Template:Infobox character
| “ | It's the little things that I miss, you know? I mean... I miss my family and all that shit of course, it's just the little things. Going to Subway for lunch, double meat on my sandwich, just 'cause. I don't know, man. I'm just talking... which you're probably pretty sick of by now, right? ...Oh, yeah, and Kit Kats! I miss Kit Kats. | ” |
Axel Miller is a main character during Season One , Season Two and Season Three of SyFy's Van Helsing. He is portrayed by Jonathan Scarfe.
He is a career Marine with unwavering devotion and loyalty to both duty and his wards, despite years of isolation and endless vampire attacks.
Character Description
“When everything fell apart, Axel held it together. A military man, he had just one mission: watch over the comatose Vanessa Helsing, barricaded in a hospital he protects. Nothing – and no one – will get in his way. Despite the seriousness of his convictions, Axel is a softie at heart. This is no more visible than in his affection for Doc, his former colleague turned vampire.” [1]
Biography
Axel acknowledges that he had a family before The Rising, but does not go into detail about them. He reveals to Scarlett in Wakey, Wakey that he was the first in his family to sign up for military service. He did not have the best of families, and he was the primary care taker of his sister when he was 13. He dropped her off at the park one day, and his sister disappeared. It is implied this is the reason he is so dedicated to those around him, specifically Vanessa, as he tells Scarlett this after Scarlett asks him why he stayed by Vanessa's side for three years.
He worked as a Marine in the United States Armed Forces and was based out of the Pacific Northwest. He and fellow Marine Ted were friends and squad mates, alongside Gomez, Kowalski, Smith and Tucker. His only known commanding officer was Major Stoker.
Unbeknownst to him, his final mission would be to retrieve a dead body. The mission did not go as planned, as what he called street warfare suddenly broke out outside the hospital and they lost contact with the military base. Since then, he has been stuck at the hospital, watching over Doc and Vanessa Van Helsing, whose body he was sent to recover.
Season One
In the year 2016, Axel is part of a group of Marines sent to retrieve a dead body from Seattle Valley General Hospital. After being directed towards Doc, he watches as Major Stoker and Doc go back and forth about why they were sent to retrieve the body, eventually intervening to earn Doc's goodwill. This backfires, as Doc uses him to force Stoker to explain why they were there. Soon, Stoker becomes tired of Doc's stubbornness and tells Axel to help the doctor up. After arriving at the lab, Axel wonders why "Sleeping Beauty" is so important to the higher-ups. Doc explains that she's neither dead nor alive. Shortly after that chaos erupts on the streets and inside the hospital; one of the patients attacks someone, biting into their neck. When she refuses to obey any commands, Axel is forced to kill her, unloading multiple rounds into the woman, much to their shock and confusion. Three years later, Axel, Doc, Ted, Gomez and Smith are still in the hospital. Ted hassles Axel about having a crush on Doc, but they are interrupted by a vampire smashing their last GoPro outside the hospital. Soon, Axel reports that they are running low on ammunition, prompting Ted to outline a plan to return to base and retrieve weapons and communication devices. Axel tries to convince them otherwise, but Ted is adamant. Giving in, he provides cover-fire as Ted, Smith and Gomez are set upon by vampires. Ted and Gomez make it out, but Smith is driven back. When he arrives at the entrance, he finds Doc has been bitten by a vampire and Smith didn't make it. Believing Doc tried to save Smith, he helped her up and stood by as she prepared to cut her arm off to stop the spread of infection, only for it to start before she could begin. Axel prepares to shoot her, but Doc convinces him not to; instead, he straps her down and promises to find a cure for her, and later clears out the supply cage to contain the vampire Doc becomes. Continue Reading Here....
Six months later finds Axel conversing with Doc as he feeds her, explaining that he misses a lot of the smaller things about life, such as where he went to eat for lunch. When an alarm sounds, he stops feeding her and leaves to check it out, only to discover a group of survivors at the southwest entrance. With them is Ted, prompting Axel to let them in. After they discover Doc and Sleeping Beauty, he tells them strictly that no one is to come near both women. When Ted asks about Doc, Axel admits that she just after he, Gomez and Smith left, and that she was bitten while trying to save Smith. He takes Ted on a tour, showing him the places to steer clear of due to the booby traps Axel set. When vampires get into the hospital, he and Ted head straight for Sleeping Beauty to protect her, only to find her awake and savagely dispatching of a vampire, with two others already incapacitated. He knocks out the convulsing vampire and drags him and the other dead creatures into a garbage chute, then returns to give Sleeping Beauty clothes. He learns that her name is Vanessa and has to convince her not to leave to find her daughter. Later, he joins her in the shower, telling her they had to conserve water by showering together, and that her nakedness no longer affected him after three years of seeing her washed. He tells her that must be special, given the manpower directed to protect her, though Vanessa doesn't agree. As he dries his hair, Vanessa takes his rifle and tries to force him let her out, but is stopped by Ted, who defeats her and forces her to walk at gun point while Axel leaves to dress. Axel finds them stealing food from the pantry, and after Ted admits he was going to help Vanessa leave, they start to fight. Ted is chased away when Sam and Mohamad arrive, and Axel picks up his gun and runs after them. He finds Ted holding Vanessa at knife point, and only then learns that Ted has betrayed him, having been working for the vampires who want "the dead woman." Vanessa manages to overpower him, and after Ted stabs her hand, Axel watches Vanessa stab Ted in the eye, killing him, before healing instantaneously from the knife wound. Later, Axel comes to make peace with Vanessa, but she sends him away, angry that he refuses to let her find her child. Continue Reading Here....
As the others talk about Vanessa, Axel settles down beside Doc to continue feeding her. However, he is interrupted once more when one of the vampires, Flesh, somehow survived and was returned to his human state. John identifies him as the one who bit Vanessa, blaming her for what happened to Flesh, who confirms that he "[could] feel again" as soon as he tasted her blood. When Axel approaches her in the dining hall, Vanessa adamantly claims she is "nothing special," to which Axel angrily says that he didn't protect her for so long just to find out she wasn't special. When vampires try to trade her for John's wife, Wendy, John immediately holds her hostage as a bargaining chip. However, Axel shoots Wendy, to save her from further abuse and torture as well as keep Vanessa out of the vampire's hands. This results in an altercation between him and John, during which they destroyed the makeshift turbine that kept their electricity running. With their primary power source gone, Axel gears up to find spare parts to fix the basement generator, and Vanessa insists on accompanying him. Axel takes her to a shipyard, arming her and handing her rope to connect them while he scavenges for parts underwater. As he is struggling to free the part he needs, Vanessa starts to pull at the rope; he barely manages to free the part he needs. After resurfacing, he chides Vanessa for her impatience, but realizes that she did it because a few ferals had appeared. As they fend off the attack, Vanessa is bitten as she attempts to defend herself from the ferals attacking. Moments later, Axel sees it die from consuming her blood. When they return, they find vampires surrounding the hospital's entrance; however, the vampires are chased off when Flesh shows them that he was human once more and warns them that "the dead woman" would turn them too. With the path cleared, Axel starts to go to the hospital, but stops to watch Vanessa retrieve Wendy's body and bring it inside too. Later, Vanessa admits to him that she is now open to the idea that Dylan may be dead. After fixing the generator, Axel asks Vanessa to try reverting Doc. She eventually agrees to try. After Doc refuses to drink her blood and hits her, Vanessa bites Doc's neck instead. Axel grows worried when Doc collapses and seems dead, but is relieved when Doc wakes up reverted. Continue Reading Here....
He initially only wants to help Doc as she transitions back into being a human, but she doesn't seem to interested in his help as he tries to explain why he kept her alive, it was hope that she and Vanessa could be the answer to everything. After learning that Cynthia was murdered, he begins to conduct an investigation, starting with Sam, but it doesn't lead anywhere, he then confronts the entire group with this news, however, this leads to blame and finger pointing. Continue Reading Here....
Axel is highly upset that Mohamad brought a group of new comers to the hospital at Vanessa's request, he's even more enraged that they're going through things they shouldn't be. The situation goes from bad to worse and the new comers decide to lock them up in the cage after learning that one of them is a murderer, however, Axel sees this as a power play from the new group's leader Brendan, in order to gain control of the hospital. He then begins to blame himself as Mohamad takes the blame for being the murderer despite him knowing that Mohamad wasn't a killer. Continue Reading Here....
Axel is separated from the rest of the survivors. He is pulled from the cage, and taken to see Brendan, and Catherine. They both demand to know about the booby traps Axel have set up across the hospital, when he refuses to comply, Brendan attacks him several time, then sending him back. Soon after, he is attacked by Catherine who has Mohamad's spear in hand, they order her to stop, she does once Brendan arrives. After making his escape from the cage, Axel slaughters multiple newcomers, then putting what's left back in the cage. Continue Reading Here....
As Julius and his vampires approach the hospital in search for Vanessa, Axel rallies the survivors, informing them of the upcoming battle, telling them to gear up for Julius' attack. As the vampires attack, destroying the outside UV lights and breaking through the front door, Axel, Sam, John, and Flesh fall back to the escalators and make a from stand there. Susan soon joins them as they fire down at the vampires breaching the facility, after stopping them momentarily, a new threat emerges, The Elite, a dangerous group of vampires who are also there for Vanessa, as they make their way through the hospital, the survivors are forced to evacuate. Axel takes them through a secret door, into the basement and they leave in a reinforced ambulance. Continue Reading Here....
As they head towards the military base, Axel and Vanessa discuss their next move, she says even if they make it to the base, and it's up and running, she may not come back out as they still have no idea what the military wanted with her, Axel believes that it has to involve her blood, and its vampirism curing properties, it’s the only reason they put so much man power into keeping her alive. After spending a night at the base, and realizing that no one is there, they move to a safer location that Axel knows of, a bunker that the military referred to as The Farm. After making it inside, the building collapses on top of them, Axel explains just how screwed they are as that was the only exit. Continue Reading Here....
After discovering several dead bodies in a freezer within the bunker, Axel brings them to Doc for examination, she determines that they should be taken to the quarantined area as they could be hazardous. While doing this, he is joined by Vanessa, it is then that he reveals to have read her files at the military base, this lead to constant bickering between the two throughout the duration of their time in the bunker. Once the group discovers an exit, they decide to leave the bunker before the radiation can kill them, however, Axel first joins Doc as they go looking for Gorman, who has disappeared. In the quarantined area, Axel is attacked by a vampire, it is revealed to be Gorman, Axel is not at full strength due to being weakened by the radiation, he attempts to escape while fighting off Gorman at the same time, Doc waits outside the area, holding the door open for Axel, when she sees he's under attack, she abandons him, locking Axel inside with Gorman as he appears to tear Axel apart. Continue Reading Here....
Despite being attacked by Gorman in the quarantined area, Axel survives, but as a vampire. He drags himself out the bunker and heads towards the road. Continue Reading Here....
Personality
Axel is an authority figure, but also a loyal soldier, strictly by the book, he believes that the mission always comes first no matter what and he won't allow anything to compromise that, even if it means killing innocents, which can make him very cruel and distant, he killed Wendy without any flinching and even threatened the entirety of the survivors.
Axel grows a lot during the show. He is slow to trust, and becomes more willing to break the rules a bit and act underhandedly, for example accepting other's hospitality and then stealing their supplies and weapons. However, most of the time, he only does this when he deem the people ''bad''. Despite being slow to trust, he is very dedicated to those he trusts, and takes it very hard when they betray him. Despite all that happens, he does his best to protect Vanessa and Sarah, both physically and emotionally.
Moreover, he has incredibly strong will. After being turned into a vampire, he refuses to bite a human and almost dies for it. He manages to retain most of his humanity while a vampire, refusing to turn into a monster, and unlike Sam who revels in being a vampire, his only goal was to find Vanessa so she could turn him back into a human. Vampires lose all compassion and inhibition when they have been turned, so the fact that Axel still managed to maintain a sense of right and wrong, shows that his convictions run very deep and that he is a good person.
Abilities
Axel is an United States Marine who is trained in both armed and unarmed combat. He disarmed John relatively easily as he came at him with a large pipe. He's also been fairly successful in taking down vampires, he's done so with firearms and blades, showing very little difficulty while doing so.
After being bitten by two different variations of vampires, Axel has the following abilities:
- Vampire Virus Immunity: Axel, along with the others bitten by Vanessa, is immune to the vampire bite and his blood is unappetizing and does not provide nourishment to vampires. He can also sense Vanessa's presence.
- Rapid Cellular Regeneration: Axel has been changed into an enhanced human due to being changed back from being a vampire and then bit by a vampire from Scar's bloodline, a vampire who was experimented on. The changes allows him to heal from any injury near instantaneously.
- Resurrection: After being bitten by a daywalker, a vampire of Scar's bloodline, Axel will resurrect anytime he is killed from damage that he cannot regenerate in time. He will go into a hibernation-like death state and he will eventually regenerate and come back to life. He may be immortal.
Arsenal
- M4 Carbine
- M9 Pistol
- KA-BAR Knife
Appearances
| Season One appearances: 10/13 | |||
| Help Me: Appears |
Seen You: Appears |
Stay Inside: Appears |
Coming Back: Appears |
| Fear Her: Appears |
Nothing Matters: Appears |
For Me: Appears |
Little Thing: Appears |
| Help Out: Appears |
Stay Away: Absent |
Last Time: Absent |
He's Coming: Absent |
It Begins: Appears |
| Season Two appearances: 10/13 | |||
| Began Again: Absent |
In Redemption: Appears |
Love Bites: Appears |
A Home: Appears |
| Save Yourself: Appears |
Veritas Vincit: Appears |
Everything Changes: Appears |
Big Mama: Appears |
| Wakey, Wakey: Appears |
Base Pair: Appears |
Be True: Absent |
Crooked Falls: Appears |
Black Days: Absent |
Gallery
