- "I heard a rumor..."
- —Allison Hargreeves[src]
Allison Hargreeves is one of forty-three children all born on the same day to women who were not previously pregnant at the time. The baby was one seven adopted by [[]] with the intent of training them to save the world. Ranked in order of their usefulness, Alison was designated Number Three because of her ability to control people's actions by prefacing any statement with "I heard a rumor". Alison is played by Emmy Raver-Lampman in the Netflix adaptation of The Umbrella Academy.
Biography
Alison Hargreeves was born on 1 October 1989 at 12PM and immediately adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Her heritage is likely French or American because her adoted mother, Grace, gave the members of the Umbrella Academy names inspired by their ethinc background. As a child, Sir Reginals forced her to use her ability to make Vanya forget she also had powers. She also had a romantic relationship with Luther, known to everyone except Sir Reginald, which she discontinued until after Reginald's death. Prior to the series, she married Patrick, on whom it is implied she used her powers to get him to love her. Her marriage broke down after Patrick witnessed Allison using her powers on their daughter, Claire, at bedtime, after which he gained full custody of Claire. It was clear Allison had a lifelong tendency of abusing her powers for personal gain, her awareness of which motivated her attempts to reconcile with Vanya.
Personality
Allison is a determined woman with a kind heart and strong values. Despite wanting to reconnect with her siblings, her privileged upbringing left her feeling entitled to positive attention and respect from others.Allison used her powers to make Sir Reginald show her the love and attention her siblings were denied, then continued to abuse it get ahead in her acting career and marriage to Patrick. This centres around her deep-seated fear of about being unworthy of love and material success.
Losing custody of Claire acted as a wake-up call, triggering Allison to stop using her power. However, this doesn’t stop her from being manipulative in the traditional sense. Allison deals with a lot of guilt which often manifests as passive aggressiveness. She’s naturally a people-person, so she can target things her victim is sensitive about, such as Vanya’s reclusively or Diego’s macho facade.
Allison is prone to impulsivity, driven to act on hunches and concern for others instead of rationalizing, such as when she went to confront Harold Jenkins on her own.
Despite everything, she loves her siblings very much. She even forgives Vanya after she almost kills her and smiles warmly at her during her concert.
Powers and Abilities
- ==Mind Control and Manipulation:==
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- By prefacing a statement with "I heard a rumor," Allison can compel people do whatever she wants. After realising her use of this power had been exploitative, she stopped using it unless it wasabsolutely necessary.
- Limitations:
- Standard auditory and vocal range limitations. In order for her power to be effective, she must be close enough to a victim that they can hear her.
Relationships
Patrick and Claire
Alison's new family is evidence of the terrible consequences of misusing her power. Althgouh their marriage seemed stable while it lasted, after their divorce, Patrick was so mistrustful of Alison he refused to let her speak to Claire on the phone. And though Alison clearly loves Claire very much, she used her powers on her daugter for things as insignificant as going to sleep faster.
Luther Hargreeves
As well as being adopted siblings, there is also a strongly-implied romantic attraction between Luther and Alison, who are portrayed as childhood sweethearts who never got over one another.
Differences Between Comics
- In the Netflix adaptation, Allison's powers can influence people's thoughts, feelings and actions, using this to succeed in her career as an actress. In the comics, she can slightly alter reality - for example, if a store is sold out of a certain item, she can use her powers to manifest it.
- The Netflix adaptation depicts Allison's romance with Luther as a long-standing legitimate attraction, while the comic implies she uses her powers to seduce him in order to cope with her divorce. Contrary to the comics, she is portrayed as much more compassionate and far less deliberately manipulative.
- Likewise, in the comics, Allison is either white or very light-skinned and has shoulder length purple hair.
Gallery
