Okay so I drew inspiration for NIMONA from allll over the place but really, at the root, I think I owe it to these guys:
That’s right, Jango Fett and Zam Wesell. They were in Star Wars: Episode II, that movie you probably saw and then blocked from your memory, but they happen to be my absolute favorite characters in the entire Star Wars universe. They share exactly one 30-second scene together, have about fifteen minutes combined screen time, and neither makes it out alive nor do they perform particularly well during the time they have, but it’s more the IDEA of them. Dang, they look cool. (I mean, isn’t that true for every Boba Fett fan, too?) Did I mention that Zam Wesell is a SHAPE-SHIFTING lady bounty hunter in a universe that contains exactly three women and zero (speaking) female villains? I’m not letting a silly fact like “her actual role in the movie sucks” get me down.
I was way into Star Wars action figures as a kid, my friends and I would get together all the time to perform these really elaborate plays with them. Zam Wesell was almost always the star since I was the loudest, bossiest kid and she was my favorite. We elaborated a lot on hers and Jango’s characters, and by that I mean we gave them completely new personalities, where she was shrill and manic and kind of nuts and he was grumpy and reasonable and they didn’t really get along that well but I guess they were domestic partners or roommates or something because they definitely were living together and raising Jango’s kid. Also I was like eleven years old at the time, you guys, which just goes to show that I haven’t changed at all in the years since.
It’s an incredibly specific archetype actually. Armored, stoic main villain with his sassy, shapeshifting female partner? Check. Even their COLORS mostly match up.
