Kennedy Davidson's 'Ballister Blackheart'

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The story of Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson, begins with Nimona, an impulsive shapeshifter, infiltrating the lair of Lord Ballister Blackheart. Nimona aspires to become a successful supervillain and miraculously convinces Blackheart to take her under his wing as his sidekick. Throughout the book, Blackheart and Nimona plan and execute evil schemes against the Institution; the corrupted backbone of the government. While Blackheart is trying to train Nimona to be less impulsive and murderous during their evil activities, he also indulges in evil family game night.
Although the title of the book is named after Nimona, Ballister Blackheart is arguably the main protagonist. Ballister Blackheart is more than just an average villain from a children’s tale. Nevertheless, he still has a very cliche name -- which just so happens to be a misnomer. The name “Blackheart” does not accurately describe his mannerisms. Ballister is - ironically enough- the most loving character in the novel. He cares very deeply for Nimona and …show more content…

The intense emotions of betrayal that Ballister Blackheart experienced were not going to be easily forgotten, but forgiveness is not forgetting. Blackheart experiences the beginnings of forgiveness at the end of the novel after he is captured by Goldenloin and the Institution. The first stages of forgiveness are understanding what you need to forgive and allowing yourself to feel your emotions (Michelle Roya Rad). The time Blackheart spent in the cell where he was forced to address Goldenloin helped him reconnect with his past. In doing this, Blackheart tackled on of the hardest steps of forgiveness: “Don’t make the person the behavior, but remember that the behavior a part of that person” (Rad). Once Blackheart humanized Goldenloin again he began to recognize Goldenloin as more than just his

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