light you to bed. [[spoiler:Here comes the butcher to chop off your head'']]". Based on a real nursery rhyme called "Oranges and Lemons", which is totally innocuous up until the chilling last verse.
* Letters2Numbers: It's spelled "Silent Hill Zero-rigins," though you might get some strange looks calling it that.
* MarketBasedTitle: It's called "Silent Hill 0" in Japan.
* ParentalAbandonment:
** Travis's mother [[spoiler:became psychotic, tried to kill herself and Travis in a murder-suicide and was committed to a sanitarium]] and his father subsequently [[spoiler:hanged himself while Travis was out playing]].
** Dahlia, though it probably would have been better if she had ''just'' abandoned her daughter.
* PressXToNotDie: Just about every monster in this game has an attack that triggers a quick-time event. Only one is instantly fatal (and it gives you plenty of time), but it's still annoying.
* SillinessSwitch: Many of the unlockable costumes. Play through the game with Travis as a spaceman! Or a Mexican wrestler outfit! Or in a Shiba Inu fursuit!
* SprintMeter: Travis can't run very long (compared to other ''SilentHill'' protagonists) before he gets winded unless he downs an energy drink or is wearing the Sprinter outfit. It's [[JustifiedTrope justified]] somewhat in that interactions with the game world reveal that Travis is a smoker. [[spoiler:The fact that Helen tried to gas Travis and herself to death when he was a child could also be a factor.]]
* ThemeNaming: The monsters in Artaud Theater (Ariel, Caliban) are all named after characters from Shakespeare's ''The Tempest'', which is being staged when Travis drops by.
** The Two-Back monsters found in Riverside Motel refer to "[[UnusualEuphemism the beast with two backs]]", a metaphor for intercourse coined by Shakespeare in another of his plays, ''Othello''.
*** This extends to ''SilentHill3'' (the bookstore puzzle) and ''SilentHillShatteredMemories'' (several of the mementos refer to Shakespeare's plays).
* TragicMonster: Both of Travis's parents are incarnated [[spoiler:as literal monsters]] during the game. Travis is not too pleased with Alessa about this.
** [[spoiler:Travis in the Bad Ending, wherein it is implied he was The Butcher all along.]]
* UnwittingPawn: Travis pretty much doesn't do anything or go anywhere unless directed to by the clues he finds.
** SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:He ''does'' ultimately end up blowing the Order's plans to hell for the next seven years, though.]]
* NonAppearingTitle: The first song played in the game is titled "O.R.T." This stands for '''O'''ral '''R'''ehydration '''T'''herapy - which is extremely relevant to Alessa, considering it's used used to treat ''burn victims.'' Of course, the song itself isn't about this type of therapy, and is never even mentioned.