Sister Grimm

History

Nico Minoru (Sister Grimm), Nico is the daughter of the super-powered villains calling themselves "the Pride"; in her case, she is the daughter of dark wizards. Upon finding out, Nico runs away with the rest of the runaways but later discovers that she inherited her parents' magical aptitude. Whenever Nico bleeds, a powerful staff emerges from her chest, allowing Nico to bend magic.

By their second year, Nico is the de facto leader of her unofficial and nameless superhero team. Nico's trademark is her elaborate and ornate Gothic wardrobe. Nico is a sorceress like her parents and great-grandmother before her and can cast nearly any spell imaginable with her Staff. Nico uses her talents to make up for her parents' villainous actions and to prevent anyone from assuming the Pride's place at the top of Los Angeles organized crime.

Out of all the Runaways, Nico is arguably the most recognized.

Enemies

She Does Not Trust Most Adults.

Powers

Nico Minoru has some magical aptitude, and she has received proper training from Witchbreaker. So far she has relied on the Staff of One or Witchbreaker's Staff to work magic.

The Staff of One/Witchbreaker's Staff: This ancient magical item has become a part of Minoru. She can call it forth by shedding blood (through cutting herself, menstruating, or being wounded) and reciting, "When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge." The staff appears out of her chest, passing through her skin and clothing without harm. Once summoned, the staff will work for anyone. Minoru can cast spells by invoking painful memories, thinking of an effect, and giving the spell a name. There are no "standard" spells; in fact, casting any spell a second time produces an unpredictable (and usually undesirable) effect. Minoru's spells can affect the elements (earth, air, fire, water), time and/or space, matter and/or energy, light, biological processes, and mental processes, and can apparently summon creatures from other dimensions; in short, the staff allows Minoru to do anything she can imagine, short of raising the dead. After the staff has expended a certain amount of power, it disappears inside Minoru again.

Spellcasting

Nico, being a witch, uses magic as her weapon. In the early issues, her sole weapon had been the Staff of One, an ancient magical staff that can cast any spell imaginable. The Staff, however, comes with two limitations; first, and more importantly, Nico cannot cast the same spell twice, or the spell will misfire and a random effect will occur.

The second limitation of the Staff of One is that it cannot be used to bring people back from the dead. Nico discovered this limitation when she tried to resurrect Alex Wilder, and explained why she could not magically revive the deceased future version of Gertrude Yorkes. Tina Minoru, the Staff's owner previous to Nico, mentions that the Staff even made Dormammu (a demonic entity with vast magical power far surpassing even that of the Sorcerer Supreme) tremble and that it gave the wielder "All the power of the past, present and future" and would make its wielder "unstoppable." Tina is also able to do spells without saying them, as evident when she turns herself, Robert Minoru, and the Steins into their villain costumes.

In Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways, Nico successfully cast a tunneling spell using a Latin phrase supplied to her by the Vision, even without knowing its meaning.

Only Nico can summon the Staff, but initially, anyone could cast spells with it. When not in use the Staff retreats into her body, which Nico describes as "feel[ing] like I have something in my eye, but instead of my eye, it's...it's my soul."

To summon the Staff, Nico sheds blood and automatically recites "When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge." Early in volume one, Nico would cut herself to release the Staff, often using Chase's switchblade. As the series progressed, Nico found alternative ways to make herself bleed, including brushing her gums for extended periods of time and having Gert's deinonychus Old Lace bite her arm, during her monthly menstrual cycle, Nico does not need to cut herself to evoke the Staff. The Staff always emerges from the center of her chest, and passes through any clothing she is wearing without damaging it or Nico. However the Staff will damage anyone or anything directly in its way when ejected from Nico's body. For example, the Staff emerges after the vampire Topher begins to drain Nico's blood and pierces directly through the center of his chest. Nico cannot truly control what kind of effect her spells will have: she must conjure up painful memories to cast a spell, as well as imagining anything that makes her feel guilty. In the Mystic Arcana series, Nico is said to have far greater magical potential than even she had realized, as the last living heir to the Clan Minoru; Nico overwhelms Marie LaVeau in a matter of moments, despite all of Marie's magical experience and power, and discovers that the roots of her family legacy are deeper than even she imagined, with her being the only person alive capable of unlocking the Black Mirror. Nico is told that she has stepped onto the Dark Path and that she and Marie shall meet again, "for all those who step onto the Dark Path are destined to travel that road together." On occasions, however, she has cast spells without resorting to the Staff, such as creating an image of Alex Wilder in the palm of her hand.

Time and space are also crucial limitations to the power of the Staff: all spells shown cast by it only have a temporary effect, and the effects of these spells weaken as the distance between Nico and the target increases.

In Runaways vol. 2 #17, it's revealed that if Nico steps into the path of the ashes of dead wizards, her powers won't work at all.

Staff's Defense

Extended magic:

Nico's time with the Witchbreaker has granted her a newer version of the Staff of One, similar to the original but with more adornments and a larger ring (the ball on the original Staff is also removed). Nico can now wield its powers and cast spells with greater proficiency than before, even floating under her own powers instead of using the Staff, as Nico had already cast a variety of levitation enchantments before. Furthermore, Victor Mancha also questions how Nico is floating, apparently indicating that this was indeed not of the Staff's own magic.[31] Nico can now cast a variety of spells without using her Staff, bringing her closer to her parents' abilities. It is unknown where the Staff of One is now, though her new staff, regardless of its precise origins, is summoned in exactly the same method as the former.

More recently, Nico's Staff has displayed an ability to defend itself. The Staff now reacts violently toward anyone other than Nico who attempts to use it, turning into a demon or dragon and devouring that individual.

Roleplaying Statistics

CHARACTER INFO: Info
STRENGTHS: Occult Lore, Mystic Background, Trivia: Death, Heir to Fortune, Leadership
WEAKNESSES: Whenever the Staff is taken from Nico, she has no powers. Also, she cannot repeat spells or they either won't work or cause something completely unwanted to happen.
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STATS
STRENGTH: Ty6
AGILITY: Ty6
ENDURANCE: Gd10
REASON: Gd10
INTUITION: Ty6
PSYCHE: In40
SPEED: Gd10
POPULARITY: Fe0
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DICE
PHYSICAL ATTACK: Good Gd 10 (1d10)
PHYSICAL DEFENSE: Good Gd 10 (1d10)
ENERGY ATTACK: See Below
ENERGY DEFENSE: See Below
PSYCHIC ATTACK: Incredible In 40 (2d20)
PSYCHIC DEFENSE: Excellent Ex 20 (1d20)
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OTHER ABILITIES:
Artifact Creation: Un ability to summon the Staff of One, an incredibly powerful mystical relic has been fused to Nico's soul. The Staff stores itself inside her and comes forth whenever her blood is drawn. After a few uses, the Rod will automatic return itself to inside Nico.
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WEAPONS
Staff of One: Un material, has the following power stunts:
-Power Simulation: Un, allows the wielder to produce any spell effect of up to Un rank, effectly making the wielder a quasi-sorcerer supreme. However, Nico can only seem to use spells once period and should really consider being more ambitious with her spells. Whether this is a true limitation of the rod or simply because of Nico's novicehood remains to be seen.

• Nico now is in possession of the Witchbreaker's Staff, which formerly belonged to her ancestor The Witchbreaker. After the Witchbreaker deemed her worthy, she gave Nico her staff. The staff was not only much more powerful than the Staff of One, it also increased Nico's ability to use magic without the staff.