Personality: Helen Magnus was born to Gregory Magnus and Patricia Heathering on August 27, in the year 1850. She was brought up in Victorian London, and as a young woman she attended the Royal College of Surgeons. However, in that time, it was found unacceptable for a woman to become a doctor, and her application to be certified was repeatedly denied. Frustrated, but never one to back down, she went to her father, a leading physician of his time. She begged him to mentor her, to show her his work. He agreed, and her life was forever changed by what she learned.
Assisting her father in his work, Helen discovered a world she had never before known existed. His Sanctuary was home to creatures of myth and legend, creatures known as abnormals. She had found her calling.
With her father’s help, Helen was able to study at Oxford where she met four classmates who would become involved with her work, allowing themselves to be injected with a serum derived from pure vampire blood. Each received a unique gift from this experiment. Helen’s was longevity.
Her extremely slow aging has given Helen many opportunities she would never have had otherwise. She has witnessed incredible things in her life, major historical events most can only wonder at, and she has seen both the beauty and the darkness of life. It has also led her to have a unique perspective of the world we live in. Over the years she expanded her father’s work, creating a network which spans the globe providing sanctuary for abnormals everywhere.
While her longevity has been a blessing in her work, it has often been a curse in other ways. Imagine knowing you will outlive virtually everyone you love. This is a reality Helen lives with every day. She is painfully aware that she will likely lose anyone she gets close to, either through her work or to age. Perhaps one of her most significant losses was that of James Watson, her partner and colleague of more than a century. Over time, this awareness has come to have a significant impact on the decisions she makes and the relationships she has.
Though she sometimes appears soft, there is no question Helen is strong, capable, and passionate about her work. We see exactly how far she is willing to go in order to protect her work when we learn about The Five hunting down Adam Worth. It is also seen in the countless times she has risked her life for the Sanctuary. However, upon first meeting her, she can often seem distant. In truth, she is quite the opposite.
Helen is a very guarded individual, as much out of necessity as anything else. The unknown length of her life, and the uncertainty of her work has left her reluctant to open up to another person. Those she allows behind her walls are few, and she selects them carefully. It means a great deal if she is willing to open her heart to you, or even simply be herself in your company.
This is not to say she is shy about intimacy. She is comfortable with herself and her body, and she is surprisingly fond of physical contact, knowing that a simple touch can often mean more than words. This is most obvious when she is with those closest to her, especially with her daughter, Ashley. Her body language is more apt to voice her thoughts than she is, and if one truly hopes to gain insight into her emotions, they need only learn to pay attention to her eyes.
Helen is confident, occasionally to a fault, but she also tends to take others’ burdens as her own. She harbors a tremendous amount of guilt, often blaming herself for circumstances beyond her control. While she makes it a practice not to hold regrets, her mistakes and failures are rarely far from the surface, influencing her methods and actions.
Though Helen has lived too long and seen too much to follow any specific religion, she has a great deal of faith. She is very spiritual, in her own way. She does believe there is something greater than herself, and at times, she draws strength and comfort from that belief. Still, what truly keeps her waking up in the morning is her work. She has devoted nearly her entire life to ensuring abnormals are given protection and common courtesy, while also working to protect humans from those abnormals too dangerous to be allowed freedom.
One of Helen’s more interesting qualities is her sense of humor. It is very dry and occasionally almost unsophisticated. This is usually only seen when she is in the company of those she considers close friends.
Underneath it all, Helen is caring and compassionate in everything she does, giving to others more than she would ever consider taking for herself. She is a very unique individual who has lived through things most could not imagine, but she takes it mostly in stride. Her work is never finished, and she will not rest until it is.
Re: [CANON ] Helen Magnus || Sanctuary || No Reserve || 2 of 3
Assisting her father in his work, Helen discovered a world she had never before known existed. His Sanctuary was home to creatures of myth and legend, creatures known as abnormals. She had found her calling.
With her father’s help, Helen was able to study at Oxford where she met four classmates who would become involved with her work, allowing themselves to be injected with a serum derived from pure vampire blood. Each received a unique gift from this experiment. Helen’s was longevity.
Her extremely slow aging has given Helen many opportunities she would never have had otherwise. She has witnessed incredible things in her life, major historical events most can only wonder at, and she has seen both the beauty and the darkness of life. It has also led her to have a unique perspective of the world we live in. Over the years she expanded her father’s work, creating a network which spans the globe providing sanctuary for abnormals everywhere.
While her longevity has been a blessing in her work, it has often been a curse in other ways. Imagine knowing you will outlive virtually everyone you love. This is a reality Helen lives with every day. She is painfully aware that she will likely lose anyone she gets close to, either through her work or to age. Perhaps one of her most significant losses was that of James Watson, her partner and colleague of more than a century. Over time, this awareness has come to have a significant impact on the decisions she makes and the relationships she has.
Though she sometimes appears soft, there is no question Helen is strong, capable, and passionate about her work. We see exactly how far she is willing to go in order to protect her work when we learn about The Five hunting down Adam Worth. It is also seen in the countless times she has risked her life for the Sanctuary. However, upon first meeting her, she can often seem distant. In truth, she is quite the opposite.
Helen is a very guarded individual, as much out of necessity as anything else. The unknown length of her life, and the uncertainty of her work has left her reluctant to open up to another person. Those she allows behind her walls are few, and she selects them carefully. It means a great deal if she is willing to open her heart to you, or even simply be herself in your company.
This is not to say she is shy about intimacy. She is comfortable with herself and her body, and she is surprisingly fond of physical contact, knowing that a simple touch can often mean more than words. This is most obvious when she is with those closest to her, especially with her daughter, Ashley. Her body language is more apt to voice her thoughts than she is, and if one truly hopes to gain insight into her emotions, they need only learn to pay attention to her eyes.
Helen is confident, occasionally to a fault, but she also tends to take others’ burdens as her own. She harbors a tremendous amount of guilt, often blaming herself for circumstances beyond her control. While she makes it a practice not to hold regrets, her mistakes and failures are rarely far from the surface, influencing her methods and actions.
Though Helen has lived too long and seen too much to follow any specific religion, she has a great deal of faith. She is very spiritual, in her own way. She does believe there is something greater than herself, and at times, she draws strength and comfort from that belief. Still, what truly keeps her waking up in the morning is her work. She has devoted nearly her entire life to ensuring abnormals are given protection and common courtesy, while also working to protect humans from those abnormals too dangerous to be allowed freedom.
One of Helen’s more interesting qualities is her sense of humor. It is very dry and occasionally almost unsophisticated. This is usually only seen when she is in the company of those she considers close friends.
Underneath it all, Helen is caring and compassionate in everything she does, giving to others more than she would ever consider taking for herself. She is a very unique individual who has lived through things most could not imagine, but she takes it mostly in stride. Her work is never finished, and she will not rest until it is.