Senua

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Senua is a Pictish warrior and the main titular protagonist of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and Senua's Saga: Hellblade II. A young woman with a troubled life, exacerbated by severe psychosis, she initially finds herself on a personal journey into the depths of Helheim, in order to save the soul of her lover, Dillion.

She is voiced by Melina Juergens.

Physical Appearance[]

Senua is a young woman with fair skin, pale blue eyes and long dark brown hair. While Senua is slender, she is muscular and has light scars throughout her skin, some more notable on her face. Her hair is tied in a high ponytail and clumped together in plaits and locs coated in lime and adorned with beads. Senua and her people (the ones who lived in her village before abandoning it to the Northmen) were part of a people known as the Picts.

Personality & Traits[]

Senua exhibits a very reserved and somewhat meek personality, which stems from her years of isolation and abuse. While on her journey to Helheim, Senua has many experiences that cause her to panic or be afraid, such as when she is trapped in the dark or escaping an inferno. Despite the unpleasantness throughout the journey, she also displays dogged determination, pushing through treacherous landscapes and trials to reach her goal. Whenever she is threatened by an enemy, she readily draws her sword and faces them in combat. Senua is also capable of expressing anger and distress towards obstacles, often in her interactions with the Darkness.

Senua suffers from deep trauma originating from her early childhood, which began to escalate the early stages of her psychosis. Senua's psychosis manifests in both auditory, visual, and sensory hallucinations, leaving her constantly plagued by various female voices dubbed by the game devs as "The Furies". The voices are her guides; they serve as evasive thoughts, doubts, warnings, and even sometimes encouraging. Senua has a tenuous relationship with her voices, occasionally telling them to leave her alone, but she will also listen to their advice in combat and in solving puzzles. For most of the game, she sees the voices as part of a "curse," sometimes trying to fight it. In addition to her psychotic hallucinations, Senua suffers from delusions – a belief maintained even when firmly contradicted by reason or logic. Senua also interacts with her visual hallucinations even when she knows they may not be real, speaking to them when they manifest as people from her past.

Senua also suffers from depression and guilt caused by Dillion's murder, believing that it is her fault for Dillion's death due to her "darkness" inflicting the village. Ridden with this guilt, Senua decides to take his skull (which the Celts believed housed the soul) to Helheim in a desperate attempt to bargain for his soul, fueled by Druth's tales of the Northmen and their mythology. Senua obtains the dark rot from Hela, offering herself in place of Dillion. Through Druth's words, she goes through the gates of Valravn and Surtr, eventually through the trials of Odin to restore the god-killing sword, Gramr. Along her quest, Senua is forced to face the memories of her childhood, the abuse of her father, meeting Dillion, joining his group, and her eventual self-exile.

By the time Senua reaches the final door to Helheim, she has rediscovered a long, repressed memory of her father's fanatic beliefs that drove him to burn her mother alive to cure her of her "darkness". Senua's unyielding and loyal nature pushes her to the brink of death, remaining defiant to Hela despite her admission that she has "nothing else to give" to the goddess. It is then Senua learns to shed not only her guilt for Dillion, but to recognize that what her father had raised her to think was a lie. And while Senua will always be plagued by her "darkness", she learns to say goodbye to Dillion and remembers what her mother has told her to look at the world with bright eyes. By this, Senua has come to accept that she cannot change her situation nor the fate of a loved one and continues on her quest, with seemingly the only real friends she has left, the voices.

Powers & Abilities[]

Focus: Her condition gives her a capacity known as "Focus", referencing her tendency to view the world in a different light, which she can use in and out of combat. In combat, if she parries or dodges successfully enough time, she can use her focus ability to move faster than her enemies or dissipate the shadows some of them are made of, which makes them impervious to regular attacks. Her focus is also used to find runes in environments that will unlock doors or gates that bar her path.
- Time Manipulation: Senua is able to manipulate time with her focus, creating a limited area of Celtic symbols around her, causing time around her to distort in her favor.
  - Time Reduction: Senua can use her focus and slow down all enemies around her for a limited time. during this time, Senua can move faster and inflict serious damage against her foes.
    - Superhuman Speed: Senua can run and move at great speed when her focus has a single focus charge for the duration of the time reduction.
    - Accelerated Perception: During the time deceleration, Senua is able to perceive everything in slow motion, allowing her to perceive what would normally be very quick to see and respond accordingly.
- Rapid Healing: Whenever focus is activated in battle, Senua is able to instantly heal any damage caused by her enemies.
- Shadow Erasure: Senua is able to dispel the shadows from the enemies with her focus. she also dispel the shadows of Valravn, Surtr and Gramr.
Superhuman Reflexes: Senua's reaction times are faster than normal. As she constantly hears voices, the furies can warn when an enemy will try to attack Senua from behind unawares, causing her to successfully dodge all attacks from the Nords. Focus magnifies Senua's reflexes.
Peak Human Stamina: Senua possesses stamina superior to that of a normal human, being able to fight and run for longer without tiring.