Valentin Cassadine and Anna Devane are fictional characters and potential romantic couple on the ABC daytime soap opera, General Hospital.
Casting
Actor James Patrick Stuart, known for his portrayal of Will Cortlandt on All My Children, debuted as Valentin Cassadine on July 8, 2016, through August 12, 2016. He returned on October 24, 2016 and has been portraying the character regularly as recurring since.
Storylines
Shortly after his birth, Valentin was disowned by Mikkos and soon became forgotten in the family, a mere myth, hence making him the most unwanted child in the Cassadine family. Valentin claims that he barely remembers his mother. 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 hated the academy deeply, as it was a prison to him. He was very lonely during his childhood and he isolated himself to his books and studies, one of his many favorites was Shakespeare's writings.
During his childhood, 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 his scoliosis went untreated and by the time he was a teenager, his distortion was pronounced. After graduating from the academy and thanks to his genius intellect, he found his way to Oxford where he studied linguistics. Later on, under the name Ivan Theodore, he ended up in the WSB Training Academy, thanks to his brilliance in linguistics, where he was forced to train as an analyst because of his scoliosis, yet he was seen by many as the brightest trainee. During that time, he met Anna Devane, while she was training to become a field agent. He had fallen for her, and on her birthday, Valentin tried to make a move on her to which she rejected him because of his deformity. On April, it was revealed to a forgetful Anna that they had a one night stand before she betrayed him. However, it was Anna's twin Alex Devane (disguised as Anna), that found him sad at a church drop-site, and took him to a hotel to make love – his first time. In the morning, while she was showering, he found the kill directive and ran. Valentin thought he was betrayed by the only woman who ever truly loved him.
