NOTE: This page is only about the television series version of the character, as the novel and film versions of the character are not villains.
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| “ | Do you know why God made you pregnant? So that when He kills that baby inside your womb, you will feel a fraction of the pain that you caused us when you tore our children from our arms! Do you understand me? DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? | „ |
| ~ June Osborne |
| “ | June: June, I don't feel comfortable with you taking care of Nichole right now. It scares me. June: Okay. Me too. |
„ |
| ~ Moira and June agreeing that she is dangerous. |
June Osborne, formerly referred to by her patronym Offred and later Ofjoseph, is the main protagonist of the Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale, the television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood.
She is a woman who was abducted during Gilead's take over of the United States and forced to be a "Handmaid", a breeding slave for Commander Fred Waterford and his wife Serena Waterford. Despite being a heroic character, she shows signs of having a psychotic break in the later seasons of the show and at times becomes an outright anti-hero.
She was portrayed by Elisabeth Moss.
Personality[]
Early in the series June is suffering greatly due to the effects of Gilead, having extremely volatile and spiteful internal monologues. She is shown to be extremely reckless, often throwing herself into dangerous situations, which conflicts with her claims that she is doing everything in order to save her children. She does seem at first like she truly does want to do the right thing and take down Gilead, although overtime her goal seems to shift primarily to saving her own children as she is willing to abuse those close to her if it means helping her kids. June's worst act comes when she rapes her husband Luke, showing that her time in Gilead may have caused her to have a psychotic break, as she no longer seems to understand why what she is doing is wrong, and will often tell people she wishes they were dead only to then nearly die saving them, as seen with the way she treats Janine or going so far as to say she hopes Serena's baby dies.
June's biggest sign of her mental issues aside from raping Luke is her selfishness. For example, she desires to kill Fred for what he did to her and while that is understandable, in the context of what happened she actually damaged the efforts against Gilead significantly. Mark Tuello makes it clear he wants Fred to testify against Gilead to the United Nations, but June negotiates instead a deal where Fred is traded with Gilead in order to get multiple prisoners released from the country. However, after the trade is done Nick brings Fred to June so she can kill him, even though June easily could have brought Fred back to Canada and had him still testify to the United Nations, essentially compromising a massive asset against Gilead for the sake of her own revenge. This shows that June doesn't really care about taking down Gilead anymore but now only wants to save her own family and herself. June does come to regret some of her actions in the fifth season of the show, such as wishing she hadn't killed Fred, but her worst act of raping Luke is not mentioned again after it happens.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The television series deviating from the novel and turning June into a villainous character is controversial among the series fanbase. The primary reason June is considered both a hero and a villain is because she rapes her husband Luke, an event that is not only extremely out of character but is basically forgotten afterwards, likely because unlike her other villainous acts there is no way to rationalize or justify this act.
- It's worth noting that if this scene was removed June would likely not even be a villain, since her other crimes such as killing Fred can be considered justified since he was a terrible person and her telling Serena she hopes her baby dies is eventually subverted as helps Serena during her pregnancy, whereas what she does to Luke is never brought up again.
External Links[]
- June Osborne on the Heroes Wiki
- June Osborne on the The Handmaids Tale Wiki
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 Villains
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Republic of Gilead Wives Aunts Other | ||