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The Gibborim
The Gibborim
- "We are the Gibborim, and we hunger."
The six-toed giants that create the Pride in order to gain sacrificed human souls, regain their power, and eventually purge the Earth of humanity. They are the Half-Human Hybrid descendants of fallen angels. When Molly Hayes frees a sacrificed soul and stops the Rite of Thunder, the Gibborim turn against the Pride, killing them and Alex. Both 1980's Geoffrey Wilder and Chase Stein later seek their help in resurrecting deceased loved ones for which the cost is one human sacrifice. Wilder tries and fails while Chase tries to sacrifice himself. Unable to gain sufficient human souls, the Gibborim fade from Earth to The Nothing After Death. They run into Alex, who speculates that they, like him, did evil things in the hope that their father would be proud of them.
- Bad Boss: Their idea of "motivation" is to inform the Pride that half of them will die when the world ends.
- Greater-Scope Villain: They are responsible for the existence of the Pride, but take almost no direct action themselves.
- Fallen Angel: Or rather, the children of fallen angels, which would effectively make them Nephilim or the Marvel universe's equivalent.
- Freudian Excuse: Their conversation with Alex after fading into The Nothing After Death reflects Freud's theory that God and the father figure are ultimately the same thing in one's mind.
- Kill All Humans: Their plan.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: House-sized, to be exact.
- Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: The Gibborim are surprisingly quick to throw up their hands and declare "screw it" after it all goes up in smoke, opting to kill their servants with the power they gave them.
- You Have Failed Me: After the Runaways prevent the end of the world, the Gibborim choose to kill all twelve of the Pride rather than simply starting over.
The Seed of the Gibborim
The children of the Gibborim, who claim that the Runaways are still subject to the contract their parents made with the original Gibborim.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: They, like their parents, want to rule over an Earth free of humanity. Gert decides to give them just that - by sending them 999 years into the future, by which point she expects humans will be extinct (not the case since 999 years would send them to Kang's timeline).
- Fate Worse than Death: Gert uses the time machine to send them nearly a millennium into the future, with no guarantee that there will still be humans for them to feed on.
- Generation Xerox: They look very much like the trio of Gibborim from the first two volumes, except that they are smaller and their clothes look more modern.
- Horror Hunger: Like their parents, they eat souls, and only those souls who have been properly sacrificed.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Bo and Rim act like spoiled, angry children who happen to have godlike power.
Others
Lt. Flores
A lieutenant in the LAPD. He is also a minion of the Pride, which does not seem to be a secret within the LAPD. He enlists the superheroes Cloak and Dagger to help find the Pride's children, which displeases them. He later tracks the Runaways to the first Hostel and is buried when Nico collapses the cave on top of them. He is pulled out of the rubble by his fellow officers but executed by Geoffrey Wilder.
- Dirty Cop: As a cop aiding super villains.
- The Mole: Within the LAPD, as he reports to Geoffrey Wilder.
- You Have Failed Me: Executed by Geoffrey Wilder for failing to find the Runaways.
Topher
A teenager who is on a crime spree with a pair of adults. The Runaways meet him when they foil their attempt to rob a convenience store. Topher tells them that the two adults are his parents who were in a Freak Lab Accident, gaining superpowers and going insane. His parents then forced him to join in their crime spree. The truth is that Topher is a vampire and his "parents" are actually two vampires he transformed himself. He is killed when he tries to drink Karolina's blood, not realizing that her alien blood has properties similar to sunlight. The other two vampires are destroyed by the Pride after interrogating them for the location of their children.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Topher is not affected by stakes to the heart, only sunlight. This even applies in universe, as he's far different from the type of vampires that (say) Blade usually hunts.
- Outside-Context Problem: In the Marvel Universe, vampires are not a common foe, to the point that they're usually hunted by specialists like Blade or Hannibal King, so Topher easily manages to wipe the floor with the Runaways, facing defeat only because he tries to feed on Karolina, whose alien blood turns out to... disagree with him.
- Really 700 Years Old: Was born around 1900, making him over a century old by the time he appears.
- Take That!: To Joss Whedon, whose Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the major vampire pop culture piece of the era; Vaughan knew that Whedon was a fan of the series, and thus decided to troll him a little by having a vampire menace the team.
- Temporary Love Interest: For Nico and Karolina.
Ultron
The infamous Killer Robot, archnemesis of the Avengers, and Victor Mancha's creator.
- Archnemesis Dad: Despite creating Victor, Victor utterly rejects him.
- Big "NO!": Utters one when Darkhawk destroyed him.
- Blatant Lies: While narrating his backstory, he mentions that he offered nothing but loyalty and love for his creator until he betrayed him for no reason. Anybody who knows about Ultron beforehand knows that this is a HUGE lie.
- The Dreaded: The Runaways know that they have no chance against a foe that A-List heroes are scared of.
- Killer Robot: His most defining trait is that he's a murderous robot.
- Unreliable Expositor: His retelling of his own backstory is distorted to make him look more sympathetic and Pym and the Avengers more villanous.
- You Have Failed Me: Executes Marianella for failing to keep their son's origins a secret.
The Sinners
- "And their group is called the Sinners because they're solid citizens, right?"
A criminal gang of Wonders (people with superpowers) led by Gertrude's parents. They travel on a luxurious train called the Mineola. They are the main enemies of the Upward Path.
- Maneater: A cannibalistic giant with a jaw so strong that punching it hurt Xavin's Thing-like fist. Nico defeats him by magically turning him into a vegan.
- Kid Twist: A marksman with two revolvers."Kid Twist has never missed."
- Forget-Me-Not: A beautiful, centuries-old woman who can use her scent to cause men to fall in love with her and fight over her. She is usually seen lounging on a couch or bed, almost never standing upright."Men have fought over me for centuries... it's very dull."
- Morphine: A chemist who fights by throwing syringes. It is unclear if he has any superpowers or if he is simply a brilliant scientist.
- Goldbrick: A muscular man with gold-colored skin.
- Ratdog/Ratbag: A large, half-man, half-rat creature. Called "Ratdog" in "Dead End Kids" but called "Ratbag" in the Secret Invasion tie-in.
- Daphne: A woman whose elbows branch off into three forearms each. They are apparently very strong. She is only named in the index for the Runaways/ Young Avengers Secret Invasion crossover.
- Always Accurate Attack: Kid Twist can hit any target he's seen and his bullets follow their victims like heat-seeking missiles.
- I'm a Humanitarian: About a minute after meeting Chase, Maneater decides it's a good thing he skipped lunch.
- Living Aphrodisiac: Forget-Me-Not uses her scent to make men fall insanely in love with her and fight over her.
- Love Is in the Air: Forget-Me-Not's powers induce jealous, violent love.
- Mage Marksman: Kid Twist's bullets can hit any target he's laid eyes on, no matter how improbable.
- Meaningful Name: Daphne is possibly named for the mythological naiad who was turned into a laurel tree, given her branching arms.
- Really 700 Years Old: Forget-Me-Not claims that men have fought over her for centuries.
- Reluctant Warrior: Morphine claims to hate fighting.
- Super-Strength: Maneater is very strong.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: Forget-Me-Not seems especially attracted to the Adjudicator.
Majesdanean Soldiers
A group of four Majesdanean soldiers who travel to Earth to capture Karolina Dean, intending to punish her for her parents' role in the Skrulls' invasion and destruction of planet Majesdane. To avoid further bloodshed, Karolina decides to surrender to them but Xavin shapeshifts into her and goes in her place.
- vaDanti: A former university student from Majesdane. VaDanti was off Majesdane visiting his sister deHalle when the planet was destroyed by the Skrulls. Though not a proper soldier, he joins the group searching for Karolina Dean. He is taken prisoner by the Runaways where he explains who they are and why they want to capture Karolina.
- deHalle: vaDanti's sister and a sergeant in the Light Brigade, an elite Majesdanean military unit.
- vaRikk: A lieutenant in the Light Brigade and the group's pilot and navigator. He is also deHalle's ex-boyfriend and it seems that their breakup was less than amicable.
- vaDrann: The leader of the Majesdaneans hunting for Karolina. He is named only in the index of the Runaways / Young Avengers Secret Invasion crossover.
- Aliens Speaking English: Even when conversing with each other they speak English, suggesting that the Majesdaneans have no language of their own.
- Anti-Villain: Aside from wanting to punish Karolina over something that wasn't her fault, these guys really aren't very evil. They show concern when innocent bystanders get too close to their battle and actually help the Runaways get them to safety. And one of them asks their prisoner "Karolina" (actually Xavin in disguise) if she's comfortable.
- The Bus Came Back: They return in the 2017 series, having finally figured out they took Xavin and demanding to know where Karolina is.
- Expecting Someone Taller: vaDrann says this about Karolina (actually Xavin) when they finally meet face-to-face to discuss her surrender.
- Fantastic Racism: Towards Skrulls. The final issue of the 2017 series reveals that Xavin was promoted to a general in their forces, indicating that this may no longer be a prevalent attitude.
- Human Aliens: When not using their powers, the Majesdanians look like normal humans.
- Oh, My Gods!: Majesdaneans seem to worship the sun
. They use expressions such as "What the sun?" and "I swear by the sun." - Sins of Our Fathers: Their motive for hunting Karolina is that her parents started the war. She had no control over any of it, and even agreed to give up her life on Earth to stop it, but they don't care. Their planet has been destroyed, their species is almost extinct, and they need someone to blame, however warped the logic. The finale of the 2017 series shows that they've moved past this thanks to Xavin winning Karolina an acquital.
Pusher Man & Bo
Pusher Man
- Heh, I like the way you roll, little man. Reminds me of me when I was your age.
Drug dealer and his right hand, Chase and Nico go to them to find man who bought darkforce-empowering drungs and used them to frame Cloak into assaulting Dagger.
- Big Bad Wannabe: After Chase convinced him they work for the Pride, Pusher Man thought that with friends like these he has a chance in big league of New York crime scene. Kingpin proved him wrong.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Through it happened offscreen, Kingpin's description paints Pusher Man's demise as very unpleasant.
- Evil Counterpart: Chase and Nico if they were drug dealers.
- You Remind Me of X: As they both point out, Chase and Nico reminds them of younger versions of themselves. Only while Pusher Man takes liking to Chase for that reason, Bo doesn't.
Dr. Hayes
Molly's grandmother, a scientist introduced in the 2017 series. In the period leading up to the group's dissolution, she arrived to offer Molly a place to live which Molly accepted.
- Affably Evil: Her only real goal is that she does not want to lose Molly the way she lost Gene and Alice, and Molly was fine living with her because she was only "sort of" bad. That said, she's nowhere near as depraved as Gene and Alice became when they formed the Pride.
- Ambiguously Evil: She's been keeping an eye on Chase and the others through what appear to be genetically modified cats whose eyes glow in the same way Molly's and her parents' did. Dr. Hayes has also got someone or something inside her basement she seems to be experimenting on, takes samples of Molly's blood on a regular basis, and discreetly plucked a sample of Victor's hair. The fifth issue confirms on the very first page she's had ulterior motives from the start and has definitely got sinister motives for Gert and the others, but what these are hasn't yet been made clear.
- Ambiguous Situation: Possibly to keep in line with the fact that mutants are legally prohibited from being adapted outside of X-men properties, her splicing experiments are a narrative out to retcon Molly and her parents from being actual mutants.
- Cool Old Lady: She instantly welcomes the other Runaways into her home and offers to aid Chase in rebuilding Victor's body. Because she's eager at the possibilities of what all that magnificent genetic material can help her create.
- Crazy Cat Lady: She takes in a lot of strays, and uses them to spy on people.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She genuinely did love her children and does love Molly, but she's made it clear she's not going to lose Molly to the Pride's children the way she lost Gene and Alice to their parents. She's even going so far as to create clones of them enhanced with the DNA she took from the Runaways.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- She expresses nothing but contempt for the Pride, not only viewing them as a bunch of half-baked charlatans (she expressly considered Chase's parents to be insults as scientists), but also because she recognized Gene and Alice became Drunk with Power because of them and it led to their deaths.
- She seems horrified when she learns Gert's parents never took her to Disneyworld.
- Evil All Along: She's the reason Gene and Alice had powers, and it's implied she not only experiments on stray cats but other people as well. There's also the question of cloning Gene and Alice.
- Evilutionary Biologist: In a way, her Motive Rant suggests that she believes superpowers should be a privilege everyone can enjoy.
- For Science!: Her motives for giving her children their abilities and for wanting to give Gert powers as well, just for the sake of making new scientific discoveries instead of for a power trip or attempt to rule the world.
- Gruesome Grandparent: A mutant supremacist who happens to be a geneticist. She spliced her own mutant genes into her biological daughter Alice and her adopted son Gene. In the series, she regains custody of her granddaughter so that she can use Molly's blood to try and create clones of Gene and Alice and thus recreate the family that she lost because of the Pride.
- I Have No Son!: Inverted. Molly's parents severed ties with her when she voiced her disapproval about the Pride, which is why she hasn't been present in Molly's life until recently.
- It Runs in the Family: Molly's inherited two things from her grandmother: her love of cute things, and her ability to deceive people into thinking she's harmless.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: As Molly puts it her, her grandmother is bad, but not as bad as her parents were.
- Open-Minded Parent: It seems she had absolutely no issue with Molly's parents being mutant to the point every photo in her home with Gene and Alice Hayes shows them with their eyes glowing. Though it was them dealing with the Pride she worried about. She also takes the appearance of an actual dinosaur, the severed head of a robotic boy, and a girl who died two years ago completely in stride. This is because she was the one who gave them their powers.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Whereas Gene and Alice basically reveled in everything they reaped by joining the Pride, such as using their powers for wealth and to torture anyone who got in their way, Dr. Hayes's only real concern with the experiments she carries out seems to be just for the sake of scientific exploration. With her resources and intellect she could've easily became a criminal threat on the same level as her children, but didn't. She in fact makes it clear she viewed the Pride as deplorable and blames them for Gene and Alice's death, saying she gladly would've given them the power they sought from the group if they'd been more patient.
Abigail
Molly's manipulative new friend.
- Ambiguously Gay: After fifty-plus years, she chose Molly Hayes to share her life with. Make of that what you will.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: She wanted to stay young forever, and now she will. Only, after Julie Power takes the antidote Abigail hypocritically hoarded does it mean she'll now experience all the drawbacks of this wish instead of only getting the perks.
- Creepy Child: Her eyes are a little too green and her friendship with Molly is a little too close.
- The Fake Cutie: She may look like and act like a cute thirteen-year-old, but she's much older than she looks and she's got a hidden mean streak.
- False Friend: She attached herself to Molly when the latter transferred to Hollywood Hills High, and the two soon became inseparable. And then it turns out that Abigail wants Molly to eat a magic cupcake so that she'll remain young forever.
- Hypocrite: For all her nagging about how horrible it is to grow up and her claims that it's wonderful to remain thirteen forever, she held onto the antidote Amora gave her and was willing to use it in case she outlived her parents and had no one else as a companion. When she tries to withhold the cure from Julie Power on the grounds she really will be thirteen forever, Gert and Nico point out she had fifty years to change her mind while Julie never agreed to halting her youth in the first place.
- Never Grew Up: Abigail halted her aging at thirteen, and wants Molly to do the same.
- Not So Harmless: Being young for decades means she's had a lot of time to focus on trying different things, and knows at least nine martial arts and how to fence.
- Older Than They Look: She and her parents actually acknowledged she was getting older even though her body physically stayed thirteen years old, and there are pictures of her graduating from high school and celebrating her 20th birthday even though she still looks like a preteen.
- Straw Fan: She is meant to be a stand-in for fans who supposedly refuse to accept that Molly will eventually grow up.
The One
A seemingly all-powerful mage that is trapped in the form of Staff of One and serves as a source of its power.
- Ambiguously Human: He seems to have power only limited by his whims and his predicament and dodges the question of whenever he's a genie.
- Ancestral Weapon: It turns out that the women in Nico's family have been passing the staff down to each other for generations.
- And I Must Scream: The way he describes being trapped in the Staff - being imprisoned in a dark void with absolutely nothing else." Minoru, No!. You can't leave me in the dark again. I've been going mad for these months. The hours don't pass, the days don't end! There is nothing but nothingness."
- Ax-Crazy: Shows shades of it. It's unclear whether he was driven mad by hundreds of years as a staff, was like it before it happened or if it merely made him worse, but there is clearly something wrong with him.
- Blood Magic: Subverted. Turns out he doesn't need the blood of the Staff's users, it was just a rather petty revenge on his tormentors. He was disappointed many of them came to like it and made a spectacle of harming themselves to summon the Staff.
- Cloning Body Parts: Upon seeing his current owner had her arm replaced with an Artifact of Doom, he created a perfectly functional new arm for her when she was asleep. It's unknown what he did with the artifact.
- Deal with the Devil: He and Nico agree to alter the rules under which she uses the Staff so that she doesn't have to cut herself anymore. Instead every time she summons it, a part of him will bleed into her soul, allowing him to experience the real world through her eyes and ears.
- Demonic Possession: It is implied that the new deal Nico made with him could one day allow him to take over her body.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He is evil and is used to Minorus being equally horrible people, so finding out Nico is different makes him really confused. But even after realizing she feels compassion towards him, the thought she might not want to unleash a supervillain of his caliber on the world didn't occur to him.
- Evil Gloating: Upon hearing Nico wants to release him, he can't help but launch into a long speech about using his newfound freedom to commit atrocities, making her realize how evil he is and taking her offer away at the last moment.
- Evil Is Petty: All the rules Nico has to follow? He made them just to make descendants of his captor's lives harder. Justified since it was really the only revenge he was allowed.
- Evil Sorcerer: To a "t".
- Evil Versus Evil: Upon realizing how evil he is, Nico asks if it means her ancestor who trapped him was a hero. To her disappointment, he states she was merely better at being evil than him.
- Faux Affably Evil: While contempt he has for the Minoru family is obvious, he appears well-mannered and overall not that bad for his predicament... and then his Ax-Crazy tendencies start showing.
- Genie in a Bottle: Trapped in an inmate object, forced to serve its owner and longing for freedom...so he can use his power for his own, cruel desires. He fits quite well. For all we know he could even be a Genie, despite looking human, he avoided a definite answer when Nico asked.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Nico's mom made him plead for his freedom over a breakfast at a human restaurant to humiliate him. Joke's on her - turns out he loves pancakes.
- I Just Want to Be Free: His goal is to free himself from servitude.
- It Amused Me: He made users of the Staff cut themselves to call him and never be able to use the same spell twice because the prospect of the family who enslaved him having to go through such ridiculous hoops is his last bit of entertainment.
- Jackass Genie: He is the reason for every instance of Staff acting like one.
- Jerkass: To be fair, only people he can ever interact with are subsequent members of a family that enslaved him for their own needs, so it's not like he has a lot of reasons to be nice to them.
- Magically-Binding Contract: Nico's ancestor defeated him and forced to sing one, forcing him in servitude of Minoru family until last of them dies or one releases him. Fortunately for him he was just powerful enough to barter his own conditions of servitude.
- Hand Wave: Serves as this to every inconsistency about Staff of One, like why it sometimes allows to cast the same spell under different commands and sometimes not - because he was or wasn't in a right mood.
- Large Ham: Once Nico offers to free him.
- Not So Stoic: He appears rather controlled and calm but once a prospect of freedom arises, he shows how hammy he can be.
- Power at a Price: He made Staff owners cut themselves to call it so that his captors always remember magic has a price. He later makes it so that Nico can do so without blood, but instead a bit of him will bleed over into her instead.
- Rules Lawyer: The way he set up rules of the Staff are vague enough to allow him to change his interpretation on a whim, sometimes allowing a workaround an already cast spell if he feels generous enough.
- Smug Super: He is rather fond of his own power. To the point that it's implied he healed Nico's arm and apparently threw the Witch Arm away because he found it beneath someone allowed to use his abilities.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Before being defeated by Nico's ancestor, he had a whole army of mind-controlled thralls at his command. Too bad said ancestor had an army twice as big.
- Superpowered Evil Side: It's implied he more or less becomes this to Nico when they agree to alter the terms of their deal.
- When the Planets Align: Whenever Mars is in the right position, he is allowed to temporarily take his form back and beg his current user to release him. Since Nico was unaware of it, the first time it happened, he found her asleep.
- White Hair, Black Heart: His hair is completely white and he is clearly evil.
- A Wizard Did It: Every unexplained and then forgotten power-up or instance of the Staff acting out is explained by being dependent on his whims. Except for the Witch Arm, since he wouldn't likely call it pathetic if it was his work. He is, however, responsible for its disappearance and Nico suddenly regrowing her arm precisely because he was appalled by it.
