Kelly Olsen is a supporting character in CW's Supergirl TV series, introduced in the show's fourth season. She is the sister of James Olsen and the girlfriend and later wife of Alex Danvers. Kelly is a brilliant psychologist specializing in trauma and a former soldier of the U.S. Army. After moving to National City, she was hired by Obsidian North and helped them to develop a way to use their VR system to cope with traumas.
Kelly is portrayed by Azie Tesfai.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Kelly Olsen was born in 1983 to soldier Marcus Olsen and his unnamed wife. She has an older brother, James. At the age of four, Kelly nearly died of suffocation after eating a handful of blueberries, consequently discovering she was severely allergic to them.
Growing up, Kelly and James were very close, though the former was constantly worried about her brother due to his impulsive, danger-prone antics. Kelly ended up taking care of James during the 15 times he ended up in the hospital.
When Kelly was eight years old, her father was killed during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Before the funeral service started, her brother told her that he would have been with her to support her. However, Kelly could not find James and called his name while looking for him. Unbeknownst to her, two boys had locked James in a coffin, so Kelly was alone at the service. This bothered Kelly for many years, as she believed her brother had abandoned her at the service after promising he'd be there to help her through it.
After their father's death, Kelly, James, and their mother moved to the home of their aunt Vi in Calvintown, where they spent their youth and early adolescence.
Love Story with a Sergeant[]
In adulthood, Kelly followed in her father's footsteps and spent years serving with the United States Army.
At some point, Kelly was stationed on a checkpoint in the outskirt of Bashur with a commanding officer whom she considered "a jerk". One night, a man tried to cross the checkpoint with his pregnant wife in order reach the only midwife of the region, but the officer stopped him as he didn't have the right papers. Kelly furiously protested they needed to let the couple cross since it was the right thing to do, but the man did absolutely nothing. Kelly's Sergeant then intervened and convinced the officer it would be safer for his unit not to risk the man's wife and child. In this moment, Kelly realized that while she couldn't change people, she could still appeal to what they cared about.
Afterwards, Kelly fell in love with her Sergeant and the two began a relationship, which they were forced to keep hidden from their fellow soldiers. Their romance progressed until Kelly and her Sergeant became engaged. Unfortunately, the woman died one day during a patrol, leaving Kelly heartbroken and unable to face her grief for months. After returning home from duty, Kelly received a posthumous letter from her fiancée encouraging the former to move on since she would surely find someone else who could make her smile. With this, Kelly finally began to let go of the tragedy.
Sometime after 2015, Kelly met James' friend, Kara Danvers, though she remained unaware of the latter's identity as Supergirl. Kara often told Kelly about her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers. In 2017, Kelly served in Afghanistan, where she met and became good friends with Pete Andrews, a fellow soldier assigned to her same unit.
Later, upon completing her service, Kelly became a psychologist specializing in trauma, though growing up many suggested her to be a shrink instead.
Visiting National City[]
Personality[]
Kelly is a caring girlfriend and a loving sister. She appreciates the other people and she cares about the ones she loves. However, she can be a little spiteful, for example, she never forgot that her brother wasn’t at their father’s funeral. Everyone believed he was trapped in a cafeteria bathroom, but this wasn’t actually true.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
- Telepathic link to Malefic J'onzz: Malefic J'onzz attempting to use mind control on Kelly while she was still wearing Obsidian North contact lenses resulted in Kelly gaining the power to sense and see Malefic even when he shape-shifts. Her powers have also allowed her to see who Malefic controls, and what he does.
Abilities[]
- Peak of human physical condition: As a former military Kelly is presumably in top of physical condition, she has proven herself to be extremely nimble and agile, such as when she shielded few citizens from some debris during the evacuation of Earth-38. She's also very athletic, regularly engaging in jogging as well as various sports courses and activities.
- High-level intellect/Psychologist: Kelly is very inquisitive and insightful to everyone, she is able to understand others' emotions and predict their behavior, knowing exactly how to treat people and advise them. Her knowledge is so remarkable that even Brainy praised it and after she entered James' mind, she was able to use her skills to help him overcome his trauma. She was also able to help J'onn regain most of his erased memory, and her charisma often leads her to make others spontaneously open with her about their problems even after they have just met her.
- Expert physician: Having worked as a medical officer for the U.S. Army in Bashur, Kelly has a substantial amount of medical knowledge.
- Skilled investigator: Kelly has proven to be a quite capable investigator, as she was able to help William Dey investigating the disappearance of some Obsidian users.
- Computer specialist/Expert computer hacker: Kelly is a highly skilled computer specialist, programmer and hacker. She displayed a huge knowledge on VR and how it works, managing to enter the Obsidian Platinum database and modifying it without Gamemnae noticing it.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Kelly is a character created exclusively for the TV Show Supergirl as in the DC comics, Jimmy Olsen is an only child in its Golden Age, Silver Age, and modern incarnations. But in DC Rebirth, Jimmy has a sister named Janie Olsen, who is probably inspired in Kelly.
- Kelly enjoys old black & white movies.
- She's a fan of Die Hard and considers Hans Gruber the "greatest movie villain of all time".
- Kelly is allergic to hazelnuts, bees, cats, and especially blueberries.
- Two of her favorite foods are bacon and whipped cream.
- She is apparently extremely bad at cooking.
- Kelly's favorite color is purple
