Beka Valentine

Andromeda Character


name = Beka Valentine
gender = Female
race = Human
affiliation = New Systems Commonwealth
Andromeda Ascendant
Eureka Maru
portrayed = Lisa Ryder
seasons = 1-5

Rebecca "Beka" B. Valentine is a fictional character in the television series "Andromeda", played by Lisa Ryder.

Beka is human but has never lived on a planet, having been (most likely) born on the salvage ship Eureka Maru which had been built by her drug-addict, cargo-running father, Ignatius Valentine and his friend and business partner, Sid Barry. Beka's semi-rich mother Senator Talia Waterkurk, left the Maru Crew when she was 7, her 'Uncle' Sid also left when she was a child when he and Ignatius had a fight (sparked by the murder of multiple customs officials by Sid). Beka's older brother Raphael Valentine left the Maru some time before Ignatius' death in CY 10097. Some time after inheriting the Maru, Captain Beka Valentine meets Bobby Jensen. They date for a while and Bobby becomes Beka's only crew member, until he lies to her about the nature of cargo they picked up on Earth with the help of Seamus Harper. (Bobby said they were transporting computers when they were actually stealing missiles). Beka breaks up with Bobby and hires Harper, later hiring Rev Bem, Vexpag (who later dies in an accident, traumatizing Beka) and Trance Gemini. In CY 10087 the Maru pulls the Andromeda Ascendant out of the Hephaistos black hole while under contract with Gerentex. The crew join Dylan Hunt to restore the Systems Commonwealth and Beka becomes Andromeda's First Officer and pilot. At first Beka is skeptical about Dylan's quest, taking advantage of the free food and housing provided by Andromeda. But after a couple years Beka finds herself believing in the dream of a Restored Systems Commonwealth.

Beka is very loyal and protective of her crew; she would sooner die then let them down. When things go wrong Beka used to consider leaving the Andromeda (and the danger) behind, especially when her friends have died. After being on "Andromeda" for five years, Beka’s ability to cope with risk-taking improves and she becomes less inclined to shirk her responsibilities. Although she doesn’t tolerate being lied to, Beka often deals in secrecy, whether it’s looking for the big score or looking for the Engine of Creation. Beka spent her entire life on the Eureka Maru, and although her friends and family have come and gone, Beka and the Maru were never separated for long amounts of time.

Beka's strength and reflexes have been altered to make her reaction time faster, contributing to her already-superb spaceship piloting skills. These alterations were passed down from her father, who was himself genetically altered. (she didn't actually have the alterations done to her DNA). She is also able to change her hair color due to nanobots her father gave her as a child (because having only one colour of hair was boring).

When Beka reunites with her 'Uncle' Sid in episode 1x11 he doses her with a potent recreational drug called Flash in order to get information from her. Flash is dripped into the user's eyes and makes them temporarily smarter, faster, stronger and better than they usually are, however the feeling of invincibility leads to impaired judgment and erratic, sometimes violent behaviour. Although the dose Beka received wasn't enough to get her addicted, like her father, Beka enjoyed the experience and retakes Flash in episode 1x21 while attempting to reach Dylan's long lost homeworld, Tarn Vedra. She overuses it and overdoses, nearly dying; from then on she has to deal with the lingering need for Flash.

The nanobots that control her hair colour also have the ability to store information (as evidence when it turned out that her father had implanted a video of 'Uncle' Sid murdering people at an air locker to avoid being arrested for drug trafficking).

When Beka was trapped in an alternate dimension with Tyr Anasazi in episode 4x07, the Abyss possessed her to spy on Dylan. Later the crew managed to extract the Abyss from her in episode 4x16, Dylan risking his life to draw the Abyss into an artificially created 'duplicate' of Beka's subconscious mind.

In the episode "Pride Before The Fall" (episode 5x12), Beka Valentine had romantic relations with a mysterious, charismatic young man named "Peter" (who was Dr. Paul Museveni, the father of "Drago Musevini", Progenitor of all Nietzscheans, in clever disguise, though he later revealed his true identity). Peter (Musevini) took samples of Beka Valentine's DNA while she slept, then disappeared through the Route of Ages. By a strange circumstance of time travel, Beka became the Founding Matriarch of the entire Nietzschean Race.

Since the men and women of all Nietzschean Prides grow up in reverence of legendary Nietzschean Progenitor "Drago Musevini", they would (if they knew) revere Beka Valentine as the Alpha Mother of the entire Nietzschean race.