Thaddeus Valentine

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Thaddeus Valentine is a fictitous historian of London in the book Mortal Engines.

He has two daughters, Katherine Valentine and Hester Shaw. While Katherine's mother died soon after birth, Hester's mother married another man and raised her until Valentine ruthlessly murdered them, then slashed Hester's face with his sword, but because she was his daughter he could not bring himself to make sure she was dead, so she was able to escape. Ever after she waited for the day when she would avenge her parents' deaths. The reason for these murders was a piece of 'old tech', known as MEDUSA.

On an expedition to America, the 'dead continent', Hester's mother/Valentine's lover (Pandora Shaw) found the plans of a weapon made by the 'ancients', called MEDUSA. However it was only when Hester's mother found an actual piece of MEDUSA and wanted to destroy it, that Valentine killed her. After that, he took the plans and artefact to London and helped the lord mayor, Magnus Crome, to recreate the weapon inside St. Paul's Cathedral.

Valentine comes into the plot one night in the 'Gut' when Tom Natsworthy saves his life from a veiled, knife-wielding girl (later to be known as Hester) attempting to take Valentine's life. After the girl falls off London, Valentine pushes Tom down after her. Unknown to Valetine, Hester and Tom had survived the fall. Later at Batmunkh Gompa, Valentine destroyed the 'Anti-Traction' League's airfleet and was confronted by Anna Fang. They fought furiously in the snow until Anna finally cut him to the quick- on his knees, leaving Valentine disarmed and exhausted, the very picture of defeat. But just as she was about to finish him, Valentine's airship the Thirteenth Floor Elevator, distractes her so that Valentine could grab her sword and plunge it through Anna's neck. Valentine later killed his daughter Katherine accindentally as she saved Hester's life. As she lay dying in his arms, he with the rest of London dissolved in an explosion of light as MEDUSA malfunctioned and destroyed itself.

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