Biography:
Valerie possesses a magical pendant that allows her to transform into a Valkyrie warrior. While in transformation, she is clad in armour and fur with a magic spear that she can use while in battle. Although she does not know the pendant’s original origins, she knows that it is of Norse descent. Born somewhere along the East coast of Canada, Valerie has fought as a vigilante since the age of eighteen. There has been no other information found on her past at this time.
Valerie Hart is a great character. She also has a lot of depth potential, as it’s easy to see where her character will develop over time. She has a great relationship with the team, a feud and a love interest! However, it would be nice to see her more sensitive side. After all, her anger is obviously a defense mechanism, and eventually the team will have to break through (hopefully only for a minute).
I don’t think it’s so much a Fear of men, as a lack of trust towards them. She’s clearly defensive and has a very short fuse. Maybe something from her past?
I don’t know if it’s so much that the pendant is the SOURCE of the power as much as it’s the CONDUIT for the power. I believe that it channels the energy into a transformation, hence, why her mother would hang it on the doorknob. Speaking of which, if her mother had the same powers (shown by when she says, “Oh no, not you too.") then why would she voluntarily make herself vulnerable by taking off the pendant? Is this somewhat of a female Hancock style of character where she doesn’t understand the purpose to her power so she wastes it?
I think, based on what we saw in the episode, that her mother had the power but didn’t want it. Perhaps she sought out men who would abuse her, hoping that they would kill her and take away the power that she didn’t want or seek to have. Why else would she deliberately bring back men who she knew/sensed would abuse her? If she didn’t want to be abused, she didn’t have to continue in that lifestyle.
Perhaps she took off the pendant so that she didn’t transform when she was abused. She was only upset that her daughter also had the power because in her mother’s mind, she was dooming her daughter to the same kind of life, not realizing how very different her daughter would grow up to be.
I think you’re dead on, Spectra! I don’t think her mother wanted or even knew what her powers were at all. Similar to Clark Kent or most other super-powered persons in the comics, they try to hide or suppress their powers as best they can because they don’t fit in, or they don’t understand how to control them.
One questions I’ve been wondering is where did the pendants come from? Obviously some viking heritage, but why the Hart lineage? How far back does it go?
I’m thinking of the Volslung Saga. Perhaps Valerie’s family is descended from Brunnhilde, who married a human man. There’s nothing in the Volslung Saga that said that she had children, but this might have been something that was left out of the “official” story.
Totally agree with everything except the part about her mother bringing abusive men back deliberately. I think it’s much more of what’s called the, “victim syndrome”. Often, victims of abuse (of any kind), will suffer such a brutal blow to the self-esteem in the process that their self-worth drops dramatically. More often than not, the aggressors pick up on this through body language and such. After all, most abuse is a result of the aggressor seeking a sense of power over someone else. Nevertheless, a good topic to bring up and discuss. Awareness of abuse is the best prevention method.
So, if we assume Venom is correct, then what sort of man (aside from Brood) would try to pick Val up? She’s a tough cookie to crack. Maybe a guy who likes a challenge? Or maybe Brood is the perfect fit because he has nothing to lose...literally. There’ll be another one in 50 years or so.
