NIMONA (2023) / Characters

A list of characters featured in NIMONA (2023). See here for tropes pertaining to the characters as they appear in the original webcomic.

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Main Characters

Nimona

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_699.png

"This is the part where you run."

Voiced by: Chloë Grace Moretz^{Other voice actors}

"Kids. Little kids. They grow up believing that they can be a hero if they drive a sword into the heart of anything different. And I'm the monster? I don't know what's scarier. The fact that everyone in this kingdom wants to run a sword through my heart... or that sometimes, I just wanna let 'em."

A rebellious, chaotic shapeshifter who joins up with Ballister who is declared a villain by the kingdom.

Action Girl: Her default human form(s) look like a young girl, and she weaponizes her shape-change abilities to the fullest, serving as the muscle for Ballister.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: A minor but significant one. Nimona in the comic was just generally wrathful towards the rest of the world for how it treated her, while Nimona in the movie has suicidal thoughts over how long she has been discriminated against, admitting to Ballister that a part of her just wants to get killed so she doesn't have to deal with being feared and hated anymore. Her rampage in the end tellingly is less her destroying things in a rage and more wandering through the streets confused and in emotional agony before she finally has enough and attempts to commit suicide by running herself through the heart with the outstretched sword of Gloreth's statue.
Adaptational Backstory Change: In the original comic, Nimona was implied to be a human child who merged with or was replaced by a shapeshifting being, then was given up to the Institute by her own family due to them fearing her supernatural powers. Here, she was a shapeshifting being who befriended Gloreth, only to be rejected after Gloreth's village discovered her powers and the resulting riot ended up burning the village down.
Adaptational Heroism: While she was legitimately evil and murderous in the comic, here, she is more sympathetic and only ever humiliates her opponents rather than kill them. Additionally, her backstory features her attempting to befriend people and animals and live with them in peace, while in the comic it’s implied she may have been responsible for many legendary disasters and possibly assumed the identity of some people she killed.
Adaptational Personality Change: In the comic, Nimona initially passes herself off as human and it’s implied that she may have pulled a Kill and Replace guise several times in the past. In the film she never tries to pretend she’s human, and aside from basing her human form on Gloreth she makes no attempt to live under someone else’s identity.
Adaptational Wimp: In the comic, Nimona could only be dealt lasting harm with Magitek, due to her magical Healing Factor, surviving even being beheaded or reduced to a single cell. In the film, she can be killed from piercing her heart, as demonstrated by her attempt to impale herself on Gloreth’s statue. That said, she does survive being disintegrated, so it might be more accurate to say she can allow herself to be killed, rather than simply being vulnerable.
Ambiguous Gender Identity: Along with her ambiguous humanity, it's not entirely clear what Nimona identifies as regarding gender. While she's consistently referred to with she/her pronouns both in-universe and out, and she doesn't contest that, whenever Ballister refers to her as a "girl" she either ignores it or gets mildly annoyed, either because she doesn't fully identify as female, or possibly just because "girl" implies "human" and/or "child", of which she is neither. She also has no issues with using her shapeshifting to become male (like turning into a young boy or Ballister himself), though she doesn't do this as often as her comic version does.
Ballister: [seeing that Nimona has just turned into a little boy] Aaaand now you're a boy.
Nimona: I am today!
Ambiguously Human: While she most often takes the form of a human teenager (albeit one with noticeable fangs), whether or not she's even human at all is called into question due to her shapeshifting abilities and her vague explanation regarding them. It gets more complicated when it's revealed that she was the same "monster" from 1000 years ago who was battled against by Gloreth, as she's first seen as a bird, fish, and deer and only takes her human form upon meeting the young Gloreth. But Nimona does not wish to be called a monster, so her species is very questionable, and it's implied that even she ultimately might not know. Nimona herself makes no attempt to pass herself off as human, and whenever asked what she is, her only response is that she is Nimona.
All of the Other Reindeer: The second she reveals she's a shapeshifter, most people immediately turn on her out of fear. In the past, she was persecuted for her shapeshifting abilities, even being viewed as a monster by the Institute’s founders.
Animals Hate Her: 1,000 years ago, she tried to make friends with various animals by shapeshifting into them, but they would always run away when they saw her.
Animorphism: Nimona is a shapeshifter who can turn into all kinds of animals.
Ax-Crazy: Nimona expresses great desire to cause destruction and chaos and is enthusiastic about killing or torturing anyone she has to clear Ballister's name. Despite this, Nimona only kills one person throughout the movie, the Director, despite having many, many opportunities.
Bears Are Bad News: One of her forms. Ironically this got her into trouble as a kid. She was playing with Gloreth as a bear, horrifying her parents, and when she turned back into a girl to be less threatening, they only got more scared.
Berserk Button: Do NOT call her a monster. Doubles as a Trauma Button if the one calling her a monster is a child.
Be the Ball: She does this as an armadillo.
Blessed with Suck: Nimona has a seemingly limitless shapeshifting power that lets her turn into anything or anyone she wants...but because of that power, she is feared and shunned by everything alive. Animals run from her, while humans call her a monster.
Blood Knight: Nimona starts off the film eager to cause death and destruction as Ballister's sidekick, gleefully suggesting they murder everyone they come across when breaking him out of jail and generally enjoying throwing down with the Kingdom's knights.
Card-Carrying Villain: Initially believing that Ballister is an actual villain, she joins up with him by proclaiming herself as his "sidekick" since every villain needs one, and gleefully talks about things like setting up an evil lair and killing Ballister's supposed "nemesis". Even after she's disappointed to learn that Ballister isn't really villainous, she still has a morbid sense of humor and loves to cause chaos. However, it turns out that this is largely a front for how she feels lonely and isolated due to dealing with years of prejudice against her, and her teaming up with Ballister is mainly out of a desire to have someone to bond with.
Catchphrase:
- "Hey, boss."
- "Metal."
Cartoon Whale: One of her forms, which she uses to crash through any opposition, including the floor.
Cloudcuckoolander: Nimona has a very weird (and morbid) sense of humor and often gets caught in her own tangents.
Composite Character: With Boldheart's Adaptational Heroism meaning he avoids wanting to be associated with villainy, Nimona's own changes gives her some of his original self's traits — namely, her willingness to be seen as as a "bad guy", her schemes only going as far as they need to, and never deliberately getting innocents killed.
Creepy Child: When she is in the form of a young boy, Nimona acts like a possessed child to scare her victim.
Cute Little Fangs: She has a small but still noticeable pair of fangs in her human form, fitting with her feisty personality. They tend to become much bigger and scarier-looking whenever she gets particularly pumped up and sports a Slasher Smile.
The Cynic: While she puts on an enthusiastic façade, being treated as an outcast for 1,000 years, if not more has made her deeply distrustful of the society Ballister lives in, and for good reason, as its founder, Gloreth, used to be her friend before pressure from Gloreth's parents—who called her a monster because of her shapeshifting powers—tore them apart.
Dark and Troubled Past: It's later revealed that Nimona had been rejected by any other species she tried to befriend. Then, she met a young Gloreth and they were inseparable. Until Gloreth's town discovered Nimona's shapeshifting abilities, which the latter fought back in self-defense, accidentally starting a fire. Despite it being an accident, Gloreth turned against Nimona, to the point of threatening the latter with a wooden sword.
Deadpan Snarker: Is often cracking jokes or making sassy remarks.
Death Seeker: Admits to Ballister that she sometimes feels like wanting to die due to people's reactions to her, and tries to commit suicide in the climax.
Decomposite Character: An odd case but Nimona's final form in the comic was that of a colossal, pitch black, fiery winged dragon. Nimona has two final forms in the movie: a colossal, pitch-black kaiju and a fiery winged phoenix.
Decoy Backstory: When Ballister asks Nimona how she can shapeshift, she gives a fairytale-esque backstory about a wishing well...which ends with a sarcastic claim that she wished to be on a subway with "an uptight knight asking me small-minded questions". Later in the movie we see a more accurate flashback; notably it's less about how she got her powers, but how her first real friend, Gloreth, turned on her and declared her a monster. Effectively using this trope to emphasise what's more important to Nimona's character is who she is as a person, rather than what she is.
Disney Death: Nimona is seemingly killed when she stops the Director's Wave-Motion Gun from massacring half of the kingdom. It seems like she's vaporized, to the point that a memorial is set up for her in town, but the final minute of the movie reveals she used her phoenix form to be reborn as she reveals herself to Ballister.
Driven to Suicide: By the end of the film, having had enough of how everyone had treated her over the course of her life, she turns into a kaiju and goes towards the statue of Gloreth, with the intent of killing herself, as she exposes her heart and goes towards the statue sword to impale herself. Thankfully, Ballister arrives in time to stop her.
Evil Is Hammy: Invoked when she misleads some knights by transforming into Ballister, making a massive mess of things and very proudly announcing how evil "he" is.
Feel No Pain: At one point an arrow pierces through her leg, but she reacts calmly to it, even when it's forcefully pulled out. According to her, it still hurts but she's had worse. When transformed into Ambrosius, the Director stabs her through the stomach, and it doesn't stop her from being a total ham in a mock death scene before getting up like nothing happened. However, that doesn’t make her immune to emotional pain, not by a longshot.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: Zigzagged. While she usually uses a human form to interact with other people to not scare them off, once she reveals to Ballister her shapeshifting abilities, she has no problem of changing forms randomly in the middle of a conversation with him. In fact, she admits that she feels awful if she doesn’t shapeshift for an extended period of time, comparing it as “not living” or holding a sneeze.
Freudian Excuse: Years, if not a millennium, of being rejected and persecuted by everyone because of her powers, with the biggest offense being Gloreth’s betrayal, turned an overall benevolent shapeshifter with a strong desire of being accepted as a person into a cynical, chaotic troublemaker, who considered committing suicide to end her pain.
Friend to All Children: She's shown to have a soft spot for kids. While she doesn't have a problem messing with them (like unplugging one kid's electric horse), she goes out of her way to save a kid during a battle and even turns into a child version of herself to try and comfort her. While her normal reaction to being called a monster is rage, when a child does it she's notably more upset. Later, it's revealed that this is because the young Gloreth was her first friend, only for it to end terribly when Gloreth rejected her as a monster.
The Gadfly: Even when having a civil conversation with someone, she loves scaring them. After kidnapping and interrogating Diego for information on the queen's assassination, she apologizes only to scare him one more time.
Nimona: (transforms into her baby form) Sowwy for kidnapping you.
Diego: (sighs) It's okay.
Baby Nimona: (makes her scary face) OR AM I?! (Diego screams and falls over)
Genki Girl: For a "villain", she's quite enthusiastic and playful when it comes to doing crime.
Good Shapeshifting, Evil Shapeshifting: Nimona's nature as a semi-heroic shapeshifter is emphasized by the fact that almost all her forms are colored pastel scarlet, to the point that she can't resist adding pink hair or pink irises while impersonating humans. Plus, most of them tend to look cute and cuddly - even the whale. By contrast, in the Institute's propaganda of "Gloreth's Monster", Nimona is portrayed as a huge, menacing dragon rendered all in black. As such, in the finale, when Nimona suffers a Heroic BSoD and becomes a pitch-black Eldritch Abomination, it's a sure sign that she's all but crossed the Despair Event Horizon.
Has Two Thumbs and...: At the moment she says it, she gives her hands four thumbs, and changes the line accordingly.
Hated by All: No animal would accept her, she is betrayed by her only human friend and then is made out to be a fearsome monster by everyone and their grandchildren.
Heart Broken Badass: An incredibly powerful shapeshifter with seemingly no limit on what she can turn into but also mentally a profoundly lonely and deeply traumatized teenager, who is still nursing a thousand-year-old broken heart from when her first, and until the events of the movie, Only Friend was turned against her by the fear of those around them, a wound that simply could not heal because this incident would go on to be the legend around which an entire civilization was formed, a civilization based solely on demonizing her.
Heroic BSoD:
- Being called a monster by a child makes the normally irrepressible Nimona freeze in shock and despair, to the point that Ballister has to rescue her via hoverbike before the Institute forces rally.
- When her friendship with Ballister breaks down due to a seed of mistrust being planted between the two, Nimona can only flee in despair. Soon after, she suffers a flashback to her friendship with Gloreth, has a meltdown that ends with her transforming into a Kaiju-sized monster, and very nearly commits suicide.
Hidden Heart of Gold: Despite her Card-Carrying Villain persona, her apparent enthusiasm about killing, maiming, and torturing her enemies, and her morbid sense of humor, Nimona never acts on her murder fantasies despite being perfectly capable of doing so. In fact, she goes out of her way to prevent innocent people from being hurt and uses non-lethal force when fighting knights even when killing them would be much easier.
Humanoid Abomination: A friendly one, but Nimona is a functionally shapeless, immortal, ageless entity that usually takes the form of a human teenage girl who is much stronger, faster, and more durable than humans have any right to be, with subtle inhuman features like fangs and eyes with a tapetum lucidum. The shapes she takes can be indistinguishable from humans, animalistic, or outright Lovecraftian.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Her ultimate motivation in teaming up with Ballister. Even after he fails to be the villain she expected, his acceptance of her shapeshifting makes them close friends. In the past, she's seen trying to make friends with animals and being rejected, before meeting and befriending Gloreth, who eventually turned on her too. Being reminded of this after being rejected by Ballister triggers her suicide attempt.
Imposter Forgot One Detail: When she shapeshifts into Ballister, she gets it almost exactly right, except for the single pink streak in "his" hair.
I Take Offense to That Last One: Nimona is more comfortable constantly changing forms rather than just staying a girl. However when Ballister calls her a "little girl" she takes more offense at being called a child at the "little" part, because she's actually over 1,000 years old.
Immortal Immaturity: While she typically acts like a rebellious teenager regardless of what form she's in, she's actually been around for at least a thousand years, if not longer, this is justified since her mental trauma and complete lack of any kind of social support has left her emotionally stunted with no one to teach her how to grow past her pain and mature into a functional adult.
Interrupted Suicide: As a kaiju, Nimona's suicidal thoughts get the better of her and she attempts to stab herself through the sword of the statue Gloreth. That is until Ballister stops her.
It Amused Me: By her own admission, her reason for teaming up with Ballister in the beginning is that she is bored, although it might be an excuse to cover up her true motives. Of course, the two eventually develop a close friendship.
Killer Gorilla: One of her favorite forms for when she needs hands but also wants to break stuff.
Large Ham: When acting as other people, she's very over the top, especially as "evil Ballister" where she claims to hate babies and as the little boy acting like she's demonic. Her acting as Ambrosius is actually pretty convincing, except for the part where she's stabbed and overacts him "dying" to drag out the Director's confession.
Living Legend: Nimona is a legendary figure... and not for a good reason, being remembered as an evil Eldritch Abomination that was vanquished by the legendary hero Gloreth a thousand years in the past — though she actually survived, and events didn't exactly go as the legend says they did.
Morphic Resonance: All of her forms are at least partially red, save for her Kaiju form at the climax. Even when she's disguised as Ballister, she has a red streak in the form's hair. She can turn this off with effort though, as she does when disguised as Ambrosius to get an Engineered Public Confession out of the Director.
Mysterious Past: Aside her time with Gloreth thousand years ago, nothing about her life before said event is known. It’s never revealed where she came from, how she came to the world or why she has shapeshifting powers. Even when people asks her about her true origins, she prefers to keep things vague.
Nigh-Invulnerable: Nimona is able to survive wounds that would kill anyone else, like being run through with a sword disguised as Ambrosius to make The Director give an Engineered Public Confession and survived being vaporized into particles by a point-blank hit with a Wave-Motion Gun. Not only that, but she seemingly hasn't aged since the thousand-year period between her time with Gloreth and the present day. That said, she presumably can be killed, as demonstrated by her Attempted Suicide.
Nightmare Fetishist: Upon meeting Ballister, she eagerly asks him how much his arm bled after it was cut off and even more disturbingly asks if he got to keep it. Then she hands him a "resume" which consists only of pictures of herself shapeshifting into animals and killing knights in ludicrously bloody ways, and excitedly assumes his wall of suspects is a "murder wall." The entire reason she was initially drawn to Ballister is because he was suspected of regicide and she wanted to be the villain's sidekick, and even after Nimona proves herself to be a good person at heart, she still keeps her dark sense of humor and enjoys acts of destruction, calling them, "Metal."
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: She saves a little girl in her dragon form from a flying bus in the middle of the battle, and even tries to comfort her by shape shifting into a younger human version of herself. And how is she rewarded for it? By having said child to point a sword against her and calling her a “monster”. While she usually reacts in anger when someone calls her a monster, this time she has an Heroic BSoD so severe, that Ballister has to pull her away from danger.
Noble Demon: She delights in the macabre and destruction, eagerly voices hurting or killing people as the go-to solution to any problem, and goes out of her way to make things "more evil" or "villainous" while working as Ballister's sidekick. However, while she enjoys fighting, she never actually goes out of her way to torture or kill her opponents like she says she wants to and instead mostly humiliates them in a cartoonish fashion. Mainly Nimona's just acting the part of a villain because it's what society expects of her and her true nature is that of a chaotic but ultimately good person, best shown when she instinctively saves a little girl mid-fight as opposed to one of the Institute knights she's fighting, who runs past the little girl to save himself.
Non-Human Non-Binary: Due to her shapeshifting nature, she can freely change sex; while her gender identity and species are left ambiguous, she explicitly rejects being called a "girl", which could be because she's not young (she's over 1,000), not female, not human, or simply that she has no "true" form, so she "is" whatever form she's currently in ("I'm not a girl. I'm a shark," for example). When Ballister points out that she currently a boy, Nimona just casually replies "I am today".
Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Despite even her own claims, she isn't actually a murderous monster but rather just a lonely girl who desperately wants friends. Everyone except the delusional Director realizes this by the end.
Offscreen Teleportation: Downplayed. Many moments where Nimona 'teleports' can be explained through her ability to shapeshift into smaller creatures. It mostly stops after her shapeshifting power is revealed.
Older Sidekick: She looks like a teenage girl but is at least 1,000 years older than Ballister—perhaps even older.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- If she ever seems quiet or dispirited, bad things are afoot. If she's actually been reduced to a Heroic BSoD, worry.
- Also, she rarely seems helpless or vulnerable - to the point of almost never needing help in combat; she can even have an arrow removed from her leg without flinching. As such, it's a sure sign that something has gone horribly wrong when she's so shell-shocked that Ballister has to rescue her. In the finale, the fact that her monster form is screaming in grief and seeming genuinely wounded by the Institute's bombardments is a telltale sign that she's all but crossed the Despair Event Horizon.
One-Winged Angel: Towards the end of the film, Nimona reaches her Despair Event Horizon and transforms into what can only be called a "monster", a colossal Kaiju with multiple glowing white eyes and a glowing white mouth, shrouded in wisps of darkness. It's quite the twist on the trope and fulfills the movie's theme regarding "monsters". She looks EXACTLY like the type of monster the Institute is supposed to slay and they do indeed try, but Ballister recognizes that even this form is only skin deep, and that his friend is in terrible emotional distress. Instead of slaying, he hugs her, and that does a much better job at de-escalating the scene without collateral damage.
Overzealous Underling: When she first meets Ballister, she appoints herself as his new sidekick since she thinks he's an actual villain and every villain needs one; she also assumes that his String Theory for figuring out the Queen's real murderer is a "murder board" and asks who he wants to kill first. Ballister has to repeatedly hold her back from hurting people. However, she's a decidedly PG version of this trope compared to how she was in the original comic, as she only really seems to be interested in terrorizing and humiliating her opponents rather than actually killing or maiming them.
Partial Transformation: Is capable of manifesting only wings and a tail when she wishes to. The inhuman features that her Shapeshifter Default Form has, sharp fangs and reflective eyes, are likely a case of this, since we know it's not her true form and she's capable of more accurately imitating humans. She also gives herself four thumbs at one point as a gag.
Perpetually Protean: Nimona is always shapeshifting. Even in early scenes where she's trying to hide it, she's clearly using her powers to shapeshift just out of Ballister's view, and once she reveals it she gets much more casual about it. She later tells Ballister that it feels wrong to go without shifting for too long, comparing it to feeling like she's holding in a sneeze.
Pet the Dog: A significant indication that she's actually a good person at heart despite her claims is when she instinctually saves a little girl in the middle of a fight with the Institute's knights.
Playful Otter: One of her forms, and she is playful, in a "biting and terrorizing her enemies" kind of way. No one is sure if she's a river otter or a sea otter or maybe both.
Primal Polymorphs: A relentlessly chaotic Perpetually Protean Shapeshifting Trickster who operates almost exclusively through spur-of-the-moment decisions - though on the upside, her more primal viewpoint allows her to understand things that more civilized individuals have trouble accepting. It's eventually revealed that she used to live almost exclusively as an animal in search of companionship before she finally took human form and introduced herself to the human being she wanted to befriend. Said human was none other than Gloreth, the founder of the Institute a thousand years prior to the events of the movie.
Puppy-Dog Eyes: She does this twice while shapeshifted into different forms. The first is her doing a silly impression of Ballister ("I'm evil, and I hate EVERYBODY! But not as much as I hate myself. Can somebody give me a hug?") and the second is when she pretends to be a lost child to get the Squire to come with her, begging for help finding "his" mommy.
Really 700 Years Old: She happens to be the same monster the Institute was founded to combat 1000 years ago.
Rhino Rampage: The first of her animal forms to be shown on screen, and Nimona loves causing mayhem with it.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: Downplayed; she has pink hair in her human form, and all her animal forms are the same color, though she also has a very morbid sense of humor and loves to cause havoc. That said, she's cheery and friendly with a soft spot for children when she isn't terrorizing people.
Rotten Rock & Roll: Nimona is a chaotic, violence-prone Anti-Hero who sometimes assumes a demonic appearance and calls herself a "villainous sidekick". She appears to enjoy rock music, her fight scenes are always accompanied by a rock soundtrack, and one of her catchphrases is "Metal!".
Sad Clown: She's a boisterous rabble-rouser with a dark sense of humor on the surface, but underneath she's deeply lonely and contemplates suicide.
Sapping the Shapeshifter: Following the attempted confrontation with Ambrosius, an entire platoon of knights successfully ambushes Nimona with Lightning Guns, leaving her pinned to the ground and wildly shifting between various forms in a frantic attempt to escape the voltage. It's not until she sees Ballister being given a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that she's able to assume a form that can overcome the onslaught - namely the Kwispy Dwagon.
Savage Wolves: One of her favorite forms is a wolf, and she is destructive in it. Ironically, she only uses it for combat once and prefers to use it when she wants to run.
Scary Teeth: When she's feeling particularly bloodthirsty or pumped up, Nimona changes her teeth into shark-like fangs.
Shapeshifter: She can be anyone or anything, and she states that not shifting frequently feels uncomfortable for her.
Shapeshifter Default Form: Nimona doesn't seem to have one; in fact, she seems to brush off that she has one, and that it's her most-seen "human girl" one.
Ballister: Can you just be you, please?
Nimona: [In the form of a shark] I don't follow.
Ballister: Girl you.
Nimona: But I'm not a girl. I'm a shark! [snaps teeth]
Shapeshifter Longevity: Despite looking like a kid in her apparent default form, Nimona is actually a thousand years old... and in point of fact, was actually the "monster" that Gloreth "fought" all those centuries ago. Indeed, her true age is still unspecified.
Shark Man: Well, Shark woman, as she can transform into a shark with legs.
Single Specimen Species: It's unknown exactly how she came to be, but as far as can be decerned, Nimona is the only shapeshifter in the world.
Slasher Smile: She gives these off a lot when she anticipates getting to fight or reveling in destruction, and, thanks to her shapeshifting, she transforms her teeth into shark-like fangs to give herself an even more deranged appearance.
Spanner in the Works: If she hadn't busted Ballister out of jail when he got caught the first time he tried to clear his name, the Director's Frame-Up job would have gone without a hitch.
Stepford Smiler: She usually has a reckless and carefree attitude, but she has moments where she shows a lot of cynicism regarding the society Ballister was trained to uphold, and she's also deeply saddened and lonely by how that same society has constantly rejected her because of what she is to the point that she wishes for own death.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: She's the "wise guy" to Ballister's "straight man", with much of the movie's comedy coming from Nimona offering violent and morbid solutions to their problems and Ballister reacting with horror and incredulity and trying to stop her.
Super-Toughness: Incredibly durable as a consequence of her powers. This is first shows more subtly when she rests her arm on a spinning saw and the saw stops without harming her.
Then Let Me Be Evil: In her opinion, once the world sees you as a monster, that's all you are.
Toxic Friend Influence: Her love of violence and general mayhem begins to rub off on Ballister, with him being more willing to beat up his fellow knights and vent out his frustrations towards how he's been treated, though given the circumstances and the fact that it ultimate benefits his character, this might actually count as an unusual example of Positive Friend Influence.
Transformation Exhilaration: Nimona is actively uncomfortable when not shapeshifting, to the point that she regards life without it as "not living" and compares it to holding in a full-body sneeze. By contrast, shapeshifting offers a feeling of genuine relief and freedom.
Troll: She really enjoys saying disturbing and offensive things just to get a rise out of people.
The Unapologetic: She breaks into Ballister's secret lair, breaks stuff even after he tells her not to, and enjoys messing with people in general.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Can shapeshift into any animal or person. Even fictional characters, like a cereal mascot or a kaiju.
The Unreveal: We never know what Nimona's true form looks like, or if she even has one (given the genderfluid analogy). It’s heavily implied that not even she knows. Whenever people asks her what kind of being she is, she always responds "I'm Nimona".
Weaksauce Weakness: Parodied. When dragging Diego as a "demon baby", Nimona is completely unfazed when the squire throws frying pans at her. However, when Diego throws a slice of pineapple pizza, Nimona is so disgusted that she accidentally lets him go.
Demon Baby!Nimona: Pineapple on pizza? BLAAARGH!
We Used to Be Friends: One thousand years ago, she transformed into a human child to befriend a little girl. When Nimona showed her shapeshifting abilities, the girl reacted with wonder instead of horror. At least until the girl's parents convinced her that Nimona's powers were monsterous and then a fire started while she was using her shapeshifting powers to protect herself from an angry mob. Nimona tried to convince the little girl she wasn't a threat, but the girl picked up a wooden sword, pointed it at Nimona, and told her, "Go back to the shadows from whence you came," revealing her to be Gloreth. That being said the end credits reveal that despite everything Nimona still considers Gloreth to be her friend, and may even still harbor romantic feelings for her centuries after her death.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The movie sets her up to seem like an outcast waiting for a chance to strike back at a system that hurts her, but it's actually subverted. As shown in the climax, even when stomping around as a giant beast and having the perfect opportunity to lash out at people, Nimona is just stumbling around in a dissociated emotional breakdown and never actually tries to hurt anyone. The actual threat is the Institute itself, with the knights being completely careless in their efforts to protect the city and cause more damage than if they left her alone, while the Director madly attempts to take Nimona out with an unnecessary and overly destructive weapon that would kill half the city.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: After Ballister gives her free reign to attack the guards, she instinctively uses her dragon form's tail to protect a child from an out-of-control vehicle.
Your Worst Memory: In the climax of the film, she flashes back to the worst moment of her life during a Heroic BSoD. Namely, a long period of being rejected by the various animals she tried to make friends with, followed by her brief friendship with a young human child who accepted her shapeshifting powers... followed closely by the violent reaction from the girl's parents and fellow townsfolk, ending in an accident that burned down her village. In the wake of this catastrophe, the little girl rejected Nimona as well, ending their friendship in heartbreak. Remembering this is enough to leave Nimona on the very edge of the Despair Event Horizon, giving in to every negative thing said about her and transforming into a monster.

Ballister Boldheart

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_702_0.png

"We're doing things my way this time. No one gets hurt."

Voiced by: Riz Ahmed^{Other voice actors}

"Some of us don't get the happily ever after we were looking for. Maybe it's not that kind of kingdom. Or maybe it's not the end of the story."

A prospective knight and the first to come from the general population rather than a house of nobility. He is framed for the murder of the queen, however, and must work with Nimona to clear his name.

Academic Athlete: Ballister was the top knight in his class at the Institute, being one of their most capable fighters, easily able to defeat multiple knights at once and best Ambrosius in a duel, in addition to being a skilled planner as seen with his successful gambit to record the Director confessing her crimes and a Gadgeteer Genius considering he's able to build his own cybernetic replacement arm.
Actually Pretty Funny: Even before he starts warming up to Nimona, he agrees with her assessment that Todd looks "extremely punchable".
Adaptational Attractiveness: Ballister is not as lanky as he is in the comic, has a trimmer haircut and sleek stubble without a Forehead of Doom, and the shift in art style replaces the comic version’s Black Bead Eyes with big endearing Puppy-Dog Eyes.
Adaptational Backstory Change: Ballister was raised by the Institute in the webcomic and was an established knight before losing his arm. Here he was from the streets who managed to work his way up to being a knight, which is short lived. A lot of emphasis is placed on his commoner background.
Adaptational Dumbass: Ballister in the webcomic is a meticulous schemer who is implied to have evaded capture for years. Ballister in the movie gets captured during his first attempt to clear his name and has to be bailed out by Nimona, though that isn't to say he's completely inept, as he pulls an Engineered Public Confession on the Director after he finds out she was the one who framed him. It's implied that the main difference is that comic book Ballister had had years to accept his situation and decide to work with it to still achieve his goals, whilst film Ballister is still reeling from the recent dramatic change in his life and clinging onto the hope that he can put everything right if he can just find the right evidence to prove he was framed, as his planning competency instantly jumps up the second it becomes clear he can't convince others that he's not a villain.
Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed in that Ballister was hardly even a villain in the original webcomic, but he still identified himself as such and engaged in morally-dubious schemes (albeit while still refusing to take a life) because he thought it was useless to try to combat the Institution's smear campaign against him. In the movie, Ballister is directly putting in the effort into clearing his name, and he adamantly refuses to identify himself as a "villain" despite Nimona's claims.
Adaptational Name Change: His last name was "Blackheart" in the comic.
Affectionate Nickname: Ambrosius calls him, "Bal," while Nimona calls him, "Boss."
All of the Other Reindeer: Every knight except for Ambrosius hates him for being a common-born knight as opposed to the rest of them being nobles. Even random citizens of the kingdom are shown doubting his capabilities during news coverage prior to his knighting.
Alliterative Name: Ballister Boldheart.
An Arm and a Leg: When he ends up holding a booby-trapped sword that kills the queen, Ambrosius reflexively tries to disarm him, literally cutting off his right arm in the process and forcing Ballister to make a cybernetic replacement.
Black Knight: Asides from having black armor at the start, He is also a knight who lost his queen and living in a life of shame similar to how real black knights are knights with no master and are close to being European counterparts to the Japanese Ronin.
Brainy Brunette: Even though Ballister's scheming nature is lacking compared to his webcomic counterpart, he's by no means an idiot. He proves to be intelligent enough to build his own prosthetic arm and also proves to a skilled strategist.
Broken Pedestal: He's left reeling when he finds out that the Director was the one who framed him, as she had been for all intents and purposes his teacher beforehand.
Character Development: Like most of the kingdom, Ballister is shown to be incredibly prejudiced against anything deemed "monster" like; as such, he was initially frightened of Nimona's shapeshifting abilities, barely hiding his discomfort and even asking intrusive questions. However, while bonding with Nimona, Ballister begins to rethink his previous held biases, especially since she's the only one to actually believe in his innocence. Ballister comes to accept and even have fun with her changeling powers, as well as defending her from the insults of others. It all culminates in him willfully calming down a suicidal One-Winged Angel Nimona with none of the hangup he had in the beginning.
Childhood Friend Romance: A Freeze-Frame Bonus shows that Ballister has known his current boyfriend, Ambrosius, since they were both young cadets.
Clear My Name: His main goal in the movie is to unravel the mystery of who framed him for murder.
Cooldown Hug: Does this to Nimona in the climax to end her rampage and stop her suicide.
Curse Cut Short: Ballister ends off the movie with an excited "HOLY SH-" once he sees Nimona somehow alive and well.
Dark and Troubled Past: Implied. Not much is known of Ballister's backstory except him being of lower class. His brief kidroduction in the opening shows him wearing poorly maintained clothing, unkempt hair, and the same scar he currently has. Plus, there's no mention of his parents or any existing family. As such, before being taken in by the Queen, it's highly likely Ballister had a troubled upbringing.
Dark Is Not Evil: He wears pitch black armor and is generally darker colored than his fellow knights, yet he is a genuinely heroic character who just wants to clear his name.
Dating Catwoman: The man he's in love with and was dating just also happens to be the one who cut off his arm and is now hunting him for the queen's murder, despite both of them still clearly being in love with each other.
Gadgeteer Genius: Downplayed next to his mad scientist comic book version, but Ballister still managed to make himself a mechanical replacement arm - replacing his dominant arm - in what appears to have been quite a short space of time.
Genius Bruiser: He was trained as a knight and proves to be highly adept at it when given the chance, but he also made his own mechanical arm and set up a lair in the wilds with internet connection.
Handicapped Badass: When he finally decides he's had enough of being treated as a villain and just taking it, he cuts loose against the small army of knights surrounding him. Not only does he prove to be skilled enough with a sword to mow through them like wheat without killing anybody, but he also shows a quick level of adaptability in a fight, using his mechanical arm as a shield to block strikes and working alongside Nimona's fluid shapeshifting in tandem, such as throwing her as an armadillo into a knight's face like a bowling ball to stun them.
Hero with Bad Publicity: He's a heroic man who wants to do the right thing, but being framed for the queen's murder leads to the kingdom turning on him. It didn't help that many people already looked down on him for being the first commoner allowed to train to become a knight.
Honor Before Reason: After he's given video evidence proving the Director set him up, he refuses to release it publicly because it will damage the kingdom's faith in the Institute, and instead tries to only show it to Ambrosius. Nimona fires back that proof of such corruption means he and everyone in the kingdom should be questioning the Institute and that they've clearly brainwashed him. Once the initial evidence is destroyed and Ambrosius tries to arrest him, Ballister follows Nimona's advice and uploads new evidence online immediately.
Ink-Suit Actor: In the original graphic novel, Ballister looked more Vincent Price-ish. Animated Ballister more closely resembles his voice actor, Riz Ahmed—most notably, with very big, expressive brown eyes.
Innocently Insensitive: He initially struggles to wrap his head around Nimona's shapeshifting, asking or telling her really insensitive things, like telling her to be "normal" or flat-out asking "what are you?" He warms up to her very quickly, realizes he's being insensitive and the two become fast friends.
Let's Get Dangerous!: After his first attempt to prove that the Director framed him is foiled and Ambrosius refuses to believe him, Ballister lets Nimona off her leash and they proceed to completely demolish the guards, even defeating Ambrosius in combat himself.
My God, What Have I Done?: After Ambrosius (who has been manipulated by the director) tells him that Nimona has been using him all along, he impulsively lashes out at her for the perceived betrayal. Her heartbreak at losing her first true friend prompts her to take Kaiju form and try to kill herself, which Ballister only barely manages to stop.
Not So Above It All: He's more open-minded compared to the rest of the Institute, but he was still raised under the kingdom's anti-monster propaganda. He's aghast when he first finds out that Nimona is a shapeshifter and is quite insensitive when telling her not to show off her abilities so openly, wording it as him wanting her to be "normal". While he does learn to accept Nimona's shapeshifting as a natural part of her halfway through, his instilled biases unfortunately lead to him impulsively lashing out at Nimona after Ambrosius reveals that Nimona is the monster that Gloreth "fought" 1000 years ago.
Parental Substitute: It's clear he's the closest thing Nimona has to a parental figure. There are multiple scenes that read less like a mutual alliance and more like a father-daughter relationship, with Ballister acting as a beleaguered father figure trying to discipline the rambunctious Nimona. Ultimately, he's the one who stops her rampage by giving her a Cooldown Hug and showing her the one thing, she's been denied for so long: unconditional love.
Penny Among Diamonds: He's the first knight to come from common blood rather than a noble line. Unfortunately, that led to someone setting him up for murder.
Race Lift: Ballister has light skin in the comic but dark skin in the film, being modeled in the likeness of his voice actor Riz Ahmed.
Rage Breaking Point: When Ambrosius believes the killer over him, Ballister goes from trying to hold back Nimona's violent tendencies to telling her it's time to "break stuff."
Straight Gay: He's in love with Ambrosius Goldenloin, but there is nothing effeminate about his appearance or mannerisms.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: He's the "straight man"^noteyes, we know to Nimona's "wise guy", with most of the jokes stemming from Ballister trying to act rationally only to react with horror when Nimona proposes violence and murder as a first solution.
Technologically Blind Elders: In one of the trailers, Nimona has to coach him through how to leave Likes.
Took a Level in Badass: For a good chunk of the story, he can barely keep up with Nimona, partly because he's still getting used to his sidekick's energy but mostly because he genuinely doesn't want to hurt anyone. However, after his big attempt to clear his name is literally shot down by Todd and Ambrosius refuses to believe in his innocence, Ballister finally gives up on playing nice and proves exactly why the Queen saw so much potential in him: not only does he give Nimona permission to go all out, not only does he casually mop the floor with dozens of knights alongside her, but he even defeats Ambrosius in single combat.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Downplayed. The more time that Ballister spends with Nimona, the more comfortable he becomes with being more rambunctious and snarkier towards his enemies.
Was It All a Lie?: Ballister demands to know this of Ambrosius when the two come to blows, asking if he ever meant anything to Goldenloin since Ambrosius chose to believe the queen's killer over Ballister himself, after the killer had the evidence destroyed.

The Institute

Ambrosius Goldenloin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_700.png

"If anyone can find Bal... find Ballister before someone else gets hurt... it's me."

Voiced by: Eugene Lee Yang^{Other voice actors}

"Who am I? A direct descendant of Gloreth? I never asked for that! Now everyone expects me to arrest Ballister, and if I don't, I'm a traitor to you, and if I do, I'm a traitor to him!"

The descendant of Gloreth, a widely beloved knight and Ballister's boyfriend. When Ballister is framed for the queen's murder, Ambrosius cuts off his arm as a reflexive attempt to disarm him and reluctantly leads the manhunt to bring the one he loves to justice.

Abled in the Adaptation: In the comic, Ambrosius is badly injured in the final battle to the point that afterward he can no longer walk unassisted. In the movie, he recovers from all his injuries.
Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Ambrosius ends up coming out of the movie a whole lot more intact and with less regrets compared to the comic. While Ambrosius ends up horribly crippled and left to stew in his guilt over how he had wronged Ballister in the comic, in the movie, he ends the movie without any significant injuries and his relationship with Ballister even happier than before.
Adaptational Backstory Change: In the webcomic Ambrosius had been an orphan alongside Ballister with no real family history to speak of. Here he is stated to be the direct descendant of Gloreth and presumably born into knighthood.
Adaptational Hairstyle Change: He has long hair in the comic but in the movie, he has an undercut hairstyle much like his voice actor's. It's likely because long hair is harder to animate.
Adaptational Intelligence: In the comics, Ambrosius was a blind and naïve stooge to the Institution, not even questioning them after they handed him a rigged lance that was intended to kill Ballister. In the movie, he's very hesitant to believe that Ballister killed the queen of his own volition and comes around much more quickly when Ballister is able to provide evidence of his innocence.
Adaptational Nice Guy:
- His role in Ballister losing his arm. In the movie he did so solely to disarm the weapon and is shown to be extremely guilty over the act despite this. In the graphic novel he knew he was given a weaponized lance for a normal joust and admits to having fired it after losing, seemingly in a fit of anger and jealously. He also never apologised for this until near the end of the graphic novel, although he is horrified once he realises his lack of apology.
- Ambrosius in general is a lot more reluctant to fight Ballister in the movie compared to the webcomic, where he was willing to play the role of Ballister's Arch-Enemy. Ambrosius is also openly compassionate, humble regarding his position as the Institute's golden boy, and expresses clear guilt for having handicapped Ballister in the movie, while in the comic, he's rather thick-headed, obliviously unapologetic over what he did to Ballister, and a bit of a Glory Hound to boot. Many of these negative traits instead got folded into Todd's character.
Beneath the Mask: Once he's tasked with hunting Ballister, he hides his conflicting loyalties and numerous insecurities under a composed face. Best seen when the Director asks him how he's feeling only for Ambrosius to seemingly have a Freak Out that's revealed to be as an Imagine Spot, with him just giving a stoic, "I'm fine, Director."
Childhood Friend Romance: A Freeze-Frame Bonus shows that Ambrosius has known his current boyfriend, Ballister, since they were both young cadets.
Cerebus Retcon: An extremely minor version: in the comic, Ambrosius's last name being "Goldenloin" was a bit of comic relief (it was apparently meant to be Goldenlion) and played into his pompous, Glory Hound nature. In the movie, Goldenloin is just his surname.
Conflicting Loyalty: The crux of his character arc consists of Ambrosius being torn between his love for Ballister and his faith in the Institute.
Crazy Jealous Guy: His judgment regarding the situation with Ballister is shaken when he finds out about Nimona, though it isn't so much that he views Nimona as a romantic rival so much as he fears that Ballister has replaced him as his best friend. It ends up becoming easy for him to buy that Nimona was an evil monster who had framed Ballister and has been manipulating him the entire time rather than entertain that the Director was lying through her teeth regarding her Engineered Public Confession.
Dating Catwoman: He's the one who leads the manhunt for Ballister over the queen's murder, despite the fact that the two are in love with each other. Ambrosius only assumed control of the search because Sureblade made it clear he planned to make Ballister suffer if he was given command and Ambrosius wanted Ballister brought in painlessly. There are multiple times he hesitates during his pursuit and Ambrosius expresses doubt Ballister is really guilty.
Famous Ancestor: He's a direct descendent of Gloreth, which both makes him the most popular knight in the kingdom and puts a lot of pressure on him as he's forced to bear all the expectations that come with her legacy.
Friendless Background: Downplayed but present. He contrasts Ballister and Nimona's All the Other Reindeer status by being publicly adored and held in high esteem by the Director, but once Ballister is framed Ambrosius has no one else. Todd highlights this especially, bantering and being supported by the other knights; they default to Ambrosius' authority without question, but silently observe when Todd antagonises him (and Ballister in front of him) indicating that any respect for him is purely professional. This contributes severely to the strain he's under during the events of the movie, and makes it easier for the Director to manipulate him.
Heel Realization: He finally realizes he's on the wrong side when he finds out the Director plans on firing a Wave-Motion Gun in the middle of the kingdom just to kill Nimona (who he now recognizes as a vulnerable being) even though it'll cause the death of half the populace.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Despite being a member of a force that are otherwise wearing helmets as part of their uniforms, Ambrosius' head is always unmasked.
Hero Antagonist: Despite being a moral person who genuinely wants to do good, he's forced to hunt for Ballister and Nimona due to both being painted as "villains."
Ink-Suit Actor: Save for the blonde hair, he’s the spitting image of his voice actor Eugene Lee Yang and was directly modeled on him even before Yang was approached for the project.
Inspector Javert: In spite of his affections for Ballister, he spends much of the film pursuing him under the belief that Ballister is a murderer.
King of Beasts: His armour has a subtle lion motif, signifying his leadership among the knights and his quasi-royal status as Gloreth's descendant.
Knight in Shining Armor: He definitely has the look of one and is marketed as one in the Kingdom. He's a genuinely good guy who loves Ballister, treats his fans with kindness and wants to do good, but unfortunately, he's also able to be manipulated into viewing the wrong people as the "villains" just because they're different.
Light Is Good: He wears white and gold armor and is the most moral knight in the kingdom outside of Ballister.
Only Sane Man: He's clearly the most competent and level-headed of the knights.
Race Lift: Ambrosius is white in the comic but East Asian in the film, just like his voice actor.
Spoiled Sweet: He's descended from Gloreth and so came from a position of considerable privilege, even compared to his fellow noble born knights, but Ambrosius is the most kindhearted of all of them.
Spotting the Thread: While Nimona's depiction of Ballister in the subway was far from the truth, the thing that caused Ambrosius to further inspect the security cameras was the fact that 'Ballister' played freestyle jazz, something the actual Ballister hates.
Straight Gay: Like Ballister, he displays no stereotypical traits of being gay and is shown to be in love with Ballister.
Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: He's the only knight who doubts Ballister's guilt but volunteers to lead the hunt for him to both prevent other knights like Todd from taking justice into their own hands and to stop anyone from getting hurt.
Unwitting Pawn: The queen's murderer is unfortunately able to manipulate him into believing Ballister is guilty for a time. Even after he realizes Ballister is innocent through the Director's Engineered Public Confession, the Director still manages to manipulate Ambrosius into believing that Nimona framed the Director with her shapeshifting by showing him proof that Nimona is the "monster" from 1000 years ago.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: Downplayed, gender inverted, and same-sex example. While Ambrosius never goes full violent, he's still shown to be very protective over his boyfriend, Ballister. When Todd makes a tactless joke against his beloved, Ambrosius was about to start a fight before Ballister stopped him. And when the Director's leaked confession gets out that she framed Ballister, Ambrosius is livid and goes to arrest her before she manipulates him.
Was It All a Lie?: After being tricked into thinking Ballister really did murder the queen, Ambrosius demands this of him when they duel. When Ballister spares him by driving his sword into the ground instead of a defeated Ambrosius, he realizes the mistake he made in believing Ballister is really a bad guy.

The Director (Unmarked Spoilers)

The Director

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_701.png

"Gloreth did whatever it took to keep the monsters out. And so will I."

Voiced by: Frances Conroy^{Other voice actors}

"There is no greater calling than protecting this kingdom from evil. Never let your guard down. Never weaken. And always be the will of Gloreth."

The leader of the knights of the Kingdom.

Adaptational Attractiveness: In the original comic, the Director was very stern in appearance. She wore all grey and had a very sharp and narrow face and pointed ears and a bald head, indicating she wasn't a human. The movie version has much softer features, bigger eyes, and full lips. She also wears vibrant white instead of dark grey. She's never revealed as having pointed ears or a bald head in the film, though she's also never seen without her headpiece, so you never know.
Adaptational Nice Guy: The Director acts outwardly more polite and gentle to her subordinates and the public most of the time compared to the graphic novel, in which she was presented as a much sterner Bad Boss as well as more openly ruthless and classist. The Director of the graphic novel was also implied to be homophobic by her comments of knowing “the nature” of Ambrosius and Ballister’s relationship and disapproving even before Ballister was kicked out of the Institution.
Adaptational Villainy: The Director was already pretty nasty in the original comic, but the movie goes even further by adding regicide to her list of crimes, just because the queen wanted to give commoners a shot at becoming knights. And then there's the finale, where rather than going down fighting the berserk Nimona as in the original, she madly tries to fire one of the city's perimeter guns at Nimona after Ballister has already calmed her down, willing to kill thousands of her own citizens just to destroy the "monster", refusing to accept that she could be anything else.
Allegorical Character: The Director is the living personification of paranoia and the horrible things it drives people to do. She seeks to destroy everything she doesn't understand or can't control because they scare her, and she's too scared to get close enough to learn how baseless her fears are.
Bad Boss: The Director shoots her knights, including the Institute's golden boy Ambrosius, with her scepter's hidden Energy Weapon when they refuse to aim the wall cannon at Nimona. Earlier than that, she stabs who she thinks is Ambrosius (but is unbeknownst to her Nimona in disguise) after revealing to "him" that she was the one who killed the queen and framed Ballister. And that isn't getting into the fact that she had Ballister, one of her star knights, framed in the first place because she didn't want a commoner in the Institute's ranks.
Big Bad: She murdered Queen Valerin and set Ballister up to take the fall, manipulates Goldeloin and the rest of the kingdom into hunting him, and her obsession with maintaining control and killing Nimona for being different eventually results in her endangering the kingdom itself.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seems like a Reasonable Authority Figure when first introduced and is devastated by Ballister's betrayal when she visits him in jail. Then it's revealed she's the true murderer, she despised Ballister for being a commoner trained as a knight, and even Gloreth's direct descendant, Ambrosius, is expendable in her mind when she runs "him" (really a disguised Nimona) through with Ballister's sword.
Broken Pedestal: To Ballister and Goldenloin. The former is when he finds out she sets him up for the Queen's murder, and the latter when he learns she's going to wipe out half of the city population just to kill a vulnerable Nimona. She's also implied to be one to the Kingdom when the truth comes out in the end.
Control Freak: Is there a more accurate term to describe an individual who places a higher value on maintaining the kingdom's prosperity by rigidly adhering to the current state of affairs, even if it puts the lives of citizens in jeopardy, rather than being open to the possibility of their fallacy? The first time we see the Director as truly vulnerable is after her Engineered Public Confession, where we see her hiding in her office in a complete panic, only to see her worst fear out the window: her exposure, a giant red news display calling her out as the "TRUE VILLAIN" projected upon her. The Director's subsequent attempts to wrest back control eventually culminate in her trying to blast half the city just to validate her beliefs that she's right and always has been.
Defiant to the End: When Nimona transforms into a phoenix and prepares to ram into the laser cannon she's operating, she spends her last moments firing at her at point-blank range while giving her Gloreth's parting words, "Go back to the shadows from whence you came".
Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the original comic, the Director makes a Last Stand against Nimona's berserk dragon form and is immolated alive by her flame breath. Here, she gets blown up when Nimona rams into the cannon she was manning.
Disappointed in You: She visits Ballister in his cell to tell him how betrayed she feels by his murder of the queen after trusting him. She then vows to never let him speak to anyone again so he won't lie to anyone else. In reality, it's all a ploy to break his spirit and ensure no one investigates that she's the real killer, mixed in with some Evil Gloating for good measure.
Even Evil Has Standards: Even she has little tolerance for Todd's immaturity.
Everyone Calls Her "Barkeep": Her real name is never given, she's only ever referred to by her title of the Director.
Evil Reactionary: The idea of Ballister becoming a knight, despite his lack of noble blood, infuriates her, believing that any deviation from Gloreth's teachings will lead to their destruction.
Fantastic Racism: Like many people, she's afraid of Nimona for being a shapeshifter and considers her a monster. Unlike many, she refuses to ever reconsider her fanatical beliefs and keeps trying to murder her even when it will result in the mass murder of innocents caught in the crossfire.
Fatal Flaw: Her paranoia. By her own account the Director is tormented by dreams of monsters beyond the wall that will converge on the city should tradition ever be defied. The problem is there are no monsters beyond the wall and the "will of Gloreth" is based on a one-thousand-year-old misunderstanding. The Director's paranoia twists her into an inflexible Control Freak who won't accept anything but her own delusional idea of how the city should be run, causing her to murder the more liberal Queen Valerin and tries to turn the gun on the city itself to kill Nimona. Seeing the evidence that Nimona is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood isn't enough to sway her, as she just convinces herself it's a trick and tries to fire anyway—a move that directly leads to her Karmic Death.
Frame-Up: At first, the Director frames Ballister for murdering Queen Valerin to prevent commoners from becoming knights. Unfortunately for her, the kingdom's knights are convinced otherwise when Ballister and Nimona eventually expose the Director's misdeeds.
The Fundamentalist: She is fanatically devoted to her interpretation of the will of Gloreth. She murders Queen Valerin because the queen wanted to let commoners be knights instead of restricting it to the nobility, and framed the first common-born knight Ballister for the crime just to make sure the practice doesn't catch on. When Goldenloin, the last of Gloreth's line, confronts her on her deeds, she murders him with Ballister's sword and prays for Gloreth to forgive him. The only reason it fails is because it's Nimona in disguise. Even in the climax, after Nimona reverts from her kaiju form, the Director orders the cannon fired upon her, wanting to kill the "monster" that Gloreth defeated 1000 years ago while apathetic that it will wipe out half the kingdom. When Ambrosius tells her Gloreth and the Institute may have been wrong about everything, she blasts him and his fellow knights and tries to fire the cannon herself. Even her last words are her parroting Gloreth's command to Nimona too, "Go back to the shadows from whence you came."
Hate Sink: The Director's an elitist who believes commoners shouldn't join the ranks of knights, going as far as to kill the Queen and frames Ballister for it at all costs. She also has a very low opinion on shapeshifters like Nimona. Even when her heinous actions end up being exposed to everyone, the Director refused to abandon her hateful beliefs, which ends up nearly endangering the kingdom and makes her the most despicable person in the movie.
Her Own Worst Enemy: She refuses to believe anything beyond her beliefs. When Nimona proves to not be a threat, she still thinks that she's one and tries to fire the cannon even if it means killing many people, an act which eventually leads to her demise.
The Horseshoe Effect: The Director pursues an insanely harsh and fundamentalist interpretation of justice, law and order. In the process, she commits numerous sins while trying to do "Gloreth's will", including pride and wrath. By the end of the movie, she goes so far as to destroy the very town she claimed to defend, becoming the monster she claimed to oppose.
Hypocrite: She claims that she killed the queen and framed Ballister for it to keep the traditions alive and to protect the kingdom, even though queenslaughter is in itself a much worse way to break the traditions, since the queen is supposed to be untouchable from any danger, so her gesture counts as treason. Furthermore, killing a ruler is a good way to bring chaos to the people of the kingdom, which goes against her claims to save them.
I Reject Your Reality: Her response to Ballister hugging Nimona. Even after the emotional impact of Ballister comforting the girl (on live television no doubt), the Director, delusional and obstinate, still thinks she is a monster instead of looking at her for who she is and not what she is.
Irrational Hatred: Towards shapeshifters like Nimona, so much that she wants to eradicate them.
Karmic Death: The Director's willing to kill thousands of her own citizens by firing a Wave-Motion Gun towards the kingdom in an attempt to kill Nimona, only to be killed herself in the explosion caused when Nimona sacrifices herself by blocking the blast at point-blank range. For added karma, the blast that kills her also blows open the wall, revealing the monsters she feared were never there.
The Kingslayer: Out of anger that the Queen was willing to let a commoner become a knight, she booby-trapped Ballister's sword so that it would kill her when she presented it to him at his coronation ceremony.
Knight Templar: She believes that Nimona is a "monster" that must be destroyed at all costs and that she's a "hero" who is protecting the kingdom even as she prepares to murder half of its inhabitants just to kill Nimona.
Light Is Not Good: The Director dresses in an all-white gown and is the head of the kingdom’s order of knights who protect against monsters, in contrast to Ballister who dresses in black armor and teams up with a monster. Yet she possesses all the ruthless and murderous qualities that Ballister is accused of to the public.
Manipulative Bastard: She's able to manipulate Ballister into thinking she cares about him and deflects suspicion of herself by painting herself as feeling "betrayed" by his killing of the queen. Later, she's able to briefly convince Ambrosius that Ballister really is a murderer, and, even after her Engineered Public Confession is leaked online, is able to manipulate Ambrosius and the entire kingdom into believing Nimona framed her instead by shapeshifting as her.
Narcissist: Not in the traditional form of obsessive self-aggrandizement but the fact that she believes only her interpretation of the will of Gloreth is the correct one, specifically because she treats every deviation from it, no matter how well-intentioned, as a personal slight against her. Her last words parroting Gloreth's command to Nimona also suggest she has a savior complex.
A Nazi by Any Other Name: Her main goal as Director of the Institute is to have her military force persecute and arrest Nimona and Ballister, and she describes them using very Nazi-esque rhetoric.
Near-Villain Victory: Nimona's suicide attempt would have most likely fulfilled her wish to see her dead. Even when Nimona is calmed down by Ballister and the Director's crimes have already been exposed, the Director refused to give up her intents and tried to fire the cannon that would've killed thousands of innocent people if Nimona hadn't stopped her.
Never My Fault: Befitting her delusions, she seems fundamentally incapable of accepting any fault in herself, it also serves as one of her biggest character flaws. She claims she only saw Ballister for who he truly is when she was the one who replaced his weapon so that he would kill the Queen. When called out on it, she claimed the Queen gave her no other choice since she dared to give commoners a chance at being a knight. When her crimes were exposed to the public, rather than gracefully accept her arrest she chose to put the kingdom in a state of mass panic by lying that was Nimona disguised as herself. When Nimona transformed into a Kaiju and stormed through the city to kill herself, The Director feels validated in her beliefs when all the destruction is actually caused by her and the Institute's reckless actions in stopping her.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: While she "claims" she's simply trying to keep the people safe, the talk of her dream to Nimona disguised as Ambrosius makes it clear that's mainly being driven by her nature as The Paranoiac and a Control Freak, especially how she stabs "him" at the end of her speech and prays to Gloreth, Ambrosius's ancestor, to forgive him, her framing Ballister for killing the Queen having been done to make sure that no commoners ever become knights. Any claims of having her people's best interests in mind fly out the window when she tries to fire a massive weapon at Nimona, despite the potential to kill thousands of people... even after Ballister calms her down, blasting Ambrosius and her knights when they try and get her to reconsider.
Obliviously Evil: She’s convinced that she’s only doing what’s best for the kingdom, but she really isn’t.
The Paranoiac: She mentions a recurring dream she has about a single crack forming in the wall surrounding the kingdom and how she cries out in the dream but no one listens to her. All of her atrocities stem from this, being a Control Freak who thinks even the slightest deviation from the status quo will lead to ruin, going so far as to murder the queen because she was breaking from tradition by allowing a commoner to become a knight; she's a narcissist who believes she's the only one able to interpret "Gloreth's will" and anyone who questions it or her is an enemy to eliminate; and she's motivated by a fear of otherness, which she manifests as imaginary monsters that exist outside the walls and will destroy the kingdom if she doesn't act.
Politically Incorrect Villain: In addition to her Fantastic Racism in believing Nimona's a "monster" who must be killed at any cost, the entire reason she murdered Queen Valerin was out of an elitist fear that commoners like Ballister being made knights, instead of restricting it to nobility, threatened the natural order.
Redemption Rejection: Even after it's revealed Nimona only turned into a kaiju to try to commit suicide and is talked down by Ballister, the Director still demands Nimona to be fired upon with her Wave-Motion Gun. When Ambrosius tries to convince her that the Institute and Gloreth have been wrong about things for a long time, the Director appears to consider...before she starts blasting him and his fellow knights out of the way so she can make one last effort to fire the cannon herself.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: She has a recurring nightmare of the wall cracking and eventually coming down, letting in the monsters, and believes any deviation from tradition will hasten that prophecy. In framing Ballister for the queen's murder because he's a commoner, her actions ultimately led to the very outcome she feared, though nothing lies beyond the wall but untouched nature.
Senseless Sacrifice: Her death was All for Nothing due to Nimona turning out to be alive in the end, thanks to using her phoenix form to resurrect herself.
Skewed Priorities: Ultimately considers the sanctity of the Institute's way of life to be more valuable than literally anything else, including the city's leadership and people. Even after Nimona's "rampage" ends with her peacefully collapsing into Ballister's arms on live TV, the Director opts to shoot her anyway and kill everyone in range of her simply because of the ideological threat she poses.
Too Dumb to Live: Sure, fire an explosive laser beam at a shapeshifting entity in the form of an immortal phoenix at point-blank range. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
The Unfettered: She will do anything, no matter how reprehensible, in order to protect the kingdom from monsters. She voices her resolves right after personally running a sword through Gloreth's last living descendant, Sir Goldenloin—or, at least, someone who took on his form.
Villainous Breakdown: After Nimona and Ballister expose her crimes, and she realizes that Nimona is the "monster" Gloreth faced, the Director becomes increasingly unhinged. Eventually, she tries to fire a massive energy weapon into the kingdom, potentially killing thousands of people, to kill Nimona even after Ballister talks her down, attacking her own knights when they try and stop her.
Walking Spoiler: It becomes impossible to talk about her character without revealing she's the Big Bad.
Windmill Crusader: The Director is motivated entirely by a fear of monsters, like the "great and terrible evil" Gloreth faced 1000 years ago, breaking through the protective wall and overrunning the kingdom. Every crime she commits is out of a belief of its necessity to stop that from happening. The only problem is there are no monsters beyond the wall, and the "great and terrible evil" she fears is just Nimona who was an innocent that was demonized for her shapeshifting powers. Even after Nimona's rampage is revealed to be a suicide attempt which Ballister talks her down from, revealing the vulnerable kid underneath, the Director is convinced it's only a trick and attempts to kill her anyway, uncaring of the thousands of civilian casualties she'll cause in the process.

Sir Thoddeus "Todd" Sureblade

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_706_6.png

"Now I'm gonna punch you in the face."

Voiced by: Beck Bennett^{Other voice actors}

"Hey, everybody! Ballister thought I was gonna apologize for treating him like the trash that he is!"

An elitist knight with the personality of an immature bully. He looks down on Ballister for being common-born and is eager to make him pay for the death of the queen.

Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: He confidently flies in to battle Nimona, until he sees her kaiju form, at which point he turns tail and runs.
Break the Haughty: Being forced to retreat in combat, getting smashed facefirst into a billboard of himself, and being completely overshadowed as a hero by both Ballister and Nimona pretty much snaps Todd's ego in two. In the finale, he's seen meekly placing flowers on Nimona's memorial, nodding respectfully to Ballister, and then leaving in total silence.
The Bully: In keeping with his childish personality, he acts like a stereotypical bully, leading his fellow knights in picking on Ballister for being common-born because he "doesn't belong" with "real" knights.
Combat Pragmatist: For someone who wants to prove himself better than both Ballister and Ambrosius, Todd isn't in any great hurry to try to live up to their standards of combat excellence, to the point that the nearest thing to a victory he gets against Ballister is by ambushing him on a hoverbike and having several knights beat the living crap out of him all at once.
Decomposite Character: Receives some of Goldenloin's worst traits that the latter showed in the original graphic novel such as his unapologetic behavior, arrogance as well as his petty grudge and aggression towards Ballister.
Dirty Coward: Despite wanting to prove himself as a great knight, when he comes up against Nimona's giant form he displays zero empathy for the commoners, panics and flees.
Dumb Jock: He's apparently skilled enough to graduate from his class at the Institute to become a knight, but he frequently displays a lack of intelligence coupled with the immaturity of someone a third his age. At one point Ambrosius corrects him that the "fat unicorn" that went on a rampage is a rhinoceros, only for Todd to be incapable of even pronouncing it correctly.
The Friend Nobody Likes: A comment by Diego, where he asks who would bother protecting Todd, implies that no one really likes him very much. Even while trying to get Nimona not to go on a rampage, Ballister agrees with her Todd is 'very punchable.'
Hate Sink: An obnoxious, bigoted, bullying asshole who treats everyone around him like shit and acts like a Jerk Jock.
Heel–Face Turn: In the epilogue, it's shown that the events of Nimona's rampage have humbled him, as he's shown paying respects to Nimona's memorial and silently giving Ballister a smile and nod, who smiles back.
Inspector Javert: As opposed to Ambrosius, who frequently expresses doubt about Ballister's guilt, Todd is utterly convinced Ballister committed regicide. Even when video evidence comes to light that causes many to question the Director and the Institute, Todd never wavers in his belief that Ballister is one hundred percent guilty of murder and deserving of punishment.
Ironic Name: His last name is "Sureblade", and yet he immediately tries fleeing for his life after realizing too late just how much Nimona's kaiju form dwarfs him.
Jerkass Has a Point: During the climax, he warns Ballister that if the newly berserk Nimona destroys the Kingdom, it'll be his fault. The thing is, he's not exactly wrong, as Ballister's rejection of Nimona after learning the truth about her past played a big role in her snapping and transforming into a Kaiju.
Jerk Jock: Thoddeus is the knightly equivalent of one, acting like he's the best even when Ballister is top of their class.
Laser-Guided Karma: Todd is an elitist ass who targets Ballister because he's a commoner-born knight instead of a noble born like Todd. During the climax, Todd ends up crashing his flying motorcycle into an electronic billboard advertising the knights with himself front and center above the caption, "Born For This!"
Lethally Stupid: In the finale, he leads the Institute's forces in attacking Nimona's Kaiju form in the most boneheadedly destructive way. Not only does the bombardment end up doing more damage to the city itself than the "monster," but upon finding himself right in front of Nimona, Todd panics and rockets away in the opposite direction - right into his oncoming backup. It's only by sheer dumb luck that Todd ends up surviving the ensuing crash.
Manchild: Despite being a grown adult he has the personality and intelligence of an elementary school bully. When Nimona takes the form of Kwispy in order to save Ballister's life, Todd's response is childish delight at encountering the mascot of a children's breakfast cereal, before he belatedly realizes that he's actually under attack.
Miles Gloriosus: Throughout the film, his primary motivation is to upstage Ambrosius by being the one to capture Ballister and Nimona first. It's not until he's face to face with Nimona's berserk Kaiju form that he realizes how massively out of his depth he is.
No One Could Survive That!: During Nimona's final rampage, he ends up crashing head first into a giant video screen that promptly explodes. As shown in the denouement, all he suffers from this is a broken arm.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: He's portrayed as a joke for much of the movie, but near the end he shows a sudden and surprising cunning, spying on Ballister and Ambrosius' meeting at a tavern and using this to tail Ballister and discover his hideout. He and his knights then have Ballister dead to rights until Nimona's berserk Kaiju form grabs their attention.
Obi-Wan Moment: A non-fatal example. When he sees he's about to crash into a billboard of himself, he recognizes the irony long enough to stop screaming and let out an annoyed, "Bro," before impact.
Oh, Crap!: When Nimona's Kaiju form attacks the kingdom, Todd is initially confidant that he can kill her and finally prove he's better than Ambrosius. Then he gets up close to Nimona and sees just how massive she is, and panics.
"We need more firepower! A LOT more firepower! Its gonna kill us all!!!"
Politically Incorrect Villain: Even if he wasn't a pawn for the real killer, Todd's still plenty villainous on his own, being a Rabid Cop more focused on physically brutalizing Ballister instead of capturing him. Most of his hatred stems from classism, as Todd looks down on Ballister for being the first commoner allowed to be a knight and thus undeserving of the job.
Rabid Cop: Not only does he want to capture Ballister for murdering the queen, but he goes on about how he wants to make him suffer for it. This actually causes Ambrosius to volunteer to lead the manhunt instead because it's a lesser evil for Ballister than letting Todd get his hands on him. When Todd does finally corner Ballister, he begins beating him up instead of arresting him, only stopping because he believes a monster is about to attack the kingdom.
Teeny Weenie: Though she might just be trolling him, when Nimona, in the form of a whale who comes crashing down in the locker room while Thoddeus is naked, takes one look at him and asks, "Cold in here?" Later, as he volunteers to lead the manhunt for Ballister, Todd says he wants two things. The second is making Ballister pay. The first is a "big sword", which he unsheathes in a suggestive position.
Too Annoyed to Be Afraid: After belatedly realizing that he's gravely underestimated Nimona's Kaiju-sized One-Winged Angel form, Sir Thoddeus Sureblade AKA "Todd" screams in terror, flies in the opposite direction, collides with his backup and is sent spiralling out of control... into an animated billboard of himself, who is calling for a high five. Todd's response to the imminent collision is an annoyed "bro..."
Verbal Tic: Tends to say "Bro" a lot.
Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: He serves as the laughable lackey to the Director's vile villain. While the latter is treated dead seriously by the narrative as the embodiment of reactionary fundamentalism and corrupt power structures, Todd's treated as a joke of a villain due to his stupidity, immaturity and cowardice undermining any threat he might pose.

Diego the Squire

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_702.png

Voiced by: Julio Torres^{Other voice actors}

The squire who handles the swords for the knights.

Bystander Syndrome: When Nimona takes the form of a Deliberately Cute Child and says she needs help "finding his mommy" to lure him into a trap, Diego vocally says he needs to pass this off to someone else. More significantly, Diego knew the Director swapped out Ballister's sword for another which ended up being rigged to kill the queen. Though Diego was prevented from showing Ballister the video of the event prior to the queen's death, afterwards he never tried to show the evidence to anyone else or release it to the public to prove Ballister's innocence.
Extreme Doormat: He's very timid, and didn't think to turn in his video proving the Director switched the swords until Ballister and Nimona grabbed him.
Fan of the Underdog: He is a fan of Ballister, who is disliked by most of the kingdom because he is a knight from a non-noble background.
I'm Your Biggest Fan: He’s a huge fan of Ballister, ironic since Ballister initially suspects Diego of framing him as a villain. Reviewing Diego’s video just ends up showing the squire as an obsessive follower to the point that he even secretly wears Ballister’s armor.
Spanner in the Works: The Director's frame-up of Ballister might've gone off without a hitch had Diego not been making a video at the right time.
What Happened to the Mouse?: After giving Ballister the evidence of the Director framing him, Diego disappears from the story. It's especially jarring given he's one of the only people who knows the truth of the queen's murder and does nothing to back Ballister's version of events up even after the Director's Engineered Public Confession.

Queen Valerin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_705.png

Voiced by: Lorraine Toussaint^{Other voice actors}

The Queen of the kingdom and the one who allowed Ballister to train to be a knight despite being a commoner. Her reign comes to an end when she's murdered and Ballister is framed for it.

Ascended Extra: Her counterpart in the webcomic, the King, was never seen and was only directly referred to when he was Killed Offscreen by Nimona's rampage in the climax. While the Queen still dies, she gets some screentime to show her personality and plays a larger role in Ballister's backstory.
The High Queen: She's a beloved leader who is the first ruler to break with tradition in 1000 years and allow a commoner to train to be a knight instead of just letting nobles be knighted, hoping the action will start allow more commoners to become heroes as well.
Plot-Triggering Death: Her murder kicks off the plot as Ballister is forced to go on the run and team up with Nimona to find out who murdered her, why, and why he was framed for it.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: She goes against ancient tradition to give Ballister the chance to prove he can be a knight, even though he is not noble-born. Her subordinate, the Director, views this action as going against the will of Gloreth and kills her for it.
Reasonable Authority Figure: When a commoner child sneaks into the Institute to prove he can be a knight in spite of the role being restricted to nobles, Queen Valerin goes against 1000 years of tradition and gives him the chance to train as a knight and prove himself, hoping his success will start a precedent allowing other commoners to become knights as well.
We Hardly Knew Ye: She dies thanks to a mishap with Ballister's sword when he's being knighted, not too long after the movie's begun.

Gloreth

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_703.png

"Go back to the shadows from whence you came!"

^{Click here to see Gloreth as a child.}

Voiced by: Karen Ryan^{Other voice actors}

The long-deceased founder of the order of knights that protect the kingdom. According to legend, she formed the group after defeating a terrible monster 1000 years ago.

Adaptation Expansion: Gloreth is only a historical footnote in the comic, but serves a much more central role in the film’s setting, having founded the kingdom, served as a key figure in Nimona’s past, and being Ambrosius’s distant ancestor.
Ambiguous Situation: It's not clear if she genuinely gave into peer pressure and actually started to see Nimona as a monster or if it was an act to get her friend to leave for her own safety. Either way the result was the same; Nimona leaves with a shattered heart and spends the next millennium nursing that while condemned as a monster by everyone she meets while Gloreth ends up falsely revered as a god-like monster killing hero, regardless of whether or not she wanted that.
Break Her Heart to Save Her: One way to interpret her rejection of Nimona was as a way to protect her friend by making her return to the forest.
Fake Ultimate Hero: She founded the order of knights to protect the kingdom after squaring off against a "great and terrible evil", vanquishing it by stabbing it in the heart with her sword. In reality, Gloreth was a child who was warped by the fear of her parents and neighbors into viewing her shapeshifting friend Nimona as a "monster" just because she was different. Far from intentionally burning down a helpless village, Nimona used her shapeshifting to protect herself from an angry mob trying to murder her, accidentally starting a fire in the process. She only stabbed Nimona in the heart in the figurative sense, raising a wooden sword to her and telling her to, "Go back to the shadows from whence you came."
Founder of the Kingdom: She was the original founder of the Institute, thanks to her defeating a terrible beast 1000 years ago by driving her blade through its heart. It wasn't as literal a stab in the heart as her followers believed, though.
Our Founder: There is a massive statue of her with her sword pointing towards the wall in the middle of the city.
Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: At first she tried to defend Nimona when the villagers were attacking her out of fear. But during the ensuing fight, an accident happened that burned down the village, and pressure from Gloreth's parents and the villagers shouting that Nimona was a monster eventually turned her against her friend.
Walking Spoiler: What she actually did 1000 years ago reveals a lot of information about Nimona.
We Used to Be Friends: She used to be friends with Nimona until her parents and fellow villagers attacked her, causing Nimona to accidentally set the village on fire in self-defense which when combined with the fact that she was just an impressionable child at the time caused her to turn against Nimona, or at the very least pretend to for Nimona's safety, ending their friendship in the process. That being said the end credits reveal that despite everything Nimona still considers Gloreth to be her friend, and may even still harbor romantic feelings for her centuries after her death.

Others

Alamzapam Davis and Nate Knight

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/videocapture_20230714_113555.jpg

Voiced by: Indya Moore (Davis) and RuPaul Charles (Knight)^{Other voice actors}

A pair of anchormen for the kingdom’s news network.

Mr. Exposition: Their first appearance has them bringing the audience up to speed on Ballister’s backstory.
Those Two Guys: Two news people who report on current events.

Kwispy Dwagon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/videocapture_20230714_171653.jpg

Voiced by: ND Stevenson

A fictional dragon and mascot of cereal brand Dragon Krisps.

Alien Blood: Once Kwispy is stabbed by the children in the Dragon Krisps commercial, Kwispy bleeds out milk and pieces of said cereal.
Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Kwispy is a blue dragon.
Breath Weapon: Kwispy spews out pieces of Dragon Krisps as seen in the commercial.
Creator Cameo: Kwispy is voiced by ND Stevenson, the creator of the webcomic the film is based on.

Characters / NIMONA (2023)

Main Characters

Nimona

Voiced by: Chloë Grace Moretz^{Other voice actors}

Ballister Boldheart

Voiced by: Riz Ahmed^{Other voice actors}

The Institute

Ambrosius Goldenloin

Voiced by: Eugene Lee Yang^{Other voice actors}

The Director

Voiced by: Frances Conroy^{Other voice actors}

Sir Thoddeus "Todd" Sureblade

Voiced by: Beck Bennett^{Other voice actors}

Diego the Squire

Voiced by: Julio Torres^{Other voice actors}

Queen Valerin

Voiced by: Lorraine Toussaint^{Other voice actors}

Gloreth

Voiced by: Karen Ryan^{Other voice actors}

Others

Alamzapam Davis and Nate Knight

Voiced by: Indya Moore (Davis) and RuPaul Charles (Knight)^{Other voice actors}

Kwispy Dwagon

Voiced by: ND Stevenson

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Characters / NIMONA (2023)

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Main Characters

Nimona

Ballister Boldheart

The Institute

Ambrosius Goldenloin

The Director

Voiced by: Frances ConroyOther voice actorsRuth Toscano (Latin American Spanish), Victòria Pagès (European Spanish), Eri Saito (Japanese), Roberta Pellini (Italian), Peggy Sander (German), Hila Sorjun Fisher (Hebrew), Juliette Degenne (French), Özden Ayyıldız (Turkish), Elin Klinga (Swedish)

Sir Thoddeus "Todd" Sureblade

Voiced by: Beck BennettOther voice actorsAlan Bravo (Latin American Spanish), Hernan Fernandez (European Spanish), Hiroo Sasaki (Japanese), Massimo Triggiani (Italian), Golan Gross (Hebrew), Emmanuel Garijo (French), Uğurcan Akbaş (Turkish), Joakim Tidermark (Swedish)

Diego the Squire

Voiced by: Julio TorresOther voice actorsMoisés Iván Mora (Latin American Spanish), Tetsuharu Ota (Japanese), Federico Viola (Italian), Daniel Magon (Hebrew), Alexis Tomassian (French), Uluç Özkök (Turkish)

Queen Valerin

Voiced by: Lorraine ToussaintOther voice actorsAlejandra de la Rosa (Latin American Spanish), Margarita Ponce (European Spanish), Seiko Tamura (Japanese), Antonella Giannini (Italian), Michèle Bardollet (French), Ayşe Kurtel (Turkish)

Gloreth

Voiced by: Karen RyanOther voice actorsLiliana Barba (Latin American Spanish), Emmi Tjernström (Swedish)

Others

Alamzapam Davis and Nate Knight

Kwispy Dwagon

Voiced by: ND Stevenson

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Voiced by: Frances Conroy^{Other voice actors}

Voiced by: Beck Bennett^{Other voice actors}

Voiced by: Julio Torres^{Other voice actors}

Voiced by: Lorraine Toussaint^{Other voice actors}

Voiced by: Karen Ryan^{Other voice actors}