Helena Kosmatos

## Background

### 1925 - 1945: Helena Kosmatos

Born in the summer in 1925, Helena lived on the coast of Greece with her loving parents & older brother. They lived quiet lives until World War II erupted. Due to her father's connections & the help he gave the Allies, he was slain by Italian fascists in 1941. It brought great devastation to her family but they did there best to push through. Things then went downhill again following the revelation that her own brother Michael was collaborating with the Nazis. Helena watched from her room as her mother confronted her brother about his connections. Not wanting the information to get out, Michael killed their mother with her own blade as Helena watched in horror. Michael then left their home, giving Helena enough time to hear her mother's final words. She pointed her to her journal then passed away. From that moment, she swore that her brother would be punished for his treachery.

Within her mother's journal was the revelation that her real name was Aella & that she was an Amazon, a race of immortal warriors that resided on Themyscira. Her mother, in stark contrast to the rest of the Amazons, was a gentle woman who was against battle. Instead of training to be a warrior, she fled the island to give up her post as a vessel of Tisiphone to become a wife & mother. There was also a map that led her to the place of her mother completed the separation ritual. Following the map, Helena came upon the Areopagus, also called the Hill of Ares. Her arrival & blood heritage invoked the Furies of myth & she herself became a vessel for Tisiphone, the blood avenger. With her newfound powers, Helena helped her country fight against the Nazis. Even with her power, Helena still never fully exerted herself until she came across her brother. It was him that saw Helena live up to her name of Blood Avenger as she transformed into into Tisiphone & murdered him.

Helena continued reading her mother's journal so that she could find her way to Themyscira because she felt that were her last bit of family left & she was disgusted with Man's World. It took time but Helena found her way. Unfortunately, she was shipwrecked during her venture as the magic surrounding the island affected nearby travelers. Upon washing the shore of Themyscira, she was greeted by many Amazon warriors. The proper ritual would be to erase her memory then send her back into Man's World but that changed upon her revelation that she was the daughter of Aella. Remembering Aella & deciding to honor her, Hippolyta adopted Helena as one her daughters.

### 1945 - 2012: Penthesilea

Helena was given the Amazon name Penthesilea after Hippolyta made her an official citizen of their island. She was taught in the ways of Amazonian combat & became an elite warrior among the ranks. She enjoyed life on Themyscira, spending most of her time training, in medication or aiding her queen in her affairs. Though happy, she still retained her hatred for her brother which eventually turned into all humans.

Never one to keep her mouth shut, she voiced her disgust when Diana had a child with a human from Man's World but even more after she revealed the man was in disguise & of Apokolips. Though annoyed, Penthesilea moved past this. But then Hippolyta & Diana announced that Themyscira was joining the United Nations. She thought it was stupid as Man's World was tainted with their desires & believed they would ruin Themyscira. After constant arguing with Hippolyta, she decided to leave Themyscira shortly after Donna's induction into the United Nations as as she felt they had become what she hated.

### 2012 - Present: Blood Avenger

Leaving Themyscira, Helena found herself alone & a little lost. Eventually meeting Nora Darhk, the two shared their stories with each other. Deciding to put her goal of killing corrupt humans on the back burner, Helena helped Nora with her mission of killing those connected to her mother's death. For two years, the two of them stuck together & became known in multiple countries for their killings. After one of their kills, Nora & Helena ended up separated. As Helena made a run for it, Nora was captured by the new team, Legends.

Helena was alone for some time, still causing trouble for many heroes & her former sisters. But then she hit the scene with a new partner, a warrior that went by the name of Tsukiri. Sources say there many be more than just a working partnership between the two ladies.

## Romantic Relationships

* Orm Marius: Lover (*Unknown*)
* Nora Darhk: Girlfriend (2012 - 2014)
* Tsukiri: Lover (2018? - )

## Powers & Abilities

* **Amazon Physiology:** Although Amazons are generally similar to human women in appearance, they are distinguished from them by their remarkable beauty & enhanced physiology. They possess enhanced strength, coordination, stamina & agility, further honed by their years of combat training. The Amazons have received gifts & blessings from five Olympian goddesses: Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hestia & Aphrodite.
	+ ***Enhanced Agility*:** Amazons naturally have greater agility, dexterity, balance & body coordination than than the average human.
	+ ***Enhanced Durability*:** The bodies of Amazons are much more resistant to physical damage than the body of an average human.
	+ ***Enhanced Intellect*:** A gift from Athena, Amazons possess wisdom to be guided by peace & justice, as well as a heightened intellect that allows them to learn & adapt quicker than the average human.\*\*\* ***Multinlingualism*:** Amazons were gifted with the ability to innately understand all human languages, including those currently dead such as Ancient Greek, Latin, Sumerian or Turkish Ottoman. This incredible learning capability allows them to learn non-human languages as well.
	+ ***Enhanced Speed*:** Amazons are able to move at faster speeds than the average human.
	+ ***Enhanced Stamina*:** Amazons' musculature produces considerably fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity than that of humans. This allows them to have a level of superhuman stamina so that they don't nee to slow down or catch their breath when in battle.
	+ ***Enhanced Strength*:** Amazons are superhumanly strong, more than any normal human. They are able to block gunfire with their shields, lift other beings into the air with one arm & deliver blows powerful enough to stagger/disorient larger beings.
	+ ***Immortality*:** Amazons were gifted immortality by the Olympians but can be killed in war or in an accident.
	+ ***Self-Sustenance*:** So long as the Amazons stay on Themyscira, she does not require food, water or any other form of nourishment to maintain her health and vitality. Although they are not susceptible to the throes of hunger, this does not mean that Amazons don't consume food for enjoyment.
* **Blood Avenger Empowerment:** In her Blood Avenger form, her physiology is increased even more.
	+ ***Flight*:** She can use fly with considerable agility while airborne.
	+ ***Heat Vision*:** In this form, she can project magical heat beams from her eyes.
	+ ***Piercing Claws*:** As Blood Avenger, she is able to rend steel with her claws as though it were tissue paper.
* **Hand to Hand Combat:** Fury is highly skilled in combat, training under the Amazons for nearly a century.
* **Armor:** She wears magical armor that is nearly weightless & protects her from injury, even those parts of her body which do not appear to be covered by the armor.

### Weaknesses

* **Mental Illness:** Emotional stress can trigger her transformation to Blood Fury & she would lose control.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** Unknown
* **Strength:** Unknown
* **Speed:** Unknown
* **Occult:** Unknown
* **Weapons:** Unknown
* **Range:** Unknown
* **Strategy:** Unknown
* **Combat:** Unknown
* **TOTAL:** Unknown

## Trivia

* Helena does not dislike men but she dislikes man's world. She is tolerant & even accepting of non-human species (i.e. Atlanteans, Kryptonians) but both women & men of the human species disgust her.
* She appears to be in her late 20s or early 30s.

## Notes

* She is a composite character with DCAU's Aresia & Flashpoint's Penthesilea.
* The character Aella is from the animated 2009 movie, Wonder Woman.
* Tsukiri was featured on the same Justice League episode as Aresia. She was a spoof of Katana.