Silent Hill: Downpour focuses on Murphy Pendleton (David Boyd Konrad), who has been incarcerated for several years for stealing a police cruiser and crossing state borders. The game opens with his murder of the sequestered child molester and murderer, Patrick Napier (John Grace), in prison. After a riot, Murphy is placed under the supervision of officer Anne Cunningham (Kristin Price), who has significant animosity toward him, and is in the process of being transported to another penitentiary when the transport vehicle crashes near Silent Hill. Surviving the impact, Murphy finds himself unexpectedly free and decides to flee.[12] Unknown to him, the town draws upon the psyche of its visitors, forming alternative versions of itself with symbols from their unconscious minds, mental states, and thoughts.[13][14]
In his journey through the largely abandoned town, he encounters the cryptic postman, Howard Blackwood (William Tate),[b] and travels to the Devil's Pit, a tourist attraction, where he encounters the suicidal park ranger J.P. Sater (Andy Hendrickson). Indirectly responsible for the deaths of eight children, Sater is eventually consumed by guilt and commits suicide.[16] As the game progresses, it is revealed that Murphy made a deal with the corrupt corrections officer George Sewell (Joel Bernard), to gain access to Napier, who had abused and drowned Murphy's son, Charlie.[17] Murphy eventually locates DJ Bobby Ricks (Antoine L. Smith), who has been dedicating songs to him to attract his attention. Although he has been trapped by the town, Ricks proposes a plan to escape by boat; his keys, however, have been lost. Before they can leave, Anne confronts them, and all three are attacked by monsters. Murphy regains consciousness to find himself alone again.[18] Led to a monastery on the premise of collecting a deceased relative, Murphy encounters the Bogeyman, a sledge-hammer-wielding monster who murders a child in front of him. Murphy finds it again, seemingly lifeless, and learns that it is the relative he is intended to collect. Murphy confesses Napier's murder did not bring him any solace. Spotting the keys to Ricks's boat around its neck, Murphy seizes them and is drawn into a confrontation with the monster.[19]
After defeating it, Murphy tries to leave the town by boat, only to be stopped by Anne. She shoots him when he refuses to return to the town. He wakes in a prison in the Otherworld and eventually kills the Wheelman, a massive, mute creature in a wheelchair by disabling its life support. Afterwards, Murphy relives the favor he had to repay Sewell, which required him to kill Frank Coleridge (Leer Leary), another corrections officer who was planning to testify against Sewell's corruption and who believed in Murphy. Anne reveals that Coleridge was her father, and after the attack, he lived in a vegetative state until his death years later. Motivated by revenge, Anne had arranged for Murphy's transfer to her prison. In the final sequence of the game, Murphy transforms into the Bogeyman and follows her as she attempts to kill him.[20]
There are six endings available, based on choices made throughout the game. If Murphy does not kill Anne, the "Forgiveness" and "Truth and Justice" endings show that Sewell framed Murphy for his attack on Coleridge. In "Forgiveness", Anne forgives Murphy, and the pair are transported outside of Silent Hill where Anne reports Murphy's death, allowing him to escape. In "Truth and Justice", Anne is also seen seeking revenge against Sewell by confronting him in his office. If Murphy kills Anne, the "Full Circle" and "Execution" endings reveal that Murphy did kill Coleridge. In "Full Circle", Murphy commits suicide out of guilt, only to awake in an Otherworld prison to relive the events again, observed by the Wheelman. In "Execution", Murphy is executed for the murder of Charlie by Sewell. If Anne kills Murphy, the "Reversal" ending has her awaken as a prison inmate in events mirroring scenes of Murphy in prison, with Murphy taking Sewell's role. A joke ending can be obtained that shows Murphy tunneling out of his cell, to be greeted on the other side by a party in his honor, with various characters from the game and series present.