Marie Laveau is the Voodoo Queen, who is well known throughout New Orleans. Her status in the Voodoo practice is equivalent to that of the Supreme Witch. She is a character in Coven portrayed by Angela Bassett.
Background
Leader of the coven's most powerful rivals in the Dark Arts, Marie Laveau reigns as the queen of the Voodoo. Ageless, timeless and forever unforgiving, Marie Laveau will stop at nothing to bring death and destruction to any and all who dare harm her people.[1]
Personality and Appearance
Marie is a Voodoo queen and revered by those who practice the religion and craft. While living in the 1800's, her attire was that of long and elegant dresses; in post modern New Orleans her style is more modern, wearing dresses of varied colors with antiquated hairstyles. When she performs rituals, she wears white clothes and a tignon.
When crossed Marie is quick to take revenge and her force is one to be reckoned with. Marie Laveau, and her voodoo following, hold much animosity toward witches, specifically the descendants of the Salem Witch Trials, her stance towards them changed however when she developed a deep respect, and friendship with Fiona Goode, after seeking refuge with the witches after the loss of her Voodoo followers.
Story
Past
Marie Laveau's life is mostly not spoken of; though it is known that she was born on September 10th, 1794 as a Catholic. She would soon become a voodoo practitioner and, later, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.
At some point in her life she made a deal with Papa Legba and offered her soul in exchange for immortality, and now every year she has to sacrifice an innocent soul to him. She had given birth to a child whom she loved greatly, however, Papa appeared and demanded the baby's soul as payment. She begged him not to, even pleading for him to make her mortal again, but he refused and took the baby from her.
In the 1830s, after discovering Delphine LaLaurie tortured her beau, she slyly tricks the socialite into drinking what appears to be a love potion, aware that LaLaurie yearned for youth and suspected her husband of infidelity. Eager and careless LaLaurie sucked the potion vial dry, remarking on its sweetness. However, her stomach began to react towards the potion. Marie merely stepped aside to watch her foe keel over and, seemingly, die. LaLaurie later woke up that night to find her slaves freed and her daughters and husband hung in the front of her house.
Marie informs the socialite that she will not receive the same punishment as her family. Instead, she explains that the potion she gave her, actually, granted her immortality. Marie instructs the mob to seize LaLaurie and bury her alive in an unmarked grave.
In 1961, a black child of one of Marie's employees was lynched. Marie avenged the child by raising the dead and killing the men who participated in the murder.
In 1971, Marie signed a peace treaty with the current Supreme shortly before the Supreme's untimely death at the hands of Fiona.
Present day
Figuring out Marie gave LaLaurie eternal life, Fiona Goode goes to the hair parlor that Marie (not having aged a day) has set up. The two banter insults to one another until Fiona reveals she has leverage on her and asks for the secret to immortality. Marie laughs and refuses to give her the secret. Fiona leaves, but not before setting fire to Marie's hair displays. Having figured out LaLaurie has been freed by Fiona, Marie sends the Minotaur after the former socialite.
A few days later, Marie is visited by Cordelia Foxx who asks the priestess for the fertility ritual to be performed after hearing from the doctor that it was not possible for her to become pregnant. Marie describes the ritual in detail to Cordelia, and that she charges a large payment, yet guarantees success. Cordelia is unfazed by the price, but due to Fiona's actions earlier, Marie refuses to do the ritual for the daughter of her sworn enemy.
On Halloween, while working at the hair salon, Marie's employee Chantal received a package from Fiona containing the head of the Minotaur. Distraught, Marie proclaimed the truce was finished and used her voodoo ritual to awaken the dead to attack Miss Robichaux's Academy. The dead remain still until Marie orders them to attack everyone, including innocent civilians. After Zoe destroys the majority of the dead with a chainsaw, one remains, going after her. With the chainsaw out of power, Zoe lifts her hand at the dead man, saying "Be In Your Nature", breaking Marie's spell. Marie collapses with the spell broken, stating that the witches have some real power now at the academy.
Marie meets with Hank, revealing that he has been working with her for years to destroy every Salem witch. She accuses Hank of falling for Cordelia, and becomes angry thinking how Fiona killed her lover again. She orders Hank to kill every witch at the academy or she will kill him.
Later, Marie is visited by Queenie when cooking gumbo outside. Marie offers Queenie a proper family and home in exchange for Delphine LaLaurie, to whom she wants to get back at. Queenie leaves Cornrow City but thinks about the bargain.
Queenie manages to trick Delphine to entering Cornrow City by promising her a beauty makeover. Once inside, Delphine is surprised by getting captured, locked inside a cage, and cutting parts of her body and using the blood for a makeover, to which Marie describes as "beautiful".
Marie then catches Queenie speaking to Delphine and sends her off. Marie secretly takes a knife from a cupboard and slashes Delphine's hand when she becomes rude and angry at the Voodoo Queen who would later decapitate Delphine and send her head to the witches' coven in a box; exactly the same way that the witches sent Bastien to her.
The next day, Fiona approaches Marie at the hair salon, bringing Delphine's head with her. Fiona informs her of the attack by a witch hunter, with a silver bullet as proof. Fiona suggests an alliance between the Voodoo tribe and the witch coven. Marie outright rejects the offer, believing the hunters will only be a threat to the Salem witches.
Marie torments Hank using a Voodoo doll to force him to kill the Salem witches. The next morning, Hank goes to Cornrow City with a full arsenal, and begins killing everyone in the salon. He reaches Marie, and wounds her arm. Queenie, who was already mortally wounded, grabs a gun on the ground, puts it in her mouth and pulls the trigger, using her power to kill Hank before he could kill Marie. Realizing the threat she faces, and the loss she suffered, Marie goes to Robichaux's Academy to seek refuge, agreeing to the alliance Fiona offered before.
She and Fiona have a sit down with the Witch Hunters and everyone in the room is hacked to death because of the Axeman. She and Fiona also team up to sacrifice Nan to Papa Legba. Delphine is tricked by Spalding's ghost to give Marie Laveau saying that it will render her mortal but fails and in a blind rage she chases Delphine which results in her being knocked out. She is tortured and hacked apart by Delphine before being scattered. Because of Queenie's logic that due to her being dismembered she can no longer carry out her side of the bargain, Papa Legba takes her soul. She is later seen at the end of the episode in Hell torturing Delphine's daughter. She comes to her senses and doesn't want to torture her but Papa Legba makes her because he owns her soul. She realizes that she died.
Quotes
- To Cordelia Foxx: "Too late for tears; damage is done. Waltzing in here like she the Queen of England, talkin' 'bout hammer and nails, lookin' to start a war."
- To Cordelia Foxx: "She done messed with the wrong witch and she knows it. Now, you know it."
- Marie Laveau: "We got some business to attend to."
- Marie Laveau: "The truce is over."
- To Fiona Goode, regarding her immortality: "I thought I was the shit back then: I had just come into my prime and my magic was strong...shockingly strong. I was pregnant, and I did not accept the idea of death. I was invincible. Papa must've heard me. Showed up one night. Said you can have eternal life, Marie, I come to you once a year, you give me what I want. I thought he meant some kind of sexual favors. Seemed it was simple enough at the time. I wished for it. It came true. Unknowingly, I made a deal forged in hell."
- To Hank Foxx about Cordelia Foxx's acid attack: "You think I did that? I look like the Taliban to you? If I wanted to blind your little wife, I wouldn't have to leave my room."
- To Hank Foxx about Delphine LaLaurie: "When I plant a fat-ass cracker bitch, I expect her to stay planted, not come back up like damn ragweed!"
- To Delphine LaLaurie (after cutting off her hand): "You know you're right Delphine, this gave me no satisfaction, but we've only just begun!"
- To Delphine and her family: "Because we can. Behold the kingdom of the family LaLaurie!"
. * To Papa Legba "Be a sport!"
Notes
- The character of Marie Laveau is inspired by an actual historical figure known for her affiliation with voodoo during the mid- to late 1800's.
Gallery
- See also: Marie Laveau/Media
