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| “ | Ever since I was young, I've had the same nightmare. I find a crack in the wall. I yell out, but no one listens. And the crack grows bigger and bigger until the wall crumbles... and the monsters pour in. I begged the queen not to question the word of Gloreth. Not to question what's kept us safe for a thousand years. But she wouldn't listen. Allowing Ballister to hold the sword was the first crack in the wall. And now... we have a monster in our kingdom. [...] I'm sorry, Ambrosius. [...] So yes... I framed Ballister. I killed the queen. Gloreth did whatever it took to keep the monsters out. And so will I. [...] May Gloreth forgive you. | „ |
| ~ The Director revealing her true nature to Nimona, who is disguised as Ambrosius. |
| “ | Ambrosius: Ma'am, someone is turning the cannon into the kingdom. Director: Yes, I know. I gave the order. Ambrosius: But firing them will take out half the city. Innocent people will die. Director: And so will the monster. Ambrosius: But... (The Director hangs up Ambrosius) |
„ |
| ~ The Director showing Ambrosius her true nature. |
| “ | GO BACK TO THE SHADOWS FROM WHENCE YOU CAME! | „ |
| ~ The Director's breakdown, mirroring Gloreth's last words to Nimona. |
The Director is the main antagonist of the 2023 Netflix/Annapurna CGI-animated feature film Nimona, based on ND Stevenson's graphic novel of the same name and also DNEG's second full-length animated feature film.
She is the director of the Institute, a school where knights go to train, who will do whatever she thinks to make sure the kingdom stays safe, no matter what the cost. She was also the one responsible for the death of Queen Valerin by switching Ballister's sword and framing him for the assassination causing him to become a hated individual. She is the arch-nemesis of Nimona and Ballister, also being the latter’s former boss.
She was voiced by Frances Conroy, who also played Elizabeth Hendrick in Law and Order, Moira O'Hara, Mama Polk and Belle Noir in the American Horror Story franchise and Penny Fleck in Joker.
Personality[]
At first, the Director seemed to be a no-nonsense, but kind individual who wanted to protect her kingdom from evil. She seemed to have supported Ballister despite him coming from an impoverished background and seemed shocked by how he seemingly killed Queen Valerin and betrayed her trust. She believes in the idea of Gloreth being the ideal hero for her determination to do what she sees is right and often encourages her knights to be like Gloreth.
However, after it was revealed she was behind Valerin's murder, she shows what she truly is, a ruthless, obsessed, and elitist manipulator who has a hatred and fear of change and does not want any monsters in the kingdom, or for someone of a lower status to become a knight. The Director admits that Ballister being allowed to hold a sword was the first crack in the kingdom's wall and so she deliberately framed Ballister for the queen's murder. Although some of her facial expressions as she does these illegal and manipulative acts could be read as regret, if it is so she does not let it stop her whatsoever.
She sees her actions as necessary, comparing herself to Gloreth in that she did whatever it took to defend her kingdom. Indeed, the Director idolized Gloreth almost as though she were a holy figure whose word should not be questioned or her values and ideals compromised. As Gloreth had decreed those of noble lineage would follow in her footsteps to protect the kingdom, the Director could not and would not accept the inclusion of someone like Ballister, a person of lower status, being admitted into the knighthood because it was apparently against the word of Gloreth. This zealous perspective the Director had of Gloreth was made worse by a recurring nightmare she'd had of a crack in the wall widening despite her attempts to warn everyone, only to be ignored, and the monsters would pour in. This resulted in a paranoia that drove the Director to the extremes she did out of a pathological fear of change that could possibly, however slightly, cause her nightmare to become reality.
The Director held Ambrosius to high standards, purely for the fact he is a descendant of Gloreth, and wished for him to be the example all knights should be, pressuring him and ignoring his own thoughts, feelings, and opinions, citing it was his duty as a knight and as a descendant of Gloreth. When it seemed Ambrosius had uncovered the truth and pressured the Director to confess, she stabbed him in order to silence him and prevent the truth from getting out, proving not even her most favored knight was safe from her paranoia... only to be fooled when "Ambrosius" turned out to be Nimona while Ballister had filmed the Director's confession.
After the truth was revealed about her being the one to kill the queen and how she framed Ballister, the Director lies about how Nimona was her in the video where she admits her actions, and tricks the public to start distrusting each other and continues to see Nimona and Ballister as villains; she does not want anyone to see her as antagonistic and looks afraid of even the idea of being seen as a villain or as the manipulator she truly is. She is rather a good liar as well, and often puts up a calm and stoic front in order to aid with these lies (though occasionally during extreme moments of rage her front dissolves and she acts more hostile and even somewhat animalistic).
When Nimona turned into a kaiju-like creature and started to attack the city, the Director decided to use the kingdom's cannons against Nimona, despite her being in the middle of the city, saying that at least the so-called "monster" would die (alongside half of the population). After Ballister calmed Nimona down, the Director still doesn't care and refuses to change her mind about using the cannons and orders her soldiers to fire. However, when they refused and stand up against her, the Director yells at the soldiers, saying that they were being fooled by Nimona, and proclaims that she is the only one to see Nimona for what she truly is, just like how Gloreth did before her. She also bossed them around, revealing that she seemed to think she was better than them in a slight petty level.
This did not convince the soldiers, and so she fakes regret only for her to shoot a laser from her staff against the soldiers before going to the cannons to fire at Nimona. In her last moments, the Director is shown to despise Nimona, Ambrosius, and Ballister because she sees Nimona as the monster, and quotes Gloreth before the cannons are destroyed by Nimona, showing that above all else, her twisted personality is an effect of her unhealthy idolization of Gloreth.
Appearance[]
The Director is tall and thin middle-aged woman with pale skin and a long neck. She seemingly wears her blonde hair in two buns on either side of her head. She wears a net overtop her head, and a translucent veil around her neck. She wears a long silver dress, and carries a staff with a hand holding a gem. During her first appearance in the film, she seems to be faintly surrounded by a golden glow.
Biography[]
The Director works at the Institute, a school where knights train to protect their kingdom, ruled by Queen Valerin. One day, Valerin decided to break tradition by letting a commoner, Ballister Boldheart, become a knight, despite the role usually being assigned to those in a noble bloodline. Years later, when Ballister is now an adult, he, his boyfriend, Ambrosius Goldenloin, and several others, are about to be knighted by Valerin. When the time comes for the knighting ceremony, after Ambrosius is knighted, Valerin officially knights Ballister, but when she hands him back his sword, it suddenly activates a hidden laser and fires right at the Queen, immediately killing her. Because of this, the entire kingdom believes that Ballister killed her on purpose and has now been declared public enemy number one.
Sometime after the Queen's death, Nimona, a teenage girl with the power to shapeshift into any creature, offers her help to Ballister in order to clear his name. Ballister attempts to prove his innocence by himself, but is immediately thrown in prison. The Director approaches Ballister to state that she was shocked by what happened, but instead of helping him, she decides to ignore him, believing that he couldn't be trusted. Shortly after she leaves, Nimona breaks him out, and proceeds to use her powers to trash the Institute during their escape. While overseeing the damage, the Director told all the knights that there is a monster among them, and Ambrosius, who has the closest bond with Ballister, offers to lead the charge. After nearly being captured by knights in a subway, Ambrosius discovers that the Ballister they tried to capture was actually Nimona in disguise, and while looking over security footage of them boarding the train, the Director spots Nimona in rat form boarding alongside Ballister.
After kidnapping Diego, the Squire of the Institution who handed Ballister the deadly sword during his knighting, Ballister and Nimona demand him to confess on who set the former up. Diego reveals to them video footage on his phone revealing that the Director had swapped his sword with the one that killed the Queen. They decide to use this footage in order to reveal to Ambrosius, who remains loyal to the kingdom, to prove his innocence and the Director is the real killer, but the Director cowardly calls the phone a weapon and Sir Thoddeus Sureblade destroys it. Realizing they're surrounded, Ballister and Nimona proceed to attack the knights. During the battle, Nimona saves a little girl from getting hit by a car, but is still viewed as a monster to everyone, especially the little girl herself who she tries to comfort.
Sometime later, Ambrosius decides to confront the Director to ask her upfront if she really did kill the Queen. The Director reveals to Ambrosius that she has recurring nightmares about the walls of their kingdom cracking, and believes that Ballister becoming a knight would only make them bigger, so to prevent that from becoming a reality, she had to frame Ballister for killing the Queen to make sure he never becomes a knight. After revealing the sword that was used to kill the Queen, the Director proceeds to stab Ambrosius with it in order to keep him silent. However, this all proved to be a ruse, as Ballister had recorded the whole confession, and that the Director was talking to Nimona all along. As they leave, the real Ambrosius confronts the Director, with the latter growling at him in annoyance before storming off.
Afterwards, Ballister and Nimona proceeded to upload their footage online, and it immediately causes the residents of the kingdom to turn against the Director. In desperation, the Director looks through the kingdom's archives and discovers a scroll that reveals that Nimona is actually the creature that first attacked the kingdom a thousand years ago that was supposedly defeated by Gloreth, a female knight whom the Institution looks up to the most. To save herself from being arrested, she shows this information to Ambrosius and then claims to the public that Nimona took her form in the recording to frame her. Ambrosius shows what he learned to Ballister, who then shows it to Nimona, then accuses her of using him in order to create mass hysteria in the kingdom. Offended by this betrayal, Nimona quickly escapes while the knights arrive and apprehend Ballister.
While running in the woods, Nimona comes across a wishing well, where her backstory is revealed. When she was young, she made a wish at the well to have more friends, and the wish granted it by giving her the power to shapeshift. One day, she befriended a young girl, who admired Nimona's shapeshifting powers. However, when the two were spotted playing together by villagers, they saw Nimona in her bear form and accused her of being a monster. While the girls' parents kept her away, the villagers proceeded to attack Nimona, and one of the villagers threw a torch at her that bounced off her body and landed on one of the houses, setting the whole village ablaze. Nimona begs the girl, who is revealed to be a young Gloreth, to stick by her side, but because of the destruction and the peoples' reaction towards her, she instead betrayed her pointing a sword at her and telling her to go away, uttering her infamous quote, "Go back to the shadows from whence you came."
Because of this betrayal, and the ever-mounting thoughts of how she'll be seen as nothing more than a monster, Nimona's true form as a black, kaiju-like beast manifests, and proceeds to head towards the center of the kingdom, causing mass hysteria and destruction. The Director sees this and orders her knights to attack, but when their weapons do little damage, she decides to activate her strongest weapon, a laser cannon mounted on the kingdom wall. Ambrosius witnesses this and tells the Director to reconsider using the weapon, saying that the cannon will destroy half of the city and thousands of innocent lives would be lost, but the Director is dead set on getting rid of Nimona, even if she has to kill innocent people along the way.
When Nimona arrives to the center of the kingdom, she decides to end her life by impaling her heart through the outward-pointing sword of a giant statue of Gloreth. Suddenly, she is saved by Ballister, who comforts her by telling her that he sees her more than what others think. As a result, Nimona reverts back to her original form, where she is embraced by Ballister. As the citizens look on in awe, realizing how much of a tormented soul Nimona really is, the Director orders her knights to fire the laser, saying it's the perfect opportunity. However, her orders are ignored, with Ambrosius saying the threat is over, and they're not going to kill innocent lives over something as small as Nimona.
Because of this, along with Ambrosius saying that they might've be wrong to think that Nimona was bad this whole time, the Director proceeds to use the same weapon she used to kill the Queen to incapacitate him and the other knights so she can fire the laser herself. Nimona, realizing the harm the laser will cause, decides to put a stop to it in an attempt to prove to everyone that she can be a hero. Manifesting herself into a phoenix, she flies right into the laser, which the Director desperately fires, yelling Gloreth's infamous line. This results in an explosion that results in both of their deaths (most likely, though interestingly the Director’s body was never found), finally avenging Queen Valerin.
In the passing months, the kingdom has rebuilt itself and, contrary to what the Director believed, the citizens now hail Ballister and Nimona as heroes. As for her laser, it is completely dismantled. In a final rub-in that she will never know about, despite being thought to have perished when she destroyed the laser, Nimona was successfully able to revive herself, thus allowing her to reunite and continue working alongside Ballister, leaving the Director’s plan in vain.
Quotes[]
| “ | Cadets. There is no greater calling than protecting this kingdom from evil. Never let your guard down, never weaken, and always be the will of Gloreth. | „ |
| ~ The Director's first words. |
| “ | Ballister, today the kingdom will see you for who you really are. | „ |
| ~ The Director to Ballister. |
| “ | Director: Ballister? Ballister: Director? I'm innocent. I swear on Gloreth's name. I don't know how it... how it happened. Director: We all saw how it happened. I feel so foolish and... I trusted you. The queen believed in you. She thought someone like you could be a hero. And it cost her her life. Ballister: Director, please. You know I love the queen. I love the institute. Talk to Goldenloin. Can I speak to Goldenloin? Director: He is as heartbroken as the rest of this kingdom. You won't be talking to anyone anymore, Ballister. Ballister: Please! Please just listen to me. Director: No. I won't make that mistake again. Ballister: Director, give me a chance. Director: We gave you a chance. |
„ |
| ~ The conversation between Ballister and the Director after Ballister got arrested. |
| “ | Let me get this straight. The murderer of the queen escaped with the help of a girl, an ostrich, and a whale? | „ |
| ~ The Director after Nimona destroyed the institute. |
| “ | Enough! There is a villain on the loose in our kingdom. Look at you, acting like common children. Remember your training. Remember who you are. We are born to protect this kingdom. | „ |
| ~ The Director stopping the argument between Ambrosius and Todd. |
| “ | Citizens of the realm, hello. In light of yesterday's horrific attack on the institute, we are taking every precaution to keep you safe. Please do not be alarmed. This is only a test. Go about your normal lives and rest assured that the institute has this situation well in hand. Good day and may Gloreth guide you always. | „ |
| ~ The Director talking about her plans. |
| “ | Is something on your mind, Ambrosius? You can talk to me. | „ |
| ~ The Director to Ambrosius. |
| “ | He's got a weapon! | „ |
| ~ The Director ordering to destroy the phone with the video that shows her changing Ballister's sword. |
| “ | What are you waiting for, captain? | „ |
| ~ The Director ordering Ambrosius to arrest Ballister and Nimona. |
| “ | Sir Goldenloin, is your loyalty to this kingdom or to a knight who consorts with a monster? | „ |
| ~ The Director's words to "Ambrosius" before revealing her true nature. |
| “ | Ambrosius. This explains everything. | „ |
| ~ The Director showing Ambrosius the parchment that shows Nimona like Gloreth's monster. |
| “ | It’s happening. | „ |
| ~ The Director seeing Nimona in her "monster" form. |
| “ | Sound the alarm! Hit it with everything we've got. | „ |
| ~ The Director ordering to attack Nimona. |
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Her real name was never revealed.
- Her comic version has no hair, while her movie counterpart does, but she covers it. Noticeably, her hair being covered mimics a nun’s veil or habit, whereas her obsession with Gloreth could be read as a homophobe who has an obsession with religion and gods (though it could also be read as an unhealthy attraction or obsession).
- Her comic version didn’t approve of Ballister's relationship with Ambrosius, while the movie counterpart is neutral about it and never mentions it.
- In the comic she was killed when Nimona's blood comes to life as a monstrous dragon and then burns her to death. In the movie Nimona transforms into a phoenix and crashes into her killing her while also saving the city.
- The Director talking to Ballister after he was briefly imprisoned can be seen as her needlessly guilt-tripping him, given that she was fully aware that it wasn't his fault for Queen Valerin's death, and is making him feel guilty about it, despite it being completely unnecessary for her to do so, as he was already seen as guilty for the Queen's murder.
- This could also be an attempt to convince herself that, in her own twisted mind, Ballister was entirely at fault for the queen's death attempting to become a knight in the first place and not herself.
- She claims to want to protect her kingdom from any threat. Ironically, she becomes the biggest threat to the kingdom herself through killing the queen and then trying to destroy half of the city just to kill Nimona.
- This was exemplified when Nimona flew past a mural depicting Gloreth fighting against a monster, with her light shining from Gloreth's position towards the enemy, showcasing that Nimona was the hero while the Director was the true monster.
- The Director's design is highly ironic, as the white and yellow colors she sports in her clothing are commonly regarded as the colors that represent a heroic or good person, which utterly contradicts her actual personality, a similar pattern other villains in fiction have commonly done.
- In a further twist of irony, her design also appears to be based of two Star Wars heroes, with her hair bearing a resemblance to Princess Leia's buns and her face and outfit bearing a resemblance to Padme Amidala.[1]
External Links[]
- The Director on the Pure Evil Wiki
- The Director on the Nimona Wiki