Kelly Burkhardt

Kelly Burkhardt was a Grimm, the sister of Marie Kessler, the widow of Reed Burkhardt, and the mother of Nick Burkhardt. She first appeared in.

Background
Kelly was, along with her husband Reed, believed to have been killed by Soledad Marquesa in 1994 in Rhinebeck, NY. Her son, Nick, was taken in by her sister, Marie, soon before the accident occurred. After the accident, Marie told Nick that his parents had died in an auto accident. However, it was revealed in that it wasn't her that had been in the crash, it was her good friend, Gina Serafini, who Reed was driving to the airport. She went on the run to further the belief that she had been killed.

A mysterious woman was seen in the shadows spying on Akira Kimura, the only surviving member of the four Schakals who were suspects in Kelly's murder and who had continued to search for the Coins of Zakynthos. Sergeant Wu and another officer tracking Kimura found her leaving his hotel room, from where she escaped after a brief fight with Sergeant Wu. She showed up again at Nick's house when Nick was fighting Kimura, who she incapacitated. She then turned to Nick and called him "Nicky," to which Nick replied, "Mom?"

Kelly assisted Nick Burkhardt with his investigation into the attacks by the Mauvais Dentes. Nick took her to Marie's Trailer, which she told Nick that she and Marie bought when their father became ill. Kelly showed Nick the surviving page of one of the original Grimm Diaries and explained the history of the Grimms going back to the Fourth Crusade. Later, after Nick told her about the key, Kelly told him that someone in Portland knew who he was. When Nick received a telephone call about Marnassier from Special Agent Kanigher, Kelly accompanied her son to the lumber mill to assist in the confrontation.

Kelly helped Nick subdue Marnassier and struck the fatal blow with a knife in Marnassier's throat. She went to the hospital with Nick while he administered the potion prepared by Rosalee; she helped hold the medical staff at bay while Nick worked. Kelly later confronted Catherine Schade, who told her that she did not have anything to do with Adalind's plan, but Kelly persisted in terrorizing her and grabbed her neck. Catherine told Kelly there was a prince in Portland but refused to disclose his name. Kelly and Catherine fought, and Kelly threw her into a mirror, causing one of the broken pieces of glass to slice Catherine's neck, which killed her before Kelly could learn the identity of the prince. Realizing that things had become too dangerous for her in Portland, as she had now murdered too many people, Kelly took the Coins of Zakynthos, apparently with the goal of returning them to the island and destroying them. After a tearful goodbye, Nick took Kelly to Union Station so she could take a train out of Portland. Once Nick drove away, she did not go inside the station. Instead, she stole a car by using a to unlock the door.

Kelly was hired by the Laufer to facilitate the exit of Adalind Schade and her baby from Europe. She arrived at the meeting place early enough to see agents of the Verrat arrive. Once she was sure that the Verrat were after Adalind and her baby, she killed four of them. On the aircraft she checked the box of supplies and realized that they were headed for Brazil. She told the pilot that since the Verrat were waiting at the pick-up point, they would likely be at the landing site and changed the landing site to near Portland.

On the ground in Portland, she stole a truck and took herself, Adalind, and the baby to Nick and Juliette's home for safety. When she arrived, Nick told her about his and Juliette's history with Adalind and reminded her that she had killed Adalind's mother.

When Adalind left Nick and Juliette's home, Kelly went with Nick to Sean Renard's home to find Adalind.

Kelly saw Weston Steward arrive to Renard's condo building and followed him in. She watched and listened in as Weston showed a picture of Adalind to the building guard at the front desk and asked if he had seen her in the building recently. When Weston went back to his car, Kelly surprised him and slammed his head into the car, knocking him out. When Nick came out of the building, Kelly told him about Weston and the fact that he was an FBI agent. She took Nick to Weston's car and told Nick that he knew Adalind was upstairs with Renard, and the two guys Weston sent around back knew too. Upstairs, when one of the men tried to hide around the corner near the staircase, Kelly ran up the stairs and made the man shoot himself with his gun before throwing him over the railing.

Outside Monroe and Rosalee's house, Kelly's locket floated out of her pocket into the baby's hands. Inside the house, Adalind asked Kelly if she wanted her locket back, but she said the baby could keep it. When everyone left the house, Kelly told Renard that the biggest mistake Adalind made was coming to him, and as long as he had his child, he, Adalind, and the baby would all be vulnerable the rest of their lives.

At Weston's house, Kelly watched as Renard interrogated him. After the interrogation, Kelly went with Nick back to his house to meet Hank to get him caught up on everything.

Later that night, the baby was crying, and Adalind couldn't get her to stop. All the clocks in Monroe's house went wild as the baby started crying harder. Suddenly, she stopped crying and the clocks calm down. Monroe asked what just happened as Kelly walked into the living room.

The next morning, multiple police cars pulled up in front of Monroe's home as Rosalee and Monroe were about to start making breakfast. Kelly sensed something was going on and went to look out the window. She saw the cops and ran back to everyone as cops burst in all the doors to arrest her for the murder of Catherine Schade.

Kelly was in the interview room when Adalind arrived, thinking she was giving a statement. Adalind asked what Kelly was doing there, and Kelly said she wanted to talk to her because at the very least, she owed her an explanation. Kelly told Adalind that she was looking for her the day Catherine died because of what she did to Juliette. Kelly said that Catherine wouldn't say anything, so she had to make her because her other choice was to let Juliette die. Adalind responded that she was angry at Nick because he took her powers. Adalind then asked why they were having this conversation, and Kelly said she had to give up Nick because of who she was, and if she hadn't done so, he might have been killed. Adalind told her that was her problem, and if she was looking for forgiveness, she didn't have any. Kelly said she wasn't looking for forgiveness, but she wanted Adalind to understand that "sometimes we have to sacrifice what we love most." Adalind then ran out of the room as she suddenly realized what was going on.

That night, Kelly was among the masked group who went to get Diana back before Viktor left Portland. After they got her, Kelly told Renard it had to be done, and he said he hoped she was right.

The next day, Kelly was driving a truck that Nick and Juliette found online with Diana in a car seat next to her. Diana's toy keys floated into the air, and Kelly told Diana she was going to have to teach her not to do that in public and smiled.

Kelly arrived at Nick and Juliette's home, thinking Nick was in danger because of an email Juliette had sent her. Before getting out of her car, she called Nick's house. Juliette answered the phone and said, "Thank God you're here," adding that she was home, but Nick was not there. Kelly then got out of her car and approached Nick's house with Diana in her arms. She entered the home and asked for Juliette but was soon ambushed by several Verrat agents lurking nearby. They began fighting, and landing blows and screams could be heard from Nick and Juliette's bedroom, where Juliette was standing. Kenneth was then heard saying, "Let's take this outside," and soon thereafter, the fight quieted down. Kenneth soon reentered the home with blood spatter on his face and told Juliette, who had made her way downstairs and found Diana, "We got her," referring to Kelly.

Moments later at the spice shop, Trubel showed up and told Nick that something big was happening at his house and that there were a lot of people there. Hank, Trubel, and Nick then left for the house and walked in to find that nobody was there. Trubel then saw a closed cardboard box with blood on the floor underneath it. She pointed it out to Nick, who then opened it up and found Kelly's decapitated head inside it. The reality of this shocking discovery quickly hit him hard, as he backed up against a dresser and slid down to a seated position. Nick then screamed, "No!" multiple times in panicked horror and anguish.

Comic series
Kelly was intercepted by Verrat agents. She phoned Nick from Vienna to instruct him to take over for her; she had hidden the coins where no one would find them in the meantime. As she was explaining, the phone fell to the ground, leaving Nick wondering what had happened. She was taken hostage by Drauz.

Personality
Kelly was not at all concerned with breaking the law or whether the police found her actions criminal. When hunting, Kelly was ruthless, and she held a dislike towards Wesen. Not surprisingly then, she was shocked when she learned Nick was friends with two, although after spending some time with them and seeing how much Nick trusted them, she was willing to extend some friendliness to Monroe and Rosalee and seemed to slightly rethink her views. She held a great hatred for the Royal Houses, as they were guilty of much of the turmoil in the world. She was secretive and likely felt that Nick wasn't ready to know everything about her mission, as demonstrated by her fooling him into thinking she got on a bus at the station, when she really stole a car to leave. Despite that, she made it clear she deeply loved her son and just wanted him safe.

Grimm Abilities
As a Grimm, Kelly possessed a variety of abilities:


 * Superhuman Perception - Kelly could see things normal people couldn't, as a Grimm she could see Wesen for what they were when they got careless, angry or excited.


 * Superhuman Strength - Kelly possessed great physical strength, able to easily pin down Monroe while in full woge, and trade blows with a Mauvais Dentes.


 * Superhuman Durability/Stamina/Endurance - Kelly's durability was exceptionally high, able to take blows from creatures as strong as a Mauvais Dentes, and able to quickly recover from having being hit round the head by a metal plate and thrown through a glass door. Her stamina was likewise enhanced, allowing her to emerge out of combat no worse for wear.


 * Superhuman Speed/Agility - Kelly possessed incredible agility and speed. She was able easily disarm Wu, jump down from two stories and land on top of the hood of a police car, and quickly run off to safety. This also allowed her to take out multiple Verrat agents very quickly. She also possessed great stealth.


 * Indomitable Will - As a Grimm, Kelly possessed incredible will power, enabling her (like other Grimms) to resist the powers of the Coins of Zakynthos, which no other being could. She even entrusted herself to destroy the Coins.


 * Blood of A Grimm - As a Grimm, Kelly's blood had the power to strip a Hexenbiest of their powers and their Wesen side.


 * Combat Skills - Kelly was a very dangerous adversary, as she most often killed any Wesen she fought, and at times she seemed unable to control her killer instincts, killing Wesen even when that wasn't her intention. She was also able to disable Nick in combat, despite him being younger, and deal a stunning blow to Akira Kimura, despite the trouble he gave to everyone else in combat. She didn't move around unarmed and kept a switchblade on her at all times.

Trivia

 * Prior to airing, Kelly Burkhardt was known as "The Woman in Black." She wore black throughout the entire episode.
 * Kelly wore all black in every episode that she appeared in.
 * Her email she used to keep in contact with Nick was bheadr@toomail.net.

Quotes

 * (To Nick) "I don't know what'll happen with Juliette. But don't make the same mistake I did. Don't leave the people you love."
 * (To the pilot) "I don't trust anybody I'm not close enough to kill."
 * (To Nick about Catherine Schade) "I didn't actually kill her. She impaled herself."
 * (To Adalind) "Sometimes we have to sacrifice what we love most."