Seras Victoria

Seras Victoria (セラス・ヴィクトリア, Serasu Vikutoria) is one of the main protagonists in the Hellsing series created by Kouta Hirano. However, in the anime, she acted less as a main character and served more of a narrative purpose for the audience. Seras is a Draculina, a term used to refer to the female members of the Dracul bloodline, because she had been turned into a vampire by Alucard to save her from a would-be fatal gunshot wound in the chest, that he also caused. In both the television series and the OVA, her voice actor is Fumiko Orikasa. Seras' English voice actor in both series is Katherine T. Gray.

Appearance
Seras is a young woman with short, blonde colored hair and blue eyes, which turn red when she becomes enraged and permanently when she becomes a full fledged vampire. Her figure is well developed. She usually wears a tight yellow Hellsing uniform with a short skirt, long white stockings, and tall brown boots (the uniform turned red due to the amount of blood absorbed into her body during the events of OVA 7). In the anime series, Seras has light orange hair she also wears a tight blue Hellsing uniform with a short skirt, long black stockings, and tall black boots.

Personality
Seras is a strong willed woman, and apparently had always been since childhood which is confirmed through her flashbacks. Seras is often considered a tomboy; a very brave, strong and heroic young woman who often rejects following orders of her master that cross with her personal beliefs. Her devotion to morals and integrity is rather unusual, considering her horrid past. However, she is a loyal and trustworthy soldier who will diligently follow the orders of her commander, provided said commander has proven his or her worth. Her level of maturity in comparison to the other characters is somewhat questionable; she seems to be the child the others could not be, yet possessing a sort of worldly maturity and superficial intelligence that most other characters lack, as well as a sort of 'nature winning against nurture' mentality, as opposed to most other characters. She's the "light that stands out from the darkness" (quoting Kouta Hirano from a recent interview).

Before Hellsing
At the beginning of the series, Seras' history is unknown, though hinted at through a very brief flashback in OVA I. Later in OVA IV, Walter tells Alucard that he had not met her family, as she had been orphaned. In Vol. 7 and OVA VII, Zorin Blitz casts an illusion on Seras, causing her to flash back to her very dark history. It is discovered that Seras' father, a police officer, "got in too deep" during an undercover mission. The group he had infiltrated traced him back to his home and brutally murdered him. Her mother hid Seras in a closet and then confronted the criminals, who immediately killed her as well. A distraught Seras charged out and stabbed one of the criminals in the eye with a fork before being shot in the gut. The flashback ends with Seras seeing glimpses of the criminals raping her mother's corpse.

Sometime later, Seras was sent to live in an orphanage. The horrific murder of her parents caused her to react violently to bullies and other children. None of the teachers took kindly to her and discussed removing her from the orphanage if she continued to cause more trouble. In another flashback, an older Seras expresses her strongest wish - to become a police officer, despite being persuaded against doing so.

Seras was originally a police officer who, along with the rest of her squad, was sent into Cheddar Village to investigate a priest who was responsible for multiple homicides. A vampire disguised as (or possibly was formerly) a priest had taken control of the town and turned its inhabitants into Ghouls. The vampire took Seras hostage and threatened to murder and rape her. When Alucard arrived, the priest used her as a human shield to coerce Alucard into letting him live. Alucard asked her if she was a virgin, and when she confirmed that she was, he shot through her to kill her captor. In her final moments of human life, she was given a choice: to die as a human, or become a vampire. She chose to live and Alucard turned her into a vampire.

With Hellsing
Given her condition, Seras was immediately employed to the Hellsing Organization after becoming a vampire. She was given a new uniform and almost immediately sent out on a mission by Integra with Alucard to eliminate some ghouls which had infested a household. While carrying out this mission she would come face to face with Father Alexander Anderson from the Vatican agency Iscariot who pierced her with numerous blessed blades from behind before proceeding to fight with Alucard.

During the course of this battle Alucard's head was taken off by the priest and Seras, fearing her Master dead, took it and fled. As she pulled out the blades from her body Alucard's voice spoke to her, bidding her to drink his blood and become a true vampire. Seras however was too hesitant to do so before Anderson caught up to her, it was only the timely arrival of Integra and Alucard's subsequent resurrection which saved the situation.

Some time later, Walter revealed to Seras that per Sir Integra's order, he disposed of her bed and replaced it with a coffin. It was then Seras was also given her new weapon, the anti-tank cannon Harkonnen. The timing of this proved fortunate as soon after the Hellsing Manor was attacked by two vampire brothers, Luke and Jan Valentine. The younger brother Jan led an army of ghouls which slaughtered the Hellsing troops and almost succeeded in reaching Integra and the visiting council members. Together Seras and Walter were able to stop this from happening. Walter led their attacks and Seras provided armed support, eventually managing to pin Jan down in a grapple she learned from her police training. After revealing the Hellsing troops were now Ghouls Jan broke free of her hold, sending Seras into the arms of the ghouls. She subsequently lost control and in a fit of blood-lust destroyed a number of them until Integra intervened.

Jan had now been disabled by gunshot wounds at the hands of Integra and the council, he died as an unknown entity set him alight from the inside, the vampire only giving a single clue as to who sent him, 'Millennium'. Meanwhile downstairs Alucard killed and consumed Luke Valentine.

After a confrontation with the Iscariot Section XIII leader Maxwell at the British Imperial War Museum during which Seras successfully managed to avert another fight between Alucard and Anderson by pretending to be a tour guide.

Alucard
Kouta Hirano stated in an interview at Otakon 2006, "Her relationship with Alucard is very complicated, since "many things mix together", like being part of the same kind. Comrade, or, from Seras' point of view, probably Alucard is the master/teacher. Certainly, of course, there is the feeling of love, but also, it could be something closer to the ties of familiship." When questioned about them having a father/daughter relationship, the author answered "There's no one way to distinguish how they (Alucard and Seras) feel about it (their relationship). We cannot say it's just father and daughter." Moreover, the theory that is a master and simple servant/slave relationship was rejected by him, saying that "At first, they were saying it should be master and slave, but then they changed their minds because they said 'no, no, master and slave is the relationship between Alucard and Integra'. So, we cannot call Alucard and Seras master and slave."

Alucard expresses both trust and patience for Seras' development as a vampire. He describes her as a "fascinating creature" beneath her girlish exterior before explaining his reasons for turning her into a vampire. In the second volume of the manga, he insults her and states that he regrets ever turning her, yet expresses guilt when he sees she is upset. He follows up his rant, not by apologizing, but by saying that perhaps it was time for a vampire who "didn't roam the night alone." In Vol. 3 of the Manga and the third episode of the OVA, Alucard screams at Seras after she objected to his ruthless slaughter of human beings. Once more, after she started to cry, he regretted his actions and his tone softened. In volume 8, Alucard greets her with a gentle smile, and pats her on the head, saying only her name: "Seras... Seras Victoria." as opposed to the usual "police girl." In chapter 71 he stated that her "voice is calling out for" him, recognizing it.

At times Seras feels rather nervous and uneasy around him, due to his constant early berating about her being a pathetic vampire. However, she demonstrates great loyalty for him that transcends the actions of a slave obeying and serving a master. While she does not partake in the slaughter of the human SWAT team, she aides Alucard in his combat with Tubalcain Alhambra and later attempts to fight Alexander Anderson (though her attack is comically cut short). As the series progresses, her shy and nervous behavior towards Alucard is quickly overcome once she becomes a fledged vampire and he addresses her with her full name.

During Alucard's fight with Anderson, Seras comes to his rescue in a desperate attempt to save him. After stopping the strike by Anderson, Seras' alarmed calls Alucard back from torpor. The last visage in his dream was Seras' face, ending the flashback and chapter with the words: "There is a voice. There is a voice calling out. It's...you?." Before facing Anderson he compliments her: "Why so loud police girl? Your voice sounds fine regardless; like fragments of shattered melody.." By volume 9, Alucard fully recognizes Seras' growth and tells her: "Go with our master. Go and conquer, Seras". Later, he describes her as his "servant who loves only him." In the end, Seras was the only one who had unwavering faith that Alucard would return.

Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing
Her relationship with Integra Hellsing is strained and professional in the TV series. It's purely employee-employer with a degree of prejudice on Integra's behalf. Despite that, Seras makes it her duty to protect Integra and even shows regret when she could not save her from Bubbancy's attack. In the manga and OVA, the two main heroines interact very well. Seras expresses great loyalty towards Integra and the two form a friendship that transcends the master and slave relationship that Integra has with Alucard. Seras joins Walter, Arthur Hellsing, and Sir Penwood as characters Integra can trust and openly show affection towards. In volume 2, Seras loses control of her vampire instincts during the attack on Hellsing manor. In her rage, she kills the newly reanimated Hellsing soldiers in front of Integra. Integra, horrified at the sight of Seras mercilessly slaughtering her men, rushes to Seras and embraces her, pleading for her to stop rather than demanding it of her. When Seras regains herself, she too is horrified by her actions. When Integra is ordered to kill the remaining ghouls, Seras expresses great sadness for her.

In volume 4 and episode four of the OVA, Integra tells Seras that it is time for her to accept that she is a vampire. She cuts her finger and in a most risque fashion, orders Seras to lick it. Seras hesitantly obeys and feels better. This scene demonstrated that Integra trusted that Seras would not bite her even when offered 100% pure virgin blood. In volume 7, Seras saves her from the Iscariot priests, creating a protective barrier all around her with her shadowy left arm. Seras does not even have to say that Captain Bernadotte has died before Integra realizes it. Integra remarks in a melancholy yet proud tone that Seras is a true vampire now. In episode VIII of the OVA, when Alucard returns, Seras awkwardly welcomes her master back, but nervously hides behind Integra when he stares at her. In chapter 82, Integra and Seras go to face The Major but are confronted by the Captain. Seras suggests that Integra go on to face the Major while she deals with the Captain, to which Integra says that she "won't forgive her if she dies". After defeating the Captain, Seras returns to Integra. On her order, Seras opens fire on the Major and injures him, allowing Integra to move in for the kill. Once he is defeated, Seras carries Integra and flies out of the exploding zeppelin.

Seras stays with Integra during the thirty year transitional period in the manga, where the two have grown even closer as companions. Seras teases Integra in a similar fashion that Alucard used to tease her, and Integra confesses some insecurities about her aging appearance. Still, once Seras senses that Integra is in danger, she was at her side in a moment's time. Her heroism is cut short when she realizes Alucard has returned.

It is worth noting that Seras is the only character where Integra gives any sort of physical contact: she embraces her, willingly gave her blood that involved physical contact (which was not the case when Integra gave blood to Alucard), and allowed Seras to carry her out of the zeppelin. Seras is also the only character who Integra expresses any sort of sexual innuendo towards (which can be an indication of Integra's sexual orientation).

Pip Bernadotte
Seras and Pip first meet after Walter hires professional mercenaries to fill in for the soldiers that had been killed during the Valentine Brothers' attack. Integra introduces Seras as a "genuine vampire," much to Pip's disbelief. Seras challenges him to a duel in which she is only allowed to flick her fingers. With her inhuman speed, she constantly pokes the captain into submission. At first he considers her a freak, but his doubts are laid to rest when Alucard phases through the wall to meet him.

In Vol. 3 of the manga, Seras and Pip do not interact well. Seras is assigned to train his men how to properly shoot the 4,500 meter mark. Seras takes great annoyance when Pip calls her a "freak" and with great ease, takes down the target with a rifle. Her victory is short lived when Pip points out that she had killed the "innocents" as well as the targets with her shot. Shortly afterwards Seras bursts into Alucard and Walter's conversation, complaining that Pip and the other mercenaries were "sexually harassing" her by singing a dirty song. During the mission to Rio de Janeiro, Pip and Seras rarely interact, though he hijacks a helicopter to help her and Alucard escape after the battle with Tubalcain Alhambra.

In OVA IV, there is a brief moment where Pip and Seras are having a seemingly happy discussion. While there is no dialogue, Pip seems to be flattering her and Seras seems to enjoy his company, and in the credits of OVA 7, Seras is seen giving Pip a playful wink. In Vol. 4, we discover that they had returned to Alucard after failing to find transportation out of South America. After Anderson and Alucard's brief fight, they return to England to attend the meeting with The Queen and the Round Table Conference.

Throughout Vol. 5, 6, and 7, Pip and Seras are stationed at the Hellsing Organization headquarters while Alucard battles Rip Van Winkle and Integra encounters Alexander Anderson and the rest of Iscariot during the raid in London. When Zorin Blitz attacks headquarters against the Major's wishes, Seras holds her off with the Harkonnen II. While Pip is impressed with her, he teasingly refers to her as "Girl," rather than call her by her name (which Seras finds annoying). Moments before the battle in headquarters, Pip shares an intimate story with Seras about his time in London and all of the people he has met there. He tells her that he cannot forgive how they have "turn[ed] into corpses... eating [other] corpses," and encourages her to get revenge. This inspires Seras to take down the airship.

During the fight in headquarters, Seras (with Alucard's help) breaks Pip from the illusion cast by Zorin. However, the distraction allowed the Nazis to infiltrate the building. Seras takes the offense while Pip and the Wild Geese take the defense. Before going to their posts, Pip attempts (but fails) to steal a kiss from Seras who screams at him. Pip tells her "don't die," before she runs into battle, then later remarks on how she's a "good girl" and how "If you let a girl like her die, you're a disgrace as a man." Vol. 7 opens up with a bloodbath, as Seras is devastated with how many of the Wild Geese have been violently butchered by the Nazis. She vows to beat all of them. Meanwhile, Pip and the others are being beaten back by the Nazis, though Pip is confident that Seras will come to their aid, since she is "[that] kind of girl." Pip is wounded by the time Seras arrives, but is overjoyed to see her. Before her fight with Zorin, he comments on how he wishes he could have kissed her.

Using her illusions, Zorin distracts Seras with the horrible memory of her father's death and the rape and murder of her mother. Zorin then slices off Seras' arm, stabs her in the back, and then blinds her with her scythe. Before Zorin can kill her, Pip hits her in the face with a rifle and shoots her. He throws Seras over his shoulders and attempts to escape. All the while, Seras begs him to leave her behind and save himself. He refuses, but is fatally wounded when Zorin throws her scythe at his back. Blinded and weakened, Seras tries to find him when they fall to the ground, calling his name and feeling around for him. Pip waits until she's close enough before he moves in and kisses her. Seras is stunned by this, but gives into the kiss. Pip laughs, happy that he finally stole a kiss from her, then tells her to feed on him. His final thoughts before dying were, "She's such a good girl. If I die protecting her, c'est la vie." Seras is devastated by his death, holding him in her arms while she screams in agony. It is only when Zorin insults Pip by referring to him as an insect that Seras is moved to rage and finally drinks Pip's blood. This restores her and allows her to kill the remaining vampires.

After drinking Pip's blood, a part of Pip now resides in Seras and he acts as her familiar. As such, it is implied that the other characters can sense Pip's presence within her. The two remaining mercenaries of the Wild Geese salute Seras and address her as "Sir" before she leaves, and Integra realizes that Seras drank his blood without any knowledge as to what had happened at the mansion. When Alucard returns to London, he notices the change in Seras as well. Pip doesn't make another appearance until Vol. 9 and later in Vol. 10, during Seras' fight with The Captain. After taking a terrible beating, Seras hears Pip's voice telling her to stand up because "the girl [he] know[s] doesn't give up so easily." He encourages her to get back into the fight and tells her when and how to attack. When delivering the final blow, Seras actually summons Pip as her familiar to help her kill The Captain. After defeating him, Pip tells her to go and end it.

This relationship is absent in the TV series as Pip does not appear in it.

Powers and Abilities
Although she primarily uses weapons such as Harkonnen, Seras is well-trained in hand-to-hand combat and can easily take down opponents using brute strength, as shown in Episodes 12 and 13 when facing against the powerful FREAK zombie. It isn't stated how well-trained she is or what techniques she knows, although she states that she received basic self-defense training in Volume 2 of the manga when she became a police officer. She demonstrates some maneuvers and attacks such as kicks and karate chops that suggest that she is taught in some kind of martial arts. Specifically, she put Jan Valentine in a hold, preventing him from moving. She has strong legs and can run very fast, even faster than bullets. But without a doubt, the biggest example of her unique strength (before drinking Pip's blood) is in episode 6 of the TV series or episode 2 of the OVA when, while in a rage, she destroys almost a few dozen ghouls in mere seconds.

After being fatally wounded by Zorin's scythe, Pip tells Seras, who was blinded and crippled, to drink his blood so they can win together. She drains him of his blood and becomes one of the "True Undead." Her severed left arm is restored as the same type of shadow-matter that Alucard can manipulate. It seems that upon becoming a full vampire, Seras has inherited some of Alucard's powers, and perhaps whatever modifications Hellsing had made to him as well. After she kills Zorin, Seras uses her new powers to fly to London and defend Sir Integra from the Iscariot priests.

After drinking Pip's blood, Seras displays a few changes. Not only are her powers enhanced, but it is also evident that she is no longer afraid to use them. Some of Pip's self-confidence seems to have rubbed off: after descending upon an armed party of Iscariot soldiers who are about to kill Integra, Alexander Anderson notes her change, declaring her an unholy creature. Seras, in response, calmly smiles and says that she's "not afraid of anything anymore". A very well-known and respected group of fan-translators known as the Birds of Hermes have stated that the memories seen in Seras' mind are a Rician metaphor in which blood carries and transmits memories (essentially fragments of the soul) that act like film negatives, but lack the original consciousness, creating a copy of the mind. One scene relates particularly well to this issue. After killing Zorin, Seras walks up to the remaining Wild Geese with a smile, telling them that she would fulfill her promise and crush the Nazis. A shot of the place Pip died but with his body nowhere to be found is shown and the Geese, catching on to something, stand to attention, salute, and say "Yes Sir!" as she flies off to Sir Integra's aid. In chapter 85 - Warcraft (3), Pip's spirit speaks to a wounded Seras after an assault from the Captain. After a vicious battle which demolishes Hindenburg II's main hanger, Seras kills her nemesis with Pip's help by using a silver tooth.

In the TV series, she doesn't portray much power beyond superhuman endurance, strength and senses as well as a slight clairvoyance ability. She does bend a machine gun barrel with ease in an episode, showing that she does possess strength. However in the manga she demonstrates considerable power the extent and range of which is unknown. In a manner consistent with vampire lore in popular culture, Seras' powers seem to be derived from those of her sire. At first, she displayed superhuman strength (presumably she can lift at least 6 tons), super-speed (she can dodge bullets at close range), a "third eye" ability like clairvoyance that lets her penetrate illusions and see things from afar as well as sense auras by the look of it, and regeneration (at whose level is unknown but it is quite potent despite the fact that she only drank blood once before Pip, when it was offered by Integra). She can also make her teeth very sharp, like most other vampires. After consuming Pip's blood, the effectiveness of her abilities sky-rocketed and she learned how to dispel Zorin's magic with a thought. (Zorin saw a mixed series of memories, memories contained within the minds of both Pip and Seras before Seras grabbed her and subsequently killed her.)

Another ability whose presence is analogous to Anderson's 4-dimensional status is telekinesis, or more accurately tactile telekinesis. Despite having a slight frame and little weight, she has phenomenal lifting strength and load-bearing abilities, but her limbs come under none of the normal strain of such weight and such objects do not crumble when carried. Furthermore, extremely high-recoil and normally turret-fixed weapons afford no such problems to Seras, even though powerful muscles would afford her little help without a strong footing. In addition, her wings do not flap. Instead, she soars much like a bullet.

She can also absorb souls (or at least memories) carried in the blood of others. Her most dramatic power, however, is the use of solid shadows from which she makes a bat wing that emanate from her left arm, allowing her to fly at enormous speeds and then later use it as a non-lethal weapon against Iscariot. In chapter 82, we see her forming it into an arm in order for her to be able to wield two guns at once, and in Chapter 85 it is shown that she can turn them into normal shadows, which snake along the ground similar to Zorin Blitz's tattoos and form them into sharp spikes for stabbing, lethal attacks. Her fully vampiric form might lack a human left arm, as it was severed by Zorin Blitz just before she became a true vampire.

Her overall power level remains under question; Anderson seems to regard her as a true Nosferatu who still conceals herself in human visage and the Major calls her 'one of the fighters in the final tragedy of Walpurgisnacht'.

Like Alucard, her transformation was completed upon her truly embracing her vampiric nature and brought about the enhanced effects and access to the higher-level powers; subsequent souls would thus serve only to increase her overall power level and regenerative abilities without changing the nature of her powers. For instance, 30 years after the Millennium incident, she has such control over her shadow matter that she can mimic Alucard's entire outfit by transforming it, but she still cannot shape-shift any part of her body besides her arm. The overall progression of her abilities and combat prowess is best depicted by the fact that Seras (with Pip's help), managed to not only do battle with the experienced Captain, Millennium's greatest soldier (besides Dark Walter) on nearly equal terms, but best him (it should be noted that The Captain was in his human form, not werewolf form). Prior to drinking Pip's blood, Seras could not walk in the sun without a hooded jacket and overcast skies. However, after she does, she is able to stand sunlight and has a shadow, as depicted in Chapter 73.

Weapons
Victoria's preferred weapon is the Hellsing ARMS Anti-Midian Cannon Harkonnen. With the Harkonnen in hand, Seras serves perfectly as long-range fire support. Before gaining the Harkonnen, Seras used a relatively smaller rifle, firing 13.7mm rounds, as is seen written on the gun in the OVA. In the manga this gun is unnamed but the letters BAERLKS are spelled out on its side; in the OVA, however, the gun has Harkonnen written in the same place.

For more information, please see Harkonnen and the Harkonnen II. Later on, for the purpose of defending Hellsing HQ, Seras was given the cannon-like firearm, the Harkonnen II. Although she loses her weapons during the confrontation with Zorin, relying instead on her "Shadow Arm," Seras makes use of firearms again during the confrontation with the Captain, using a pair of MG-42 Machine Guns salvaged from dead Millennium soldiers.

TV show
The TV series version changes numerous details of Seras' back story, and changes her importance: while Alucard, Integra, and Seras are the central characters of the manga, the anime focuses more on Seras' point of view, and her struggling to come to terms with her new life as a vampire. Her darker side, seen in the manga and the OVA series, is not present in the anime series. However, it is notable that her eyes become red as soon as Alucard makes her a vampire. She also starts drinking medical blood after watching Alucard feed off Kim, but no difference is seen in her appearance or behavior, other than her suit color, which is yellow with white stockings and brown gloves in the manga and OVA, and a blue uniform with black stockings and white gloves in the TV series.

Her affiliation with the English police is also different. In the manga, Seras is a solitary constable assigned to Cheddar, but in the OVA, Seras was partnered with two male officers, Simon and Eddie. Both men were turned into ghouls by the priest vampire.

The TV series, however, has Seras placed in Division 11, the precursor to SO19 team sent to Cheddar to combat the vampire. Seras' D-11 teammates often watched out for her, affectionately referring to her as "Kitten". Sadly, Seras' entire D-11 team was turned into ghouls, either by the priest vampire or the other ghouls roaming Cheddar. In the manga and OVA, Seras confronted the priest vampire outside, while in the TV series Seras confronted him inside the village church.

Owing to the vastly different TV series continuity after episode 7, the interaction with Pip Bernadotte is not present. Instead, Seras must struggle with the temptation to drink Alucard's blood, thus fully realizing her vampiric powers, something she does in the last episode of the anime. She drinks his blood, but does not show the power increase that she showed in the manga.

Trivia

 * Seras' signature weapons, Harkonnen and Harkonnen II, are named after the main antagonist of Frank Herbert's novel Dune, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. This is further reinforced by the appearance of the gun's "spirit" during dream sequences in the manga (and thus OVA) and episode previews in the anime, who bears a strong resemblance to Baron Harkonnen from David Lynch's film adaptation of the book.


 * A character similar to Seras was present in Hirano's earlier work, Hellsing: The Legends of a Vampire Hunter, called Yuri Kate, who is also turned into a vampire and taken in by a prototype of Alucard.