Helena Douglas

Helena Douglas (エレナ・ダグラス, Erena Dagurasu) is an American-French opera singer and a Pi Qua Quan martial artist from the Dead or Alive series, making her first debut in Dead or Alive 2. She is the currect leader of the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee, and the illegitimate daughter of Fame Douglas, the former head of the DOATEC, and Maria. She is also the half-sister of Kokoro.

Helena enters the Dead or Alive Tournament to find the assassin who killed her mother. Although she was being manipulated by Victor Donovan, she ends up inheriting control of DOATEC after her father’s death.

Helena is the offical protagonist of Dead or Alive 4.

Early Life
Helena is the illegitimate daughter of Fame Douglas and his former mistress Maria, a world class soprano opera singer. Seemingly distant from her father and his work, when he was murdered Helena was devastated, but hardly affected. On the other hand, she loved her mother dearly and followed in her footsteps, becoming a famous opera singer in her own right.

While performing at the Great Opera House, she was targeted by an unknown assassin using a sniper rifle. Maria, who was present with her, spotted the rifle at the last second and dove in front of her daughter. Maria was killed instantly. The assassin fled, leaving Helena alone in great shock and covered in her mother's blood. Helena set out for vengeance for Maria's death.



The Second Tournament
While searching for the assassin, she discovered that the murders of her parents, and attempt on her own life are somehow related to the Dead or Alive World Combat Championship. Helena entered the tournament to discover the truth.

Although never explained in the series, Helena somehow learned information pertaining to DOATEC, most notably the ill-fated Project Epsilon when she encountered Hayate suffering from amnesia. She confused the amnesiac Hayate (or "Ein" as he was known as at the time) by talking to him about the Epsilon Project, but he didn't remember anything about it. In the end they fight and Helena was defeated by him. She then goes on to face Gen Fu. Gen Fu wondered why Helena joined the tournament, but Helena wouldn't answer and decided to fight him instead.

During the tournament, she also encountered Ayane. In this encounter, she accused Ayane of being her mother's murderer. Ayane neither confirmed nor denied having killed Maria and teased her, after which a fight broke out between the two. Helena lost to Ayane and was knocked out of the tournament. Helena was not brought down by the defeat and still wanted to avenge her mother's death.



The Third Tournament
For some time, Helena tried to find out the truth about Project Alpha and its real purpose, but Victor Donovan ordered Lisa Hamilton and Christie to keep her from finding out.

After the second tournament, Helena was captured by Donovan and imprisoned. Although Helena, the reluctant heiress of DOATEC, stated that she didn't have any connection with the organization, Donovan told her that the only way to obtain her freedom and know the truth behind DOATEC is to win the third tournament. In the meantime, Donovan assigned Christie to keep an eye on Helena by acting as a servant to her and, should the need arise, kill her if she discovers too much.

During her time in the tournament, Helena hired the assassin Bayman to be her bodyguard as well as to kill Donovan.

During the rounds of the tounament, Helena encountered Hayate once again, who had fully regained his memories. Hayate demended to tell her why Genra joined DOATEC, but she claimed she didn't know, that Genra and even herself were just puppets that DOATEC could control. After defeating Helena in battle, he told her that he would defeat Genra, and she should leave DOATEC for her own safety.

As the tournament went on, Helena soon confronted Christie, where the latter admitted that she is an assassin sent to kill her. Bayman managed to capture Christie, but when Kasumi Alpha heard that Helena wanted her creator dead, she attacked, though Helena managed to defeat her.

Helena did not win the tournament, as the title of the winner went to Ayane.

The Fourth Tournament and The Fall of DOATEC
Helena, as the daughter of former chairman Fame Douglas, took control of DOATEC and joined the fourth tournament with the other fighters.

It is here that Helena met Kokoro, in which she learned that Kokoro is her biological half-sister and that maybe their blood brought them together. Afterwards, the Tritower comes under attack by the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan. During the attack, Helena came across La Mariposa, who admitted that she tricked Hayate into stopping Donovan.

She was then confronted by Kasumi who told her to stop the fight between DOATEC and the Mugen Tenshin. Helena refused and tells her that her clone, Alpha-152, would soon be awaking causing havoc in the world. She attempted to kill Kasumi, only to be stopped by Ryu Hayabusa and was defeated by Kasumi. After her defeat, Helena was then confronted by Christie, who revealed that she killed her mother. Boiled with anger, Helena fought Christie. Although the victor is unknown, they both survived, and while Christie escaped, Helena decided to go down together with DOATEC and subsequently activated the Tritower's self-destruct.

Plagued by flashbacks of her deceased mother, she moved up to the helipad between the three towers that make up the complex, willing giving up her life and be consumed by the flames of the burning buildings. Suddenly, Zack came flying in with a chopper and saved her before the building fell to dust. Although Helena did win the fourth tournament, she gave up the title to Zack.

Appearance
Also see: Helena's Outfit Catalogues

Overall, Helena has a refined, elegant, even upper-class appearance. She is of average height, and has a rosy-colored skin. Her face is heart-shaped, she has sharp facial features, and aqua-green eyes. Her hair is blonde, and reaches down past her waist, styled with segmented bangs that frame her face, and is tied into a low ponytail with a decrative bow; the bow changes color to match her outfits.

She tends to wear rich, royal colors, such as blues, reds, white, black, and gold. Her outfits normally consist of dresses and suits with lots of detail, knee-high boots, ruffles, bows, and cord ties.

Personality
Helena is, outwardly, haughty and unconcerned with other people. Above all else, she is obsessed with revenge against her mother's killer. She is very patient with her search, yet totally unrelenting. Willing to go through any means to achieve this end. However this quest seems to drive her to an emotional brink.

However Helena is not intentionally cruel and has the ability to be kind. These are shown by her friendships with Kasumi, Lei Fang and Gen Fu. She also seems to forgive Christie after it is discovered that she was her mother’s killer, telling her to flee the building. Helena is also shown to be one of the most graceful and aristocratic characters in the game, shown by her fighting. It's also hinted in her fighter quotes that Helena is religious, most likely Christian.

Etymology
Helena's first name - pronounced "ell-EN-ah" , with the "H" being silent - is a latinate form of "Helen", a English form of the Greek ‘Ελενη (Helene), which in turn is probably from Greek ‘ελενη (helene) meaning "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to σεληνη (selene) meaning "moon".

In Greek mythology, was the daughter of  and, whose kidnapping by  was the cause of the. This could link to Helena's life: her father Fame could be "Zeus", as both are powerful figures, and the kidnapping by Paris could relate to Donavan's mistreatment of Helena, which later on led to the war and the end of DOATEC.

Her surname "Douglas" is a anglicized form of the Scottish surname Dubhghlas, which meant "dark river", from the Gaelic dubh meaning "dark" and glais menaing "water, river". Douglas was originally a river name, which then became a Scottish clan name belonging to a powerful line of Scottish earls. This could mean that Helena is of English/Scottish descent on her father's side.

Christie
Christie was the assassin responsible for the death of Maria, Helena’s mother. In Dead or Alive 3, Christie was hired by Donovan to assassinate Helena by acting as her servant. However, the plan failed and Helena had her freedom. Christie later revealed to Helena that she was the true assassin. Although Christie was the assassin who killed Helena's mother, Helena seems to have quite a strong bond with Christie.

Gen Fu
They were partners in Dead or Alive 2 and worked together. Gen Fu asked Helena why she joined the second tournament and instead of replying to the question, Helena said it was none of his business.

Kokoro
The daughter of Fame Douglas and Miyako, Kokoro is Helena’s biological half-sister. Miyako had left for Japan and raised Kokoro there, whereas Helena was raised in France. As such, Kokoro doesn't know about her sister, but Helena seems to recognize Kokoro when they finally meet during the fourth tournament, wondering if their blood had drawn them together.

Ayane
When Helena encounterd Ayane at the second Dead or Alive tournament, she accused Ayane of killing her mother, Ayane neither confirmed nor denied having killed Maria and teased her, after which a fight broke out between the two. Helena lost to Ayane and was knocked out of the tournament. Helena was not brought down by the defeat and still wanted to avenge her mother.

Zack
Zack saved Helena from her self-attempted suicide on DOATEC. Since then, they became business partners and Helena came to New Zack Island for a possible resurrection of DOATEC.

Dead or Alive
Helena's fighting style, Pi Qua Quan, is flowing and smooth; many of her attacks are graceful and move in a windmill-like formation. This is accompanied by the sheer speed of her attacks thus advantageous, and allocates dominance in a match when facing slower opponents, such as Bayman, Leon, Tina Armstrong, Bass Armstrong and La Mariposa. Her key stance is her Bokuho stance, from which she can execute a number of moves, and her mix-up game, execution time-frame, and air juggles are excellent due to her combo variety. Her varying attack ranges make up for her lack of brute power; it can often prove difficult to counter against her at times because of this aspect.

However, she must be used in a combo-based fashion to execute sufficient damage, as her launchers and single strikes lack a high damage ratio. While her throws lack strength, they are some of the most quickly executed in the game, and can even be performed while in the aforementioned Bokuho stance.



Dead or Alive Xtreme
Helena is easy to befriend, but waiting a day or two to check her friendship-notes might be a good idea sometimes, and it is best not to talk to her first thing in the day, as she is not a morning person and will be grumpy. It's best to speak with her during sunset. Also, she will not want to befriend Christie easily, and vice versa. Despite the bad relations with Christie, Helena herself can recruit the other girls more easily.

In beach volleyball, Helena lacks in power, but makes up for it with her incredible speed and defense, making her a good defender on the court. Because of her good technique, the accuracy of her shots are high, and she is still able to knock an opponent down with a well-aimed, well-spiked ball. Overall, Helena is a good all-round character, like Christie and Lisa, and would make a good defense partner for either of them.

Musical Themes

 * Blazed Up Melpomene - Dead or Alive 2 and Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate
 * Blood Tie - Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive: Dimensions
 * Caribbean Blue - Dead or Alive 3 Ending Theme
 * Solitary Desperation - Dead or Alive 4
 * Amazing - Dead or Alive 4 Ending Theme.

Dead or Alive Series

 * Dead or Alive 2 (1999 - 2000)
 * Dead or Alive 3 (2001 - 2002)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (2003)
 * Dead or Alive Ultimate (2004 - 2005)
 * Dead or Alive 4 (2005 - 2006)
 * Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (2006)
 * Dead or Alive Paradise (2010)
 * Dead or Alive: Dimensions (2011)

DOA: Dead or Alive
Helena makes an appearance in the movie DOA: Dead or Alive, played by Sarah Carter. However her personality and overall character seems to be a mix with that of Hitomi, as she is now a happy, bubbly twenty-one year old with Helena’s character history but with Hitomi’s personality traits.

Throughout the movie she is treated as a necessary annoyance by Donovan, who has gained control of DOATEC after the "death" of Fame Douglas, and is generally regarded as a rookie by the other fighters. Despite this she manages to hold her own against some of the more experienced fighters, forcing even Donovan to admit that he may have underestimated her.

Dead Fantasy
Also see: Helena on Dead Fantasy Wiki

Helena appears in the fan-made CG movie series Dead Fantasy. She made her debut at the end of the third episode, activating an army of Kasumi Alpha clones that went out to kill Kasumi and Yuna of Final Fantasy X.

She also appears in the fifth episode, taking Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII away in a helicopter. She has yet to take a physical part in the fight, and her actions and connections with Hitomi and Hayate in the movies are highly suspicious.

Trivia

 * Helena's 3rd outfit in Dead or Alive 2 and Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate pays homage to Reina from , another of Tecmo's game series.
 * As shown in the Dead or Alive 3 ending, Helena owns a black Labrador Retriever.
 * In Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, she can buy a dog collar for it.
 * Helena was the first racially-mixed character in the series.
 * Pi Qua Quan is the sister art of Ba Ji Quan, which is Kokoro's fighting style.
 * Helena seems to know that Kokoro's mother, Miyako, was one of Fame Douglas' mistresses. This could be explained by the fact that she took over DOATEC, which may have given her access to secret files.
 * Helena's main tag partners throughout the series are:
 * Gen Fu in Dead or Alive 2 and Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate.
 * Christie in Dead or Alive 3.
 * Kokoro in Dead or Alive: Dimensions.
 * IGN featured Helena in their "Videogame Babe of the Day" series in 2006.