Nico Minoru


Nico Minoru, briefly known as Sister Grimm, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created in 2003 by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, the character debuted in Runaways #1. Like every member of the original Runaways, Nico is the child of two of the super-powered villains calling themselves "the Pride"; in her case, she is the daughter of dark wizards. Upon finding out, Nico runs away with the rest of the runaways but later discovers that she inherited her parents' magical aptitude. Whenever Nico bleeds, a powerful staff emerges from her chest, called the Staff of One, allowing Nico to bend magic.
After the Runaways are betrayed by one of their own in volume one, Nico reluctantly becomes the de facto leader of her unofficial and nameless superhero team, making her one of the few Japanese-American superheroine team leaders. Nico's trademark is her elaborate and ornate Gothic wardrobe. Nico is a sorceress like her parents and great-grandmother before her and can cast nearly any spell imaginable with her staff. Nico uses her talents to make up for her parents' villainous actions and to prevent anyone from assuming the Pride's place at the top of Los Angeles organized crime.
In the Marvel Universe, she was featured in Avengers Arena and its sequel, Avengers Undercover, which follows the survivors of the thirty day-long deathmatch in Murderworld. Nico is traumatized by those events and temporarily walked away from the Runaways. She later joined Marvel's first all-female Avengers team, A-Force.
Nico's Staff of One responds to verbal commands, but can only respond to any given spell once. If she attempts to cast the same spell twice, the results have unforeseen consequences. To summon the Staff itself, Nico must bleed—as all magic comes with a cost. After working with the Witchbreaker, Nico develops the ability to cast spells without the Staff and upgrades her own abilities. In the wake of her resurrection in Murderworld, Nico jumps up to another power level and even receives a magical arm replacement that can channel supernatural energies more powerful than the Staff. By the relaunch of Runaways vol. 5, Nico's Staff and powers are reverted to its original condition and her magical arm replaced with a normal arm for reasons unknown yet.
Since her debut, Nico has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful LGBT female heroes.
Nico Minoru was portrayed by Lyrica Okano in the Hulu streaming television series Runaways, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She reprised the role in the 2022 tactical role-playing game Marvel's Midnight Suns. An alternate version of the character appears in the MCU Disney+ animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, voiced by Grace Song.

Publication history

Nico Minoru first appeared in Runaways #1 and was created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona.
In Brian K. Vaughan's original pitch for the series, Nico was called Rachel Messina. Her parents were still magicians, but posed as wealthy antique dealers; this cover story was ultimately used for Gert's time-travelling parents. Nico's source of power was not originally going to be her mother's Staff, but Robert Minoru's spellbook.
Nico Minoru appeared in Avengers Arena, a new series by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker, as well as its sequel, Avengers Undercover.
Nico appears as one of the main characters in A-Force, an all-female Avengers spin-off launched by G. Willow Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, and Jorge Molina during Marvel's Secret Wars crossover.

Fictional character biography

The Pride

Every year, Nico's parents join five other couples in a charity event; one year, Nico and the other kids spy on their parents. Nico is shocked to discover her father speaking an enchantment, and after witnessing the murder of an innocent girl by their parents, Nico joins the others in their massive ransack to run away from their parents. While on the run, Nico encounters her parents. Her mother, wielding a large staff with a ball at the end, reveals that she and Nico's father are dark wizards; she then attempts to jam the Staff into Nico's chest. Nico's body absorbs it. After she is later cut by Dale Yorkes' Samurai battle-axe, the Staff re-emerges from her chest, which prompts Nico to use the phrase "Freeze", and freeze Stacey Yorkes. It is revealed that Nico is a witch, and that the Staff only emerges when she bleeds. Sometime after running off, Nico takes on the name Sister Grimm to escape the name her parents gave her, but drops it after a while. After team leader Alex outs himself as the mole and is defeated along with the Pride, Nico is accepted as the group's leader.

Mystic Arcana

In 2007, the magic-related crossover event Mystic Arcana fills the gap between Runaways #17 and #18, during Nico's brief time at Father Flanagan's Home for Unwanted Goth Kids. The story begins with Nico dressed in a Japanese school girl's outfit, stating that it's perhaps time to let go of the goth trend. She is soon talked into going to a nightclub with her friends, where she meets her parents' old rival Marie Laveau; Laveau seeks revenge on Nico's parents for stealing the Black Mirror, one of the four Cornerstones of Creation. After Laveau explains that she needs Nico's blood to activate the Black Mirror, Nico gives Leveau her blood, while also purging out the Staff of One. The two fight, and Nico easily wins. Nico attempts to bring back Alex Wilder using the Mirror, however the spell fails, the Mirror shatters and the last page of the Darkhold is revealed behind the glass. Laveau takes it and flees, while Nico accepts her place as an outcast with the Runaways.
Artist Dave Sexton revealed Nico was one of the four magic characters chosen for the story arc because each character relates to some elemental themes: Magik represents air and logic, the Black Knight represents the Earth and tools, the Scarlet Witch represents water and emotions while Nico represented fire and wands. As Nico must deliver blood in order to produce her Staff, fire and sacrifice prove to be very similar to Tarot's Minor Arcana suit of "wands". Although C.B. Cebulski wrote the Sister Grimm portion of Mystic Arcana, Runaways-creator Brian K. Vaughan lent some assistance.

As a fugitive

After being warned of a future threat named Victor Mancha, Nico and the Runaways find and abduct Victor to question him. After Victor's mother is murdered and father, Ultron, is destroyed, Nico invites Victor to become a part of the team, much to the anger of some members, notably Chase. Nico reassures them that she is willing to "rip damn heart out" if necessary. After Chase ties Nico up before he attempts to sacrifice himself to the Gibborim, Nico interprets it as a cry for help and leads the Runaways to intervene to stop Chase's self-sacrifice. The Gibborim instead attempt to take Nico, revealing that Nico's soul is innocent, thus, suitable for the Gibborim's consumption. Victor rescues Nico and the two form a relationship. After defeating the Gibborim, Victor asks Nico what she's willing to do if Chase does something like this again; Nico responds by saying she is willing to "rip damn heart out" if necessary. After returning to their lair beneath the La Brea Tar Pits, Xavin realizes she had publicly exposed their location, drawing the attention of Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. Nico, stepping into her role as a leader, leads the Runaways in a cross-country escape from Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Witchbreaker

After escaping the authorities, the Runaways head to New York where Nico anxiously makes a deal with Kingpin. In a twisted turn of events, the Runaways end up time-displaced in 1907 New York, where Nico is kidnapped and brought to a woman named "the Witchbreaker". The Witchbreaker claims she is Nico's great-grandmother, and states she will teach Nico how to withstand more pain and, therefore, wield more magic with better proficiency. She wields a weapon similar to the Staff of One, with more adornments. When reunited with her comrades, a significant development to Nico's abilities is evident, where she is freely able to float, displays more proficiency and confidence in casting spells and able to use a spell with an effect more complicated than most of her others thus far. It is revealed that Nico had obtained the Witchbreaker's Staff. Little more information is given to how Nico and her ancestor's meeting had ended, though the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe's more recent edition says that Nico had "escaped" her. During this period, Victor falls in love with another girl, corrupting his relationship with Nico.

Secret Invasion

During the global shape-shifting alien invasion by the Skrulls, Nico and the other Runaways briefly remain in New York after returning from 1907, trusting that "hiding in plain sight" would be sufficient to conceal their own identities and that it would be best if they showed Klara around her city in the future before they returned to Los Angeles. However, to their shock, an armada of Skrull ships attack New York and its civilians. Xavin, trying to fool the invaders into thinking she intends to help them, uses a force field to knock out the Runaways; Nico and Victor are still conscious, however, and they attack Xavin, accusing her of being a traitor. Xavin reveals that she is trying to protect them and convinces them that the Skrulls are too dangerous for them to fight and pleading with them to flee to the Leapfrog. The Runaways eventually unite with the Young Avengers to assist against the invading Skrulls. Nico insists on leading her team to help the Young Avengers continue the fight against the Skrulls, refusing to "run away." However, Wiccan urges her to leave, claiming that if the Young Avengers lose, they will need the Runaways to save them.