Integra Hellsing
Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing (インテグラル・ファルブルケ・ウィンゲーツ・ヘルシング lit. Integuraru Faruburuke Wingētsu Herushingu) (インテグラ lit. Integura) is a character from the anime and manga series Hellsing. In both the TV series and OVA series, her Japanese voice is provided by Yoshiko Sakakibara, while her English voice is done by Victoria Harwood .
| Integra Hellsing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Young King OURs |
| First appearance | Hellsing volume 1 |
| Created by | Kouta Hirano |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing |
| Team affiliations | Hellsing, Protestant Church, British Crown |
| Abilities | Skilled marksman, skilled fencer |
Template:Spoilers Integral Hellsing is the female lead of the manga (while Seras Victoria is the female lead of the anime); she and Alucard move the plot of the story. Cold and aloof (more so in the anime than in the manga), Integra is usually a collected individual, rarely allowing her emotions to get in the way of business. The Hellsing family is "on a mission from God," and she values her duties above everything else, save perhaps her own personal honor. For her, failure is not tolerated, especially her own. She directs the Hellsing Organization with an iron fist, and is one of the few people (apart from Walter and, in brief flashes in the series, Seras) who can stand up to the force of Alucard's personality.
Name and Title
Integral's full name is only used in the manga. In the anime she is referred to once as 'Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing,' but the main characters in particular normally call her 'Sir Integra'. Alucard drops the honorific title, often simply calling her Integra, although on one occasion calls her 'Miss Hellsing'.
"Integral" is a derivative of the Latin word 'integra' (the feminine form of 'integer') which means "complete," "perfect," "lacking nothing essential," "entire," etc. Since Integra is one of the main characters in Hellsing, her presence is obviously essential to the story, and this interpretation fits with the meanings of the word. It could also be argued that Integral has all the necessary characteristics and traits needed to lead Hellsing and to survive on her own. Her surname, "Hellsing," is clearly an alternative version (possibly Anglicized) of "Van Helsing" (from her Dutch ancestor, Abraham van Helsing). Wingates was probably inspired by one of Lovecraft’s characters, Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee. Finally, "Fairbrook" gives out traits of her persona.
No reason has been provided as to why her title is Sir rather than Dame, though it has been hypothesized that this is because she is a member of the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, a secret government organization responsible for the well-being of England. It is more likely that Kouta Hirano, the mangaka, misunderstood the British knighthood system. The title has often increased the confusion for newcomers to the TV series (for she's clearly female in the manga) when determining Integra's actual gender. It is also unclear whether her title comes from her father, in which case she is a rare hereditary baronetess.
Integra is also usually addressed as "Master" by Alucard, and recently as "Countess" when she released him from his final restrictions.
Family
Integra's known family includes Abraham van Helsing, a Dutch metaphysican and philosopher and one of the main characters of Bram Stoker's Dracula, who was either her grandfather or her great-grandfather. Her father was Sir Arthur Hellsing, who died when she was 13 years old. It was from him that she inherited her current position as Bureau Director of the Hellsing Organization and her seat in the Convention of Twelve. Her uncle, Richard, sought to kill her and take the headship of the Hellsing family for himself. This was prevented by Alucard. Richard's exact motivations are unknown, though it is possible that he coveted the power and prestige of a seat in the Convention of Twelve.
There is a faint suggestion/assumption that she is not a full Caucasian. Her skin colour is slightly darker (a creamy brown), and in the anime (Order 10), when Integra has her flashback scene, there is a photograph depicting an infant Integra being held by a woman (possibly her mother) wearing a sari, suggesting that she may be of Indian descent, a possibility reinforced by that nation's ties to Great Britain.
Skills and Abilities
Integral is a superb fencer; she has been able to block Alexander Anderson's attack (volume 1 of the manga) and behead a Nazi vampire after a car crash that shook her system. Her aim with a pistol is deadly accurate as well (the anime displays her skill in Order 02: Club M, where she is seen shooting through the same hole on a practice target with what looks to be a Walther P99. Such a degree of control with any pistol from anything other than a fairly close range is incredibly impressive, if not impossible). Another piece of evidence to suggest this is her ability to shoot Jan Valentine six times with the same pistol, with the bullets forming a cross on this face (more impressive, considering he recoiled and was sent backwards from the force of each bullet). From her childhood, she developed leadership skills to contest the adult male dominant world that could shun her by her age and gender. It is also speculated by fans that, just like her father and grandfather, Integra is well-versed in occultism and alchemy to be able to control Alucard's releases and to finish the process of building him into the "ultimate undead" (in the anime, this was made more obvious when Integra performed a ritual with Masonic imagery in Orders 11 and 12). In recent chapters of the manga, it seems that Integra can indeed use some form of magic to control Alucard's abilities, but whether it is due to her magical abilities or her position as Alucard's master/mistress remains to be seen.
Relationship with Alucard
Integra's relationship with Alucard is very complex. It seems deeper than just business, and has been called ‘twisted love’ by the mangaka himself. She has been connected with him ever since the death of her father, when she accidentally awakened him from his slumber in the basement of the Hellsing House (volume 1 of the manga, Order 10: Master of Monster in the anime) and became his master.
Alucard has offered his blood to her twice in the anime, and her fate was left open to interpretation: her first reply was changing subjects and avoiding an answer, but she never declined the offer. In the manga, he still hasn't brought up the issue, but we have been told she's a virgin (in the mangaverse, it is stated that a vampire can only create another vampire by drinking the blood of a virgin of the opposite sex), and that Alucard has returned to claim a woman at the end of volume 7.
Integra's relationship to Alucard has been described simply as master and servant. However, fan-collected evidence and comments by Kouta Hirano suggest that it could be more than that. The only clear evidence to support this is (as previously stated) Alucard's coming to England to claim a woman "he so thirstily longed for," in volume 7 of the manga, which parallels similar events in Bram Stoker's novel (and especially in Francis Ford Coppola's movie version). The obviousness of this clear. Though Alucard and Integra has always been a popular pairing, even more so after Kouta's infamous statement: "Their relationship is master and servant and twisted love," it is hard to deteremine whether or not any other hints discused are credible as an indication that their relationship is romantic in any way or definite according to recent evidence.