- REDIRECT Template:Infobox characterValerie "Val" McKee is the tritagonist in Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell.
Biography[]
Valerie is the daughter of Valentine "Val" McKee and Rhonda LeBeck, two famous survivors of the first reported Graboid encounter. She preferred the nickname "Val" as did her father. Following her mother's path, Valerie furthered her education, attending Oregon State University. Neither Valerie or Rhonda knew where Valentine was and it has been implied throughout the series that her parents likely divorced.
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell[]
Valerie worked as a student intern at the Boite Canyon Arctic Research Facility in northern Canada. She first appeared with her boss and mentor Rita Sims during a phone call made to Burt Gummer in an attempt to recruit his intervention in a Graboid infestation in Canada. She expressed admiring Burt's work as well as being a diligent student of the Graboids species. After giving a detailed knowledge of the Graboid species, she impressed Gummer enough to convince him to agree to help the researchers combat the Graboid threat.
Valerie met Burt Gummer and his son Travis B. Welker after their plane crash landed in Canada due to an encounter with an Assblaster during flight. She confirmed she was the daughter of Valentine McKee and Rhonda LeBeck, both famous for their discovery of the Graboids. Valerie expressed how she was raised to be proficient in firearms and hunting, thus quickly earning the respect of Burt Gummer early on during the Graboid crisis. He gave her one of his rifles to use for long-range sharpshooting. Valerie also displayed a fondness for Burt and visited him in the research facility infirmary where she shared her family history, informing Burt of the events following her parents' departure from Perfection. Burt admitted he had lost contact with Val over the years (although this likely could be said by many other former acquaintances Val knew). Valerie shared that Val manufactured boots from Graboid skin and gave them to Valerie's mother and were later passed down to her. Because she was college-educated, Burt found it utterly bizarre that Valerie chose to work in the wilderness rather than pursue a white collar career. He also complimented her father, describing Valentine as being "the greatest underachiever he ever knew". After the crisis ended, Burt last spoke with Valerie and asked her to let her father know he said hello and not to come visit. Valerie once more reiterated how her father lived by his own rules and would likely follow whatever impulse he had. It is likely after the situation at the Boite Canyon Arctic Research Facility was resolved, Valerie and her surviving colleagues were allowed to resume research operations.
Appearances[]
- Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (First appearance)
Trivia[]
- Like her father, she prefers to be called Val.
- It's implied her relationship with her father is a loving, but rocky one. Given she laughs at the idea of finding him, it's safe to say Val at least stayed long enough for her to graduate school so as not to affect her mental development.
- Valerie attended secondary school at Oregon State University as she briefly rooted for the school's beaver mascot.