Tulip O'Hare

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caption =
character_name = Tulip O'Hare
publisher = DC Comics (Vertigo)
debut = "Preacher" #1
creators = Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
real_name = Tulip O'Hare
species = Human
alliances =
aliases =
powers = None; but is a crack shot

Tulip O'Hare is a fictional character from the comic book series "Preacher". She was created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.

Jesse Custer's romantic interest is, in her own right, a trained marksman of exceptional skill who had a brief but ineffective career as a hitman.

History

Birth and childhood

Tulip O'Hare is the only daughter of Jake O'Hare, a hunting and firearms enthusiast, and an un-named mother, who died while giving birth to Tulip.

Jake was celebrating the birth of his new child while the mother was in the hospital giving birth. Fully expecting a son, he boastfully laughed off the very idea of having a daughter, and was in the midst of buying everyone in the bar a round of drinks when the hospital called with the news of his wife's death, and that the child was a daughter. Suddenly a single father, at first he had no idea what to do, until he was introduced to his daughter, and he decided that having a daughter need not be a bad thing.

Jake raised his "Little Petal," as he nicknamed her, just like a son, introducing her to firearms, hunting, fishing, and war stories, but also encouraged her to be whatever she wanted to be. Tulip, being somewhat Tomboy-ish, found herself alienated from boys and girls alike. This all ended for Tulip when, at the age of 13, Jake was killed during a hunting trip by some other hunters that had mistaken him for a deer while Jake was defecating.

Amy

Jake's relatives, instead of taking Tulip in, sold all of Jake's assets and sent her off to a boarding school. Tulip endured a life of studious solitude, but was unafraid to stand up to anyone who branded her father negatively. She found herself befriended by Amy Grinderbinder, the richest student in the school, because Amy wanted a friend that would like her for herself instead of her money.

The two remained friends throughout college, where Tulip once saved Amy from being raped at a frat house. Shortly after, Amy found out her father had died and had been left a large inheritance. The two decided to drop out and tour the country. In the midst of this tour, the pair briefly settled in Texas.

Jesse Custer

While on a date to meet Amy at a bar one night, she encountered Jesse Custer, and it was love at first sight. Tulip introduced herself to the young Custer by lighting his cigarette for him before his then girlfriend, Zoe, could. After a brief catfight in the women's restroom, Tulip and Jesse then embarked on a night of passion where she had sex for the first time. Tulip returned to her and Amy's home and related her night to Amy, who was at first worried that something bad had happened to Tulip.

After Jesse and Amy were introduced to each other, the trio then embarked on a life of traveling the country, engaging in auto theft, among other crimes. Amy soon dropped out of the scene and moved to New York City, leaving Jesse and Tulip to their own devices, but remaining friends.

Jesse and Tulip continued their life of crime, sometimes landing in jail. Eventually, they ended up briefly in Phoenix, Arizona, where Jesse suggested they take a vacation in San Francisco, where Jesse had intended to ask Tulip to marry him. Unfortunately, as soon as Tulip had gone on a brief visit to buy groceries, Jesse's lifelong tormentors Jody and T.C. had suddenly appeared at his side to abduct him back to his grandmother, leaving Tulip with the impression that Jesse had abandoned her.

Tulip, embittered by Jesse's "leaving" her, then let herself spiral downward into alcohol addiction, ultimately deciding to get help when she discovered blood in her urine. She sought help from a strip-club owner (who was also a small-time hood) to help finance her treatment. When it came time to repay him, she made it abundantly clear that she would not have intercourse with him as a method of payment. She instead offered to become a hitman for him. The owner scoffed at the offer until Tulip challenged his masculinity. They then went to a firing range he also owned, where Tulip proved herself to be a more accurate shot than all the men in attendance. Suitably impressed, he hired her to do a hit, which Tulip botched badly, disfiguring one of the target's assistants, rather than hitting the target himself.

"Gone to Texas"

Fleeing the scene of the crime, Tulip encountered a pickup truck and decided to attempt a carjacking and escape. This particular pickup, however would change Tulip's life forever, as the owner, Cassidy, was extremely reluctant to let Tulip in, until her pursuers shot him. Cassidy then agreed to give Tulip a ride.

The pair rode until daylight, when Cassidy needed to escape the sunlight, and slept under a tarp in the truck's tailgate, and ordered Tulip not to drive. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Cassidy had happened to park close enough to the church where Jesse Custer was serving at, and Tulip had seen the sudden explosion that occurred as a result of the Genesis entity possessing Custer. Over Cassidy's protestations, Tulip drove to the church to look for survivors, finding only Jesse, who awoke only briefly enough to see Tulip and kiss her before losing consciousness once again.

After several altercations involving sheriff Hugo Root and the Saint of Killers, Jesse and Cassidy became fast friends. Tulip decided to stay with Jesse because she wanted to know what had happened to Jesse in the years since he left her.

"Until the End of the World"

After relating her story about what had happened to her, she and Jesse decided to pay the strip-club owner a visit to settle matters with him, one way or the other. In the midst of "negotiations" with the owner's staff, Jody and T.C. suddenly burst in and killed the owner's staff and the owner himself, and were inexplicably immune to Jesse's "Word of God" power. They abducted Jesse and Tulip and took the two of them back to where Jesse had spent his childhood, where his grandmother, Marie L'Angelle, informed them that they were immune to Jesse's power because of a pact she had made with God, and that come morning, Tulip was to be killed, and Jesse would resume his position as preacher in another church.

After grandmother and her servants left them alone for the night, Jesse confessed what had really happened to him, and the details of his hellish childhood with his grandmother and company.

Moved, Tulip forgave Jesse fully. Unfortunately, mere seconds after Tulip gave her forgiveness, Jody and T.C. had come back to make good on Miss Marie's promise, and, in front of a distraught Jesse shot Tulip in the face.

Following instructions, Tulip's body was placed in L'Angelle's bedroom, where she was resurrected by God, who ultimately instructed Tulip to inform Jesse that further attempts to pursue him would only result in more tragedy and that as a sign of good faith Jesse's powers had returned. (Jesse would later dispute as to whether or not it was God who restored his powers.)

Coming out of the bedroom, Tulip encountered a severely beaten T.C, who had been beaten by Jesse after discovering his powers had returned. Tulip found a nearby shotgun and killed T.C. She then encountered Jesse's grandmother, who was trying to escape the burning house. Enraged, she tipped over L'Angelle's wheelchair with her and a full oxygen tank in it, leaving her to die in the house.

Tulip managed to escape the house mere moments before it exploded. She then managed to find Jesse, who had just had his vengeance against Jody. Jesse at first thought Tulip was a hallucination, until the two engaged in a passionate kiss.

Subsequently, they adjourned to San Francisco and there engaged in much passionate lovemaking, happy to be together and alive. Meanwhile, Cassidy went to look up an old girlfriend, only to find her dead of a heroin overdose. Cassidy, Tulip, and Jesse then go after the source of the drugs- a hedonistic pornographer named Jesus deSade. During their infiltration of deSade's mansion, a team of thugs sent by an Illuminati-esque secret society known as the Grail burst in with guns blazing. Their leader, Herr Starr, has been tracking Jesse and desires his power. In the ensuing battle, Tulip shoots off Starr's ear, but is then grabbed by him and held hostage. Cassidy says he is Jesse and agrees to go with Starr in exchange for Tulip's safety. Tulip and Jesse pursue Starr and, though he escapes with Cassidy, they manage to capture his two main lackeys, Hoover and Featherstone. From them, it is learned Starr is taking Cassidy to France.

"Proud Americans"

Jesse and Tulip follow Starr to Paris. There he sends a group of assassins who do not speak English (and are thus immune to Jesse's powers) after them. Tulip's gunplay saves the day. Despite this, Jesse fears for her safety if they have to infiltrate the Grail's fortress. He leaves a note on their bed and goes on to Masada without her, calling to check in on her in a memorable scene where he tries to explain his fears and Tulip tells him that she isn't angry, but the ruins of the hotel room around her speak otherwise. Jesse and Tulip later meet up in New York, where Tulip gets her revenge by handcuffing him to a hotel bed and leaving him there while she met up with her friend Amy. She also had an awkward encounter with Cassidy where the vampire professes his love for her.

"Dixie Fried"

Jesse goes to New Orleans to consult Xavier, a voodoo priest who can help him understand his powers. Tulip and Cassidy accompany him. They quickly run afoul of a cult of Goth vampire enthusiasts who hold a grudge against Cassidy for killing their leader some years ago. Tulip again demonstrates her firearm skill against these villains, but before they are defeated, they kill Xavier's girlfriend Janis. Xavier later reveals to Tulip about Cassidy's betrayal and seduction of his previous girlfriend, and warns her not to trust Cassidy. He also specifically tells her that he is warning her and not Jesse, because men find Cassidy too good a friend to even think ill of him. However, due to Xavier's experiences, he knows Cassidy to be 'terribly weak', who never thinks of the consequences that his actions will have. Cassidy initially decides to stay in New Orleans to look after Arseface, but ends up tagging along with Jesse and Tulip in the end. Jesse is delighted that his good friend is coming along with them, in contrast to Tulip, who knows that Cassidy is more trouble than he is worth.

"War in the Sun"

Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy travel through Arizona and acquire peyote from a Navajo medicine man. Jesse plans to take it in Monument Valley and there learn what he can of Genesis. Unfortunately, the Saint of Killers is waiting there to confront him. So is Herr Starr, backed up by a US Army tank battalion. The Saint fights the battalion, while Tulip eliminates several of Starr's henchmen with a jeep's mounted machine gun. Jesse, Cassidy, and Tulip then steal Starr's private plane. This prompts Starr to have the US Air Force drop a nuclear bomb on Monument Valley. The Saint walks away from the blast completely unaffected, but the explosion knocks Jesse out of the plane and he is presumed dead.

"All Hell's a' Coming'

Devastated by the loss of Jesse, Tulip falls into serious depression. Cassidy provides her with alcohol and drugs that make things worse. Cassidy succeeds in having sex with Tulip on a number of occasions during this time, but Tulip eventually decides she has had enough of her meaningless lifestyle as Cassidy's partner and leaves him. She goes to New York and moves in with Amy, who shocks her with the news that Jesse is alive. Jesse arrives at Amy's apartment and is reunited with Tulip, then brought up to date on how Cassidy worsened Tulip's depression. Cassidy shows up, but Jesse warns him to stay away from Tulip. He tells the vampire to meet him in Hondo's Bar in San Antonio so they can settle everything once and for all.

"Alamo"

Jesse sets various wheels in motion for a final confrontation with his enemies. Starr and the Grail receive an anonymous tip that he is in San Antonio and set up an ambush for him there. Tulip and Jesse arrive in San Antonio and soon spot Hoover on the street, then learn Starr is in town gunning for Jesse. Tulip acquires a small arsenal of weapons and warns Jesse that this time he better not leave her behind. Jesse, however, knows of Starr's plans- he tipped Starr off. He plans to die, so that the power of Genesis will be destroyed and God will return to Heaven to face a vengeful Saint of Killers. Jesse makes plans to meet with Cassidy outside the Alamo for a final fistfight, and then leaves Tulip again after giving her a note detailing his plans. This time, Tulip is not about to let him go alone, though. She goes to the Alamo and finds Starr's commandos have encircled the area. After massacring the commandos with an M-4, Tulip confronts Starr on a rooftop and kills him- but not before his sniper kills Jesse. Jesse dies, but then comes back to life without the power of Genesis. Tulip is furious at this newest betrayal of Jesse's, of not trusting her to defend herself despite him repeatedly swearing to do so in the past. Tulip tells Jesse they are through, and drives off. After some soul-searching, Jesse realises everything he has done would be meaningless without Tulip by his side, and rescues a horse to go after her. He catches up with Tulip on the highway, and sheds real tears for the very first time since Jody murdered his father all those years ago. Touched by his display of genuine emotion, Tulip forgives him and they ride off together into the sunset.

References