Selene is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the Underworld

Underworld (film series)

Underworld is a series of vampire/werewolf films directed by Len Wiseman and Patrick Tatopoulos. The first film, Underworld, was released in 2003, and the second film, Underworld: Evolution, was released in 2006. A prequel, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, was released on January 23, 2009...

 film series. She is the main protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 in both Underworld

Underworld (2003 film)

Underworld is a 2003 action-horror film about the secret history of Vampires and Lycans . It is the first installment in the Underworld series. The main plot revolves around Selene , a vampire who is a Death Dealer hunting Lycans...

 and Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution is the second installment in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003...

, portrayed by Kate Beckinsale

Kate Beckinsale

Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...

 and also by Beckinsale's daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, in Underworld: Evolution in flashback scenes as a child. Selene was created by Kevin Grevioux

Kevin Grevioux

Kevin Grevioux is an American actor, screenwriter, and comic book writer. He is most known for his role as "Raze" in the Underworld movies.-Biography:...

, Len Wiseman

Len Wiseman

Len Ryan Wiseman is an American film director best known for his work on the Underworld series and Live Free or Die Hard. His latest project, Total Recall, is set for release in summer 2012...

, and Danny McBride. According to Kevin Grevioux, Selene is based of the Marvel Comics character of the same name

Selene (comics)

Selene Gallio is a fictional character, a comic book supervillainess from the Marvel Comics universe. She is a mutant, and an enemy of the X-Men often associated with the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle.-Publication history:...

.

Underworld

Selene was born to a Hungarian family. Her father was a well-known blacksmith who helped design a fortress for a general

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 named Viktor. The fortress was actually a dungeon intended for the imprisonment of the Werewolf, William Corvinus, condemned for his bloody and destructive behavior and to keep Vampire Elder Markus under Viktor's control. After Lycan

Lycan

Lycan may refer to:* Lycan, Colorado, a small town in the western United States* William Lycan, contemporary American philosopher* Lycans, a race from the Underworld universe also known as a werewolf.* Lycan, Pro wrestler from Dublin,Ireland....

s purportedly killed her family, Selene was the only one left alive who had walked through the corridors of the fortress. However, she did not know that her family was slain by Viktor himself, and believed Viktor had saved her from the Lycans. Viktor only let her live because of resemblance to his deceased daughter. The night of her family's murder she was made into a vampire by Viktor.

She became a Death Dealer, fighting against the Lycans for vengeance on the atrocities she believed they had committed against her family. She also exiled the Official Historian, Andreas Tanis, on Viktor's orders. Many years later (shortly before the events portrayed in Underworld) she became an object of romantic interest for Kraven, the Coven's regent, however she did not reciprocate his advances.

After a confrontation with the Lycan hitman Raze, she discovered what was supposedly a Lycan lair. She was angry when Kraven dismissed her claims, not knowing that Kraven was in league with the Lycan leader Lucian in a bid to take over the control of the vampire realm from the Elders. She tracked down Michael Corvin, who she believed the Lycans had an interest in. Against the sacred rules of The Vampire Covenant, she and Michael, who was infected with the lycanthropy

Lycanthropy

Lycanthropy is the professed ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a werewolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos : λύκος, lykos + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos...

 virus, fell in love. She awakened Viktor from his deep slumber, believing that only he has the power to deal with the conspiracy between Kraven and Lucian. She then led a mass assault on the Lycans' underground bunker. After Michael was shot by Kraven, Selene was forced to infect Michael with her vampire strain, thus making him the first hybrid, a Lycan dominant hybrid. She also learned the truth about her family's killer from Kraven, and she struck Viktor down while the Elder was preoccupied with fighting Michael. She then retrieved Sonja's pendant, carrying on her legacy.

Underworld: Evolution

After Viktor's death, Selene and Michael went on the run from both Lycans and Vampires. She was confronted by Markus, the last surviving Vampire Elder. He was now a Vampire-Dominant Hybrid due to the blood of Lycan scientist Singe, which has seeped into his chamber. As Markus attacks her, Michael intervenes and battles him to protect her. After narrowly escaping Markus and the sunlight, Selene and Michael take refuge in a warehouse. Selene finds that she has seen the pendant, that Markus was trying to get, when she was a child.

In order to find out why Markus was after the pendant, she sought out Andreas Tanis. Tanis told her the truth about her family's slaughter (they were killed after Lucian began his revolution to keep William from being freed) and revealed to her that, contrary to popular belief, Markus, not Viktor, is the original vampire. He then set up a meeting for her and Michael with Alexander Corvinus, Markus' father and the first true immortal.

Selene was angered at Alexander for not removing the threat his sons, Markus and William, posed long ago. Alexander retorted by asking her if she would murder her own son. An interruption by Markus in which Michael is seemingly killed also results in Selene's memories of the fortress to be taken by Markus through her blood. Alexander, dying from his son's attack, told Selene that the only way to defeat Markus and William would be to drink his legendary immortal blood, adding that she would become "The Future". Selene gained greater strength and new powers from Alexander's blood.

She and a squad of Alexander's Cleaners invaded William's dungeon, trying to stop the threat. They arrived too late, however, and Selene was forced to fight Markus. Markus was shocked by smelling his father's blood coursing through Selene's veins. Locking Markus in William's dungeon, Selene discovered that William had infected all surviving members of the six Cleaners escorting her, all of which have become Lycans themselves. On the verge of being overwhelmed she was saved by Michael, who was saved by his Hybrid powers and the helicopter the Cleaners used-which provided support fire with a machine gun until Markus pulled it out of the sky, causing it to crash and kill the last two Cleaners but leaving its blades spinning. She fought Markus once more, and the Elder drove his wing talon through Selene's chest. Selene, empowered by Alexander's blood, tore away the talon and drove it up Markus' skull before throwing him into helicopter blades and killing him.

After Selene defeats Markus, and Michael defeats William, sunlight lands on Selene's arm, showing that Alexander's blood has taken away the vampiric weakness to sunlight and starts a sexual relationship with Michael.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Selene briefly appears at the end of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is a 2009 American film directed by Patrick Tatopoulos. It is the third installment in the Underworld series, focusing primarily on the origins of some characters and the events leading to the Vampire-Lycan war, depicted in the previous films Underworld and...

, which was also the opening scene of the first Underworld, with the audio from the scene where Kraven tells Selene that it was Viktor who murdered her family, rather than the Lycans, and that Viktor spared her because she reminded him of the daughter he condemned to death; Selene replies to Kraven, "Lies."

Underworld: Awakening

In Underworld: Awakening, Selene escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.

Skills & Abilities

She is proficient with many weapons, both medieval and modern. Modern firearms that she uses include the Walther P99

Walther P99

The Walther P99 is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market as a replacement for the Walther P5 and the P88...

 and a variety of automatic machine pistol

Machine pistol

A machine pistol is a handgun-style, often magazine-fed and self-loading firearm, capable of fully automatic or burst fire, and normally chambered for pistol cartridges. The term is a literal translation of Maschinenpistole, the German term for a hand-held automatic weapon...

s. In both films, she is seen jumping from a ledge at least one hundred feet and landing without injury. As a Vampire, Selene frequently demonstrates superior physical abilities. She uses superhuman strength to pin Michael against a wall with one hand to his throut several feet off the ground, performs spectacular leaps, manhandle four police officers, strike her enemies with tremendous force, and kill younger Vampires with just a few blows. She moves with incredible celerity, able to move between streets and run across hallways appearing as nothing more than a blurred image. She has superhuman physical endurance and healing, able to take a shotgun blast to the abdomen without flinching, recover after being burned by sunlight, and was slammed against stone walls, breaking the stones, but with no ill effects. She also has the ability to hold her breath for long amounts of time, as Humans needed SCUBA

Scuba set

A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....

 to make an underwater dive in Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution is the second installment in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003...

. After fortifying herself with some of Alexander Corvinus' blood, her abilities increase and she goes toe to toe with Markus, the actual first Vampire, in his hybrid form. After she receives Alexander's blood in the second film she is able to withstand direct sunlight.

In other media

Selene has appeared in several other Underworld media.

Selene appears in the non-canon novel Underworld: Blood Enemy, written by Greg Cox. Selene is responsible for the death of renegade Lycan Leyba, tracking her down after Leyba's forces attack a Lycan weapons deal and are responsible for the deaths of both the Lycans and another member of Selene's team. During the confrontation with Leyba, Leyba briefly reflects that Selene's eyes are like 'hers' (Sonja's), but Selene never learns the meaning of this comment before she kills Leyba. Leyba's goals remain a mystery to Selene. In addittion, Selene also appears in the IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

 Underworld series.

In the video game Underworld: The Eternal War

Underworld: The Eternal War

Underworld: The Eternal War is a 2004 video game based on the vampire film Underworld which was released in 2003. The main character of the video game, Selene, is a third-person shooter throughout the missions...

, which is based on the first film

Underworld (2003 film)

Underworld is a 2003 action-horror film about the secret history of Vampires and Lycans . It is the first installment in the Underworld series. The main plot revolves around Selene , a vampire who is a Death Dealer hunting Lycans...

, Selene appears as a third-person shooter

Third-person shooter

Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...

 throughout the missions.

Due to the impact of the films, action figures for Selene were created, all designed by Mezco. Their size is 5" in scale. They all come with display base, and accessories.

Production history

In 2003's Underworld

Underworld (2003 film)

Underworld is a 2003 action-horror film about the secret history of Vampires and Lycans . It is the first installment in the Underworld series. The main plot revolves around Selene , a vampire who is a Death Dealer hunting Lycans...

, Beckinsale became known as an actor and stated that it was markedly different to her previous work and Beckinsale has said she was grateful for the change of pace after appearing in "a bunch of period stuff and then a bunch of romantic comedies." "It was quite a challenge for me to play an action heroine and pull off all that training when [in real life] I can’t catch a ball if it’s coming my way." The film received negative to mixed reviews but was a surprise box office hit and has gained a cult following.

In September 2003, shortly after the release of Underworld, production companies Screen Gems

Screen Gems

Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....

 and Lakeshore planned to release a prequel as the third film following Underworlds sequel, Underworld: Evolution. Kate Beckinsale

Kate Beckinsale

Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...

, who portrayed Selene in Underworld, expressed interest in reprising her role for the sequel and the prequel.

In 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as Selene in the successful vampire sequel Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution is the second installment in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003...

, directed by her husband. It was the first time she had "been involved with a movie from the moment it’s a germ of an idea right through the whole editing process." Her daughter had a small role as the younger Selene, and took direction well: "I didn’t think she would take either of us that seriously. We both envisaged a situation where it would be kind of like trying to get her into a snow suit. She suddenly became highly professional ... She said, “Could you call me Selene?” I certainly don’t insist on being called Selene, so she didn’t get that from me."

In a June 2006 interview, When asked if Kate Beckinsale would reprise her role as Selene in the prequel, Wiseman said, "It will be in the time period before, but it will overlap into the creation of her as well. We're in the process of seeing how far we go with that."

In the actual film, Selene appears briefly at the end. Beckinsale did not film new footage, a scene from Underworld was used to bookend the film. Beckinsale also provided a monologue for the beginning of the film.
Beckinsale will reprise her role as Selene in the fourth installment of the vampire franchise Underworld: Awakening. She "wasn’t intending to do another one" but was convinced by the quality of the script: "You really want to see stakes that mean something in these kind of movies. Otherwise, it really is just lots of explosions and people running around in tight clothes."

Reception

A few scenes of Underworld: Evolution were shown in a panel at Comic-Con

Comic-Con International

San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...

 in San Diego, in July 2005; however, these scenes did not contain any plot spoilers of the new script, with attendees only being informed about the new hybrids by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos

Patrick Tatopoulos

Patrick Tatopoulos is a French-Greek production designer, who lives and works in the United States. His designs have appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Pitch Black, Underworld, I, Robot, The Chronicles of Riddick, Independence Day, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Stargate, Spawn, Godzilla,...

. The previewing was well-received as hundreds of fans waited hours to see a clip of the film as well as Kate Beckinsale

Kate Beckinsale

Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...

and the other stars of the movie.

External links

• Underworld Official Website
• Underworld Evolution official Website
• "Selene," Underworld Wiki