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Nimona is an aspiring villain with great abilities, including shapeshifting and creativity, and becomes Lord Ballister Blackheart's sidekick at the start of the webcomic/graphic novel. Nimona is also the story's namesake.
Appearance
In Nimona's child form, she is short and has long auburn hair, in which she wears a pink bow.[1][2] In this form, Nimona also wears a seemingly long red sweater or short dress.
Nimona's age is unknown, but she typically appears as a young-looking human. In this form, she has short pink hair in a Chelsea haircut, pale skin, and a red nose. She is chubby and short, and often grinning. She wears a magenta tunic.[3] Underneath that is a chain mail shirt. She wears a metal gorget around her neck. She wears brown leather gauntlets and a brown leather belt. "Nimona’s boots hit just below her knees and are turned down at the top like pirate boots. . . . She has one ring piercing in her right ear, an eyebrow piercing on the left, and three rings in her left ear."[3]
While shapeshifting, Nimona's body typically maintains a red/pink color scheme, though some of her forms are black, and her color scheme is more complex when she shifts into different human forms. Her shark form is unique in that it has visible breasts and legs.
After losing control of her abilities when she first comes into contact with Dr. Meredith Blitzmeyer's Anomalous Energy Enhancer, she dyes her hair purple.[4] She still maintains her general red/pink color scheme while shapeshifting, though. Her regular form reverts to the pink color scheme at the end of the webcomic/graphic novel.[2]
Personality
Nimona appears to enjoy causing chaos and killing people. She is supportive of Ballister, and takes his side against the Institution, especially when she learns how they treated him. She is also playful, and often transforms to perform simple tasks, or just mess with people. She can be quick to anger, and dislikes waiting, losing, and science, generally, and can react to any of these with tantrums that range from childish and harmless to potentially fatal to bystanders.
Ballister is one of the few people Nimona cares for and appears to trust, to any particular extent, and even when they have a bad argument, she still goes to attempt to rescue him. Otherwise, Nimona is tight-lipped about most everything, whether it's the details of her past, her motives, how her powers work, or how she's feeling, and she lies to most everyone when asked. She is not used to trusting people, as she has been hurt before.[2]
She enjoys zombie movies (though she is afraid of them), pizza, hanging out, and dangerous objects.
Life
Backstory
Nimona's true backstory is left unconfirmed, but a number of possibilities are presented in the webcomic/graphic novel, and in interviews outside the comic:
- This scenario seemingly appears in a flashback, and is the most likely: Nimona is a girl from a village who is feeble and sickly as a child, but "after one particularly dire illness, she quickly recovered and grew into a healthy, robust girl."[2] She first displays her powers when protecting her village from raiders (possibly from the west). She kills the raiders, and her parents make up stories about her being a changeling when they turn her over to the guards. While she is imprisoned, a blonde man orders her taken to his facility. Either there or at another facility, they experiment on her, until she breaks loose and kills at least some of the people in the facility, and possibly her parents, as well. She then roams, until she volunteers to become Ballister's sidekick.[5]
- She is the result of an experiment gone wrong (or possibly right), and then either breaks free or is released.
- She is a large shapeshifting beast who fights Knight Gloreth and survives the altercation, even though she appeared dead, and continues to roam. Alternatively, she kills Gloreth, and shapeshifts to take Gloreth's place. All that's really been confirmed, by ND Stevenson, is that "Nimona is not a descendant of Gloreth."[6] A backstory seemingly connecting Nimona and Gloreth more officially, as appears in the movie adaptation, is something Stevenson has thought about for some time prior to the movie's development, and Stevenson noted, “There’s one thing I really loved seeing in the movie, because it was a seed of an idea I had with the comic that didn’t really fit in the comic itself . . . That’s the story of Gloreth, and her backstory with Nimona. . . . [That backstory] was something I thought about for the comic, so I talked to the filmmakers about it . . . To see it unfold in such a beautiful way in the movie was really amazing. I love being able to see different shades of this story, which I know really, really well, being expanded in different directions, and evolving into something new.”[7]
- The apparent lie Nimona presents (which may contain some truth) is that she lives in a village until she is six years old.[8] The village is often attacked by raiders. While gathering berries in the woods, Nimona comes across a witch trapped in a hole. The witch agrees to grant Nimona a wish in exchange for help. Nimona wishes to be strong enough to fight the raiders, and the witch turns her into a dragon. Dragon!Nimona carries the witch to safety, and then returns home, still in dragon form. She is chased away by the locals, as she can neither shift back to her normal form, nor speak. She struggles to figure out how to become a human again, exploring her different forms, and when she finally returns to her human form and returns home, everyone in the village is dead. Then she wanders, until she meets Ballister.
Webcomic/Graphic Novel
Nimona appears in Ballister's laboratory and volunteers to be his sidekick, obtaining Ballister's acceptance when she demonstrates that she's a shapeshifter.[5] Together they work on a new plan, though they disagree with the execution.[9]
The duo breaks into one of the Institution's laboratories, but are quickly discovered by Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin.[1] Both sides insult each other, and Nimona begins murdering guards before disappearing deeper into the facility.
Nimona remains behind in the facility (or a different Institution facility) and shapeshifts at one point into the Director, and calls Ballister at his home. When she reveals herself, she attacks more guards and steals documents from the facility, before returning to Ballister. Ballister lectures her for her actions, and particularly the deaths she caused. She agrees, and then, with Ballister's prompting, gives a version of her backstory of being turned into a dragon by a witch.
After Ballister decrypts the documents Nimona stole, they action a plan whereby Nimona impersonates the Anchorwoman on Channel Six News, and talks about the Institution stockpiling jaderoot. She insults Ambrosius, spurring him into a wild goose chase to the station, but easily escapes him.
Some time later, she shapeshifts into a crone, and secretly places poisoned apples into apple carts, with the plan to fake an epidemic and spook the citizens of the Kingdom to believe the jaderoot report.
For the next stage of their plan, Nimona and Ballister go to His Majesty's Royal Treasury, and rob it. When Ambrosius arrives with reinforcements, Nimona turns into a dragon and carries Ballister and their loot away. Although they largely escape unscathed, one of the Institution guards manages to shoot Nimona in the left thigh with an arrow, though she doesn't notice until Ballister points it out. He bandages her up and implements mandatory rest time. Four days later, Nimona reveals that her injury healed fully, demonstrating her rapid healing.
When Ballister becomes morose after his fight with Ambrosius, Nimona suggests they go to the Science Expo to cheer him up (but in disguise). She shapeshifts into a male child name Gregor, and gives Ballister a long black beard. They spend some time exploring the Expo, though Nimona is mostly bored. Eventually she shapeshifts into a cat, which was light, so Ballister could carry her. A spontaneous reaction from Dr. Blitzmeyer's device traps Nimona in her cat form, unable to talk. When guards recognize the pair, they flee, with Nimona making a ruckus to give them time to escape. She manages to break out of her cat form, and transforms into a dragon to fly the pair to safety.
Once back at Ballister's home, she is furious about being stuck in one form, and destroys parts of the building in her rage. Ballister helps calm her down, and she retreats to her room. When she next appears, her hair is dyed purple, and she is watching a news report about the increasing poisoning cases.
Nimona attends the Royal Tournament in disguise again, and poisons what might have been a funnel cake, which causes an apparent "outbreak" of the mysterious disease Ballister created. This starts a riot among the citizenry, who attack the guards and nobles, and uses the Institution's Tournament ruse for a ruse of their own, as it give Ballister time to send a message of resistance to the citizenry. When Nimona loses contact with Ballister, she flies to his rescue, but it is actually a mutual double-trap: Ambrosius traps them both in a heavily fortified room, and a fight ensues between Ballister, Nimona, and the Institution's forces. During the ruckus, a guard cuts Nimona's head off. Only a short while later, she reforms into the giant black dragon-like creature, kills everyone but Ambrosius - who hid behind his shield - and Ballister, whom she carries away.
Nimona takes Ballister home and goes scouting to discover if Ambrosius was still alive and the outcome of the fight. She returns with an update that two of the infected citizenry died. When Ballister decides to give himself up, he also insists they talk about the recent fight, and he catches Nimona in an apparent lie - the witch was seemingly something she invented. When he refuses to back off, Nimona becomes defensive. When Ballister reaches for his sword, she leaves.
After Ballister is captured, and the Institution announces his planned execution, Nimona attempts to rescue him, but is captured herself. When the Director has the guards hurt Ballister, Nimona submits to their tests, allowing them to take a blood sample. Her blood grows and changes into the great black dragon-creature again, and destroys the facility, seemingly killing most of the people there, before running rampant, killing the King and destroying other Institution facilities, looking for the Director.
The Director and black dragon Nimona have one last fight, where black dragon Nimona kills her. Ambrosius arrives, and, having hidden the device Ballister gave him to weaken some of Nimona's powers, he and black dragon Nimona fight for some time. At one point, it seems that Ambrosius has won, but Nimona surprises him by cutting his face, then throws him against a wall, knocking him at least partially unconscious.
A ways away, a part of Nimona is still in the broken cell, dreaming of what might be her actual origin story: being captured by guards, and taken away to be experimented on. In the present, she shapeshifts back into her child self. Ballister comes to get her out, and Nimona explains that when she splits like this, the "strong part stays and the rest disintegrates."[2] This means black dragon Nimona will survive, while child Nimona will disintegrate. Ballister insists they try to recombine both parts, so she won't disintegrate.
The pair arrive where black dragon Nimona stands over Ambrosius' body, and both Nimonas reunite. Nimona learns that Ballister broke his promise and told someone else about the device that could take her power. Hurt and betrayed, black dragon Nimona attacks him, while child Nimona hides. Ballister finds the Director's discarded big gun, subdues black dragon Nimona, and then apologizes. A purge cycle is initiated at the facility, and Ballister (with Ambrosius) escapes, while child Nimona embraces black dragon Nimona. They are swallowed by the purge.
In His Majesty's Hospital, Nimona shapeshifts into the form of a medical professional looking after Ambrosius, so that Nimona can speak to Ballister without the latter's knowledge while Ballister watches over Ambrosius. When doctor Nimona calls Nimona a monster, Ballister insists Nimona isn't a monster, and despairs to Meredith that he hasn't been able to save Nimona, while doctor Nimona slips out of the room. When Ballister realizes he'd been speaking to a shapeshifter, he runs after her, and from a distance, he spots her. She smiles and waves at him, then disappears into the crowd.
Skills
Form creation: Nimona transforms by instantly creating a new body for herself, and disintegrating the old one. All of her various powers stem from this one.
Regeneration: Nimona can instantly create a new body that has healed any injury that has occurred to the previous one. She does this instinctively, and can even do this while missing important limbs, including her head. Although Meredith's Anomalous Energy Enhancer cuts off Nimona's transformation and healing, once the device is removed from Nimona's vicinity or destroyed, Nimona's powers return, and she can regenerate again. Her regeneration seems to come with some level of pain inhibition, where she doesn't feel pain at all, at least for "minor" wounds (like being shot with an arrow), but she can fake the feeling of pain to varying degrees of success.
Immortality: Since she can seemingly endlessly create new cells, she is seemingly immortal.
Humanoid shape shifting: Nimona can transform into any person, real or made up. She has any abilities or alterations they might possess, such as a mechanical arm. Nimona seemingly notes that shapeshifting into made-up people is harder, or possibly that shapeshifting into people is harder, but given her regular transformation into people who exist (e.g., her younger self, Ballister, guards, the Anchorwoman), and her rule against shapeshifting into made-up animals, it's likely she meant that shapeshifting into made up people is harder.[10]
Animal shapeshifting: Nimona can shapeshift into any creature that has existed in some point in time. This includes dragons, dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, and various monsters. She cannot shapeshift into made-up animals.
Size Variation: Nimona can change her size on a whim.
Partial transformation/power usage: Nimona can alter her human form to exhibit non-human abilities. An example of this is suddenly having huge arms,[10] breathing fire,[11] or being able to shoot spikes.
Extreme stamina/unlimited energy: Nimona can access a seemingly unlimited supply of magic energy from another plane, which she uses to shapeshift. The act doesn't appear to tire her: only grievous injuries do.
Form Splitting: Nimona can split herself into two bodies, with one of them being her main self, and the other being a form that is driven by whatever emotion she was feeling when she split. However, she tries not to do this, as it makes it possible that one of her forms might disintegrate.
Specific Transformations and Abilities
Listed in order of appearance:
Shark[5]
Princess[9]
Wolf[1]
- Enhanced agility and speed
- Enhanced reflexes
- Biting
Young Nimona[1]
- Small size = hard target
- Fake Innocence
- Stabbing
The Director[1]
- Espionage
- Can fool Ballister
Red Dragon[1]
- Fangs
- Breathing fire
- Flight
- Carrying (potentially non-existent) witches
- Carrying Ballister
Bird[8]
- Flight
- Pecking
Black cat[8]
- Enhanced leaping and enhanced agility
- Retractable claws
Groundhog[8]
Bunny[8]
- Enhanced leaping and speed
Horse[8]
- Enhanced speed
Turtle[8]
- Shelter
Ballister[10]
- Annoying Ballister
Rhinoceros[10]
- Enhanced speed
- Enhanced strength
- Horns
- Ramming
Extra muscular green arms and legs[10]
- Super strength
Anchorwoman[10]
- Leaking secret reports on TV
Institute Guard[10]
- Scaring Ambrosius
Old woman[11]
- Placing bad apples and dealing with reasonably annoyed booth owners
Tall muscular man[11]
- Carrying heavy chests
- Helping to start riots
Lion[11]
- Scaring bystanders
Elephant[11]
- Fighting Institute guards
Gorilla[11]
- Enhanced strength
Gregor/small child[12]
- Sneaking into science expos
Red cat[12]
- Being light-weight
- Enhanced agility
Baker[4]
- Sneaking in poisoned sugar to start a riot
Euoplocephalus[4]
- Breaking down steel doors and knocking over guards
Triceratops[4]
- Intimidation
- Serving as a steed
- Strong snout
Bear[4]
- Super strength
Fox[4]
- Agility
Octopus[4]
- Grabby legs
Bat[4]
- Flight
Flying squirrel[4]
- Landing on your feet
- Annoying guards
- Flight
Spiky dragon[4]
- Long neck
- Strong jaws
- Teeth
- Long, strong tail
Enormous black spikey dragon[4]
- Breathes fire
- Carrying Ballister
- Strong hide
- Claws
- Fangs
- Strong jaws
Smilodon[13]
- Sharp fangs
- Sharp claws
- Enhanced agility and reflexes
Vampire Eel[13]
- Resisting electricity
Spiked Beast[13]
- Possibly resisting electricity
Doctor[2]
- Talking to good friends
Weaknesses
- Since Nimona typically retains a color scheme of either red or pink when she transforms, she can be easily recognized by people who know her, which she makes up for by being creative (e.g., painting a rat red).
- Dr. Blitzmeyer's Anomalous Energy Enhancer interferes with Nimona's access to energy that she uses for shapeshifting, or otherwise temporarily prevents Nimona from shapeshifting, or regenerating, while also causing disorientation. If the device is removed from her immediate vicinity, she quickly regains her powers.
- She is allergic to bananas, and will break out in hives when she encounters them, no matter what form she is in.[10]
Relationships
Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin
At Ambrosius and Nimona's first meeting, Nimona threatened him, and Ambrosius shrugs it off by calling Nimona "spunky". Although Ambrosius cares about saving people to some extent, when the building self-destructs, he tries to assure Ballister that Nimona would be safe by shapeshifting into some animal that would be protected, rather than ensuring her safety. Nimona targets him during her propaganda run, angering him, and leading him to make mistakes during missions. After Nimona assumes the enormous black dragon form the first time and demonstrates her power, nearly killing Ambrosius, Ambrosius seems to gain some respect for her abilities, but insists she is controlling Ballister, and that she is a monster.[4] Before making the final blow to kill Nimona's black dragon form near the end of the story, he pauses to say, "I'm sorry". Nimona shortly slashes his face and tosses him against a column, knocking him partially or fully unconscious.
Lord Ballister Blackheart
Ballister is initially impressed by Nimona's shapeshifting, and comes around to her ideas for battle plans, though he finds her methods too dangerous and risky in terms of causing casualties and even deaths. The two grow close, though there is a tension between them over how Nimona hides or lies about her past, and how Nimona fears and awaits the day Ballister turns on her, as others have. Ballister still tries his hardest to save her in the end, though he betrays her by using the Anomalous Energy Enhancer to dampen her powers, causing her to become even more enraged. In the end, he still insists she isn't a monster and he feels bad for killing his friend. The last time they wave to each other is soft and hopeful.
The Director
The Director considers Nimona to be a terrorist, a weapon, and an abomination, rather than a person.[13] Nimona hates her, and hunts her down after freeing part of herself from the Institution's cell.
Quotations
- "Hey, Boss! The name's Nimona."[5]
- "The Agency sent me. I'm your new sidekick!"[5]
- "I left it in the... uh, FIIIINE so the Agency didn't send me."[5]
- "But I'm a huge fan of your work! You're Ballister Blackheart, the biggest name in supervillainy! You're an inspiration!"[5]
- "Hmm. Not bad. Nice touch with the explosion. However, I do have a few suggestions. Here, I'll show you. We could do with more general chaos. I'm talking fire everywhere. We'll murder the king in from of everyone. Then you crown yourself the new king. And since Goldenloin is sure to try and stop us, I'll disguise myself to get close to him and take him out before he knows what's happening!"[9]
- "What do you mean, there are rules? Why would you follow the rules? Isn't that the whole point of being a villain? That you don't follow the rules? Can I at least kill Sir Goldenloin? The one guy who keeps messing up all your plans?"[9]
- "Are you kidding? You got the boot for his bad attitude? And now they've got you locked into a system where you can't win! Doesn't that make you mad?"[9]
- "You know I could've infiltrated this place by myself in like ten seconds, right?"[1]
Trivia
- Nimona’s blood type is AB Positive.
- ND Stevenson noted that choosing Nimona's name for the comic was random.[14]
- ND Stevenson noted that Zam Wesell, a shapeshifter bounty hunter in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and Carrie Kelley from DC Comics inspired Nimona's character design.[15] Another inspiration for Nimona was Hit Girl as played by Chloë Grace Moretz in Kick-Ass the movie.[16] Moretz went on to be cast as Nimona for Nimona's movie adaptation.
- ND Stevenson noted that she/her are Nimona's main pronouns in the comic, and that Nimona's origin story is intentionally left open-ended and vague so that the audience can draw their own conclusions, and to show how you can't know everything about a person, and that people change.[17]
- In the movie adaptation, Nimona's "Demon Baby" shapeshift is possibly based on the comic shapeshift where she turns into "Gregor" at the Science Expo, as both forms are very young boys with pale skin and short, dark hair.
Image Gallery
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 gingerhaze. "sodadrinkr asked SO I ABSOLUTELY ADORE NIMONA AND I WAS THINKING ABOUT COSPLAYING HER . . . " How Are You I'm Fine Thanks, 7 Oct. 2012, 10:17 PM, https://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/post/33132978157/so-i-absolutely-adore-nimona-and-i-was-thinking.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 9.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 1.
- ↑ gingerhaze. "Nimona Q&A" How Are You I'm Fine Thanks, 14 Oct 2014, 4:23 PM, https://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/post/100017892553/nimona-qa.
- ↑ Robinson, Tasha. “‘Netflix’s Nimona Movie Adds Backstory ND Stevenson Always Wanted to Put in the Comic: Nimona’s Creator on How the Movie Evolved, and What Changes Worked Best.’” Polygon, 1 July 2023, https://www.polygon.com/23780122/nimona-movie-nd-stevenson-interview-changes-from-the-comic.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 4.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 2.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 5.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 6.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 8.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Stevenson, ND. Nimona. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. Chapter 10.
- ↑ Fleming, Ryan. “‘Nimona’ Creator ND Stevenson And Directors Nick Bruno & Troy Quane On An “Unapologetically Pro-LGBTQ+” Story That Refuses To Conform.” Deadline, 5 December 2023, https://deadline.com/2023/12/nimona-nd-stevenson-nick-bruno-troy-quane-directors-netflix-animation-1235652704/.
- ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie. “‘Nimona’ Team Talk Quest To Complete Film Against The Odds & Surprise ‘Star Wars’ Villain Who Sparked The Original Character – Annecy.” Deadline, 15 June 2023, https://deadline.com/2023/06/nimona-team-challenge-annecy-1235417963/.
- ↑ DiLillo, John. “Everything You Need to Know about 'Nimona'.” Netflix, 18 May 2023, https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/nimona-release-date-news-photos.
- ↑ Netflix. "Is nimona some type of nature spirit? Also what pronouns does nimona use, and does it include neopronouns?" Netflix, 25 July 2023, 5:46 PM, https://netflix.tumblr.com/post/723854663271776256/is-nimona-some-type-of-nature-spirit-also-what. (Recorded on 12 July 2023).