THE VALENTINE BROS.
|
Since their beginning in the late 1920s, the fearsome NSDAP Waffen SS has brought many a trial and tribulation upon the earth. Some 50 years later, to have remnants of the Third Reich rise again under the command of one deeply disturbed and maniacally motivated man is enough to bring fear to the world anew. Behold below, their fearsome agents whose pasts are veiled in secrecy and horror. Whose present brings about decimation, destruction and death. Whose future seeks a marvelous war and perhaps the whole world to fall in flames. These are the agents of Millennium.
The following Section will discuss the Valentine Brothers, their history, story, traits and information in detail. Click on a character's name below to skip to their biography.
- Jan Valentine
- Luke Valentine
- Jan & Luke's Omakes
- The Valentine Bros. In the TV-Series
- The Brothers' Nationality
- Trivia & Other Information
JAN VALENTINE
 The Younger Valentine Brother |
Literally nothing concrete is known about Jan's history or life before his appearance at Hellsing's front gate. Aside from his piercings, his extreme rudeness and his penchant for murder and mayhem, he's a complete mystery. All that can be assumed is that he was recruited by Millennium at an unknown time from what is assumed to be somewhere in the Americas (see: Nationality Section below) and that he, along with his brother was vampirized and sent to attack Hellsing. It is even unknown whether or not the Valentines are blood related. (Though, their surnames would suggest they are) Some of Jan's dialog suggests that he is, or was at some point a low-class citizen, but again nothing really is known.
 |
The Brothers were first introduced walking up to Hellsing House with what appeared to be a tour bus. They ask to be let in, claiming to be tourists seeing England's historic mansions. However, just after telling the two mysterious men to leave, the man was shot in the head from a gun in the bus. Jan ordered the bus snipers to fire on the second guard, and questioned their soldiers' usefulness after he was unable to easily get them to stop firing. Luke explained that they're nothing but an experiment, "to him, we're nothing but cogs in the machine", and the men began their march into the mansion.
 |
Upon entering the mansion, Jan and Luke immediately split up, with Jan taking the Ghoul army and beginning his systematic slaughter of every living person in the building. (For information on Luke's activities, see his section below.) Jan's path of mayhem and destruction eventually lead him to a communications room on the first floor. Using the PA system, Jan called the conference room on the third floor and taunted his prey, showing Integra how much destruction he had caused and promising the Round Table Conference that he'd be up to finish them shortly.
 |
Later, before continuing the bloodbath, Jan took a moment to call his brother and alert him of the success in clearing the first and second floors just before advancing onto the third. Once there, Jan's rampage eventually took him to Integra's office, where he stopped to steal some of her cigars. Seeing the expensive nature of the brand she smokes angered him, being a lower class citizen, and made him want to kill her all the more. As he walked down the hall nearing the conference room, Jan was abruptly interrupted when his cigar was suddenly sliced clean in half and several of his ghouls begin dropping dead. I was then that Walter showed himself, blocking Jan's path and taunting him with the same crass words Jan had given to Integra earlier.
 |
Despite Walter's proficiency in attack, Jan wasn't bothered in the slightest and actually seemed rather happy to finally have a challenge in his slaughter. He quickly ordered his troops to form ranks with their shields. Unable to get past the shields, or just wanting a proper field test of Seras' new weapon, Walter asked the girl for backup fire that easily tore through Jan's troops like they were paper. Jan quickly tried to shoot Walter in retaliation, but was swiftly taken into a police hold by Seras, and the two began to interrogate the felled Valentine. Jan was initially reluctant to give any information, but Walter soon persuaded him by crushing one of his hands. He began to talk and told them of their two objectives: Bust up Hellsing, and take down Alucard. Hearing Jan mention "we" in his recount of the plan caused Walter to realize Jan didn't mount the attack alone and his questions are confirmed when Jan told the old man about Luke.
 |
Seizing his chance, Jan took Seras' moment of shock from the news to overpower her and get away, just in time to stand before his new legions marching into the hall. It appears that the attack wasn't just to kill everyone, but to turn them into ghouls themselves, providing Jan with backup should he lose his original army. Seras was immediately attacked by her allies turned ghouls while Jan attempted an escape to the board room. Walter quickly lashed out at Jan with several wires, grabbing the young man by the arm but this didn't even slow him. Jan continued to run at full speed, allowing the wires to sheer through his arm and sever it, shocking Walter in the process. As Seras was overpowered by the leagues of ghouls, her vampiric nature began to kick in, and her eyes turned red as she let her power out, tearing the army to pieces with her bare hands. Just then, Jan finally made it to the conference room, and upon opening the door was met with no less than 12 guns all pointed straight at him, The Round Table took up arms themselves. Shocked at this unexpected turn of events, Jan was met with simply three words from Integra; "Welcome to Hellsing", before riddling him with bullets.
 |
As Jan slumped to the floor, Integra was given a good look at what was going on outside, and it horrified her. Seras was tearing into her undead former men. In a desperate plea, Integra reached out and hugged the girl, begging her to stop, words that reached her as her eyes went blue again and she stopped her attack. Meanwhile, Walter made sure Jan didn't get away, kicking him into a wall and continuing his interrogation. Walter was cut off however as Integra walked up. Jan greeted her with a "Yo Bitch!", only to cop a face-full of bullets for his comment. Integra, quite put out from the horror she had just witnessed, barked at Jan to give them answers.
 |
Jan simply replied by telling her about the chip he had in his neck, that his bosses were monitoring the situation via that chip and knew the mission was a failure, and that Jan told them what the mission was. As the defeated vampire stood up, he asked Integra "Do you really think after all that, they're gonna let me fuckin' live?!". At that moment he burst into flames, proving his point. However, Jan did not stop talking there. He flipped Integra the middle finger and gave her his final words; "Here's a tip, hope it helps fuckers!... Mill...enni...um...". His final word, "Millennium" was Hellsing's first clue to their new enemy.
STATISTICS
- Name in Japanese: ヤン・バレンタイン (Yan Barentain)
- Alternate Names: Jane, Yan, Young (Misspellings)
- Age: Mid-Late 20s in 1998. Presently Deceased
- Eye Color: Yellow
- Hair Color: Dark Brown-Black
- Gender: Male
- Species: Artificial Vampire
- Nationality: American (Assumed)
- Rank: Not Known, Possibly Low-class Private Citizen
- Religion: N/A
- Affiliations: Millennium (Member)
- Weapon of Choice: Dual Falkens FP90 Sub Machine Guns (with Silencer)
- Voice: Wataru Takagi (Jpn OVA) // Kazuya Nakai (Jpn TV) // Josh Phillips (Eng)
LUKE VALENTINE
 |
Like his brother, little is known about Luke's past however a tad bit more of Luke's past is known. Luke was stated by the Dok to have an actual rank in Millennium, sometime after taking on the Valentines, Luke was granted the rank of "Warrant Officer". Like his brother, where he came from is also not concretely known but all signs point to him being American. (see: Nationality Section below) What is known, however is that that he, along with his brother was vampirized and sent to attack Hellsing. It is even unknown whether or not the Valentines are blood related. (Though, their surnames would suggest they are) Some of Jan's dialog suggests that he is, or was at some point a low-class citizen, and this would logically apply to Luke before he was given rank, but again nothing really is known.
 |
The Brothers were first introduced walking up to Hellsing House with what appeared to be a tour bus. They ask to be let in, claiming to be tourists seeing England's historic mansions. However, just after telling the two mysterious men to leave, the man was shot in the head from a gun in the bus. Jan ordered the bus snipers to fire on the second guard, and questioned their soldiers' usefulness after he was unable to easily get them to stop firing. Luke explained that they're nothing but an experiment, "to him, we're nothing but cogs in the machine", and the men began their march into the mansion.
 (OVA Only) |
Upon entering the mansion, Jan and Luke immediately split up, with Luke heading for the basement in an effort to confront and hopefully defeat the vampire Alucard. (For information on Jan's activities, see his section above.) On Luke's way to his final objective, the manga implies that he made a few stops. Integra noted that their escape helicopter had been destroyed just the brothers split up, and Luke is the only one whose whereabouts weren't accounted for during that time, implying that he could have been the one to do it. (The TV anime concretely elaborates on this, showing Luke actually blow it up) It's also probable that Luke met at least some resistance on his way and would have had to dispatch some Hellsing members to get where he was going. (Again, this event wasn't shown in the manga, but the OVA depicts him tearing into several men with a bowie knife)
 |
Luke's search continued until he received a call from Jan. His brother updated him on the situation on the first and second floors, telling him the third is all that's left. Just as Luke finished his call with his brother, he found a hidden doorway underneath an inconspicuous mirror and taking it to the basement, he finally found his intended opponent; Alucard! Luke claimed that despite Alucard's intent to "hide", he could feel the great vampire's presence. Luke was wrong however, as Alucard wasn't running or hiding in the slightest, he was simply waiting for the elder Valentine to find him. Luke treated Alucard with a high level of respect and even admiration for his vampire prowess as they geared up for the confrontation Luke had been waiting for.
 |
After the chit-chat subsided, the two immediately attacked one another, drawing their guns and holding them to one another. After a shot from each to begin the match, there is a moment of silence where it appeared as though they had killed one another. But after a moment, the vampires began to laugh, Luke taking the next shots to tear into Alucard, with the No-Life King meeting his assault without even rising from his chair. As the match continued, Luke actually succeeded in dodging most of Alucard's shots, taking only a few himself. Alucard on the other hand, did not move from his chair, seeming to take every hit from the elder Valentine and being tore asunder. Luke began to question this, wondering why Alucard would just sit there and even wondering if he was somehow immortal! Shaking off his fear, Luke rationalized that Alucard must be far more injured than him, believing he could still best the great Nosferatu.
 |
After being shot to all hell, Alucard finally rose, laughing and seeming to enjoy himself despite his apparent injuries. The No-Life King proclaimed Luke to be a "Category A" vampire and proceeded to release the holds on his power in order to educate the elder Valentine on just what a true battle between vampires really is! The moment Alucard's power was released, a dramatic shift in the battle occurred. It no longer appeared as though Luke had the upper hand at all and Alucard began to transform into something that no longer resembled a human, completely horrifying and dominating his opponent.
 |
Alucard wasted no time in attacking, bringing the Jackal out of his hellhound's throat and shooting off Luke's legs. After falling to the ground, Luke lost what little of his cool head he had left and began to panic. His fearsome opponent began to taunt him, hoping the blonde vampire would be able to regenerate his legs and continue the fight. Luke proved to be weaker than expected however when he began to cower before the great count. Alucard realized that the disgraced Luke now amounted to nothing more than dog food, and proceeded to have his hellhound devour Luke whole, remarking that if Luke was dog food, he would now become dog shit.
 |
WARNING: Beyond this point are spoilers for the later parts of the story, read on at your own risk.
Despite Luke's apparent death, he actually somehow survived, becoming a soul within the hellhound just as the other souls exist within Alucard. During Alucard's battle with Walter, the dark butler succeeded in killing the hellhound, destroying the monster within a monster. After the hellhound's consciousness faded, the soul of Luke that somehow survived became the dominant part of the being, and Luke was revived as a result! Despite this however, Luke didn't have but a moment to revel in his newfound existence, as he was immediately taken and used as a puppet-like weapon by Walter. Luke was seemingly killed again by Alucard with his Casull, but this too wasn't his true death. Instead, Alucard used the elder Valentine as a doppelganger for himself, letting Walter believe he'd impaled Alucard, when in reality it was Luke. After being stabbed by Walter, Luke's appearance changed back to that of his own, and he finally perished.
STATISTICS
- Name in Japanese: ルーク・バレンタイン (Ruuku Barentain)
- Alternate Names: Rook (Misspelling)
- Age: Mid-Late 20s in 1998. Presently Deceased?
- Eye Color: Blue
- Hair Color: Blonde
- Gender: Male
- Species: Artificial Vampire
- Nationality: American (Assumed)
- Rank: Warrant Officer
- Religion: Unknown
- Affiliations: Millennium (Member)
- Weapon of Choice: Dual Sawed-off M1 Garand Rifles, Bowie Knife (OVA Only) Rocket Launcher (TV Only)
- Voice: Takehito Koyasu (Jpn) // Patrick Seitz (Eng)
JAN & LUKE'S PAPER HUMANITY CORNER
 |
The Jan and Luke Paper Humanity Corners are a series of joke omakes featuring the two characters after their deaths. Every iteration of Hellsing from the Manga to the OVA series features these goofy joke pages in some way, shape or form. They started in volume 2 of the manga, just after the Valentine Brothers' deaths. The usual topic of the manga versions is a commentary from Hirano on the new volume going on sale, but usually they quickly degenerate into nonsensical jokes.
Each Omake section is unique in ensuring the words 'Paper' and/or 'Humanity' appear in the title. ("Humanity" and "People" use the same Kanji)
The following have been complied from each available manga volume:
- Volume 2 - Life's a Paper Balloon, Beautiful People Corner
- Volume 3 - Paper Snow Storm of Humanity, God is in the TV Corner
- Volume 4 - Paperwork Humanity - Hate the Hater Corner
- Volume 5 - Paper War Humanity, God Eat God Corner
- Volume 6 - Paper Phallus Humanity Coma Black Corner
- Volume 7 - Paper Phallus Humanity, Mobscene Corner
- Volume 8 - Humanity Paper Light Beam - Lest We Forget Corner
- Volume 9 - Humanity Paper Self-Sacrificing Devotion Coma Black & White Corner
- Volume 10 - Untitled "Final Top 10 Countdown"
 |
These Omakes didn't stay manga-exclusive however, the art style and joke styles were used for the next episode previews for several of the episodes after Jan and Luke's deaths. The previews were called "Jan and Luke's Weather Report" and featured the Brothers much like they were in the comics, giving off cryptic and silly information about the next episode, sometimes carrying over whole jokes from the manga versions. (such as Luke and Jan talking about the way they were killed.) Other episode previews featured other characters, but were always drawn like the usual Jan and Luke shorts. The "Jan and Luke's Weather Report" title would become a title fans would later give to all iterations of these jokes.
 |
At the debut Hellsing OVA panel at Anime Expo 05, the staff was asked if the Jan and Luke bits would be seen in some form in the OVA series as well. The staff admitted to having "completely forgotten" about both the Jan and Luke jokes as well as Crossfire. So fans were relatively sure they would not be seeing any of the jokes within the OVA series, yet when the OVAs began coming out, every Japanese limited edition volume came with a 12 page liner notes booklet, and every booklet from OVA II on feature a Jan and Luke Omake. The topics are usually based on production information about the OVAs. For example, the OVA V omake (Pictured above) talks about the OVA series' Animation switching hands from Satelight to Madhouse.
THE VALENTINES' IN THE TV SERIES
 |
The Valentine Brothers made an appearance in the Hellsing TV series in what were the final two episodes to be entirely based on the manga. (As the very next episode veered into original story material about halfway through) The story of the Valentine's attack was presented as one of the most faithful adaptations from the manga in the entire series, even Jan's humor made it into the TV series intact! However, despite the accuracy of these episodes, certain elements did see changes.
 |
First off, the Brothers' motivation for attacking Hellsing was changed completely. In the manga, the attack was an order from The Major, as Luke notes as they're walking into the mansion. ("To him, we're just cogs in his machine") However in the TV series, the brothers were not members of Millennium (as Millennium had been entirely removed from the plot) but instead were Nightclub owners who offered to make their patrons vampires for a price. It seems Luke had put out fake "invitations" to the club as bait to attract "Enemies". An undercover Hellsing agent brings one of these cards in to attempt to infiltrate the Valentines' operation and gets killed for his trouble. Once Luke realizes where he came from however, the brothers decide to mount their own attack on Hellsing. A new scene also shows the Valentines making their ghoul army with a group of "Demonic Vampire Bitches", as Jan calls them, in tow. They set a booby trap in the place that they made the ghouls for Hellsing to walk into. Then, after a rather random new scene of Jan biting a dancing girl in the club, the Round Table Members arrive at Hellsing House and the events begin to unfold just as they had in the manga with the Valentines beginning their attack.
 |
The attack didn't go without its modifications however. Peter Fargusson was added into the fray, and a scene was added showing Jan hold him at gunpoint. The TV series used this as their explanation for how and when Jan made his call to Integra. After the call, he almost kills Fargusson but is stopped at the last minute by Seras who strangely doesn't make sure she finished Jan off. Another scene was added showing Luke actually destroy Integra's escape helicopter, a situation that did indeed occur the manga, but only received a mention originally. The rest of the attack is pretty much spot on with the manga with the exception of the finale. In the manga, Jan mentions the microchip in his neck transmitting data back to Millennium and says they're the reason he bursts into flames. In the TV anime, this reason is omitted and Jan is shown snapping his fingers just as he lights on fire, implying that Jan committed suicide. His final cryptic words about Millennium were removed as well, due to the Nazi group being taken out of the TV series.
THE VALENTINES' NATIONALITIES
One thing Hirano never touched on unfortunately was the subject of the Valentine Brothers' nationalities. One might assume they were German, as they were agents of Millennium but this doesn't work for a very simple reason: All color images of them, including the limited edition cover to OVA II drawn by Hirano, feature Jan with dark skin. This is un-characteristic of a German. Another hint is at Jan's tendency to swear in English in the Japanese edition. He can be seen (and heard in the OVA) calling out "Bitch" in English several times. That plus his piercings would lead one to believe he's American. (As the "crass rude American" stereotype)
The English dub adds probably the only good solid evidence to Jan's nationality in that the director, who is known to have talked with Hirano personally, chose American voice actors and directed them to use their normal accents. Being as the Nazis spent their time in the Americas before the start of the manga, its also not unreasonable to assume they could have recruited Jan and Luke there, as Tubalcain Alhambra shows that Millennium has no problem taking on members who aren't German. Unless Hirano releases some form of a data book or an interview where he gives explicit information on these two, the only information available including the English dub points to the Brothers being American, so that is the safest guess.
TRIVIA & OTHER INFORMATION
 from One Piece |
- Jan is one of the characters whose seiyū (Japanese Voice Actor) was changed between the TV-Series and the OVA. Jan was originally played by Kazuya Nakai, who is most famous for playing the character Roronoa Zoro in the hit Anime series One Piece. Despite his fame as Zoro, he was not the first actor to play the character. Before Toei Animation got the rights to the One Piece manga, the anime studio "Production I.G." released a One Piece OVA with an entirely different cast. In this cast, Zoro was played by Wataru Takagi. When the Hellsing OVA series was under production, Nakai was replaced as Jan, by Takagi! Meaning that each of these men has played Zoro and Jan, and each of these men has replaced each other in one of the roles.
- Each "Paper Humanity Corner" Omake features a unique element in the title, they all feature a bit from a Marylin Manson project, may it be a song title, an album title, or a piece from some of his lyrics.