Vanessa Ives

Vanessa Ives is a fictional medium and one of the main characters featured in the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. She is played by actress Eva Green and introduced in the pilot episode of the series, "Night Work".

Overview
Vanessa Ives was a spiritualist who lived in London, England during the late 19th century. She had a complex relationship with a man named Malcolm Murray and lived at Murray's estate at 8 Grandage Place. Vanessa was committed towards using her psychic gifts to help Murray locate his missing daughter, Mina, who had been enthralled by a supernatural creature.

Recruiting Ethan
On September 22nd, 1891, Vanessa attended a showing of Colonel Brewster's Wild West Show and Emporium of American Curiosities where she found the American gunslinger Ethan Chandler. She met with Chandler after the show and hired him for his talents with a six-shooter for a bit of night work. This night work involved raiding an opium den and fighting off a horde of vampires. The following evening, Vanessa met with Ethan at Sir Malcolm's where she invited him to continue working with them. She told him of the Demimonde - a place where the real world meets the spirit world; a place where some creatures are cursed to exist. She did a Tarot card reading and asked Ethan to pick a card from the deck. He picked The Lovers.

Abilities, Visions & other oddities

 * Wile praying, Vanessa saw a vision of the crucifix on her wall inverted with a bunch of spiders crawling out from under it onto her face.


 * During the group's confrontation with the vampires at the opium den, she stood in front of the lead vampire and her presence actually made the creature pause for a moment, enabling Sir Malcolm the opportunity to kill him.


 * Before Ethan Chandler left Vanessa's presence, she had him pick a card from her tarot deck. He picked The Lovers and Vanessa told Ethan to "believe", which caused him to hesitate momentarily before leaving her company.

Notes & Trivia



 * Vanessa Ives is the second main character introduced in the series. she is the first female main character introduced in the series.


 * Actress Eva Green is also known for playing the role of vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard in the 2012 film adaptation of the classic 1960s soap opera series Dark Shadows, directed by Tim Burton.