Hellen Gravely
| Hellen Gravely | |
|---|---|
 Artwork of Hellen Gravely with her GheistPaint applied | |
| Species | Ghost |
| First appearance | Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019) |
Hellen Gravely is the owner of The Last Resort and the secondary antagonist of Luigi's Mansion 3. Her name is likely a reference to "Hell" and "graves." She owns a ghost cat named Polterkitty, who is similar to Polterpup. Her actual appearance is hag-like and disheveled, which tends to be revealed when she is under pressure. She is greatly embarrassed about it and suppresses it using her GheistPaint makeup.
History
Early life
Prior to the events of the game, Hellen tricked Professor E. Gadd into coming to her hotel and managed to release his collection of ghosts (including King Boo, whom she is infatuated with), leaving the professor to be captured inside a painting. She later invites Luigi, Mario, Princess Peach and her entourage of Toads to the hotel, with the intention of having them captured as well. When meeting Luigi’s vacation party while wearing sunglasses to hide her ghostly self, just like her employees, Hellen welcomes the group to her hotel and escorts them to their rooms at the RIP Suites, planning to have King Boo ambush and trap them in portraits during the night.
Luigi's Mansion 3
After Hellen successfully captures Mario, Peach and the Toads, she returns to the RIP Suites to bring Luigi to King Boo; she watches with admiration as King Boo tries to imprison Luigi in a painting, only for him to narrowly escape down a laundry chute leading to the basement, where he finds the Poltergust G-00. Throughout Luigi's adventure, Hellen watches his progress from the Main Observation Room at the Master Suite, growing increasingly frustrated with her staff's inability to capture Luigi. By the time Luigi defeats Captain Fishook in The Spectral Catch and rescues the third and final Toad, an aggravated Hellen finds herself confronted by a disappointed King Boo; despite her efforts to placate him, she is quickly brushed off as King Boo takes Peach's portrait to the hotel's roof without saying a word.
When Luigi reaches the Master Suite, Hellen confronts him over a large monitor, revealing that she has Mario's painting in her private office. While clearly baffled with Luigi's progress, she comments that his presence here gives her the chance to personally defeat him and present him to King Boo, hopefully regaining his trust. She then continued monitoring Luigi from her office, leaving him to contend with her remaining ghost minions and her high-tech security measures as he sought the keys to open the path to her.
When Luigi finally reaches her, she angrily blames him for her losing everything after he fled from King Boo, unintentionally exposing her true appearance in the process and smashing her desk. After hastily reapplying her GheistPaint, she turns her office into an arena and battles Luigi personally, intending to defeat him and get back on King Boo's good side. She is ultimately defeated and captured in the Poltergust G-00 (although just before she's sucked in, she briefly exposes her true form one last time and reapplies her GheistPaint prior to allowing herself to be sucked in), sharing her capsule with Polterkitty. She is last seen during the credits, admiring a recaptured and frustrated King Boo from her own capsule.
Battle
| Hellen Gravely | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Floor | Master Suite |
| HP | 600 |
Hellen Gravely fights primarily with her technopathic powers using a laser-emitting pillar in the center of her arena (the Master Suite). Initially, she retreats from the room and appears on the monitors along the back wall, laughing at Luigi while the pillar sweeps the room with red laser beams. Depending on whether there is one laser or three, Luigi may or may not be able to Burst over them; in the latter case, he should stay close to the pillar in order to cover ground more efficiently. Later in the battle, the pillar may release three lasers on both sides of itself.
After the laser attacks, Hellen will cause the pillar to project four colored energy barriers (green, orange, purple, and yellow) in a cross formation before it begins slowly rotating. Using the pipes and grates at the edges of the room, Luigi can send Gooigi into a lower floor to deactivate the barriers by pressing the color-coded switches. Hellen herself will float around the room, occasionally reversing the direction of the barriers' rotation; when enough barriers are deactivated or Luigi gets too close to her, she will attempt to hit Luigi with her mirror. If she fails, it will become stuck in the ground, leaving her vulnerable to the Strobulb. After stunning her, Luigi can then vacuum her, though if any of the barriers are still active, running into one will cause her to break free. If Luigi takes too long to deal a significant amount of damage to her, she will go back behind the monitors and do another laser cycle, reactivating the barriers afterward.
After taking enough damage, Hellen retreats to the background, reapplying her makeup before resuming her attack pattern at a greater intensity. The red lasers move faster and more erratically, with three and even six-laser configurations becoming more common. When the colored barriers activate, Hellen will occasionally attempt to hinder Gooigi's sabotage efforts by flooding parts of the lower level with water, Gooigi's weakness; this is telegraphed by blue squares flashing over the affected areas and tap graphics appearing on some of the monitors. She also becomes more aggressive against Luigi, attacking when one or two barriers are deactivated; in her final phase, she'll start attacking the moment she returns to the arena.
When her HP is fully depleted, Hellen will struggle against the Poltergust's suction before abruptly stopping and signalling Luigi to wait a moment. She then reapplies her GheistPaint one last time before being sucked into the vacuum. Luigi can then use the Dark-Light Device on Mario's portrait to free his brother and access the Rooftop where King Boo is.
General information
Physical appearance
Hellen Gravely is a tall and slender female ghost with purple skin, blue hair in a beehive style, and yellow eyes. Being a ghost, she is transparent and glows. She has the face of a somewhat aging woman, with visible creases near her lips and thin, dark blue eyebrows, though she does wear makeup, notably red lipstick, purple eyeshadow and black eyelashes, as well as a good deal of jewellery, namely her necklace with a silver and hexagonal charm and a similarly shaped purple glowing jewel embedded in it. She also wears two circular earrings that are also silver with jewels in them, as well as a pearl bracelet on her left wrist. She has a sleeveless white dress with a long and blue fur boa and no upper back that tapers near the bottom, before flaring out into a circle shape as it rests on the ground. It has a window on the chest shaped like the jewel in King Boo's crown, as well as a diagonal dark blue stripe below the waist, beneath which the dress becomes a paler blue. Hellen's hairstyle, along with the white streak in her hair, may be a reference to The Bride of Frankenstein, while the tapering of her dress may be a reference to Morticia Addams from The Addams Family.
In the beginning of the game, she, like the Steward, Chambrea and the Goobs, does not glow and has opaque skin; however, instead of wearing a mask like the others, she instead wears black-framed shades with gold reflective lenses to hide her eyes. When revealing her true colors and alliance with King Boo at the RIP Suites, she additionally wears an open magenta cape attached to her arms and covering her back with a large collar, which ties together just above the gem on her necklace.
In the prelude to her boss battle at the Master Suite, she reveals that her makeup, referred to as GheistPaint brand in the Guide, is actually a powder that masks her true appearance, which tends to be revealed when she is under pressure. It resembles an elderly woman that is much more bony, as she has very defined cheekbones, a larger and sharper chin that sticks forward more, a furrowed brow that has a more defined "socket" as her eyes are set in more, showing shadows underneath them, as well as having a larger and crooked nose. Her eyes turn red and her hair gets messy, with the once solid and flowing shapes being replaced by smaller bangs the flay out in random directions and have blocky spirals at the end instead of being straightened. Her dress is also messier, with more visible wrinkles, and the bottom of the dress being torn into somewhat neat triangles, showing some of her ghostly tail underneath.
Personality
Hellen Gravely is a fervent fangirl and somewhat obsessive admirer of King Boo, going so far as to trick and capture Professor E. Gadd in order to free the king from his custody; her primary motive for trapping Luigi and his group was just to impress him and prove that she could be a useful ally. She also adores her ghost pet, Polterkitty, and treats her with care. Though she does not treat her employees as well and has no tolerance for their failure, she still cares for them to some degree; she reacts to their capture with evident dismay and capturing the remaining staff will have her lament that there is no one left to actually keep the hotel running.
Hellen is portrayed as vain, disguising her true appearance with a more attractive one by constantly applying her GheistPaint to maintain it. Though presenting herself as a classy and smooth speaker with a calm demeanor, Hellen can be enthusiastic or wrathful. As Luigi progresses through the hotel and rescues his captured friends, she becomes more and more infuriated as each of her employees are captured, and is especially enraged when Polterkitty is captured. This, along with King Boo's disappointment in her incapability and lack of care for her, culminates in her flying into a rage and having a breakdown, ranting at Luigi for ruining her plans before reverting to her serene disposition upon realizing that she accidentally showed her true appearance. Her vanity was strong enough that she temporarily halted the sucking in solely to reapply her GheistPaint and only after restoring her attractive appearance does she allow Luigi to suck her in.
Profiles
In-game bios
- Light hotel: "The owner of The Last Resort hotel, Hellen Gravely invited Luigi and his friends to her hotel with the purpose of generous hospitality."
- Dark hotel: "The owner of The Last Resort hotel, Hellen Gravely invited Luigi and his friends to her hotel for her idol, King Boo. Her true form is shrouded in mystery."
Quotes
- Guests! Welcome to The Last Resort! My name is Hellen Gravely, and I am the owner of this hotel. I am absolutely delighted that you decided to accept my invitation. You all must be very tired. Come! Allow me to show you to your rooms. Oh, no need to worry about your luggage! Our exceptional staff will take care of it for you... Ha ha ha... You're our VIPs, after all! We've prepared a first-rate experience for you. All the trappings of luxury! Shall we get going? Mario, Luigi, and Peach's rooms are over here. We've prepared rooms for you Toads as well! I hope you enjoy your stay! I daresay you'll remember it for the rest of your lives! Ha ha ha... - Hellen Gravely in Luigi's Mansion 3 as she greets the Last Resort hotel guests at the beginning
- You weren't supposed to run away from King Boo like a filthy coward! If you'd just let yourself get caught in that painting, King Boo would have showered me with praise for my brilliant trap! But instead... Instead... I'VE LOST EVERYTHING! BECAUSE OF YOU! - Hellen Gravely in Luigi's Mansion 3 when Luigi confronts her in the Master Suite
Gallery
Artwork from Luigi's Mansion 3
Concept art
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | パウダネス・コナー[1] Paudanesu Konā |
From "powder" and possibly the noun-deriving suffix -ness + an agentive form of「粉」(kona, "powder"), referencing her use of makeup to hide her true appearance | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 贾素妍[?] Jiǎsùyán |
贾素妍 has the same pronunciation as 假素颜 (jiǎ sùyán, "fake nature face"). 贾 is also a Chinese surname | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 賈素妍[?] Jiǎsùyán |
賈素妍 has the same pronunciation as 假素顏 (jiǎ sùyán, "fake nature face"). 賈 is also a Chinese surname | |
| Dutch | Cassie Weyle[?] | Pun on kassiewijle (a slang word for "dead" or "gone") | |
| French | Ambre Brusquade[?] | Pun on embuscade ("ambush") and brusque ("abrupt") | |
| German | Sarah Schreck[?] | Schreck means "fright" in German, and may be a reference to Max Schreck, who played Count Orlock in the German film Nosferatu | |
| Italian | Malberta Crisantemi[?] | "Malberta" is a portmanteau of male ("evil") and "Alberta", and Crisantemi refers to "chrysantemum", a flower used in Europe to commemorate the dead in All Souls' Day | |
| Korean | 파우더네스 코너[?] Paudeoneseu Koneo |
Transliterated from the Japanese name | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Ceres Panteau[?] | Possibly a play on ser espantoso ("hideous being") | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Vilma du Tel[?] | Vil means "vile" in Spanish, and Du Tel sounds similar to "Hotel". It might also be a reference to Velma Dinkley from Scooby Doo, who is called Vilma in the Spanish translations, and to Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, to whom she bears a physical resemblance |
Trivia
- Multiple sources misspell her name:
- The file name for Hellen's image on the official website for Luigi's Mansion 3 misspells her name as "Hallen Gravely".[2]
- The "Rowdy Rascals" article from the Nintendo News channel on the Nintendo Switch news menu misspells her name as "Helen Gravely". The same article is also found on Nintendo's website.[3]
References
- ^ @NE_Brian (August 21, 2019). Scans roundup – Monster Rancher, Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion 3, more. Nintendo Everything (English). Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ hallen_gravely.png. Luigi's Mansion 3 website (English). Retrieved June 27, 2024. (Archived October 8, 2019, 06:33:21 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Nintendo (June 26, 2020). Get to know a few of the lovable scamps on Nintendo Switch!. Nintendo of America (American English). Archived December 14, 2020, 20:18:12 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
