Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart)

Valentin Mikkosovich Cassadine is a fictional character from the ABC soap, General Hospital. He is the previously unknown and unseen son of the late Prince Mikkos Cassadine and an unknown woman. He is the father of Charlotte Cassadine with Lulu Spencer-Falconeri, who was born via surrogate.

He is widely feared in his family, considered to be the most dangerous Cassadine, even more so than Helena herself. In addition, he was considered to be the best and brightest trainee to have ever attended the WSB Training Academy, a fact acknowledged by Anna Devane herself.

Casting
In late September 2009, it was announced that, best known for his portrayal of Brian Bodine on  had been cast in the role of Valentin Cassadine and was supposed to make his debut in October 2009
 * -|Borlenghi=

Borlenghi expressed his excitement about joining the cast admitting that he always wanted to work on the series:


 * "I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather be right now" he continued. The actor further stated "I don't know the extent of my stay, but I can only hope it's long enough for me to hang my shingle up and get down and dirty with Valentin."

The writers decided to put off the debut "indefinitely" that was until 2013, when it was rumored that daytime legend had been hired as a recast. Borlenghi took to Twitter with "Wasn't enough that I got Franco'd before? Hurts."

Then head writer at the time Ron Carlivati denied the rumors immediately claiming that Borlenghi had no reason to be upset. Borlgenhi released a statement in which he explained that the false news "opened an old wound."

On June 16, 2016, Soap Opera Digest reported that All My Children alumni, James Patrick Stuart, best known for his portrayal of Will Cortlandt would appear in July. Soaps In Depth reported that Stuart would debut as Theo on July 8.
 * -|Stuart=

"I get bored easily and I love a smorgasbord," the actor said. So when his agent informed him about General Hospital, Stuart couldn't turn it down. At the time, "I was bouncing between soccer games with my children and all of a sudden"

Stuart's agent contacted him about Frank Valentini's interest in him for the role. Stuart consulted with his wife who encouraged him to meet with the producers. "The role that they were talking about was so fun, it just seemed like it would be exactly the way that I would want to go back." The only catch was that Stuart had to cancel a trip to Hawaii that conflicted with taping dates.

The casting reunites Stuart with his former All My Children co-star Genie Francis as well as Jon Lindstrom, the husband of his former co-star and close friend. While he was flattered to have been handpicked for the role, Stuart credits his close friends and  (also former co-star) with convincing him to sign on. "To have the chance to get back and do it again has been really yummy" the actor said of his return to daytime.

He's also made several guest spots on primetime dramas, The Closer, How to Get Away With Murder, 2 Broke Girls and Rosewood.

On July 1, Soap Opera Digest confirmed that he is set to debut on July 8. Due to a national preemption on July 10, Valentin first appeared on-air on July 11.

They also praised General Hospital for "finally bringing on one of the most talked about, yet previously unseen, supervillains in the soap's history!"

Characterization
Borlenghi described Valentin as "morally bankrupt."

James Patrick Stuart insisted that he wouldn't have taken a role that was too "subtle." The character was presented to Stuart as "brash and take no prisoners." Stuart said Theo might have similarities to his former character. Stuart said the character has "literal crazy confidence."

Background
Valentin Cassadine is the previously unknown and unseen son of Mikkos Cassadine and an unknown woman. He is known for being the most evil of the Cassadine sons. According to Helena, Valentin is the most dangerous and most feared Cassadine of them all, even she was terrified of him to the point that she warned her sons; Stavros, her hated son Stefan and her hated step-daughter, Natasha not to even mention or even try to contact him. She even warned her most hated enemy; Luke Spencer of him and begged him for his help in fighting off her evil stepson.

He was disowned by Mikkos years ago and hadn't been heard from since. He soon became forgotten in the family, becoming a mere rumor hence making him the most unwanted child in the Cassadine family. He was sent to Bedlington Academy in England at the age of 5 and was left there all on his own and was never returned to Cassadine Island. He saw the academy as a place of exile and imprisonment, he hated the academy deeply. According to him, he was very lonely during his childhood and he isolated himself in the library where he was completely focused on his studies and books, one of his many favourites was Shakespeare's writings. He never made any friends there because he was known to be "different", possibly because of his deformity.

During his time in the academy he was unable to wear braces to help his scoliosis because he was a ward in his school and there was only money for his tuition. So he was untreated. By the time he was a teenager, his distortion was pretty pronounced. He became in what he saw himself as a "hunchback" like Richard III, Quasimodo, Igor etc. The school was a reminder of his "powerlessness" during his time there. After his time in the academy and thanks to his unique genius intellect he found his way to Oxford where he studied linguistics. He also claims that he barely remembers his mother.

In 2016, it was revealed that when he grew up, he went looking for trouble. He ended up in the WSB Training Academy, thanks to his brilliance in linguistics and was under the name Ivan Theodore, where he was forced to work and train as an analyst because of his scoliosis, but he was seen by many as one of the best trainees in the WSB during his time in the academy, if not then the best and brightest to have ever attended the academy possibly even more so than the legendary Anna Devane herself. It was there he met her, while she was training in becoming a field agent and he also met his fellow classmate, Cole Browning.

In time he and Anna became friends, but Valentin had hoped for more, so on her birthday he tried to make a move on her in which she rejected him, he believed that she recoiled in horror because of his appearance even though she denied it and claimed she didn't care how he looked. According to Valentin, it was her rejection of him that made him decide to change his life, but Anna believes that something happened to him there during his time at the academy that turned him into the monster everyone sees him as. On February 13, Cole Browning came to General Hospital where he revealed to Anna that Valentin despises her for putting him on the WSB Kill List. He managed to disappear before he could be executed. From this experience he learned to never trust anyone.

He soon remade himself, sold his skills to the highest bitter and was able to pay for surgery to straighten his spine, curing him from his scoliosis that would have killed him as well as fix his deformed face.

Under the alias Theo Hart, he became a powerful mercenary with a vast global wide web of connections in Greece, Canada, France, Russia, U.S., etc. He was charged many times for his crimes but they never stuck. He eventually became internationally feared among all other criminals in the underworld, even his evil step mother Helena, whose reputation symbolised her to be more powerful than her husband Mikkos and all the other Cassadines, was terrified of him. The WSB, an international spy agency, has no record of information connected to him prior to 2011 under his alias Theo Hart nor his true name.

In August 2016, Luke sent Robert Scorpio to warn his family of Valentin even though his warning was a bit late since Valentin was arrested in the murder of his nephew, Nikolas and the attempted kidnapping of Spencer. However, according to Robert, Luke wasn't convinced that Valentin was taken care of and told Laura and Lulu that Luke is not known to be overly cautious and that Valentin terrifies him.

In November 2016, a year after Helena's demise, the hidden will of Mikkos Cassadine came to light and it revealed that Mikkos left all of the Cassadine Estate to the eldest living son; with Stavros and Stefan dead, Valentin is the only living son and hence sole heir to the Cassadine Empire.

In Nov 4, 2016, it was revealed that he has a daughter named Charlotte with Lulu Spencer-Falconeri, who was born via surrogate. On December 27, he revealed to Nina, that his daughter is the only person he truly trusts, though he claims he has begun to trust her. He loves Charlotte deeply and cares for her more than anyone. On December 9, 2016, Valentin confirms to the group that Lulu is Charlotte's mother. He explains that Helena promised Stavros a child with Lulu, but after Helena discovered that Stavros could not father a child, she sent Daphne to seduce Valentin and recover a sample. Daphne brought Valentin's sample to Helena, and by the time Valentin figured out what had happened, the embryo had already been created, so he stole it from Helena and recruited Claudette to carry it. She gave birth to his daughter, Charlotte. Later on, she betrayed him and took his baby away from him.

On December 5, 2016, it was revealed that a few years after he left Bedlington, it was burned to the ground a long with it's headmaster by an arsonist. Anna Devane believed he was responsible for the fire for he wanted to destroy the reminisce of his horrific childhood.

On December 20, 20116, Valentin revealed to Anna that he is more fluent in speaking English, French, and Greek.

As of New Years Eve 2016, he is married to Nina Reeves.

Storylines
In October 2009, a deathly ill Helena Cassadine confides in her longtime rival Luke Spencer that she needs his help to fend off her evil stepson Valentin. According to Helena, the illegitimate Valentin had been disowned by his father Mikkos upon his birth, denying him the privileges of being a Cassadine. Helena contacts Valentin hoping to use him against her rebellious grandson, Nikolas but instead, Valentin overpowers Helena taking over the family's private island in Greece and he slowly poisons Helena.
 * -|2009=

Valentin's henchmen try to keep Luke from escaping with Helena only for Nikolas to come to her rescue. She warns everyone that Valentin has promised to destroy not only the Cassadines, but also the Spencers. Mikkos's daughter Alexis Davis reveals that she had only heard of her brother's treachery toward their father specifically, but Alexis had come to believe the "never before seen Valentin" was only a front for Helena and her schemes. Luke later accuses Helena of having Valentin murdered and she admits that she thought Valentin had died, but later realized that he is alive and well. Much like Luke and Alexis, Nikolas believes Valentin is long dead and that Helena is just using the threat of Valentin to manipulate him.

On July 11, 2016, Valentin is seen lurking around on Cassadine Island. He spies on Jason Morgan, Sam Morgan, Ava Jerome, and Nikolas Cassadine. Jason soon realizes that someone else is on the island. Valentin is seen looking at a book of Cassadine lineage before he knocks over a vase. Jason and Sam lure him out by falsely proclaiming that they are heading to bed.
 * -|2016-17=

They corner Valentin and he claims to be a fisherman named Theo, who was forced to come ashore due to the storm. Sam and Jason decide to leave him be, as long as he does what they say. Valentin continues to play his role and goes to warm his hands by the fire. As he is warming his hands, he rolls up his sleeve and you can see the Cassadine family crest tattooed on his forearm.

On July 16, Theo blew his cover and he held a gun on everyone present. On July 18, it was confirmed that Theo is in fact Valentin. On July 19, Valentin forces Nikolas to hand over the Cassadine family fortune to him. As Valentin tries to shoot Ava, Nikolas attacks him, but ends up getting shot and falling over a balcony.

On July 22, Ava seduced Valentin, and then hit him in the head with a book. When Laura lashed at Valentin for shooting Nikolas, Valentin went to shoot her, but Kevin stepped in the way and was shot instead. On July 26, Valentin is forced to flee after his captives get the upper hand. He escapes into the tunnels and orders his men to make sure none of them escape.

On August 3, he is seen in Port Charles meeting Nina Reeves and then has sex with her. Valentin then leaves her on August 4 in order to kidnap Spencer Cassadine, but was stopped by Sonny outside the summer camp doors, and he is then arrested by the cops. Nina and Curtis Ashford then turned in the cell phone that Valentin stole from Nikolas, which contained a voicemail of Spencer trying to get in touch with his father. While at the PCPD, he has a conversation with Nina.

On October 24, he appears on a plane as he proceeds to sit next to Claudette.

On December 9, 2016, Valentin confirms to the group that Lulu is Charlotte's mother. He explains that Helena promised Stavros a child with Lulu, but after Helena discovered that Stavros could not father a child, she sent Daphne to seduce Valentin and recover a sample. Daphne brought Valentin's sample to Helena, and by the time Valentin figured out what had happened, the embryo had already been created, so he stole it from Helena and recruited Claudette to carry it.

On December 29, 2016 (New Year's Eve) Valentin and Nina got married to strengthen his case in the upcoming custody battle over Charlotte.

Crimes Committed

 * Caused many "incidents" to happen to his father, Mikkos [pre-1980s; revealed Oct 2009] [Rumoured]
 * Burned Down Bedlington Academy, along with it's Headmaster [pre-2016]
 * A series of worldwide illegal activities [pre-2016]
 * Countless number of Obstruction of Justice [pre-2000s-present]
 * Head of an International Diamond Theft Ring In Ukraine [pre-2000s-present; revealed Dec 7, 2016]
 * Caused lethal havoc on the Cassadines [pre-2000s-2016; revealed Oct 2009]
 * Brutally took over the Cassadine's private island in Greece [Oct 2009]
 * Held Helena Cassadine hostage and slowly poisoned her [Oct 2009]
 * Stole his embryo from Helena before it could be implanted and attempted to kill Helena once more [pre-2016; revealed Dec 9, 2016]
 * Kept his daughter's existence hidden from her own mother, Lulu Spencer-Falconeri [pre-2016-Dec 9, 2016]
 * Knocked Nikolas Cassadine unconscious [Jul 8, 2016]
 * Held Prince Nikolas Cassadine, Ava Jerome, Jason Morgan, Sam Morgan, Det. Dante Falconeri, Lulu Spencer-Falconeri, Laura Spencer and Dr. Kevin Collins hostage at gunpoint on Cassadine Island [Jul 15-26, 2016]
 * Took Sam hostage at gunpoint and then had Jason cuffed to a chair [Jul 18, 2016]
 * Took Ava hostage at gunpoint and almost killed her [Jul 19, 2016]
 * Fought with Nikolas for a gun after Nikolas attacked him [Jul 19, 2016]
 * Shot Nikolas in the chest and caused him to fall off a balcony [Jul 19, 2016; Nikolas was revealed to be dead on Jul 22, 2016]
 * Got into an altercation with Ava and held her at gunpoint twice [Jul 22, 2016]
 * Held Laura at gunpoint and almost killed her [Jul 22, 2016]
 * Shot Kevin in the shoulder [Jul 22, 2016]
 * Held Dante at gunpoint and almost killed him [Jul 26, 2016]
 * Had the plane, that Ava Jerome, Jason Morgan, Sam Morgan, Det. Dante Falconeri, Lulu Spencer-Falconeri, Laura Spencer and Dr. Kevin Collins escaped on, sabotaged [revealed Aug 1, 2016]
 * Stole Nikolas' phone [revealed Aug 2, 2016]
 * Attempted to kidnap and kill his grandnephew, Spencer Cassadine [Aug 4-5, 2016; Sonny and Jason stopped him]
 * Held Sonny Corinthos at gunpoint and almost killed him. [Aug 5, 2016]
 * Possession of an illegal firearm [Aug 5, 2016; arrested]
 * Threatened his man, Gary's family if he does not follow his orders in retrieving his daughter Charlotte [Oct 2016]
 * Had Gary kidnap Maxie Jones, hold her captive and later put in a place filled with carbon monoxide [Oct 21-24, 2016]
 * Obstruction of Justice [Aug-Oct, 2016]
 * Captured Claudette Beaulieu and possibly killed her [Oct 24, 2016]
 * Had Dr. Bellamy lock Lulu and Maxie in a medical exam room [Dec 8, 2016]
 * Had his connections in the Canadian Authorities, Inspector Tremblay inform Maxie and Nathan that a woman who committed suicide a month ago was identified as Claudette [Jan 11, 2017]
 * Assaulted Griffin Munro [Jan 19, 2017]
 * Had the WSB Cadet Transcript on him hacked and erased [Feb 1, 2017]

Health and Vitals

 * Social Alienation [1965-80s; revealed Jan 31, 2017]
 * Bullied [1965-80s; revealed Jan 31, 2017]
 * Had a cranial-facial distortion on the right side of his face, had surgery to correct it [1965-80; revealed Jan 23, 2017]
 * Had scoliosis from childhood and by the time he was an adult, had a 55-degree Cobb angle to his spine. It caused the muscles in his left arm to be in a constant state of contraction. His left shoulder was 10 inches higher than his right. It caused his right arm to dangle. His chest was twisted, and his ribs stuck out but later had painful surgery to correct it [1965-80; revealed Jan 23, 2017]
 * Put on the WSB Kill List by Anna Devane [1980s, revealed Feb 13, 2017]
 * Nearly killed by Helena Cassadine [pre-2009; revealed Oct 2009]
 * Drugged by Daphne under orders of Helena [pre-2016; revealed Dec 12, 2016]
 * Held at gunpoint by Jason Morgan [Jul 11, 2016]
 * Attacked by Nikolas Cassadine [Jul 19, 2016]
 * Hit over the head with a book by Ava Jerome [Jul 22, 2016]
 * Assaulted by Det. Dante Falconeri [Jul 25, 2016]
 * Held at gunpoint by Lulu Spencer-Falconeri [Jul 25-26, 2016]
 * Assaulted by Sonny Corinthos [Aug 5, 2016]
 * Assaulted and pinned to the floor by Jason [Aug 5, 2016]
 * Punched by Griffin Munro [Nov 18, 2016]
 * Slapped by Lulu [Dec 9, 2016]
 * Assaulted and pinned to a wall by Dante [Dec 12, 2016]
 * Slapped by Anna [Jan 19, 2017]