10 pop culture characters who accurately depict mental health issues

The Umbrella Academy season 1 production still. Photo: Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix

Vanya Hargreeves

Regardless of your opinions and headcanons on The Umbrella Academy (the comics or the Netflix series), we can all agree that Reginald Hargreeves is the worst father and just the worst person. Sure, he might not be the leading villain in the series, but the way he treated his kids, robbed them of their childhood, and weaponized them makes in the front runner for the worst villain in the fandom.

For Vanya particularly, he tormented her, isolated her from her siblings, and psychologically abused her. All the Hargreeves kids acknowledge Reginald’s emotional abuse (save for Luther, but he clearly forgot his logical thinking on the dang moon). However, Vanya’s characterization gives a serious portrayal of abuse.

While she’s a notable villain in the comics and her full villainous potential is underway on the show, her mental health isn’t synonymous with her growing autonomy toward a more nefarious career choice. If anything, the show illustrates her reactions to her traumas as justified.

The series shows this through her plights with recovering her long-since suppressed memories — coded similar to fugue states — and forcibly undergoing a deeply traumatizing trigger (thanks to being locked in a room by Luther). Like many real-life survivors of abuse, assault, and various other traumas, she’s drawn back to people who gaslight us or manipulate us. That explains her shenanigans with that creep, Leonard. Still, Vanya continuously fights back and defends herself.

Even when she does wrong and inadvertently hurts her sister, Allison, she takes accountability for her actions. She doesn’t think that she even deserves to be forgiven for nearly killing Allision, but she both verbally and nonverbally forgives her. Being raised in the same house, Allison gets it. While Vanya’s mental health arc will likely continue in season 2, we just hope we’ll get to see some wholesome content with the two sisters.