Count Valentine was Ivy's adoptive father, he and his wife took in Ivy as an infant when she was left on their doorstep by an innkeeper's daughter, whom was raped by Cervantes to bear a child as part of Soul Edge's plan, in order to ready a new host. The Valentine's were one of London's most prosporous families, but their wealth was squandered by the count, in his pursuit of Soul Edge, thinking it the "key to eternal youth". He also created Ivy's sword, the Ivy Blade, at Xenon Mansion using black magic. Eventually, the count drove himself to insanity and perished, soon after his wife also passed away, leaving Ivy an orphan.