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Nico Minoru (also known by the alias Sister Grimm) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, a member of the team of young superheroes known as the Runaways. Her first appearance was in Runaways (vol. 1) #1.

Character History

Nico Minoru is a somewhat rebellious goth teenager whose parents, Robert and Tina Minoru, appeared to be an average American, church-going, middle-class couple. In reality, they were dark wizards who were members of a secret society known as The Pride.

When Nico and the other children of The Pride discovered the truth about their parents, they ran away from home and were determined to defy their evil legacy. Nico briefly took the codename "Sister Grimm," which was her AIM screenname.

During a battle with The Pride, Nico discovered she had inherited her parents' abilities to manipulate magical energies. She came into possession of the mystical Staff of One when her mother attempted to stab her with the staff and instead Nico's body absorbed it.

Nico's blood must be shed before the staff will emerge for her to wield, a requirement she generally achieves by using a pocket knife given to her by fellow Runaways member Chase Stein (or, on occasion, by menstruating). The exact extent of the staff's abilities are not known, but speculation is that it can generate a large variety of magical effects activated by Nico's simple voice commands. The only limitation to its abilities is that Nico has been unable to cast any one particular spell more than once.

Nico was involved with fellow Runaway Alex Wilder until he revealed himself to be the mole inside the Runaways who kept their parents informed of what the group was up to and where they were situated at any particular time. She was briefly attracted to a boy the Runaways encountered named Topher but later discovered he was a vampire.

When the Runaways finally confronted their parents and their powerful, extra-dimensional allies, the Gibborim, Alex revealed his true nature. He had a plan that would allow him, Nico, and their parents to survive the "Next Wave" that would annihilate humanity, but Nico rejected his advances and punched him in the face. Alex was killed by the Gibborim for his part in disrupting their ritual sacrifice. The Runaways narrowly avoided a similar fate, and Nico's parents sacrified themselves in the effort to hold the Gibborim at bay so that the children could escape. Despite his betrayal, Nico tried to magically resurrect Alex by using the Staff of One. She believes her resurrection spell failed, though evidence suggests otherwise.

Following the death of their parents, the Runaways were split up by California Social Services. Nico was sent to Father Flanagan's Orphanage, where she saw a psychologist. She claimed to be "finished with boys" as a result of her last two failed relationships, to the delight of teammate Karolina Dean, who had a crush on her.

Recently, Karolina tried to kiss Nico and came out to her. Nico told Karolina she had no romantic feelings for her, but was devastated when Karolina chose to leave Earth with her fiance Xavin. Even a month after her friend's departure, Nico has been seen crying and even clutching Karolina's clothes.

Nico is the current de facto leader of the Runaways. At first, a rather cheerful if occasionally morose girl, Nico has become increasingly cold and hardened after her experiences and the loss of so many loved ones.

Spells cast so far

Once Nico has drawn blood and the Staff of One has emerged from her body, she can cast a wide variety of spells but she cannot cast a spell more than once. A list of the spells she has cast so far follows:

Vol. 1

• Freeze (Froze Gertrude Yorkes' mother in place). Vol. 1 #5
• Freeze (Spell backfires the second time, producing numerous pelicans.) Vol. 1 #7
• Smoke (Caused thick black smoke to come out of the Staff of One). Vol. 1 #8
• Away (Teleported). Vol. 1 #9
• Mud (Mud shot out of the end of the Staff of One). Vol. 1 #9
• Burst (Caused two spray paint cans to explode). Vol. 1 #11
• Rock and Roll (Caused tremor). Vol. 1 #14
• Waterproof (Made a bubble that the Runaways could sit inside and travel underwater in). Vol. 1 #15
• Float On (Levitated Chase's parents). Vol. 1 #16
• Hands Off (Destroyed the Fistigons). Vol. 1 #17

Vol. 2

• Deconstruct (Split the villain Wrecker into several pieces, which came back together in about an hour). Vol. 2 #1
• Flashback (Saw the past through a future version of Gert's mind). Vol. 2 #2
• Rockstars (Fired an energy bolt). Vol. 2 #2
• You Suck (Caused Turbo's turbines to work in reverse). Vol. 2 #3
• Insulation (Victor Mancha can't use his Electromagnetic abilities). Vol.2 #4
• Shine on, You Crazy Diamond. (Encased Ultron in a diamond). Vol.2 #6
• Fumigation (Originally used against Tarantula sometime between #6 and #7. She tries to use it again against the Swarm, but the spell backfires and teleports her and Karolina a few miles outside Los Angeles.) Vol.2 #7
• Acid Rain (Forms a cloud of acid rain on The Hostel's security daemons.) Vol. 2 #9
• Old Lace to Old Yeller (Transforms Old Lace into a small dog.) Vol.2 #10

• Marvel Comics superheroes
• Fictional magicians
• Asian superheroes