A Character Sheet for Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
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Humans
Senua
- Portrayed by: Melina Juergens
The Player Character. Senua, tormented for a long time and traumatized by the death of her fiancé, embarks on her Mental Story journey to Hel.
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Once Senua realizes just how badly her father abused her and her mother and gains strength from it, enemies fall far more quickly. The soundtrack switching to Just Like Sleep
helps underline her new resolve. - Action Girl: Senua is a female Pict warrior, capable in swordplay and dueling.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Senua learned to become at least passably good at swordfighting simply by watching Dillion from afar before he started actually training her.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: So, so averted. Senua begins the game slightly disheveled and it only goes downhill.
- Big "NO!": Senua lets out a few of these throughout the game, particularly the direst of circumstances.
- Broken Bird: Senua has suffered her entire life and she has lost her one ray of hope, Dillion. She's beset by constant self-doubt, believing herself cursed and the cause of suffering to those around her.
- Captain Obvious: The voices in her head often state the obvious.
- Cool Sword: After her first sword is broken during her first encounter with Hela, Senua is forced to undergo a series of trials in order to obtain Gramr, the magical sword forged by Odin and claimed by the hero Sigmund.
- Crusading Widow: Senua is this, of the "bring their lover back" variety.
- Color Motifs: Blue. Blue eyes, blue warpaint, blue magic sword Even her headband has a bluish stone in it.
- Disability Superpower: Downplayed to subverted. While Dillion and the narration imply that her condition makes her a better warrior, able to 'see patterns others miss' and she successfully detects plague in the water at her new village, the many drawbacks of her condition are explored in horrifying detail. However, it's not clear how much of the pain caused by her condition is unavoidable and how much can be traced back to her father's abuse.
- Disease by Any Other Name: Senua and those around her have no term for or understanding of her condition, only referring to it with epitaphs like "the darkness" and "the curse". However, from a modern day perspective, it's clear she's schizophrenic.
- Determinator: There is nothing that will stop her from rescuing Dillion's soul.
- Dreadlock Warrior: A Celtic example — the ancient Celts washed their hair in lime before battle to sculpt it into more fearsome styles (though they braided their hair in reality).
- The Exile: Of the self-imposed kind, as an attempt to get rid of her "darkness." Since this took place before the story's start, it didn't work.
- Hearing Voices: Because of her schizophrenia, Senua hears them constantly, coming from a variety of locations and with a variety of ages and genders. One of these voices is treated as the player character telling Senua what to do through the game's controls; others will offer suggestions on what to do during fights.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Senua has piercing, clear blue eyes. All the more appropriate and meaningful every time she faces towards the camera.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Her face is very closely modelled on her voice actress, Melina Juergens.
- It's All My Fault: Due to her upbringing, she believes that the plague coming to their village is her fault, for noticing something unusual with the water and not being believed, and later that Dillion died while she was away trying to purge the darkness within her.
- Madwoman in the Attic: Senua's abusive father locked her in a basement for years due to her mental illness.
- The Mentally Disturbed: A significant portion of the game consists of vengefully deconstructing the stereotypes relating to schizophrenia and mental illness in general; Senua is a warrior but she's not unconsciously dangerous, her illness isn't something she can overcome with willpower alone, it's not a fun quirk or a disease, and it's the attitudes of those surrounding her that harm or help her.
- Naytheist: Senua initially acts deferential toward Hela, but over time it becomes very clear what her opinion of gods, any gods, really is: she rejects and despises them, even those of her own people.
- No Social Skills: While recollecting the first time she met Dillion, Senua is stiff, shy, and avoids eye contact during the beginning of their conversation. Justified, since her zealot father kept her inside their home for much of her life until meeting Dillion.
- The Ophelia: Senua is a more realistic version of this, if not an outright deconstruction considering how much she suffers because of her illness. She has experienced visual and auditory hallucinations all her life and is strongly implied to have schizophrenia or a similar disorder. She carries her dead boyfriend's head around and even talks to it, has long hair worn in messy braids, wears animal skins and furs, and is quite pretty (when she's not covered in gore) and otherworldly; her 'visions' and the voices she hears are seen as magical by her people, as they lack a modern understanding of mental health. Her lover Dillion never judged her for this and they had a mostly happy relationship. When Dillion was horribly killed, it triggered a psychotic break and it's not entirely clear how much of the game's events, if any, are actually happening or if it's just in Senua's head. The game's creators actually went to a lot of effort researching psychosis to portray her condition accurately.
- Power Born of Madness: Senua's voices warn her whenever an enemy creeps up behind her and she can enter Bullet Time by focusing. While the latter one is almost certainly not "real", Dillion believed Senua's sight could make her a more powerful warrior.
- Precision F-Strike: In her memory of her learning her father had her mother burned, he justifies it by saying it was the will of the gods. She responds by screaming "FUCK THE GODS!"
- The Promise: When she last went into self-imposed exile, fearing she was responsible for a plague, Dillion made her promise she would come back to him. She kept the promise only to discover he had been killed in battle; now her promise is to find him in Helheim.
- Screaming Warrior: Senua lets out brief, yet utterly vicious screams throughout her battles.
- Self-Harm: When Senua is first touched by The Corruption infecting her arm, she tries to scratch it off in a way that would likely make her arm bleed. At one of her lowest points, when her sword is broken, Senua is compelled by her psychosis to heat the blade and burn the side of her face with it to "cauterize" one of the veins of rot.
- Serkis Folk: Senua was both voiced and motion-captured by Melina Juergens, who prior to that point was a video editor for Ninja Theory — this was her first-ever acting role. Her Game Award for Best Performance was handed to her by Serkis himself.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Senua was already traumatized before she experienced a kind of therapy by watching Dillion train with his sword and imitating him. She was skilled enough that he encouraged her to undergo warrior trials and she succeeded. Returning from a self-imposed exile to find Dillion and the rest of the village massacred pushes her over an edge she was teetering on her entire life.
- She's Back: A somewhat minor example. After losing badly to Hela in their first confrontation, resulting in her sword getting shattered and her being thrown off of a high ledge, she seems to have hit even more of a Despair Event Horizon than she normally seems to exist at. Then, spurred by the memory of Dillion, she conquers the Odin Trials, claims Gramr and almost immediately proceeds to fight her way through the Sea Of Corpses.
- This Means Warpaint: Senua wears blue warpaint (also called woad) in the present — most flashbacks are indicated by her being barefaced.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Her default expression is an impassive glazed stare, her mouth slightly agape.
- Unreliable Narrator: We, the players, see and hear the world from Senua's perspective. Considering she suffers from psychosis aggravated by trauma, how much and what actually happens is up to the player's interpretation.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: A short list of things Senua fears, for various reasons: fire, darkness, plague/rot, and isolation. A short list of things she encounters on her quest: fire, darkness, plague/rot, and isolation.
- The Worsening Curse Mark: Early in her journey, one of Senua's arms starts turning black. You're told that every death she suffers will cause the darkness to spread and will eventually kill her permanently if it reaches her head. The game is lying to you; the game does not actually feature perma-death but threatens you with it to increase the tension. The game is indeed over once the darkness reaches her head, but that's because there's no more to play and you've finished it.
Dillion
- Portrayed by: Oliver Walker
Senua's fiancé, who she hopes to resurrect after his death in a battle with Vikings.
- Amazon Chaser: Part of his attraction to Senua seemed to stem from her potential as a warrior.
- Companion Cube: His head wrapped in a cloth is kept on Senua's belt. She occasionally talks to it, though mostly to encourage herself (it doesn't talk back).
- Flaying Alive: The method of his death is particularly gruesome. He was sacrificed by Norse raiders in the style known as a Blood Eagle, his limbs and the flesh of his back tied to posts.
- The Lost Lenore: He remains Senua's one ray of hope even after his death.
- Mr. Fanservice: Appears shirtless in several of his limited cutscenes. One notable case where his appearance is contrasted with Senua's, however, could cross in to Fan Disservice.
- Nice Guy: Next to Senua's mother, Dillion was the most inspiring and comforting person in her life. When he first meets her watching him practice his swordsmanship, he's nothing but understanding and friendly despite her status as a pariah. His eventual fate is the catalyst for Senua's psychotic breakdown.
- Prince Charming: Technically qualifies, as his father is stated to be head of the village Senua moves to. He also fulfills the classical functions of the role, being kind and supportive to Senua, seeing her inner beauty, and helping her gain the courage to leave her abusive family situation.
- Sage Love Interest: A big source of guidance for Senua, and implied to be a good influence on his people as well. When Senua is accused of (perhaps unintentionally) tainting the water supply of her new village and causing a plague, he keeps a level head and has a very rational take on the whole situation.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: His primary character trait is how kind he was to Senua, and how much he wanted to help her learn to value herself. Naturally, he dies horrifically.
- Understanding Boyfriend: To Senua. He's one of only a handful of characters not to ostracise her for her mental illness, instead showing her nothing but genuine adoration, patience, and support.
Zynbel
- Portrayed by: Steven Hartley
Senua's abusive father, and a druid fanatic.
- Abusive Parents: He emotionally and physically tortured his daughter for years in an effort to rid her of her "darkness", which included locking her up in a pit and constantly belittling and shaming her for her mental illness, believing it to be a curse from the gods. He also killed Senua's mother by burning her alive when Senua was only five years old.
- Aerith and Bob: "Zynbel" is absolutely not a Celtic name.
- Cold Ham: Though he does at times raise his voice, he mainly speaks in a sepulchral Creepy Monotone whilst being rather hammy when Senua hears his voice.
- Dark Is Evil: He wears a Black Cloak, in the game he mainfests as the Darkness plaguing Senua throughout the game, and Garmr, the representation of his daughter's hatred of him, lives in a dark domain, and uses darkness-based attacks.
- Dirty Coward: He physically and psychologically tortured his wife and child who were powerless against him. Yet, he double-crossed his entire village as a service to the Northmen, in order to save his own life.
- Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is a deep, sepulchral rattle, and it only gets deeper as you progress through the game.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He's (probably) not actively present in the story, but his abuse and cruelty are what set everything in motion,
- Hate Sink: He's an Abusive Parent who burned his own wife alive and would later sell out his own village to the Northmen just so they spared him while the rest of the villagers all get massacred. It's clear that he's not meant to be liked from the start
- Karma Houdini: Other than Senua herself, Zynbel may be the only person who survived the events of the story.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He claim that he needed to make Senua hate "the darkness" so fiercely that she'd never give in to it (as he considers her mother to have done). However not only does Senua not agree, but she calls Zynbel out of that excuse in that he was more concern with his standing in the village (which he later had destroyed) than he was for his family's wellbeing.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: Has his own wife burnt at the stake for assumed witchcraft.
Galena
- Portrayed by: Ellie Piercey
Senua's mother, who suffered from a similar form of mental illness as her daughter.
- Broken Bird: She had very much the same illness as her daughter.
- Burn the Witch!: Suffers this fate, with Zynbel blaming her "darkness" on her and seeking to appease the gods.
- Posthumous Character: She's long dead, having died when her daughter was five years old.
Druth
- Portrayed by: Nicholas Boulton
Druth is an escaped slave of the Vikings who raided Senua's village. He is dead, but offers her guidance still.
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: Through the lorestones, Druth tells the story of another man by the name of Findan, who'd been captured by the Norsemen, but eventually escaped. Although Findan died in the process, another man was born — Druth himself.
- I Die Free: He doesn't mind facing death; not only has he escaped those who enslaved him, Senua will "carry [his] stories" and ensure he's not forgotten, and maybe one day with his help she'll be free as well.
- Insult of Endearment: Senua and her voices often refer to him as "the old fool", but with obvious fondness and affection.
- Large Ham: He has a tendency to narrate the Nordic tales this way. Most prominent in the description of Ragnarok.
- Mr. Exposition: He taught the mythology of the Norse gods to Senua, which she experiences in flashbacks and through the game's scattered lorestones — and possibly gave shape to the delusions she experiences. If they are delusions.
- Posthumous Character: An old man who'd lived a hard life even before receiving his terrible burn injuries, he died not long after meeting Senua, but swore to guide her through the underworld.
Denizens of Hel
Surt, Fire Giant
- Alien Blood: He bleeds fire, appropriately enough.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Surt is a metaphor for annihilation and destruction, as both experienced by Senua after raids by the Northmen, and from Druth's stories, combined with Senua's own issues with fire. His areas often have bits of the environment inexplicably smoldering or smoking, and his trials have the area go up in flames, with people screaming as they burn to death.
- BFS: Wields a massive sword in one hand that's also on fire.
- Humanoid Abomination: Takes the form of a massive, brutish warrior with a head made of burning wicker.
- Mighty Glacier: He's slow as Hel, but has a massive amount of health and hits hard.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: His unique boss theme is dominated by a very aggressive sounding Norse chant and marching drum beat. Once he wreathes himself in fire, the soundtrack throws in what sounds like muffled agonized screams, further driving home what he represents to Senua.
- Playing with Fire: He has power over fire, though he only uses it to cover his body and weapon in flames.
- Scarred Equipment: His blade is pitted all over and the tip appears to have been broken off. It doesn't make it any less deadly though.
- Warm-Up Boss: He's likely the first boss Senua will face, and his moveset is slow and predictable with his flame aura being his only gimmick.
- Wreathed in Flames: One of his abilities is shrouding himself in fire, at which point he becomes invulnerable until Senua can focus to dispel it.
Valravn, God of Illusion
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Valravn is the embodiment of disorientation, being lost and alone; all relevant to Senua, who has spent time in the wilderness and is sometimes confused by her hallucinations. When approaching him and solving his trials, it's always unclear whether he's offering help or playing tricks, which is true of Senua's delusions as well.
- Evil Laugh: A scratchy cackle like a raven, one of only two recognizable vocal sounds he makes (the other is his weird resonant "singing").
- Feathered Fiend: A more anthropomorphic example than most.
- Flash Step: He disappears and reappears rapidly while fighting Senua, though it's hard to tell if he can actually teleport or if he just turns invisible and moves very fast.
- Lightning Bruiser: He moves quickly and hits with considerable force.
- Master of Illusion: His main skill. It's impossible to know what's real and what isn't in the area he controls.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: Throws 'em out during his fight with Senua, which she can parry into flying back at him.
- Sadly Mythtaken: There is no Norse god named Valravn. A valravn is a Danish monster said to be created when a raven gains supernatural powers after eating the heart of an unburied king or chieftain. Possibly justified if he is indeed an anthropomorphic personification based on Druth's stories.
Garmr
- Adaptation Species Change: A wolf not unlike Fenris in Norse myth, but looks like a gnarled boar in the game.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Garmr is one giant metaphor for Senua's nyctophobia, being a creature that inhabits a lair steeped in shadows and he will eat you alive if you don't have a torch lit while navigating his halls. He's also a representation of her hatred for her father who kept her locked away in the dark in a vain effort to purge her illness.
- Breath Weapon: He can exhale pure darkness that clouds Senua's vision with horrific hallucinations.
- Casting a Shadow: He uses this in its boss fight. Especially dangerous as darkness is Senua's major Trauma Button.
- Darkness Equals Death: Senua will die if she remains in the dark in his domain for too long.
- Full-Boar Action: He looks like a giant, decaying boar corpse.
- Manual Misprint: For some reason, the achievement received for beating him has the condition of defeating Fenrir, not Garmr.
- No Name Given: Unlike the other bosses, Garmr is never actually referred to by name. He's only ever called the Beast.
Hela
- Anthropomorphic Personification: In addition to serving as the end goal of Senua's quest, Hela is also a catalyst for her resolve as well as serving as Senua's acceptance, both of her illness and of Dillion's death.
- Fan Disservice: Yes, she's depicted as a naked woman. No, that doesn't make her appealing, considering that half of her is pale as ash and overlaid with runes while the other half is blackened, decayed and pitted.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Her right side looks more or less human, albeit pale and covered in tattoos. Her left side is a burned-out husk.
- In the Blood: The gods exiled her to Helheim because, with a giant for a mother and Loki for a father, they figured she couldn't be anything but bad news.
- Mook Maker: The fight with her consists of you mowing down endless hordes of her underlings while she watches and occasionally spits... something at you that hurts you and makes the screen go wobbly. Attacking Hela herself is not possible.
- Running on All Fours: She usually moves around on her hands and knees, possibly because her massive size makes her incapable of standing upright.
- Sizeshifter: Most times we see her, she's a monstrous creature easily twenty feet tall. Her final scene shows her at normal size while listening to Senua.
- Tender Tears: Weeps as she releases Dillion — because she is a representation of Senua.
- Vocal Dissonance: She speaks with a rumbling, masculine voice.
