Vanessa Powers (née Kensington) was a British secret agent and the daughter of Louis and Marie Kensington and Austin's ex-wife.
Biography
Early life
Vanessa Kensington was born to Louis and Marie Kensington at an unknown time. Little is known about her childhood. When Mrs. Kensington retired from British Intelligence, Vanessa followed in her footsteps and became an agent. She is introduced by Basil Exposition as "one of our top agents."
International Man of Mystery
When Austin Powers is unfrozen in 1997, Vanessa is assigned as his partner, both to help him catch Dr. Evil and to serve to help acclimatize him to the 90's. She is at first disgusted by Austin's teeth and politically incorrect, womanizing sensibilities, but soon warms to his good nature and falls in love with him. That love is reciprocated, to the point where Austin vows to be a one-woman man just for her. At the end of the film, she and Austin get married and are shown nude, with strategically placed props in their honeymoon suite. They are attacked by Random Task in their suite, but she managed to defeat him by smashing a vase over his head while he's distracted by Austin using the Swedish-made Penis Enlarger Pump on him.
The Spy Who Shagged Me
In the second Austin Powers film, after having sex with Austin on their honeymoon, Vanessa is quickly revealed as a Fembot when Austin inadvertently controls her with his television remote. She soon after attempts to kill him and self-destructs. Austin briefly grieves, but quickly gets over it, realizing he's single again.
Personality
For a while, Vanessa had a stoic, serious personality, always focused on the job. Austin referred to this as her having "a bug up her arse." However, spending time with Austin caused her to loosen up and have more fun.
With the revelation that she's a fembot, it's implied that she was programmed with a sly and manipulative mind and knew how to gradually and effectively draw in her prey with a complicated, subtle form of seduction.
Vanessa Kensington wearing glasses in her introductory scene.
Appearance
Vanessa has a slim build with brown hair and crystal blue eyes just like her mother.
Relationships
Austin Powers
The relationship between Austin and Vanessa got off to a very rocky start. Unlike the women Austin remembered from the '60s, Vanessa was turned off by Austin's forwardness, and particularly his teeth. However, as time went on, Austin began to win her over with his charm and humor, to the point that she got jealous when Austin shagged Alotta Fagina. Eventually, Austin won her over for good when he vowed to become a one-woman man for her.
They would get married after foiling Dr. Evil's plot, though the marriage would be short-lived as Vanessa was revealed to be a Fembot. Her death occurred soon afterwards.
Basil Exposition
Basil Exposition worked with Vanessa Kensington in British Intelligence. He had a lot of respect for her skills and talents, calling her "one of our top agents." He was also aware that she was a Fembot, though he kept this information from Austin.
Marie Kensington
Vanessa seemed to have a close relationship with her mother, calling her on the phone and asking her for advice regarding Austin. When her daughter is revealed to be a Fembot, it is unknown if Marie knows.
Trivia
- According to online fan polls, Vanessa is rated the sexiest Austin Powers girl.
- In one scene, it is hinted that Vanessa might be terrible in bed, but we later discover that she is actually quite adept in these matters.
- At the beginning of The Spy Who Shagged Me, it is hinted that Vanessa may have inherited her mother's skills in bed.
- Many Austin Powers fans have ranked each Powers girl in terms of sexual stamina, in these polls Vanessa was consistently voted #1 in the bedroom.
- Vanessa can be considered like a version of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and Tracy Bond (Diana Rigg). Both Vanessa and Vesper are British secret agents and love interest of Austin Powers and James Bond, and both are killed. Also Vanessa studied at Oxford, specializing in Languages, before becoming a spy.
- Although Vanessa's reveal as a Fembot was played for laughs as a reference to all of the James Bond series' one-time female leads, it has become the most controversial moment in the entire Austin Powers franchise, leaving many fans of the character in denial and anger over how she was written out.
- It is highly questioned how Vanessa can be a Fembot, as she has a mother (and a father) and talks to her on the phone. Also, the Fembots were created 30 years later, and weren't revealed and made known to Dr. Evil until well after Austin and Vanessa met, making the circumstances of her creation a complete mystery.
- It is widely speculated, although not confirmed (nor denied), that Vanessa was at some point in the film replaced with a Fembot doppelganger. Fans of the films believe that Dr. Evil secretly had her killed (and disposed of her body) before the end of the film, despite the current lack of evidence to support their claims. However, a scene where Vanessa, after returning to Dr. Evil’s hideout with the army, doesn’t shoot at Dr. Evil with Austin as he flees, but instead just points her gun at him and makes movements as if she were, is taken as a hint.
- According to an early script for the second film, Vanessa's betrayal and Austin's heartbreak over it were going to play a larger role in the story. [1]
- Vanessa is the only fembot encountered by Austin who wasn't destroyed by his mojo (rather, she destroyed herself).
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