Who is Leonard in Umbrella Academy

SPOILER WARNINGThis article contains HEAVY SPOILERS for the Umbrella Academy series. Please read at your own risk.

Leonard Peabody (born Harold Jenkins) is a character who became the love interest of Viktor Hargreeves and the main antagonist of the Netflix adaptation's first season. The character is played by John Magaro in the show.

Biography

History

Leonard was born on the same day as the Umbrella Academy siblings, but only by coincidence as his birth was a completely normal birth. His mother died during childbirth, causing his father to become an abusive alcoholic. Because of this, Leonard ran away to try and join the Umbrella Academy, but was turned away by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, and laughed at by the crowd.

Later, his father would make fun of him for his outfits and send Leonard to fetch his beers. On one occasion, when Leonard took too long, his father physically hurt him. Fed up by the abuse at his father's hand, Leonard murdered his father by striking him three times on the head with a hammer while he was sleeping. and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the crime.

Seeking out Viktor

After finding a diary written by Reginald about Viktor that was thrown into a trash can by Klaus, he sought Viktor out.

During his time at the Temps Commission, Five finds Leonard's name on an order meant for Cha Cha. It is implied that Jenkins is the person responsible for the apocalypse, and the note reads "Protect Harold Jenkins". When Five returns, Diego gets his criminal file and they find out that Leonard's real name is Harold, validating Allison's initial concern about him.[1]

Leonard takes Viktor to his grandmother's house to convince Viktor to use their powers. Allison comes to find Viktor and tells them the truth about Leonard, but Viktor is upset about Allison getting involved with their love life. When Allison feels that she needs to resort to using her power to stop Viktor's rage, Viktor ends up nearly killing Allison, by slitting her throat with their violin bow. Leonard returns to see what he thinks is Allison's dead body so Viktor and him run away. Leonard urges them to get revenge on their family but when Viktor refuses, he begins to mock them, constantly hitting a book and calling them ordinary and weak, resulting in them using their powers to kill him violently.

Season 2

Klaus mentions how Viktor's current love interest is an improvement on their previous love interest the serial killer, an obvious reference to Leonard.

Relationships

Viktor Hargreeves

Leonard had a romantic relationship with Viktor Hargreeves after becoming his violin student. To Viktor, Leonard was the only person who truly cared and loved them for who they were. He seemingly understood what they were going through, having experienced what it was like to be excluded and mocked for being ordinary. However, he never truly cared for Viktor and was only using them for their powers to get back at the Umbrella Academy. When Viktor discovers his true nature, he goes as far as to verbally abuse and belittle them. When Viktor retaliates by using their powers and murdering him, he seems surprised because he believed that Viktor still cared for him and wouldn't harm him.

Trivia

• It is heavily implied he murdered the first chair violin, as seen at the end of Number Five, when we see Helen Cho's body wrapped in a plastic tarp in Leonard's attic.
• After getting stabbed in the eye, he receives a glass eye that Five discovered in Luther's hand during the apocalypse.

References

1. ↑ The Day That Wasn't

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