Hanna is a fictional character created by screenwriters
Seth Lochhead and
David Farr. She appears in both the 2011 live action film ''
Hanna'' and the 2019
TV series of the same name. She is portrayed by
Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Una Ronan ( , ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas since adolescence, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations fo ...
in the film and
Esmé Creed-Miles in the television series.
Early life
In the film Hanna's year and place of birth are not revealed but in the TV series she is shown in 2003 as a very small baby in a secret facility in
Darabani
Darabani () is a town in Botoșani County, Western Moldavia, Romania, and is the northernmost town in Romania. It administers three villages: Bajura, Eșanca and Lișmănița.
The area is a setting for the 2019 Amazon Studios TV series '' Hann ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. In both the film and at the start of the series she is 15 years old except in brief flashbacks to her earlier life. Her birth mother was Johanna (Zadek in the film, Petrescu, born 1980 in the series) who died whilst she was rescuing Hanna from the facility with her partner, German former
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
agent Erik Heller. Erik escapes with Hanna and her childhood and early adolescence is spent living alone with him in the forest (
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
in the film,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in the series) to hide from the CIA. For the first 15 years of her life Hanna believes Erik to be her birth father, but she later learns he is not. It is revealed that Erik persuaded Johanna not to
abort Hanna so the baby could be part of a CIA programme called UTRAX.
In the television series it is revealed that Hanna's real father is named Emil Prodna and at the time Emil did not want to have a relationship with Johanna and have Hanna as his daughter. However when Erik takes her at the age of 15 to meet Emil, his current wife, and his other three children, Emil is happy to meet Hanna and offers her a place to stay in safety. Hanna however gives this up for Erik.
Appearance and character
Hanna is 5ft 2in (157cm) tall with blue eyes. In the film she has blonde hair, but in the TV series it is brown, although in season 2, she dyes her hair blonde. She has pale skin and her build is slim and athletic, partly due to the intense physical exercise that Erik makes her undertake and partly due to the fact that the CIA used UTRAX to enhanced her
DNA in order to breed
super soldiers. Due to this Hanna is exceptionally strong for a girl her age and build and has great stamina when running.
As she lived in the forest she was home schooled by Erik. Whilst not being unlearned at all she has little knowledge of the practicalities of the modern outside world (she is amazed by an aeroplane and had not heard of
Snapchat
Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...
). Erik raised her to be prolific in languages as she speaks at least English, German, Italian and French. Aside from that she excels at
hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
and
shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...
and
hand-to-hand combat
Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...
skills Erik knew she'd need when she left the forest to evade the CIA. By series 2 on TV she had learnt to drive a car, is comfortable with modern technology and has lost her social naivety.
Hanna's first friendship is with a 17 year old Polish
logger in the forest and her first close friend is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
girl named Sophie who is around her own age. Having been raised alone by Erik she has nothing but theoretical knowledge of romance. She rejects the advances of boys who like her, except when she drinks some
vodka
Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...
. Not knowing the effect the drink would have on her she kisses a boy in what others see as an unacceptable
public display of affection
Public displays of affection (PDA) are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What is an acceptable display of affection varies with respect to culture and context.
Some organizations have rules limiting or prohibiting public displa ...
, whilst she knows no better. She later loses her virginity to an English boy called Anton. It is hinted that Sophie is sexually attracted to Hanna and at one stage Sophie kisses her on the mouth, but Hanna just sees this as a normal part of friendship. Her character is summarised on one of the promotional
film posters
A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...
as "Young. Sweet. Innocent. Deadly." When Marissa Wiegler, Hanna and Erik's nemesis, tries to befriend the girl by labelling her "unique" Hanna replies ''"Unique just means alone"''. Sophie's mother Rachel comments that Hanna is much like her at her age a "loner". By series 3 it is shown that although Hanna has been trained by UTRAX, her moral upbringing by Erik means she does not kill blindly and begins to work against them.
See also
*
List of child superheroes
A child superhero or child superheroine is a fictional child or adolescent who is noted for feats of courage and nobility, and who usually has a colorful name, costume, and abilities beyond those of normal young human beings. As with real childr ...
*
Hannah (name)
Hannah ( he, חַנָּה, hannah) also spelled Hanna, Hana (name), Hana or Chana, is a feminine given name of Hebrew origin. It is derived from the Semitic root, root ''ḥ-n-n'', meaning "favour" or "grace"; ''A Dictionary of First Names'' attr ...
References
{{Reflist
Female characters in film
Film characters introduced in 2011
Teenage characters in film
Fictional European people
Adoptee characters in films
Adoptee characters in television
Fictional super soldiers
Fictional female assassins