- "Why does this always happen? I truly am cursed."
- —Helen on her hazardous powers[src]
Helen of Troy is a Greek-turned-Trojan princess known for her incredible beauty. After the Legends broke time, she became an anachronism in Hollywood, 1937. Not wanting to be sent back to Troy only to be mistreated by men, Helen was sent to the island Themyscira to become a warrior, returning to her own time period. In time, Helen became a skilled warrior and later returned to help the Legends battle Mallus.
Biography[]
Helen had been with Menelaus before she had been stolen by her lover, Paris, and taken to Troy. This caused Menelaus to gather an army of thousands of ships to go to Troy and fight to take Helen back. Helen had been locked up in a tower for five years as she watched the Trojan War wage from afar and became distraught over the thousands dying over her.
Helen ended up on a Warner Brothers Studios' set as a time-displaced anachronism, catching everyone off-guard with her beauty. She inadvertently replaced Hedy Lamarr on a movie that would have jump-started the latter's American film career. In one version of history, Helen's arrival incited Warner Bros. and K&G Pictures to literally go to war over her, which resulted in many casualties. Because of all mayhem Helen inadvertently caused, she attracted the Legends' attention.
Helen was found in the studio during a shooting of a film centered around the Trojan War by the Legends. She kept introducing herself as Helen of Troy, but the director, producer, and crew simply assumed that she was trying to stay in character. Nate Heywood then saw how she had distracted a crew member into dropping something which angered another as it could've hit her. They then started fighting each other and Nate realized that she was genuinely Helen of Troy. She became upset by the fighting and fled the studio and ran into Rothberg who decided to take her as his new star. Her former producer saw them leaving together and took a gun and shot in their direction in anger.
Rothberg hosted a gala in which he was to introduce Helen as his new star. She attracted the eyes of all the men at the event, especially those of Ray Palmer, Nate Heywood, and Mick Rory. To get Helen alone, Zari Tomaz created a small gust of wind that made her spill her drink on her so she left to clean herself up. She was then confronted by Sara Lance who told her that she had to return to Troy. Helen didn't want to leave and stated that the gods had answered her prayers and brought her to this place. She also said that though she was new to Hollywood, she was learning its rules quickly and if they wanted to talk to her then they had to speak to her agent. She then went off to meet with him and revealed that it was Damien Darhk. Darhk sent her to go and mingle while he spoke with the Legends. Helen left and found herself talking with Ray about if he was an actor. Ray stumbled over his words as he spoke to her and they were joined by Nate and Rory. When Ray tried to send them away so he could keep speaking with Helen alone, Rory started a small fight which escalated to include everyone at the event. Helen was then taken away by Rothberg's security detail.
Helen was then approached by Sara Lance, Amaya Jiwe, and Zari, who told her that she couldn't stay here. Helen told them that she didn't want to go back to Troy and while this world wasn't perfect, she was happy to find that men weren't killing each other over her. Moments later, her former producer came with a slew of bodyguards and confronted Rothberg and his security to demand Helen back. Rothberg told him that Helen was his and soon they all began to open fire on one another. Helen cried out that she was indeed cursed but the three ladies pulled her away before they went to quell the fighting. Helen became amazed at seeing that the three of them were skilled warriors. They brought her to the Waverider for safety while the rest of the team tried to correct an alteration to time that Helen's arrival made to history that prevented certain technology from forming.
Helen became worried that the three ladies were leaving Helen by herself but Amaya went and gave her a dagger to defend herself with. She started to practice with it and Zari came by and was impressed with how fast she was getting it. Helen smiled but her happiness started to fade when she realized that she would be made to return to Troy when the Legends fixed their ship. When Kuasa appeared on the ship, Helen sneaked up to her and stabbed her while she was distracted by Amaya. Zari offered to take Helen away on the jumpship. Helen realized that Zari hadn't taken her to Troy, but to an island of warrior women. Zari told her that she found a loophole for Helen, as the Trojan War continued without her even though she disappeared, so time hadn't changed. She could stay on the island where there were no men to fight and kill over her. Overjoyed, Helen thanked Zari, as she had changed her destiny.[1]
Later, as an amazon, Helena helped the Legends to defeat Mallus.[2]
Powers and abilities[]
Former powers[]
- Curse of Beauty (presumed): Helen possesses a stunning beauty that will make any men who gaze upon her fight each other over her affections, sometimes to the death. According to Helen, the deadliness of this power may come from a curse. The only men who did not seem to be affected (or, at least, not nearly as much as most men) were Damien Darhk and Martin Stein.[1] However, after her time in Themyscira, it appears that the effects of Helen's presumed curse have faded or at least been reduced, as no man seemed to show a particularly strong attraction to her.[2]
Abilities[]
- Peak of human physical condition: Helen's training on Themyscira conditioned her body into becoming strong and resilient.[2]
- Expert hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Helen has become a highly trained combatant after receiving training in Themyscira, able to fend off multiple assailants at once.[2]
- Expert swordswoman: After her training in Themyscira, Helen became an accomplished swordswoman, as she was able to fight off several Vikings and pirates by herself with ease.[2]
- Expert knife welder: After being given a knife by Amaya Jiwe, Helen proved to be adept in basic knife-welding, able to stab Kuasa in the back, causing the latter to retreat.[1] She presumably improved this skill during her time on Themyscira.
- Skilled markswoman: Helen proved herself to be a proficient markswoman with no known prior experience. Using Jonah Hex's pistol, she was able to successively fire six shots, precisely breaking six glass bottles. Helen later used the pistol to fight off several pirates, taking them all down with single shots.[2]
- Keen intelligent/adaptivity: Helen is quite intelligent and adaptive; she was able to quickly adapt to the reality of Hollywood, 1937, even though it is fundamentally different from her native reality of Ancient Greece.
- Stealth: Helen was able to sneak up on and stab Kuasa without being noticed until it was too late.[1]
- Temporal linguistic dysplasia: Due to the nature of anachronisms caused by time travel, Helen was able to flawlessly speak and understand modern English after being transferred to Hollywood, 1937, a language that did not exist in the times of Ancient Greece.[1] She also displayed this ability during her time in Salvation.[2]
Appearances[]
DC's Legends of Tomorrow[]
Season 3[]
- "Helen Hunt"
- "Welcome to the Jungle" (mentioned)
- "Beebo the God of War" (mentioned)
- "Here I Go Again" (mentioned)
- "The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly"
Season 4[]
- "Séance and Sensibility" (mentioned)
Season 5[]
- "Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac" (flashbacks)
The Flash[]
Season 5[]
- "O Come, All Ye Thankful" (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Interestingly, despite being attracted to women, Sara Lance wasn't affected by Helen's curse, indicating her powers exclusively affect men.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy, also known as Helen of Sparta, was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world.
- In the DC Comics, Helen of Sparta was the daughter of Leda and Zeus, and considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Her abduction by Paris started the Trojan War. Millennia later, Mars used the image of Helen to persuade her namesake, Helen Alexandros, to become the Silver Swan.
- Atlin Mitchell was a stunt double for Bar Paly in the role of Helen of Troy.