Marvel’s Midnight Suns showcases the darker side of superheroics with a focus on Marvel’s mystical and supernatural characters. These include familiar faces such as Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider, but there’s a young hero who fights alongside them that’s a bit less well-known. Though she may not be as mainstream as other users of the mystic arts, Nico Minoru is still an incredibly well-liked and important character.
A member of the team known as the Runaways, Nico is in many ways the face of that group and of the young Avengers who came before the debut of Kamala Khan. Now, she’s getting another jump into the mainstream with her primary role in Midnight Suns, being one of the main magic users in the game. For those who’ve never read or watched Runaways, here’s what they should know about Nico before they play as her in the newest Marvel game.
Nico Minoru Is a Member of Marvel’s Runaways
Debuting in the first issue of Runaways, Nico Minoru was created by Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona. Like the rest of the Runaways (made up of her childhood friends), she is the daughter of a team of supervillains known as The Pride. The teens discover their parents’ true nature when they spy on them, witnessing the sacrifice of an innocent teenage girl. Unsure of what to do, Nico and the others run away from home, though they aren’t completely helpless. Many of the teens begin developing superpowers of their own, with Nico’s abilities being the same as her parents’. Her mom and dad were both wizards, and a fateful encounter with their runaway daughter awakened her own mystical abilities.
Nico’s mother tries to shove the Staff of One into her daughter’s chest, but the result is that Nico simply absorbed it. Later, she would discover that bleeding caused the staff to be summoned from her chest, enabling her to use it and perform magical spells. This staff has incredible power, though it also has certain limitations. Nico can’t use it to cast the same spell twice or resurrect the dead. Nevertheless, its power is feared by those with knowledge of the arcane, including the demon Dormammu. Nico tries to distance herself from her parents’ legacy, even briefly using the moniker Sister Grimm instead of her own name. Eventually, she gives up on this idea, embracing her own identity and burgeoning power. She even takes on the role of the team’s leader following a grueling betrayal.
From there, she and the other Runaways would essentially take a tour across the Marvel Universe, interacting with villains such as The Kingpin and even traveling back in time. Nico would go on to be a part of the books Avengers Arena and A-Force, with the latter cementing her importance among other powerful Marvel heroines. This is why her presence in Midnight Suns is so pivotal.
Midnight Suns Finally Lets Nico Minoru Shine
Nico is more well-known than any other member of Runaways, essentially making her the face of that property. Given her roles in other titles such as Avengers Arena, she’s a stand-out character, which is part of why she’s in Marvel’s Midnight Suns. The game has a mystical and supernatural theme, with which Nico Minoru fits right in. Her emancipation from the Runaways makes her more of a solo act, whereas Scarlet Witch has been associated with the wider Avengers and X-Men properties. Thus, she’s truly the only “solo” mystical female superhero at Marvel, at least within a major property.
There’s also the diversity factor, which was a big part of why Nico was pushed the way she was in the comics. A Japanese-American girl, Nico added to the somewhat small pool of Asian superheroes in mainstream comic books. Likewise, her mystical powers and Goth persona were the farthest things from stereotypical, helping to give the character a bit more depth. Later on, she came out as bisexual, adding even further to her minority status. Many of the LGBTQ characters in comics by that point had been white, so Nico’s growing presence in the Marvel Universe became even more important.
Thankfully for those who’ve felt that Nico has been somewhat underutilized in recent years, Midnight Suns recognizes her former prominence. She even has a key role in the storyline, being one of the heroes who help to resurrect the player avatar Hunter to face Lilith. Gamers will be able to use Nico and her magical staff throughout the game’s many missions, seeing the young Runaway fight demons alongside Doctor Strange, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and other major Marvel heroes.
