Legal Name:
Helena Kristansen
Alias:
Lady Hel
Age:
43
Gender:
Female
Designation:
Villain
Appearance:
Hair: Black. Straight. Well maintained.
Eyes: Silver.
Height: 5'6"
Facial features: High cheekbones, sharp features, bone white skin.
Notable Identifiers: N/A. Reports of appearance have a worrying degree of variation. Hypothetically possible that her powers influence the way people see her. Further information required.
Disguise:
N/A. Dress seems to vary.
Psychological Evaluation:
Helena Kristansen has been described as "fear personified". Twenty five years of operating in Tenebrae's underworld has honed her ability to read people's intentions and their lies. She is a master manipulator, like a spider at the center of a great web, pulling threads this way and that to push people into doing what she wants. There is some indication that in the first few years of her criminal career her brother, Norman, kept her grounded. Following his death, she became unmourned and now there is no action, not matter how extreme that she would not undertake in order to further her goals.
History:
Helena Kristansen and her brother Norman Kristansen were disowned by their parents at age 16 when their metapowers manifested and left homeless. In this time period the law was still catching up with the emergence of metahumans. Both protection and persecution statutes remained vague leading to an environment where metas often had no recourse but crime when looking to protect themselves. This in turn led to a rise in meta street gangs, groups of metas who would band together for their own protection.
Going by the names Lady Hel and Jörmungandr, Helena and Norman formed the group that would come to be known as "The Valkyries". The Valkyries originally included seven members, including Hel, three are still alive today.
As was common at this time, many gangs would link up with each other for mutual protection. The Valkyries were no exception. While on a job with the group called "The Gray Dragons", their leader Fendrix, killed Jörmungandr, kicking off a bitter feud between the two groups that seems to have subsided with Fendrix's death nearly two decades ago.
In the wake of Jörmungandr's death and the Gray Dragon's dissolution, the Valkyries grew in power from a simple band of metas trying to survive to a force to be reckoned with within the city. They absorbed other gangs, taking the power and the territory they needed.
The name of the group comes from the fact that almost all of the important players are women. While they do have some men on staff, very few of them rank higher than street muscle.
Goal:
In a twisted way, Hel's goals are altruistic. She seeks to create a place that is safe for metas. She has no compunctions about what that safety might cost. Many lesser gangs with anti-meta sentiment have been forced out of the city, or wiped out entirely on Hel's orders. She regards human life as less important than meta life and will readily sacrifice whoever she needs to in order to achieve her goals. Her operation is embedded deep within the power structures of the city and while that doesn't afford her the total control that she would require to create her meta utopia, it is undeniable that Tenebrae is a safer place for metahumans since she began her campaign.
Metahuman Abilities:
Phobikinesis, possible Umbrakinesis
Application:
Helena Kristansen powers have proved difficult to quantify as it is impossible to entirely discern which effects are physical alterations to the world, and which effects are mental projections. Her primary ability seems tied to the manipulation of fear, creating extremely real seeming hallucinations. At this time we cannot be sure the degree to which these projections are actually real and the degree to which Lady Hel's victims simply believe them to be real. No matter what the answer, these manifestations of fear are capable of doing very real damage.
A standby of hers seems to be the manipulation of shadows, causing them to blot out the light or become semi solid and restrain those with which she is fighting. Again, it is unclear if this works because the victim is actually restrained by shadow, or simply because the victim believes themselves to be restrained.
Limitations:
Further information required.