Eleni

Eleni is the main character, hero and protagonist of the Hope/Despair Series.  

Family
Eleni is an only child and grew up an orphan. She was raised in isolation in a place very much like a convent where only women lived. Her mother, though she didn't know it, was Alexandra, a princess in the royal house. Alexandra died giving birth. Caleb, Eleni's father, was in prison at the time. The royal family hushed over the story by sending the child away and locking away the key on Caleb. The whole fiasco was seen as disaster best forgotten because Caleb was not only lower class, but one of the Angalians. The ladies in the convent agreed to take in the unwanted child because it was a request from the royal family. Also, because only one parent was of the Angalians, they hoped that she would not Manifest, or grow wings. Eleni had never met her mother and was never told of either heritage. Later, after Caleb became Karthik, she doesn't know at first that it's her father. It isn't until book two, Blue, that she uncovers that information. Her only other family is Caleb's brother Vioda, her uncle. She doesn't meet him until book three and neither realizes who the other is until towards the end of that book.

Early Years
Right after Eleni was born, her family decided, since Alexandra had died, that the best course of action was to get rid of the child. However, she was still of the royal family and so they were reluctant to simply kill her. Instead, they sent her to an isolated convent-like place to be raised. The women there were also reluctant to take the child because of her Angalian heritage. They hoped that because she was only half Angalian that she wouldn't manifest and that the curse wouldn't be effective for her. This was, of course, a ridiculous idea, simply because Humans and the Angalians had been interbreeding for centuries and while it did dilute the curse, it never really canceled out the effects entirely. Because of the isolation though, the ladies were not aware of this knowledge (and it wasn't widely broadcasted throughout normal society as the Angalians were shunned). Also, a request from the royal family could hardly be ignored. Given those two facts, the ladies consented and agreed to take Eleni in. Despite this, they did not care for her well or watch her very closely. They were a bit afraid of her and her curse and as a result, spent no time with her and never spoke with her if they didn't have to. Most disdained her, though some pitied her but all avoided her. It was essentially like growing up alone except for food and shelter.

Character
Eleni's character is one of the hardest to explain and put into words. Because she was raised in pretty much isolation, there were many things she didn't learn that many people have naturally ingrained in them. She had no real concept of why things are or of any complex human interactions. Now, she's not stupid, just untaught and unbiased. Because of that, she's also less judging because she doesn't understand it or the purpose of it. She especially doesn't really understand emotions other than happiness and sometimes sadness, though she doesn't always get the why of it. When she experiences them, they're all new to her and she doesn't know how to interpret them at all. As a result, she often comes across with a really flat affect, but really, she still just taking everything in.

Author Speaks
The creation of Eleni was really the beginning of the series itself. It all started after watching the anime of DNAngel. I don't remember which episode it was, but it was one of the one's where Satoshi transforms into Krad, or, at least, gets the white wings and he mentions how much it hurts every time the wings come out and how white wings especially hurt the host. I also thought of Wolverine from X-men the movie and how he says it hurts every time the claws come out. The two ideas sort of fused together to create bloody wings that emerge from the back sometimes, though at the whim of the magic, rather than the person. I doodled a picture of a random girl with scraggly hair in several pain-filled, angsty pictures. I called her my "Misery girl," for drawing whenever I was feeling more angsty. Eventually, I developed Karthik and they became the basis for the entire series. The story was much longer in developing (though some things haven't changed) and her name took even longer than that. Go figure. In terms of personality, I wanted her to not be like every other fantasy girl. So, she's not perfect, not as pretty, not ridiculously powerful and actually not terribly important (at least not for random reasons, like fate or prophecy). She isn't jealous, doesn't play games or try to control the male character. I wanted her to be without the natural biases that inhibit the human race sort of as a way to show the rest of the world how awesome that is and partially just as a result of her inexperience with everything. It gives her a very endearing innocence I think.

Books
Eleni first enters the series at the beginning of book one, Smile. As the primary character, she is in all the consecutive books (Blue, book three) of the first series. However, she does not continue in importance in the second series, though she is still mentioned. Eluin ends up taking over as main character at that point.

Theme Song
Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin (the devil being Karthik of course)

Our Solemn Hour by Nightwish

Empty Space by Lifehouse

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