Hallowed Realm

The Hallowed Realm (零域( れいいき) reiiki; "zero region, punning on 霊域 meaning 'sacred ground'") is a version of the afterlife envisioned by characters in Fatal Frame IV. It appears as a pool in a quiet forest at night, reflecting the full moon. The Hallowed Realm is what remains of a person after all memory is gone and only the core of the soul remains, the point of origin from which all come and to which all return.

The purpose of the Rite of Descent was to reach the Hallowed Realm. Soetsu Yomotsuki created the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse believing that the only way to reach it was for the Vessel in the Rite of Descent to become as the dead, rather than simply entering a trance. As the Vessel became empty, the path to the Hallowed Realm would open. He hoped that by returning to that origin point and coming back to life again, the soul would be cured of Moonlight Syndrome. Generations later, Shigeto Haibara and Soya Yomotsuki attempted to recreate the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse for the same reason.

The Guardians believed that playing the Moonsong could help souls return to the Hallowed Realm. In the end, two elements were necessary: the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse which faces towards death, and the Moonsong, showing the way to the place of birth. Perhaps because she has both worn the mask and played the Moonsong, Ruka has a vision of the Hallowed Realm at the end of the game.

Misc. Info

• Director Makoto Shibata originally envisioned the Hallowed Realm as "a milky chaos and not at all some picturesque landscape"; it was Goichi Suda who suggested a more beautiful and peaceful image representing a kind of paradise. Shibata agreed, feeling that even for a horror game it was important to "balance emptiness and fear with hope and salvation."