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Spoiler warning!
This article or section contains plot spoilers for the Mortal Engines quartet. Proceed at your own risk. |
Katherine Valentine is a female human who was introduced in Mortal Engines.
Born on Puerto Angeles, she moved to London to live with her father after her mother died. Although her relationship with her father was strong, it began to deteriorate when she finds that he holds secrets that could ruin him.
She was killed when she sacrificed herself to save her half-sister from being killed by their father; inadvertently feeding MEDUSA an incorrect code, causing it to destroy London.[1]
In the 2018 film, she is portrayed by Australian actress Leila George D'Onofrio, known professionally as "Leila George".
Description[]
Katherine has long[3] dark hair and grey eyes.[4] She has a mad, brittle laugh,[5] and wears a wristwatch.[6] Her half-niece, Wren, is noted to look similar to her.[7][8]
When visiting Crome, she wore narrow black trousers, a grey coat with fins on the shoulders, a hair clip made from the parts of car lights, a hat with trailing ear flaps, makeup on her face, a small blue triangle between her eyebrows. She carried a Gold Pass, which allows her to access all of London, and a black briefcase.[9]
For her Engineer disguise, she wore a bald cap, a white rubber coat and hood, a red wheel on her forehead, and green glastic goggles.[10]
Katherine has pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She is shown wearing fancy clothing.[11]
Personality[]
Katherine is described as "sharp".[5] She possesses her father's ability to lead people.[12]
Leila George, Katherine's actress, describes the character as "Daddy's girl" (when referring to her relationship with Thaddeus Valentine).[13]
History[]
Pre-Series[]
Katherine was born on Puerto Angeles, a raft city. When she was five, her mother died and she was sent to live with her father. After a trip to the Ice Wastes, Thaddeus gave her Dog as a present.
Mortal Engines quartet[]
Mortal Engines[]
Katherine accompanied her father, as well as Tom Natsworthy, to oversee the digestion of Salthook. She observed the assassination attempt on her father's life by Hester Shaw, but believed that the would-be killer, as well as Tom, had died after falling out of the city.
After overhearing a conversation between Thaddeus and Magnus Crome, Katherine decided to investigate MEDUSA, as well as the disfigured assassin. Learning nothing from an interview with Crome, she visited the Deep Gut Prison to contact Bevis Pod, an assistant Engineer who had witnessed the murder attempt. She managed to meet Bevis, but he denied any detailed knowledge of the incident. She also observed the brutal treatment of the convicts, and her faith in London's system was deeply shaken.
Later, Katherine received a mysterious letter from "a friend". At first doubtful, she then went down to Tier Five to see who it was: Bevis Pod. Bevis informed her that Hester Shaw did not drag Tom over with her, as Katherine was told by her father. Realising that MEDUSA was the source of her father's troubles, Katherine convinced Bevis to sneak her into a Guild meeting, where she learned of MEDUSA's origin. With the help of Chudleigh Pomeroy, she and Bevis then fled to the Historian's Guild before they could be recognised as intruders.
After MEDUSA destroyed Panzerstadt-Bayreuth, Katherine continued her investigation with Bevis, and they began to fall in love. Eventually, Katherine discovered that her father murdered Hester's parents, Pandora and David Shaw, in order to gain MEDUSA. She confronted him after his return from Shan Guo, disowned him, and resolved to destroy the weapon with the aid of Bevis. However, the pair were betrayed by Herbert Melliphant. A battle ensued between the Historians and the Engineers, and Katherine was able to move to St Paul's Cathedral to execute the plan.
Katherine observed Hester's capture, saving the latter's life by jumping in front of her while Valentine attempted to stab her. Landing on the keyboard of MEDUSA, Katherine inadvertently fed it an incorrect password, causing it reject its given coordinates and malfunction. She spent her last moments in her father's arms, and her body was destroyed in the explosion of MEDUSA along with Valentine and London.
Infernal Devices[]
When Hester is about to kill Wren at the end of the novel, she notes that her daughter looked like Katherine on the night that MEDUSA exploded.
A Darkling Plain[]
Tom notes that Wren resembles Katherine before the New London test begins.
Film[]
Katherine is first seen in the London Museum looking for information on the Sixty Minute War. After Tom is found by Chudleigh, he takes her to a hidden room, where he shows her footage from the War on a device he built. When they exit the room, Melliphant tells Tom that he must go to the Gut to hunt Old Tech relics, and Katherine decides to assist him.
As they walk towards the Gut, Tom and Katherine run into Bevis, who is heading to the waste chute for maintenance.
More coming soon...
Relationships[]
Bevis Pod[]
Bevis was Katherine's partner before both of their untimely deaths.
Hester Shaw[]
Hester Shaw is Katherine's paternal half-sister.
She initially described her as "Valentine's ghost"[2] before accepting her as her sister, wishing she could be friends with her.[1]
Thaddeus Valentine[]
Thaddeus Valentine is Katherine's father.
Tom Natsworthy[]
Although they briefly met, Kate considers Tom to be innocent.
Trivia[]
- "Katherine" is an English name derived from the Greek name "Aikaterine". The etymology could be derived from the early Greek name "Hekaterine", which meant "each of the two"; the Greek goddess Hecate; or the Greek name "aikia", which meant "torture". In the early Christian era, it became associated with the Greek word "katharos", which meant "pure".[14]
- Kate owns of a necklace made of old computer discs.[4]
- In the original version of Mortal Engines, Katherine Valentine was a woman known as "Kathleen Beecroft", who was Valentine's lover. When Philip Reeve was modifying the story for Scholastic, he changed Kathleen to be Valentine's teenage daughter.[15]
Gallery[]
![Fanart[16]](/wiki/File:Untitled.jpg "Untitled.jpg (96 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mortal Engines, Chapter 35: "The Cathedral"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mortal Engines, Chapter 5: "The Lord Mayor"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mortal Engines, Chapter 18: "Bevis"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mortal Engines, Chapter 2: "Valentine"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mortal Engines, Chapter 31: "The Eavesdropper"
- ↑ Mortal Engines, Chapter 34: "Idea for a Fireworks Display"
- ↑ Infernal Devices, Chapter 36: "Strange Meetings"
- ↑ A Darkling Plain, Chapter 33: "The Test"
- ↑ Mortal Engines, Chapter 14: "The Guildhall"
- ↑ Mortal Engines, Chapter 21: "In the Engineerium"
- ↑ Mortal Engines (2018)
- ↑ Mortal Engines, Chapter 33: "Wine and Nibbles and the Dawn of a New Era"
- ↑ Leila George's interview for Mortal Engines
- ↑ Katherine - Behind the Name
- ↑ Mortal Engines: Twenty Years On - Philip Reeve's website
- ↑ Mortal Engines characters - Coats and Revolvers