DOOL Famous Plots: Princess Gina

The saga began in the summer of 1998 when Hope Brady traveled to Europe to look for answers about her past life as Princess Gina. Her quest brought her to Lugano, Switzerland where she came in contact with Lilli Faversham, a friend from Gina's past. In 1994, the real Princess Gina mysteriously disappeared from a cocktail party that Lilli was hosting. When Lilli saw Hope, she instantly recognized her as the missing Gina and celebrated her safe return. She was anxious to return Hope/Gina back to her original royal state; Lilli hired a tailor to make a wardrobe fit for a princess and a hair stylist to put the signature blonde streaks in Gina's hair. Hope traveled to Budapest aboard the Empress Express where she seemingly recreated Gina's past. Her life in Salem was left behind as she started to exhibit the unmistakable characteristics of Princess Gina - she started playing baccarat, ordering champagne, drinks and charmed every man in her presence. When Stefano confronted Hope about her transformation, Gina snarled back! She was losing control.

Unable to take any risks with Hope/Gina's returning memory, Stefano arranged to have the train derailed. After the accident, Hope returned to Salem and was reacquainted with her normal life. When Greta arrived in town, however, Gina-in-Hope reemerged. She began experiencing vivid memories of her past life and, when Shawn-Douglas was kidnapped, Hope snapped. She confronted Stefano about her son's disappearance and her love/hate relationship with him was exposed. She remembered that Stefano had trained her to be an art thief and that she had stolen priceless works of art from Lilli and replaced them with forgeries. She even recalled being intimate with Stefano! Unbeknownst to her, Stefano had planted a computer chip in her skull a few years earlier. It was only a matter of time before Stefano and Rolf decided to reactivate the chip. Princess Gina was reborn!

After the transformation, Hope/Gina treated Bo like a stranger and withdrew into her own world. Confused by her behavior, Bo began researching Hope's missing years (1990-1994). Hope/Gina resumed painting forgeries for Stefano who ordered her to use them to replace Vivian's originals. At the same time, Hope/Gina rediscovered her attraction for John; the real Princess Gina and John had been art thieves together in the past. Stefano agreed to retransform John into an art thief so that he could work with Hope/Gina to steal the last truly original painting in Europe. Hope/Gina, however, wanted John all for herself!

She lured John into the woods and used the bright light from her compact mirror to initiate his transformation. John returned home and married Marlena but that didn't stop Hope/Gina's determination. She sabotaged John's honeymoon in Hawaii by luring him into the ocean where she kidnapped him and took him to her secret submarine. For two days, the couple made passionate love until Stefano caught them in the act. John was thrown overboard, but not before telling Hope/Gina to travel to Paris to find a "letter." Once on dry land, Hope/Gina left for France.

Meanwhile, the real Princess Gina was alive and wasting away in the turret of the Chateau des Reves. After fifteen years of waiting, the real Gina was longing to reunite with her daughter Greta and her lover, John Black. A decade and a half of confinement, however, had taken its toll on her mental health. Greta and Eric arrived at the Chateau des Reves in search for information about Princess Gina's past. At one point, the real Gina escaped and tried to make contact with Greta but Kurt quickly returned her to the turret. Greta sensed her mother's presence, however, and believed she was still alive. Meanwhile, Bo was coming closer to the truth and Stefano enlisted Hope/Gina's help to drug him. At the same time, Hope/Gina was slipping further from reality and sturggled to maintain her connection to Bo.

With Kurt's help, Gina escaped and returned to Salem to win back John Black's love. When Marlena put an end to that possibility, Gina turned her sights on Bo Brady. Acting as Hope, Gina was successful in seducing Bo and the couple soon exchanged wedding vows. At the reception, however, a scuffle broke out and Gina shot Shawn before John came to the rescue. In the struggle Gina was shot and died before revealing her true identity. At the crematorium, Lilli noticed a scar on the corpse and was able to confirm it was not Hope's body!

The Salemites flew to France to rescue the real Hope and bury Princess Gina. DiMera sabotaged  the flight, however, and the plane crashed into an ocean near a deserted island. John went into mercenary mode and managed to save the Salemites. A boat transported them off the island and the mission continued.

Back in France, Kurt held both Stefano and Hope/Gina captive in the turret! During their weeks in captivity, Stefano and Hope/Gina formed a deep and meaningful bond. Despite their many creative attempts to escape, however, they were trapped. When Hope became violently ill and discovered that she was pregnant, Stefano seized the opportunity to let Kurt into the turret. Stefano and Kurt were both shot in the escape attempt but Stefano rose to fight after seeing a vision of a Phoenix. The turret caught fire just as John and Bo arrived to pull Hope and Stefano out of the flames. Princess Gina's body was finally laid to rest and Kurt was imprisoned.

All the Salemites boarded a plane and returend home and put the incident behind them. Hope was reunited with Shawn and Bo; they moved into a new home and arranged an intimate ceremony where they exchanged vows in front of their friends and family.