The third season of the popular Netflix series The Umbrella Academy just became available on the streaming service, which has fans of the show ecstatic! If you are unfamiliar, The Umbrella Academy is a time-traveling superhero web series produced in the United States that is based on the same-named Gerard Way comic book series.
The series was published by Dark Horse Comics and included illustrations by Gabriel Bá. The protagonists of the novel are an odd family of adopted superhero siblings who band together to solve the puzzles surrounding their father’s mysterious death and the threat of the end of the world.
This film tells the tale of Viktor Hargeeves, the youngest of the seven siblings and also known as the White Violin and Umbrella Number 7.
Origins
One of the forty-three infants who were all born on the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989 to mothers who had not previously shown any signs of pregnancy was Viktor Hargreeves. This made him an extraordinary child. Viktor was born female, and he was formerly known as Vanya Hargreaves before the actor who played Vanya, Elliot Page, came out as trans in real life, and the character was shaped accordingly.
Viktor was initially assigned to be number seven upon adoption. One of Sir Reginald Hargreaves’ seven adopted children, the infant was raised with the goal of teaching him how to save the world and be a hero. Viktor unfortunately appeared to lack any superpower, in contrast to his six adoptive siblings who all possessed superpowers of various kinds. However, he had a gift for the violin and, as an adult, wrote an autobiography detailing his experiences as an average Umbrella Academy member.
A glimpse into his early life shows that he was anything but ordinary. However, he paid a major price for his unique abilities. Viktor began to cause problems when he was four years old. He didn’t want oatmeal and wouldn’t eat it. Sir Reginald tried to coax Viktor into cooperating by hiring a string of nannies, but each time they tried to force him to eat the oats, Viktor used the force of a whistling kettle to murder or seriously hurt them.
Grace, a machine created by Sir Reginald, was lastly presented to Viktor. Grace experienced the same thing; Viktor’s raw power propelled her across the room, where she struck her head with a horrifying crack. Grace was a robot, therefore she wasn’t fazed and stood back up.
Viktor was worried by the fact that Grace helped him eat his porridge while her head was being pushed back into place after being turned 180 degrees the incorrect way. Viktor started eating his breakfast immediately after witnessing this. All of this points to one thing – he was extremely powerful, but sadly, his power was deemed ‘too much’ and shelved away.
Once it is clear that Umbrella Number 7 does possess some pretty powerful abilities, Sir Reginald puts Viktor’s capabilities to the test. Sir Reginald instructs Viktor to focus on a tuning fork’s resonance in a controlled setting so that he can harness it and use it to shatter a wine glass. Sir Reginald continues to instruct and observe Viktor for a continuous twelve days, with excellent results.
Viktor, however, finds it difficult to focus on the tuning fork’s resonance while a rainstorm is around. Instead, he uses the storm’s noise as a source of power to utterly uncontrollably smash all of the wine glasses. When Sir Reginald realises how strong Viktor is, it sounds alarm bells in his mind and he suspends his training temporarily.
Then, claiming that he had built a special location created exclusively for Viktor, Sir Reginald leads him to a soundproof vault that he had constructed in the basement. Sir Reginald wanted to put Viktor’s skills to test further so that he could determine whether they could be controlled and thus, he locks a terrified Viktor into the soundproof chamber, but after studying and evaluating Viktor, he eventually comes to the conclusion that his powers are too dangerous and could not be controlled. Any emotional upheaval or lack of concentration led the powers to be released uncontrollably, each time with a vast capacity for destruction, making even trying to train him too dangerous a task.
He makes the decision to house Viktor separately and tells the other kids that Viktor is ill and had to be secluded before locking him in the soundproof box. None of the kids raised a concern about it and accepted their father’s reasoning. During his time in seclusion, Viktor used to receive food and medication from Grace. “I heard a rumour, you believe you’re just average,” Sir Reginald made his adoptive daughter, Allison, Umbrella Number 7 say this to Viktor during this time, knowing the grave consequences this would have.
Allison’s power was vocal reality manipulation, this meant that she could control people and reality using her voice. Thus, when she uttered that statement to Viktor, it made him forget that he had powers in the first place and enforced the idea that he was the weakest out of all his seven siblings and was truly, born without any special powers.
We have often seen this happen with individuals in various superhero themed films and comic books and other properties. One of the most prominent examples which comes to mind is when Professor Xavier completely dampened the powers of one of the most powerful mutants ever to walk this Earth – Mathew Malloy – by putting blocks in his mind and instead of teaching him how to use his powers for good, suppressing it completely.
However, if any of you are familiar with the story of Mathew Malloy, one day the power burst forth, he had no idea how to control it and many people died. Unfortunately for Umbrella Number 7, his fate happens to be quite similar. A tragic story that leads to further tragedy because the people who make the decisions were too scared to create a monster but ended up doing that anyway.
Life at the Academy
As a result of what his father did, Viktor grew up thinking he had no powers and was also treated like he was absolutely ordinary. The Umbrella Academy kids made their first public début as heroes when they were thirteen years old by foiling a bank heist. Sir Reginald and Viktor observed from above while the rest of the Academy dealt with the burglars. Sir Reginald said that Viktor was not special when he inquired why he couldn’t play with the other kids.
Viktor was extremely hurt by this comment and sadly, he would endure this sort of treatment for the entire duration of his time at the Academy. In fact, Sir Reginald stated that he had adopted only six children, not seven, when he introduced the world to the Umbrella Academy’s inaugural class after the kids of the Academy had successfully prevented the robbery.
Viktor helped Sir Reginald coach the other Academy members albeit not being a team member. His father watched his brainwaves while he slept to monitor him and make sure that the powers would not subconsciously express themselves. Viktor was also the only child not to get an umbrella tattooed on his wrist and in a really heart-breaking scene in the show, he drew one on his wrist with a marker to make himself feel included. He lived with so many siblings but was absolutely alone. He had a lonely and excluded upbringing which sowed in him seeds of anger and resentment that would all bubble up later.
On one occasion, Sir Reginald advised Viktor to be ready to study alone because his siblings were away on separate assignments at the time. This was because he was never allowed to go with them and wasn’t given any combat training. Viktor notices Sir Reginald’s violin at this time and requests to borrow it because his studies involved music. Sir Reginald concurs, and Viktor assures Grace that he will master the instrument and excel. He was very motivated to succeed in some way since he wanted to please his father but always felt lesser than. This made him devote a lot of time to learning how to play the violin and perfecting the art.
In fact, Viktor had such a terrible time in the Academy that he wrote a book about it, an autobiography that served as a memoir of his time in the Academy. Viktor decided to purchase an ancient typewriter that was on display in front of a bookstore after passing it a few times. He went back to his place after buying it, sat down, and started writing an autobiography.
Since Viktor thought he didn’t possess a superpower like the rest of his family, he always felt cut off from them, and this is represented in the book. The autobiography describes each of the Hargreaves siblings’ personalities and powers, and how he navigated through all of these super powered siblings while being the only ‘ordinary’ one, never noticed, never recognised and always left behind.
It is easy to see how leading such a life where he was constantly told he was different and lesser than his siblings and secluded to the point that he was locked up in a soundproof confinement box would create an ugly monster. Viktor was a victim of his circumstances. His innate powers were too dangerous and this little child paid the price all throughout his adolescence.
The Most Powerful Sibling – His Powers and Abilities
Viktor is quite attractive, with brown eyes and hair. He has a square face structure with a large forehead, a sharp jawline, and thin lips. He has a slender physique and frequently wears his hair back in the first season. He frequently dons outfits that reflect his tomboyish nature, including oversized or plaid shirts, coats, trousers, and jeans, as well as tuxedos. All of this makes him look quite normal, weak, even. And although he appears quite unassuming, he is considered to be the most powerful of the seven siblings.
All of Viktor’s special powers have to do with sound. Viktor can resonate with sound and energy like a tuning fork thanks to his powers, which are dependent on contact with sound. His skin turns pale and grey and his irises turn white as his body starts to emit blue and white light when absorbing enough sound and using all of his energy.
Additionally, Viktor occasionally adopted a chilly, unyielding attitude, brutally injuring or even killing anyone who had given him great rage, aggravation, or worry while he was harnessing his powers. Viktor was seen to have visions of himself as a child while in this state of peaceful rage, which gave him the idea to exact revenge on those who had wronged him. Due to his mental instability, he was demonstrated to be unpredictable in his behaviour and this made him a dangerous person.
Additionally, Viktor has the ability to control sound, transforming it into numerous forms of physical force and energy. He often reacted violently to his fear or rage because of how closely his talents were tied to his emotional state. Viktor was able to consciously utilise his skills when they were fully released.
Viktor can also move, control, and generate force by altering sound waves, which gives him the ability to move items telekinetically. He can immobilise, restrict, constrain, and repel people with his energy while acting aggressively. Relating back to sound once more, Viktor uses the force he generates from sound to raise and carry himself through the air, allowing him to fly and levitate on occasions. In fact, levitating Viktor once stopped a Soviet tank’s shell from being fired in 1963 by destroying it with his energy.
Viktor further has the power to create and manipulate sound waves and vibrations, which he can use to deadly effect to knock people to the ground or even completely destroy structures. He would emit sound waves in the form of transparent ripples of force when he first started to feel his power as an adult.
He launched a multidirectional shockwave during an altercation in a parking lot when he became enraged, sending three mature men flying across the space and leaving two of them dead and one gravely hurt. His sound waves generated a surge of force that sent a car hurtling over several city blocks and led the Umbrella Academy mansion to endure a strong tremor that drove the building to collapse.
Viktor can create a dazzling white energy ball from the absorbed sound that has the power to cause great levels of force—even at its weakest, it can tear through flesh. Viktor can channel this energy through his body, which at times causes dazzling light to shine out of his chest, through his violin and bow, as well as through motions. He once created multiple energy tendrils from his chest to hoist four of his siblings up in the air while engaging them in combat in the Icarus Theatre. This slowly drained their life force and nearly turned them into dried corpses until his sister Allison shot a gun next to his ear, impairing him and restoring them back to normal.
When he is upset or furious, Viktor can make it rain since he has some degree of control over the weather. After a disagreement with his family, he stormed out of the Hargreaves estate, causing isolated thunder and rain to fall just on the street he was on. When he emits his sound-based energy, he appears to be able to create wind.
As someone whose powers all revolve around sound, it is only natural that Viktor was able to concentrate while practising in the forest and hear sounds that would normally be outside the range of the average person’s hearing. He could hear the chimes from the cabin, for instance. No matter how loud the other sounds are, Viktor can concentrate on one and block out the others.
When it comes to defence, Viktor’s sound-based energy can be formed into strong barriers that can deflect a lot of force. Viktor created a barrier that was powerful enough for a Soviet tank round to detonate harmlessly in 1963 to protect himself from it.
Viktor could also share his powers with others and that would also result in a telepathic link between him and whoever he shared his powers with. And last but not the least, Viktor began his career as a violin instructor and musician in an orchestra as an adult after spending a significant amount of his childhood practising on a violin that had once belonged to Sir Hargreaves’ deceased wife. He was able to play a more significant part in the concert he was scheduled to play because of his level of confidence, thus, he was also a skilled violinist.
Redemption Arc: From Villain to Hero
Viktor is a decent and intelligent man who unfortunately experienced long-lasting trauma all throughout his childhood. Because he was “normal,” his family and even their intelligent Chimpanzee helper, Pogo, disregarded him while he was a child. Even though Viktor tried to blend in, Diego or perhaps another family member kicked him out. At that time, he was extremely defenceless and innocent.
He thought of himself as special when he first started dating Leonard Peabody, one of the major villains of the show, since he always treated Viktor special and lavished him with compliments. Viktor rejects the idea that Leonard was exploiting him because he wanted someone to care for him, despite the concerns of his family. However, Leonard Peabody used Viktor to achieve his own ends and thus, actually did not care about him.
Viktor continued to feel like an outcast, which added to his trauma. He was quite attached to his violin, which his mother gave him as a gift. He becomes detached from the harsh world when he plays his violin and is instead transported to a loving and peaceful space. He was particularly concerned about his music, as seen by his response that his music was as essential to Leonard when the latter advised him to practise his talents.
After realising that he indeed had powers, Viktor began training with his lover, Leonard. Shortly after this, his sister Allison showed up and told him the truth about his powers and how their father had made Allison use her powers on him to make sure his remained suppressed. This makes Viktor furious and all his pent-up rage and suppressed power results in him killing his sister. He slashes the air using the bow of his violin and the energy cuts Allison’s throat, and she bleeds to death.
Leonard takes him away from the scene, but Viktor quickly understands that Leonard had been manipulating him the entire time and thus, he kills the man that he had fallen in love with by impaling him with many sharp objects. Viktor then goes to the Academy where he meets Umbrella Number 1, Luther and when Viktor inquires about Allison, he is happy to find that she is still alive.
Viktor sobs, admitting to Luther that he had no intention of harming Allison. Hugging him, Luther lets him know that he believes him. However, now that Luther is aware of how dangerous he is, he uses his strength to choke him until he passes out. He panics and begs to be let out when he awakens in the underground soundproof chamber under the Academy while Luther tells the other siblings about Viktor’s newfound powers.
When Viktor is left alone in the room, his reflection transforms into a thirteen-year-old version of himself that incites him to embrace everything that everyone else is scared of about his powers. Young Viktor persuades his older self that his siblings are no better than their father and that his family will keep him imprisoned for life.
Viktor then concentrates on his own heartbeat in the soundproof room and utilises it to generate the energy he needs to escape his cage. With the aid of his magic, Viktor becomes a chilly, vicious, and unstable version of himself. His eyes turn white and he enters a state of a trance. In this state he destroys the Academy, kills Pogo and seriously injures many of his siblings, nearly killing four of them. This was not all, however, and his uncontrolled powers turned out to be the harbinger of the apocalypse as one of his energy blasts struck the moon and caused it to start breaking apart.
When Viktor was imprisoned, his true power emerged. The abuse, abandonment, and pain were all reflected back to him when he saw his younger self in the reflection, which led him to lose control and snap. Viktor is seen as cold and emotionless in his actual powerful form. However, this is not entirely accurate because Allison received a smile from Viktor when she witnessed him perform. However, he was stopped by Allison, and the entire incident was reversed by Umbrella Number Five who took them all back in time to stop the seclusion of Viktor and prevent the apocalypse.
Viktor lost all of his memories of his family and his life in this new timeline which we see in Season 2. He was content with his new existence, which included the characters Sissy and Harlan. Viktor’s trauma had been resolved, and he now loved and felt safe in his new home with his new family.
He felt as though his life had been broken when he met Five. When Umbrella Number Five lied to him about the old timeline, he became very upset at Five, and it took him some time to realise that he was the one who had brought about the apocalypse. He eventually returned to his family, though, and came to terms with the fact that this is who he is. With Allison and Klaus, his siblings, he had comfort. He soon restored his memory and gained command of his personal abilities.
The White Violin as Shown in the Comics
Considering that the Netflix show is based on a comic book series, it would be criminal not to mention Vanya Hargreaves from the comics. Vanya Hargreaves is female in the comics and shares practically the same origin story and upbringing as Viktor Hargreaves. However, here are some of the key differences between the two.
Her sound-based power and its range are the same as in the comics, although the show depicts it in a somewhat different way. Vanya can only produce sound waves via music in the comic novels, which were written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. She is far more powerful and formidable in the show because she can produce them through any sound. She can concentrate her powers without her trademark violin as well. Vanya is merely a living tuning fork that amplifies acoustic waves in the environment; she is the instrument of sound in the comics.
The White Violin’s comic book aesthetic is one of the best in recent memory, but Vanya largely forgoes it for the live-action adaptation. Her suit in the comics is probably one of the coolest of all time. This is because in the comics, Vanya steadily transforms into the violin, going from a straightforward suit to an odd hybrid between human and instrument. Unfortunately, she doesn’t truly wear a spandex costume or transform into a violin, even though in the show her suit changes from black to white. It is understandable that the whole thing is probably super impractical for a live-action adaptation. Even yet, I have to admit that it was terribly unsettling how her eyes would alter their colour as she unleashed her powers in the show.
The Conductor’s influence over The White Violin becomes apparent after she departs from The Academy, in the comic books, at least. She learns about her true self and her strength from the Orchestra Verdammten chief, and she kills him as a result. This is handled differently in the show. The orchestra and the conductor have changed, as well. The Orchestra Verdammten serves primarily as a setting for the dramatic sequence in which Vanya unleashes her power because she is triggered by Leonard Peabody who fills in for the role of the Conductor in the show.
With the conclusion of season two, the show intensifies its apocalyptic theme. In the comics, Vanya almost always brings about disaster. With the aid of Vanya’s abilities, the orchestra began with the “Apocalypse Suite.” After battling her siblings, Vanya in the series uses her special abilities to unleash the apocalypse. But she’s not at all responsible for the nuclear war that breaks out in the season two finale and which is caused by a group called The Commission that has nothing to do with the comics. In the comics, there is no such conflict.
The third season of The Umbrella Academy is now live for viewing on Netflix and Umbrella Number 7, who was previously called Vanya Hargreaves, has returned in the newest season as Viktor Hargreaves. The White Violin has been a historically volatile character and while he has definitely settled down and it seems like he has worked through his issues and trauma, there is always a chance for things to go wrong.
His powers after all, are insanely destructive. If you haven’t watched the third season yet, give it a go and watch as Viktor Hargreaves returns in full glory and he is very much a part of the team this time around. Do you think he is the strongest sibling? Let us know in the comments section below!