Josephine LaRue

Josephine LaRue was a witch who first appeared in They All Asked For You during the second season of The Originals. She held great authority over the witches of New Orleans as Regent of the Nine Covens of New Orleans and all of the witches' consecrated dead. She was the patron of the Fauline Cottage until her death at Dahlia's hands in Night Has A Thousand Eyes.
==Early History==
According to Elijah, Josephine was once a wild spirit in her youth and, in her old age, she described herself as similar to the vampire Gia. She was an avid violinist, and a fan of both Beethoven and Eddie South. She states that she once nearly eloped with a jazz musician as a young adult; however, her mother, who didn't approve, hexed her hands to make them so swollen and arthritic that she was unable to play her beloved violin as punishment.
At some point, she grew to a position of authority over the witches, and became the benefactor of the Fauline Cottage, an asylum for witches who had been broken by magic or who had used their magic to break the laws of the witch community.
==Throughout The Originals Series==
===Season Two===
In They All Asked For You, she made her first appearance at her home, where she agreed to meet with Elijah Mikaelson and Gia, despite her hatred for vampires. Gia performs a Beethoven piece on her violin for Josephine, the same piece that Josephine once played to great acclaim in her youth, which the elder witch immediately recognized as a bargaining ploy by Elijah. Josephine stated her views towards Elijah and the trouble his family has caused her people before requesting that they leave. Gia, annoyed that she and Elijah went through so much trouble for nothing, started to backtalk Josephine and stated that she even learned how to play Beethoven for her despite the fact that she hated his work. When Josephine, amused, asked her what music she did like, Gia played a jazz piece by Eddie South, which Josephine also recognized before she voiced her appreciation for Gia's candor. Josephine is then impressed enough to agree to discuss terms with them. She then agreed to convince the witches to give them information on Eva Sinclair, who, unbeknownst to Josephine was currently host to Rebekah Mikaelson, in exchange for Elijah returning Vincent Griffith to them after freeing him from the control of Finn Mikaelson.
In Save My Soul, Josephine was part of a mob that wanted Eva because of her most recent attack on two young witches. She didn't believe Marcel Gerard when he told her that Rebekah was currently possessing Eva. Elijah then arrived and informed her that his sister wasn't responsible for the attack before vowing to find the attacker, not knowing that Eva had secretly taken control of her body from Rebekah and kidnapped one of the witch children after killing a second. Josephine, not wanting to wage war with Elijah after they had just made an agreement, gave them twenty-four hours to find the guilty party before the covens come after Eva.
In Exquisite Corpse, Josephine was the final witch kidnapped by Eva to complete the Rite of Nines ritual she had been trying to finish for over two years. Fortunately, Vincent alerted Marcel to where the warehouse was, and Josephine was rescued, along with Davina Claire and the other seven witches who had been taken captive by Eva. She was later seen welcoming Freya Mikaelson as an honorary member of the New Orleans covens as a reward for helping to stop Eva's reign of terror.
In Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Elijah attempted to enlist Josephine's aid in creating a safe house where magic cannot be practiced. At first, she refused, as she didn't want a neutral space for the supernatural factions to be in a location where the witches would be powerless. However, when Elijah, only concerned with his niece Hope's safety, threatened Josephine until she agreed to a compromise—she and the witches under her command would cast a disruption spell and a blessing over the safe house that would prevent anyone from performing magic meant to do harm. Later that day, Josephine was walking down the street when she was drawn to a woman playing a beautiful piece on the violin. When Josephine complimented her technique, the woman turned to thank her, causing Josephine to realize that it was the ancient witch Dahlia, who was the aunt of the Mikaelson siblings and the witch after Klaus' daughter Hope. Dahlia asked her if she played, and Josephine held up her swollen, hexed hands before admitting that she hadn't in years. Dahlia then takes her hands and removes the hex, much to Josephine's delight.
However, when she confessed to knowing she was Dahlia, Dahlia sadly insinuated that she had to kill Josephine to send a message to her nephews, as well as the other witches for helping them. Josephine, acknowledging that her time was running out, calmly asked if there was anything she could do to cause Dahlia to spare her life, but Dahlia, seemingly sad to have to kill a fellow witch, stated that Josephine could do nothing for her that she couldn't do for herself. Josephine then asked if she could play her beloved violin one last time, and Dahlia kindly allowed her to play a few notes before taking the bow from her and using it to slice Josephine's throat, seemingly leaving her body on the sidewalk to bleed out.
In When the Levee Breaks, Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah came down to the courtyard of the compound, where they found Josephine entering to deliver a message, wearing a tightly-wound ribbon around her throat to conceal her fatal wounds from the previous night. When Josephine began to speak, blood started to soak the ribbon, causing the Mikaelson siblings to realize that Dahlia had already killed her and had reanimated her corpse with her Kenning spell so that she could safely speak to her niece and nephews through a proxy. Klaus, furious at the fact that Dahlia had given them an ultimatum through Josephine, karate-chopped Josephine's neck, which decapitated her.
==Personality==
Josephine was a well-respected witch in New Orleans, and cared a great deal for the witches in the nine covens to which she was Regent. Marcel referred to her as a bit of an eccentric who adores music. Josephine had a great prejudice towards vampires, born from the many actions they've committed against the witches along the general hatred witches tend to have of vampires due to their belief that they are abominations of Nature. Though she told Elijah that vampires were nothing more than "monsters wearing the skins of humans," she was still willing to meet with Elijah and Gia. This demonstrated that she was very politically-minded, and she cared enough about the witches in the covens she led enough to not want to risk their lives by insulting those she believed were more powerful than herself. Josephine was shown to be very stiff and formal in her old age, though she was described as a "wild child" in her youth, and expressed her appreciation of Gia's candor, both because she found it refreshing in a vampire and also saw Gia as a kindred spirit. Josephine was a big fan of music, to the point that her dying wish was to be able to play the violin one last time before Dahlia killed her. As the Regent of the nine covens who had a direct line to the Ancestors of the New Orleans community, Josephine's priority was always ensuring that the Ancestors was being fulfilled.
==Physical Appearance==
Josephine was an older woman in her late 60s and stands at 5'6". Her most striking features are her ice-blue eyes. Due to a hex cast on her by her mother, her hands were so swollen and arthritic that she had lost much of her fine motor abilities in her fingers. She was always dressed regally in a formal dress and shawl with her auburn hair styled in a sleek updo. Her signature fashion accessory was the ribbon choker in pastel colors that she typically wore around her neck. She was a fan of cool colors, and was usually seen wearing shades of green, blue, purple and black.
==Powers and Abilities==
Josephine was a very powerful witch and had the standard powers and abilities of a Regent of the Nine Covens of New Orleans.
It's also worthy to note that she displayed some ability to foretell the future, similar to that of a Seer would. This was demonstrated when she touched Hayley, predicting doom in her future. It is unknown whether or not this ability was her own or an extension of being Regent; however, currently, no other Regent has demonstrated this power.
==Appearances==
===Season Two===
*They All Asked For You
*Save My Soul
*Exquisite Corpse
*Night Has A Thousand Eyes (Death)
*When the Levee Breaks (Body only; possessed by Dahlia)
*City Beneath The Sea (Mentioned)
*Fire with Fire (Mentioned)
===Season Three===
*The Axeman's Letter (Mentioned)
*Savior (Mentioned)
==Name==
* Josephine is the female name version of Joseph and the English version of French name Joséphine.https://nameberry.com/babyname/Josephine
* LaRue is a French topographic name for someone who lived beside a road, track, or pathway.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaRue
==Trivia==
* She is a fan of Beethoven and Eddie South, and was an avid violinist.
* Though she shared little in personality with Gia in her old age, she has stated on several occasions that she was quite similar to Gia in her youth, which is part of why they became so fond of each other.
* Michael Narducci stated she's part of the Garden District Coven not the Tremé Coven as most viewers originally thought.https://twitter.com/MichaelNarducci/status/582409649187610624
==Gallery==
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==References==
==See also==
Category:Characters
Category:Recurring Characters
Category:Female Characters
Category:The Originals (series)
Category:The Originals Characters
Category:The Originals Season Two Characters
Category:New Orleans Coven
Category:New Orleans Residents
Category:Supernatural
Category:Witches
Category:Deceased
Category:Ancestral Spirits