The Importance Of Personal Identity In Nimona

Identity is what shapes how people are perceived. Personal identity is even more important because it determines how one acts. Understanding one’s identity is pivotal because it allows them to be themselves and not act like something they’re not. It is what gives people a sense of being and when that is lost people become out of touch. In Nimona by Noelle Stevenson we see the main character in an identity crisis that causes her to lash out. In this novel the main character is perceived very differently by different people. This makes sense because she is a shape shifter. The main character’s goal is to establish a relationship with someone in order to form an identity of her own.

This shape shifter is known as Nimona and she is a menacing

We see this when she is speaking of her childhood to Blackheart saying, “well I'm glad we’re past the “sob stories” part of our relationship. Can we order a pizza?”(30). Instead of telling him the truth she tells him a lie about how she got her powers, saying they are from a witch. However it is later revealed that she has always been like this, which heighten the intrigue of how she came to have her powers. This is never truly revealed, but what is revealed is that she was cast away from her family at a very young age and this leaves her alone to figure out life all on her own. This is the reason why Nimona performs senseless killings without batting an eye. She has had it rough and because of this has severe psychological issues. Ballister Blackheart is the only character who truly begins to understand this. Pretty much everyone else in Nimona’s life has cast her off and automatically assumes her to be

Once Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, Ballister’s nemesis, proves to be to weak for the dominant duo of Nimona and Blackheart there becomes a full on war between the institution, the current power in the kingdom, and the villains. Blackheart doesn't want to become ruler because he believes he would be no better than the institution who uses illegal drugs and runs illegal operations in order to gain unnecessary power. Nimona pushes the idea regardless of what Blackheart initially thinks as she always does. In the end the power is out of the hands of the corrupt institution and Ballister doesn’t take control either. Throughout the story we see Blackheart and Goldenloin’s strong rivalry. They used to be evenly matched with Goldenloin being able to control Ballister and his antics. Nimona changes this dynamic because she is ruthless and virtually can’t be defeated. At the end of the novel Nimona creates an evil doppelganger in order to free herself from the confines of the institution. Through doing this she unleashed mayhem on the kingdom and all its innocent people. This event ended up bringing Blackheart and Goldenloin back together as friends because they were able to work together to defeat a common enemy. I feel like this softens the pain of Blackheart losing Nimona for he has his old best friend