info for mcu_multiverse

[firstdancer]

name: helena barnes (née odensen)
canon: the prophecies of ragnarok x mcu
nicknames/aliases: hel, lena, yelena lukyanova

history: born yelena lukyanova in 1917 and grew up in an orphanage in russia. she remembers bits and pieces of her childhood there, but she has no information about her past or her birth family.

at six, she was adopted by wes odensen, current patriarch of an old money norwegian family that migrated to the US, and brought to new york. his motivations for taking her in remain unknown. yelena became helena.

she had a mischievous streak and a penchant for getting into trouble, but she was charming and entertaining when she needed to be, and was often the life of the odensen parties. having also displayed a talent for dance, wes had her schooled in ballet, figuring that the rigorous lifestyle would instill discipline in her. it worked — and she was good. when a business associate told the family that they "could make a prima ballerina out of her," wes invested in her training, even sending her to europe for workshops and private tutorials.

in 1943, she and her brother, homer, attended the stark expo, where she met bucky barnes. they kept in touch but their exchanges were limited and their meetings even fewer, since after ww2 he and steve rogers continued to search and destroy HYDRA's remaining bases, while she was on her rise to stardom with the new york city ballet. she was particularly known for "the soul-crushing, emotionally wrecking adagio" and her rendition of the dying swan which was then part of swan lake.

she had an unfortunate accident in 1953, which left her paralyzed from the waist down and effectively ended her career. wes, who had been secretly sponsoring the US government's efforts to recreate of the supersoldier serum, had her dosed with experimental shots in an attempt to heal her, but while she regained the ability to walk, the effects were not permanent and could not sustain the beating a ballerina's body took.

in the same year, bucky returned to new york, having completed his crusade against HYDRA — but not without losing steve in a disastrous mission in argentina, as well as his left leg. they bumped into each other in rehab, reconnected, and eventually married.

canon point: early 1960s. bucky founded SHIELD with howard stark, hank pym and janet van dyne, and is currently director. helena, on the other hand, stays at home with their kids, steve (named after rogers) and anna (named after pavlova, the famous ballerina), and occasionally holds workshops for her former ballet company. though once close with homer, their relationship has become strained as wes had grown to like bucky far more than his own son — even going as far as financing some of SHIELD's projects. there are rumors, however, that wes has ties with the KGB, and that helena, having been born in russia and of an unknown lineage, is actually a sleeper agent of the red room.

relationships:
— bucky barnes directorbarnes, husband
— homer odensen dramatiste, foster brother
— rebecca barnes favoritesister, sister-in-law
— claude bérubé optimisticalities, ballet buddy from europe
— janet van dyne, mom friend