Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Nimona.The Netflix original Nimona holds onto the heart of ND Stevenson’s Eisner Award-winning graphic novel. This adaptation of the science-fiction/fantasy story has the shape-shifting Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) teaming up with the supposedly evil Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) while being pursued by a group of knights, including Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang). The movie follows a similar plot to the book with some notable changes that create a new story for fans of the popular webcomic and for new viewers to enjoy. The film’s lead carries the story in a way that delights an audience, and a couple of other characters are given more depth than their initially written archetypes.

Nimona gives its lead an origin story for their motivation, unlike the graphic novel which only alluded to Nimona’s origins. The movie demonstrates and has Nimona explain that she used her abilities to wander and take on various forms until she befriended a human girl named Gloreth. Gloreth would then grow up to be the kingdom’s legendary knight who once fought Nimona in a more monstrous form, and then started the Institution. In the webcomic, a creature with similar shape-shifting abilities to Nimona is described as “Gloreth’s beast,” which may have been killed by Gloreth or assumed Gloreth’s form. The novel elaborates that Nimona was experimented on as a child, or in the form of a child, after people found out about her abilities. Both the film and book have the explanation of Nimona always being a shape-shifter, but her interactions with people prior to Ballister have been met with fear, hostility, and rejection.

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Netflix’s ‘Nimona’ Changes Characters to Shift the Story
Image via Netflix

The film establishes Ballister’s anti-hero role in the beginning, rather than having it be built upon like in the webcomic. Another notable change was having Ballister’s surname be Boldheart while it was Blackheart in the book. The movie has Sir Ballister Boldheart framed for the crime of killing the queen (Lorraine Toussaint) and trying to prove his innocence as he is being hunted by Ambrosius. However, the graphic novel follows Lord Ballister Blackheart as a villain archetype who comes up with elaborate schemes which make things inconvenient for his nemesis, Ambrosius, and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. In both iterations, Ballister and Nimona soon work together to show everyone in the kingdom the truth surrounding some of the Institution’s more nefarious actions.

Ambrosius is portrayed as someone who is misguided in the movie instead of a traitorous friend like in the graphic novel. In the film, Ambrosius is a descendant of Gloreth, which carries a lot of prestige among the people in the kingdom and guarantees his future role as a knight. However, he is hesitant to apprehend the man he loves. In the webcomic, Ambrosius is someone who committed underhanded actions, like blowing off Ballister’s arm, to become the kingdom’s champion. Ballister won a competition that determined him to be the champion, but after he lost his arm, the Institution forced him into becoming a villain. In both the film and the book, Ambrosius is unaware of the Institution’s nefarious actions and regrets what he did to Ballister.

New Characters for the Adaptation
Image via Netflix

As the story focuses more on Ballister being hunted by the people he saw as his friends, a couple of noteworthy additions are Sir Thoddeus Sureblade (Beck Bennett) and Diego the Squire (Julio Torres). These characters had no presence in the graphic novel, but in the movie, they make a significant impact. Thoddeus is an obnoxious knight who adds some levity while being despicable to everyone around him. The squire serves as a significant clue in the film’s plot on who framed Ballister. These characters may be an interesting change for readers of the webcomic who are familiar with the other characters.

Along with adding these characters, the film also removed a character who had a prominent role in the book’s plot — Dr. Meredith Blitzmeyer. She is established as a magical scientist who tries to harness magic for technological purposes with her Anomalous Energy Enhancer — a device that draws on, as well as interferes with magic, which temporarily traps Nimona in whatever form she is currently in and weakens her (the implication being the device is the only thing that can be used to kill her). Neither the character nor the device makes an appearance in the movie, which focuses on other ways to tell the story and establish its stakes for the lead.

A Timeless Tale with A Terrifying Twist
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The climactic confrontation between Nimona and Ballister has different meanings affecting how the audience leaves the story. In the film, Nimona shifts into a giant creature moving through the kingdom on a path of self-harm, but it is Ballister who stops the conflict by dropping his sword and reaching out to Nimona. Afterward, the Institution tries to kill her by wiping out a significant part of the kingdom. Nimona transforms into another giant creature which stops the attack and seemingly kills her in the process. However, like in the graphic novel, Nimona briefly reveals to Ballister that she is still alive.

In the webcomic, Nimona splits herself into a child, which Ballister saves, and a fire-breathing dragon that is destroying the kingdom. Ambrosius tries to do what he can to stop the dragon, so Ballister gives him the Anomalous Energy Enhancer to give him a fighting chance. Ballister tries and fails to have the child and dragon halves merge back, but Nimona is enraged to know that he told Ambrosius about the device and threatens to kill him. A desperate Ballister mortally wounds the dragon half and saves Ambrosius: a battle reminiscent of a knight trying to save the one he loves from a monster.

Both the webcomic and movie versions of Nimona are timeless tales in the realms of science-fiction and fantasy, which can be symbolic ways to tell the most impactful stories. Nimona does become the monster people expect, but the film and book interpret it in different ways. The movie shows that an exclusionary mindset will create more harm for everyone, while the graphic novel has her become a monster that Ballister chooses to stop. The changes made to Nimona demonstrate a way in which an adaptation can have the same impact as its source material.

Nimona is currently available to stream on Netflix.