Teresa Moreno

Teresa Moreno is a major character in the Richard Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell and their television adaptations, functioning as the tritagonist of the television versions of Sharpe's Rifles and Sharpe's Eagle, the novels Sharpe's Gold and Sharpe's Command, the short story Sharpe's Skirmish and both versions of Sharpe's Company and Sharpe's Enemy (as well as being a minor character in the novel of Sharpe's Sword).
She was played by Assumpta Serna.
==History==
===Novels===
Teresa was a Spanish guerrilla, whose father had promised her to the powerful partisan leader El Catolico. She ran into Captain Richard Sharpe when he and his men attempted to steal El Catolico's gold supply, which the British needed to construct the powerful defences at the Lines of Torres Vedras. Initially siding with her fellows and being held prisoner by the British, Teresa ended up allying herself with Sharpe, pretending he had mutilated her so the Spanish would let them go and becoming his lover. After Sharpe had killed El Catolico, Teresa took charge of the partisans with Sharpe giving her the name La Auguya ("the Needle").
Teresa was reunited with Sharpe nearly two years later in the aftermath of the British capture of Ciudad Rodrigo. She revealed she had had his daughter, Antonia, who was hidden in the city of Badajoz, the next British target. Teresa fought off an attempt to rape her by Sharpe's old enemy, Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, and remained in Badajoz during the British siege. During the attack, Hakeswill tracked her down and tried to rape her again by threatening Antonia, but was stopped by Sharpe and his friend Patrick Harper. Teresa and Sharpe were married by a local priest in the aftermath.
Teresa later came to Sharpe's rescue when he came under attack from a French garrison while scouting the bridge at Almaraz. She and her partisans remained with him and took part in the assault on the French Fort Regusa. In the aftermath, she confronted the treacherous partisan leader El Héroe, who had betrayed her and Sharpe to the French and threatened to hand her over to his men. She killed him in personal combat, stabbing him in the groin and leaving him to bleed to death.
Teresa joined up with Sharpe again in the aftermath of the Salamanca campaign and joined him as he recovered from his wounds at a border fort and fought off a French attack. She met him again as he was involved in a dispute with the French over the deserters' enclave of Aguada, which allowed access from occupied Spain into Portugal. During the subsequent battle, Teresa saw Hakeswill, one of the deserters who had been captured, escaping and tried to stop him but was shot dead by him. Antonia was left in the care of her brother.
===Television===
Teresa first encountered Lieutenant Sharpe when working with the Spanish Major Don Blas Vivar. She saw Sharpe kill two French troopers from a distance and convinced Vivar to recruit him in their attempt to gain a symbolic victory by temporarily capturing the French-held city Santiago. She had been emotionally distant since being raped by French soldiers who killed her family but softened during her time with Sharpe, as well as giving him advice on his new duties as an officer. They became lovers and later, during the Talavera campaign, she encouraged him to protect Josefina Lacosta from the unwanted attentions of his fellow officers.
Teresa encountered Sharpe again after Ciudad Rodrigo and told him they had a daughter, Antonia, hidden in Badajoz. Sharpe tried to convince her to leave the city but she had a spying mission for Major Nairn and insisted on staying. She was later attacked by Obadiah Hakeswill but saved by Sharpe and Harper. By now, Sharpe was referring to her as his wife, having asked her to marry him after finding out about Antonia. She later accompanied him and his men in investigating the deserters' enclave at Aguada. She spied on advancing French with Nairn and went to warn Sharpe, who had captured the enclave, about them. Instead, she encountered Hakeswill, who had taken Sharpe's old friend Isabella Farthingdale hostage. Teresa lowered her gun and Hakeswill shot her in the chest. She was taken back to Aguada where she died in Sharpe's arms.
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Female
Category:Freedom Fighters
Category:In Love
Category:Spouses
Category:Parents
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Protectors
Category:Determinators
Category:Loyal
Category:Mentors
Category:Type Dependent on Version
Category:Deceased