Nimona

Nimona is a completed web comic by ND Stevenson, of Lumberjanes fame. It used to be online on Tumblr and later on a personal website, only to be taken down after it was collected in a graphic novel.

Ballister Blackheart is the bad guy in a fantasy kingdom. He's accepted this role ever since his ex Goldenloin shot off his arm after losing to him at a jousting tournament. There's a reason they are exes now, and Goldenloin has been assigned to capture Ballister alive. Ballister strives to take down Goldenloin and the Institute which hired him.

Then one day, a teenager named Nimona barges into Ballister's lair. She says she can help him with his coup, if he hires her as a sidekick. Ballister is hesitant, until Nimona reveals that she's a shapeshifter, who can pose as anyone and turn into sharks. He realizes that Nimona could be a game changer in his plans to reveal the Institute as a corrupt governing force...that is, if he can stop her from recklessly killing the guards trying to arrest Ballister. Nimona may not be the cheerful sidekick that she pretends to be, and the Institute gives new orders to Goldenloin: kill her.

Blue Sky Studios bought the rights to adapt Nimona into an animated film. After Disney acquired the animation company, they killed the project despite it being nearly complete. Annapurna Studios now has the rights, with a release date set for 2022 on Netflix. Riz Ahmed has been cast to play Ballister, while Chloë Grace Moretz will play Nimona. Tropes for the film will go on a separate page once we know more information.


 * Badass Gay: Both Ballister and Goldenloin qualify as this, considering Ballister beat Goldenloin in a joust fair and square, though it was implied that it wasn't easy for Ballister. Goldenloin is technically an idiot, given how long it took for him to realize that he was on the wrong side, but he can defend himself in a fight and win.
 * Bittersweet Ending: In the end, Ballister achieves his goal of.
 * Deconstruction: Of the Draco in Leather Pants and Ron the Death Eater dynamic in both fanon and canon. The story's opening would like you to believe the Ballister is the Villain Protagonist of his story, and Goldenloin is the Hero Antagonist who has to take him down. They even seem to enjoy their rivalry as Ballister strives to stage a coup against the king. Then Nimona comes in and announces that she's Ballister's new sidekick, and she flips the dynamic because Ballister has to reign in her worse impulses, which takes away from the banter that Goldenloin and Ballister have when clashing when stopping her from burning guards alive. Ballister is also quite serious about his refusal to hurt any Innocent Bystander. We find out that Ballister was telling the truth; Goldenloin did shoot off his arm on purpose, even if the circumstances were more complicated than him being a sore loser, and the Institute is a corrupt organization that has no ethics. Goldenloin has a Heel Realization when talking with Ballister about this towards the end of the story, sincerely apologizing.
 * Experienced Protagonist: Ballister Blackheart has been around the block enough to know when not to fight fair against the Institute, and how to evade their military. What Nimona brings to the table is more firepower and means infiltration, to turn the tide of the populace and show the Institute is corrupt.
 * Freudian Excuse: It comes out the reason why is reckless about human life; as a kid, . As Ballister puts it at the end of the story, anyone who went through that should not be called a monster, especially a child.
 * I Am a Monster:
 * Ballister says this when
 * Towards the end of the story, Nimona reveals that beneath her perky exterior, she feels this way about herself. And why?.
 * Idiot Hero: Goldenloin; he can be cunning, but Ballister is clearly the smarter warrior and better fighter between the two of them. In fact, this is why the Director.
 * Pet the Dog:
 * The Director's only moment of kindness is when, in the climax, she realizes that she's going to die and so will anyone that tries to protect her. So she orders her guards to evacuate the labs but leave her while she
 * Puppet King: Implied that the Institute has installed one on the throne, and the Director really runs the country. It seems to be confirmed when.
 * Reality Ensues: When Ballister releases a plague, he designs it so that people will only be inconvenienced, not seriously ill or dead. He has a breakdown on learning . You cannot predict how people's immune systems will work, factoring in allergies, autoimmune disorders, and preexisting conditions.
 * Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: The comic ends with
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Implied with though it's not confirmed one way or the other. When Ballister finds out that, he realizes that it's possible . The scientist friend who discusses this with him admits that it's a real possibility, and that the regeneration may actually be reincarnation.
 * The Reveal Nimona's backstory has some harsh truths when we see the real flashbacks:.
 * Riddle for the Ages: Turns out that no one knows.
 * Shoo the Dog: Goldenloin meets Ballister to parley with him about Nimona at an inn that's neutral ground. He whispers that he's been assigned to take her out, but Goldenloin does not kill children while knowing if he fails, someone with fewer scruples will take the assignment. Goldenloin advises Ballister to send Nimona into hiding because she's just a kid and not part of Ballister's war. Ballister says nuts to that because Nimona can take care of herself, and Goldenloin should know better than to follow orders blindly.
 * Traumatic Haircut: Flashbacks reveal that Nimona's signature shave are a reminder to her about.
 * Ungrateful Bastard:
 * In the real flashbacks,.
 * Subverted when Nimona's After Ballister recovers in the lair, he's mad at her out of Anger Born of Worry--
 * Unreliable Expositor: Nimona tells Ballister that when she was a kid, a witch granted her the power of shapeshifting, without any instructions on how to control them, to help the witch get out of a deep pit. Ballister questions why a witch would do that rather than conjure a ladder or vines to climb, but Nimona says the witch wasn't very good at thinking things through when casting spells. Nimona tried to go to her village, but the residents were scared of seeing a dragon, and she didn't know how to become a girl again, so she took time to control her powers. By the time she figured it out, Raiders had come and wiped out everyone, leading her an orphan. . The truth ends up being about half this story as flashbacks reveal: Nimona doesn't
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid: From flashbacks, before the events that turned Nimona into the cynical teenager that she is now, she was a normal kid. Her first question from being locked up.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid: From flashbacks, before the events that turned Nimona into the cynical teenager that she is now, she was a normal kid. Her first question from being locked up.