Is General Hospital's Valentin finally becoming the most evil Cassadine of them all?

For years, General Hospital fans heard about the mysterious Valentin Cassadine, but never met him. All we knew was that even Helena Cassadine feared him, calling Valentin "the most evil Cassadine of them all."

Valentin, the bad guy, turned "good"

When we first met Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) back in 2016, he was posing as a man named Theo, who was the alleged caretaker on Cassadine Island. He soon revealed his true identity before seeming to prove Helena (Constance Towers) right. Within days, he had shot Kevin (Jon Lindstrom) and Nikolas (then played by Nick Stabile), two unarmed men.

When he surfaced in Port Charles a few months later, we expected all sorts of evil from this supposedly horrible man. However, we quickly saw his soft spot when it was revealed that he was the father of young Charlotte (Scarlett Fernandez). By that point, Charlotte had been through a few dads and two moms, so it was good to have her paternity cleared up.

Soon, Valentin met Nina (then played by Michelle Stafford), had a one-night stand, and fell in love. Valentin and Nina impulsively married while setting up a home for Charlotte at Wyndemere. He even serenaded her with Billy Joel music at the Nurses' Ball.

Over the next few years, we witnessed Valentin do multiple shady things, including paying Sasha (Sofia Mattsson) to pose as Nina's long-lost daughter. He only wanted Nina to have her child back but went about things the wrong way.

We learned more about Valentin during this time, including the fact that he was born with spina bifida, but a Russian doctor was able to repair his back. He also knew Anna (Finola Hughes) when they were both WSB trainees and had been obsessed with her for years.

Valentin believed Anna had taken his virginity and then dumped him, but that turned out to be her twin sister, Alex. After a while, Valentin's international crimes caught up with him. Anna arrested her old foe, and he was sent to the Hague. When he was released from prison on a technicality, he seemed to have softened a bit.

Valentin's rise to semi-hero before a fall from grace

Valentin spent quite a bit of time trying to get Nina back, but she was done with him after learning about his Sasha trick. Over the next few years, Valentin found himself growing closer to Anna. They finally shared a kiss in 2021 and made love for the first time in 2022.

By then, Valentin was madly in love with Anna but also knew a few other things about his origins. He was not Mikkos Cassasdine's son as he had originally believed. He was Helena's son with Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy).

He also had a stint pretending to be Brook Lynn's (Amanda Setton) baby daddy for her fake pregnancy. Brook Lynn claimed Valentin had gotten her pregnant after a one-night stand and passed off Maxie's (Kirsten Storms) baby as Valentin's (with Maxie's go-ahead). Valentin was crushed and cried when he learned that Bailey Lou wasn't really his. That's when we learned that Valentin was chock full of tears.

Valentin did a lot of crying in 2023, but by 2024, he was a villain again. Out of nowhere, we learned that Valentin was the one who had switched Sonny's meds and was running an illegal arms operation. When Anna learned the truth about the man she loved, she was horrified but still helped him escape with Charlotte in tow.

The Valentin we know now is hardened and vengeful. He even tried to kill his old pal Jack Brennan (Charles Mesure) with his own hands. The look in Valentin's eyes as he attempted to strangle Jack was haunting. Has Valentin finally turned into exactly who his evil mother feared — or has he been that man all along?

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