Amanda Krueger (a.k.a Sister Mary Helena as her name in Christ) (1907 - 1968) was a nun who worked in Westin Hills Asylum and she is also the mother of the dream demon, Freddy Krueger.
She appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child.
Amanda appears as a spirit that locked inside the infamous tower of the Westin Hills Asylum, and also the one of the few Nightmare on Elm Street characters that could defeat and control Freddy.
Her Story
Amanda Krueger was born in Springwood, Ohio in 1907. In 1925, she became a nun and began serving at the Hathaway House, which would later become known as the Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital. During this time, she adopted her name in Christ, Sister Mary Helena.
In December 1941, just before Christmas, the staff at Westin Hills locked down the facility for the pending holiday. The guards missed taking notice of Amanda's presence and she was accidentally locked inside the tower.
She was not alone however. Left defenseless, she was brutally beaten and raped by "a hundred maniacs". One of the inmates impregnated her.
Nine months later, she gave birth to a son whose name was Freddy. She gave the child up for adoption and he was raised by an abusive man named Edward Underwood.
Years later, Fred Krueger, now an adult, was responsible for the deaths of several children in Springwood. He was eventually captured and arrested, and the trial made local news.
When Amanda heard about her son's actions, she returned to the tower room where it all began and took her own life by hanging herself. Her body remained undiscovered for many years.
Fred Krueger was released on a technicality, but the parents of the murdered Elm Street children refused to let him go free, so they sealed him in a boiler room where he worked and set it on fire.
Freddy died, but his spirits returned as a demonic dream entity, stalking the remaining children of those responsible for his demise.
In 1987, Fred Krueger began targeting a group of patients at Westin Hills. The ghost of Amanda Krueger appeared before staff member Neil Gordon and advised him on the reality of the type of threat that they were now dealing with.
Freddy was defeated as a result of her meager help, but his essence would return time and again.
Krueger's soul found his mother's essence in the dream world, and used it as the vehicle by which he would return. Freddy used Amanda to give birth to him again in the Dream World.
Upon his return, Freddy remained afraid of his mother's power and tried to keep her sealed away. Alice Johnson, the Dream Master, needed to find Amanda's resting place so that this power could be used to combat Freddy.
Alice didn't have enough time to search, so she had a friend located Amanda's remains. The body was found and Amanda's spirit was freed just in time to help Alice defeat Freddy.
After he was defeated, Freddy was left in his infant form which Amanda then absorbed back into herself.
Trivia
- Amanda Krueger is the only character who's spirit appears to roam from both physical and dream world.
- Though it doesn't stay long, Amanda is the only one who's been strong enough to hold Freddy at bay. So much so, he might actually fear his mother's strength
- Amanda is also the only Nightmare character who's spirit has been able to aid the heroes without Freddy doing harm to her.
- In a way, Amanda is the main cause for Freddy becoming a killer, since she had Freddy put up for adoption the second he was born and having an abusive childhood that emotionally scarred him into becoming a sick person who enjoys killing, thereby causing all the events in the series to happen.which is clearly why she helps defeat him showing that she loves him because she regrets giving him up for adoption after she found out about Mr underwoods abuse of her son.
- The character of Amanda Krueger was created by director and screenwriter Chuck Russell and writers Bruce Wagner, Frank Darabont based upon concepts developed by Wes Craven.
- Although Amanda once referred to her son as the "bastard son of a hundred maniacs", it is very unlikely that she was beaten and raped by one-hundred men. Biologically, it is also impossible for her to have been impregnated by more than one person. However, it is established that there were a high volume of mental patients that took part in this incident
- No reference is made to Freddy Krueger's mother in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.