Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Integra Hellsing

Born into the prestigious and mysterious Hellsing family, Integra has been sheltered and educated all her life to take the place of her father, Sir Arthur Hellsing, as Bureau Director of the Hellsing Organization. Integra's mother does not appear in her flashbacks, suggesting either that Integra never met the woman or that she died when Integra was very young. When she was 12 years old, Integra's father passed away and entrusted her with their family's mission to lead the Royal Protestant Knights and protect England, and asked his brother, Richard, to aid her.

Almost immediately after Arthur’s death, Richard Hellsing, jealous of Integra for inheriting the family headship, attempted to hunt her down and kill her. Integra escaped her traitorous uncle and managed to reach a dungeon in the mansion's sub levels, where her father had said she would find her salvation. Hoping to find a knight in shining armor, she stumbled across an old, dried-out corpse, instead. Richard found her, cornered her, and shot her in her shoulder, spilling her blood across the floor of the room. The corpse, actually a vampire whom Arthur had imprisoned 20 years earlier, awoke and licked up Integra's blood. Rejuvenated, it proceeded to kill her persecutors, thus saving her. Richard, desperate, attempted to kill Integra one last time, but the vampire blocked his bullet. Picking up a gun, Integra shot and killed her uncle, becoming the last descendant of the Hellsing bloodline. The vampire, whose name was Alucard, became her loyal servant.

Not long after, Integra was knighted and introduced to Vice Admiral Sir Shelby Penwood, a former friend of her father. Upon seeing Integra for the first time, Sir Penwood said that she was far too young to fulfill her duty. He revised his opinion during the actual storyline, in which he admitted that it was an honor to have met and served with her in his farewell message, prior to his death. His eventual sacrifice to destroy countless Millennium footsoldiers during the London invasion was just one of the many examples that helped solidify Integra's resolution about humanity's worth and continue her duty.

Young Integra was portrayed as a timid but willful girl seemingly intimidated by the supernatural who was forced to grow up abuptly when her treacherous uncle tried to kill her. When Alucard became her servant, she grew more confident and comfortable with her position as head of the Hellsing family and a Knight of the Round Table. Much like Seras Victoria, Integra experiences a coming of age, gaining experience and losing her remaining innocence as events unfold and the war begins, transforming into a leader with an iron resolution who does not flinch at the first signs of danger and who gains wisdom through dire losses and betrayals. The Major recognizes her change from a "beautiful Fräulein" (he goes so far as to apologize for calling her this) to the most dangerous enemy who stands in the way of his plans, calling her forth into his Zeppelin

1 comment:

  1. This is sad to read that Integra never had seen her mom and her father also passed away when she was 12 years old. Its really difficult to live a life in these circumstances.

    ReplyDelete