Amanda (Nikita character)
| Amanda | |
|---|---|
| Nikita character | |
Melinda Clarke as Amanda
|
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| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | "Cancelled" |
| Created by | Craig Silverstein |
| Portrayed by | Melinda Clarke |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | The Inquisitor |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation |
Spy and assassin Interrogator Psychologist Physician Division Stylist (former) Division Director (former) |
| Significant other(s) | Percival Rose (deceased) Ari Tasarov (deceased) |
| Relatives | Matthew Collins (father; deceased) Amanda Collins (twin sister; deceased) |
Amanda Collins (formerly Helen Collins) is one of the main characters of Nikita, portrayed by Melinda Clarke. She is the main antagonist of the third and fourth seasons of Nikita, but more specifically on a personal level with Nikita Mears and Alexandra "Alex" Udinov.
Amanda is the resident psychologist and official manipulator (as well as torturer) of Division. Percy is rumored to have built his entire operation around Amanda's methods and relies on her to get inside people's heads, both during torture and to break them down to believe in Division unconditionally. As an expert manipulator, she can usually tell when people are lying to her and enjoys getting to know the recruits and their secrets. Only two recruits are known to have been able to resist being completely broken by her: Nikita and Alex. Because of this Amanda found herself both fascinated by, and frustrated with the two women.
Relatively little is known about Amanda's life prior to Division. When introducing her to Carla Bennett Percy made the comment that Amanda was a rising star in psychological operations, which may hint at a military or government background. Though she did not create Division's recruitment program (this was done by Carla), Amanda greatly modified and "enhanced" it. Amanda ultimately developed a hatred for Carla, most likely because she felt threatened by Carla's presence, which she perceived as a challenge to her position in Division. The fact that Percy seemed to have cared a great deal about Carla may have also had something to do with her antagonistc attitude (though she would hate to admit it, jealousy has been shown to be a motivating factor in Amanda's personality). Amanda had secretly been carrying on an affair with Ari, the head of Gogol and a Division rival, for many years. Carla inadvertently saw the two of them together one night, and Amanda decided to put out a hit on her life, even though Carla had no idea who the man was.
In episode 3x18 "Broken Home" is revealed that Amanda was born as "Helen Collins" with her twin sister being named Amanda Collins. Helen was subject to traumatizing and psychologically scarring experiments implemented by their father who was trying to find a way to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Helen blamed Amanda for what happened to her, referring to her as Daddy's little Princess. Helen later plans to kill her entire family and steal Amanda's identity because they were twins. As teenagers, Amanda goes downstairs to see her sister telling her that she'd find a way out for the both of them. Helen says to her sister that she has to kill her because there was no other way out, since their father made sure that Helen didn't exist on paper (No license, no school, no birth records). Amanda refuses to do this, acts upon her guilt and tries to rescue her sister the same day. Their father discovers this, and Helen slits his throat with a knife. She then stabs her sister, saying that Amanda was always daddy's little princess and that it was only because she was born eight minutes earlier than Helen. She also says that she could have been her and should have been her, blaming her for not doing anything to rescue her all these years. Helen takes her sister's identity and burns the house down, leaving as "Amanda."
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