Dr. Helen Magnus is an English born physician and scientist specializing in crypto-zoology and xenobiology. Over 276 years old and "blessed" with apparent eternal youth thanks to a vampire blood-based serum, she is the founder and elected leader of the Sanctuary Network.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 The Five 1.3 Leader of Sanctuary 1.4 Return of Druitt 2 Pursuing Adam Worth in 1898 3 New Sanctuary 4 Personal Life 5 Character and traits 6 Relationships 7 Notes and References

Biography Edit

Early life Edit

Helen Magnus was born in the middle of the 19th century^[2] as the daughter of renowned scientist Gregory Magnus and his wife Patricia Heathering.^[3] Louis Pasteur, a close friend of Gregory, was her godfather.^[4] She was an intelligent young woman, unwilling to accept the limitations for women of her era. After she had been denied a position as a medical doctor, Gregory introduced her to the secrets she believed he was hiding from her beneath his mansion. Showing her his secret, and thus she learned of the Abnormals. Gregory also used his influence and standing in society to allow Helen the chance to study at Oxford. While this was the chance of a lifetime Helen was essentially isolated as she was the only female student at the school and would be looked down upon by the other students. Despite this, Helen was able to earn the respect and friendship of four students. James Watson, Montague John Druitt, Nikola Tesla and Nigel Griffin all became dear and close friends of Helen's and had greater respect for her than any other men, and it was with them she formed the Five.

The Five Edit

Some time before her father disappeared on an expedition to Mecca, Helen formed The Five, a group of extraordinary minds that included herself, James Watson, John Druitt, Nikola Tesla, and Nigel Griffin.^[5] Like herself, the others could be considered geniuses ahead of their time, and in this group Helen and the others felt like they were a part of something more, and not outcasts because of their views of the world. During her time with group Helen was able to acquire a sample of pure, untainted Vampire blood before the species was exterminated by the Church. Helen devised a serum from the blood that was discovered to possess unique properties and the group's curiosity about humanity's potential to evolve led them to each take an injection of the blood. Helen volunteered to go first, to make sure the serum was safe despite her friends' warnings that the side effects of the blood were completely unknown. Helen survived the injection, though the awakening of her longevity abnormality was quite painful. The other members then took an injection of the blood and also gained their own unique abilities. It is unknown if the other members of the Five were aware of abnormals beforehand.

Helen, for the most part, had to help the others adjust to their new found powers. Nikola Tesla's exposure to the blood led to the awakening of dormant Vampire genes that had been passed on to him from an ancestor, and Helen had to develop a special medication for him to allow him to rein in his less desirable vampire instincts such as the thirst for blood. James' enhanced intellect required him to have something to keep his mind occupied until he adjusted completely, lest his powers drive him mad.

Nigel Griffin's ability was his molecular structure became photo-sensitive, meaning he could turn invisible at will although it took him a while to get the hang of it.

The only member of The Five she was unable to help, to her great regret, was her lover and fiance John Druitt, whose exposure to the source blood had the unforeseen side effect of driving him insane and led to the creation of the most notorious killer in history - Jack the Ripper. Helen tried one last time after the rest of the Five had given up on John to appeal to his better nature and to accept her help. However by this time John's insanity had all but consumed the man he once was and he tried to attack Helen, forcing her to defend herself and leading him to vanish from her life for a long time.

Though the Five would never admit it, Magnus could be considered the group's de facto leader. This is mostly because she is able to keep them in line and keep them focused on the bigger picture. Each man respected her enough to know not to make her mad. James and John even hinted to Will she may have been their leader when they jokingly asked him what its like to follow the orders of a woman without having lived through the traditions of the 19th century.

She was briefly engaged to Druitt, her lover and first patient. She also had a daughter with him, Ashley Magnus, who was originally conceived in the 1880's. She froze the embryo for more than a century before loneliness and the thought that Druitt was gone for good allowed her to carry her to term.

Leader of Sanctuary Edit

For over a century, Magnus has run the Sanctuary Network, where she tracks, protects and learns from the extraordinary and/or paranormal creatures that inhabit our world. She serves both as house head of the Old City Sanctuary, and as elected head of the global network.^[6]

Magnus personally knew many great figures of history, including H.G. Wells, and Jules Verne, as well as U.S. presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and at least one of The Beatles. She was aboard the Titanic when it hit an iceberg and sank in 1912^[7], and was in the room when the Nazis surrendered at the end of World War II, mainly because Eisenhower refused to be in the same room as Alfred Jodl. There are also pictures of her with Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, and Mahātmā Ghandi.^[8]

Return of Druitt Edit

While working on a case involving the Abnormal boy Alexei, Helen was confronted with her former fiance and father of her daughter John Druitt. He had managed to infiltrate the Sanctuary by pretending to be unconscious in order to get to Helen.

While John, like the rest of the Five, had gained some form of longevity, he had recently relapsed with a disease that his own Source-blood-altered physiology couldn't handle. Only Helen's pure Longevity-causing blood could cure him, as it had in the past.

Helen however did not want to cure him in the beginning because she believed it would only prolong his suffering with his insanity and tried to offer him help first. Not wanting that John teleported Ashley in to the SHU with a dangerous abnormal in hopes of getting her to comply. This was a perfect example of how deranged John had become if he was putting his own daughter in harms way. John was enraged when Helen revealed that she never told Ashley who her father was.

In the end Helen appeared to relent and fetched a sample of her blood for John to inject. Satisfied, John took the injection but moments later John's power began to turn on him. Helen had poisoned him, although she obviously felt sorry for her action. But John was not going to go quietly as he looked her in the eye and said "The Five... the others... will come" before teleporting away in the belief that his old comrades would avenge him. Helen however thought he wouldn't survive and learned only in Rome that he wasn't dead.

Pursuing Adam Worth in 1898 Edit

Magnus pursues Adam Worth throughout London to stop him from curing his daughter Imogene, who is meant to die in the timeline. During the pursuit she tries to avoid her past self, but fails to stop encountering Watson, who quickly discovers she is from his future, but he promises to keep quiet for the sake of preserving the timeline. When Worth chases Magnus later he accidentally kills Imogene, restoring the timeline. After killing Worth, Magnus ends up in hiding for the next 113 years before she can resurface to help Will dealing with a mass of Abnormals invading the surface.

New Sanctuary Edit

it is revealed that Helen had been secretly working with several important figures of the 20th century, including Albert Einstein and Buckminster Fuller amongst others, and had built a new underground Sanctuary.

Personal Life Edit

It is revealed that Helen is very wealthy and goes to a villa she owns every seven years for a long weekend.

Character and traits Edit

Magnus is bold and straightforward, brave and no-nonsense, yet she remains proudly true to her formal Victorian English sensibilities.

Magnus' past is long and colorful, as one would expect from a life lasting 274 years. However, she proves that living forever is not the best of things and finds it hard at times. She has had to bury countless friends, colleagues, and lovers, making her somewhat reluctant to let new people into her heart.

She also speaks a vast number of languages, including Italian, Zulu, Japanese, Cambodian, Norwegian and French.

On more than one occasion she is shown to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Magnus is bisexual. ^[9]

RelationshipsEdit

John Druitt

It is implied on more than one occasion that John is the the only man Magnus has ever truly loved. His activities as "Jack the Ripper", and his betrayal of her trust, caused her terrible pain, but she still has obvious feelings for him, and chose him as the only man whose child she was willing to have.

Ashley Magnus

Magnus loved her daughter with all her heart, and was very protective of her. Sometimes, this led her to keeping certain things from Ashley, like the identity of her father. Ashley's death was possibly the most terrible thing that ever happened to Magnus, rivaled only by John Druitt's betrayal, even making her try to find a way to end her life.

Will Zimmerman

After saving his life when he was a little kid, Magnus has always watched over Will, and has now become his mentor. Even though he irritates her at times, she grooms him as her replacement should her eternal life come to an end.

Henry Foss

Magnus took charge of Henry when she found him as an orphan boy. Realizing he was a werewolf, she helped him suppress his abnormal powers until he was ready to embrace them as an adult.

Bigfoot

Bigfoot has been with Magnus for the last third of her long life, and has become one of her most trusted companions.

Nikola Tesla

Magnus' relationship to Tesla has been difficult; although she acknowledges his genius and clearly enjoys thier verbal sparringl, his continuous amorous and sexual advances have gotten on her nerves for decades. Like most others who knew him, she considered him "an obnoxious ass" back in their Oxford days, but she didn't, however, give up on him, helping him realize that his aspirations of ancient vampire grandeur were doomed to fail. After the death of John Druitt their relationship develops; she comforts him when he is 'de-vamped' and even kisses him in the main lab during the Abnormal Insurgency invasion of the Sanctuary.

Notes and References Edit