| Ghanima Jones | |
 |
|
| Portrayed By | Liv Tyler |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Date of Birth | February 12, 1980 |
| Age | 29 |
| Zodiac Sign | Aquarius |
| Aliases | Nima, Nim, Neems (only by Lee), Izar Kumari, qwnage |
| Place of Birth | New York City, NY, USA |
| Current Location | New York City, NY, USA |
| Occupation | Owner of The Secret Lair; Otaku no Miko; 2009 Eisner Award-winning artist and writer of critically acclaimed graphic novel My Hero |
| Known Relatives | Billy Jones (father; missing), Mary Jones (mother; missing), Leto Jones (twin brother) |
| Significant Other | None, unless her cat and dog count. |
| Known Abilities | Fangirldom (+29) |
| First Appearance | Do You Get Combat Pay For That? |
| Dark Future | Some Are Darker Than Others |
Nima Jones is the owner of long-time East Village comic/gaming/collectibles shop The Secret Lair, which she inherited when her parents disappeared in 2004. Most people are shocked to discover that Lee is not only her brother but her twin.
In 2007, after learning that superpowers exist and that she seemingly has none, coupled with the heartache of discovering what really happened to her parents, she coped with all the ensuing angst by leaving NYC and opening a Lair branch in Philadelphia. By 2009, The Secret Lair was a well-established and highly successful franchise, now including a store in Boston.
The first installment of her critically acclaimed graphic novel series entitled My Hero followed, which won the 2009 Eisner Awards for Best Graphic Album (New), and for Best Writer / Artist. Those who know her would be acutely aware that the book isn't a metaphor for anything; it is a heartfelt confession about the turmoil of being mundane in a world where everyone she knows has turned out to be Evolved, full of thinly-veiled characters based on people she really knows.
To say that she's struggling to come to terms with the fact that her long-missing parents are apparently supah powahz obsessed whackjobs who despise her and her supah powahz hating brother for never developing supah powahz is a gross understatement. If that weren't bad enough, her supah powahz hating bro actually has supah powahz. For that matter, pretty much everyone she knows does… except herself, that is.
History
Billy and Mary Jones loved comic books, fantasy and science fiction. They met at a sci-fi convention, had a Starfleet wedding, and their family business – a comic book and gaming store called The Secret Lair – was their pride and joy. What the world didn't see in these two eccentric young folks, though, was an obsession. A dangerous one. Maybe it was an encounter earlier in their lives with the Evolved still hidden, or a particular twist in a strand of acid they dropped at a Lord of the Rings-themed party, or a misplaced government document that ended up mimeographed in their hands, but both of them had become convinced that superpowers were real.
Their whole lives were dedicated to this obsession, to obtaining such power for themselves – and when that proved unlikely or impossible, gaining them for their children. With the hard-white light of their madness visible like a beacon, they – and their twins Ghanima and Leto, named after the twins in Frank Herbert's Dune series – became the catspaws for much more serious and nefarious forces.
The Joneses subjected their children to strange and dangerous experiments, like dropping them off buildings into securely fastened firefighter nets. There were unusual medicines, herbs, and supplements. (This only resulted in Nima developing an interest in homeopathy.) All the additives that mom put in their food merely ended-up in the kids just thinking she couldn't cook. (Subsequently, Nima went on to become quite the wiz in the kitchen.) Even simple family games involved tests of psychic ability. (It was a shock to learn that Candyland isn't ordinarily played with Zener cards rules.) By any objective measure, the Joneses were mad beyond belief.
The kids never saw it, though, thinking their parents merely eccentric, when they were old enough to understand. By the time their memory was sequential enough to realize what was normal and what wasn't, their parents had, after years of constantly trying, given up their more extreme methods of awakening super-abilities. The obsessions of Billy and Mary were disappointed. Crushingly disappointed. Though, like the obsession itself, they hid it well from their children, and they certainly had sufficient and genuine love for their twins that their upbringing was only a few degrees off from normal.
At first, Nima and Lee saw their parents’ foibles about comics and superheroes and assorted überpowers as a shared interest. As time went on, Lee came to find it to be an embarrassing, mortifying mark of social outcast, whereas Nima enjoyed martial arts training and playing D&D. She saw learning Quenya and Klingon – which their parents insisted upon for both kids – as no less worthwhile than learning Spanish (a must-have growing-up in NYC). At her parents prompting, she even joined the track team, and still is an avid runner, even if she lacks the super speed and enhanced jumping skills they hoped might be triggered.
Billy and Mary never did give up on the idea of their children becoming more than human, though, and were always trying this or that behind their backs. One day, in 2004, the debt from one of their Faustian deals came due and they disappeared without a trace.
When it happened, Nima was nearing the completion of her final year at NYU's Stern School of Business, where she was getting an MBA. Lee continued to rebel against the family ways and went as far away as he could muster – UCLA – and ended-up getting a Masters degree in something, ironically enough, impractical. Even so, they came together to grieve a loss that, still unsolved and unresolved, they never really understood.
Nima honored her parents memory the way she felt they would have wished, turning her considerable business skills to saving the old, musty shop that had been the center of their lives. Lee, by contrast, wanted nothing to do with the comics that had always driven him crazy. Despite moving back to NYC, he has nothing to do with the shop, other than denounce its uselessness in a variety of snarky ways. All differences aside, the twins remained very close, harboring much love that is laced with their bickering.
Well, at least before life as they knew it went to Hades in a hand basket.
Timeline
Quotes
"Dude, you've just been qwnd. That's a whole letter more of pwnage. That's enough pwnage that you could be leased out to someone."
"Mmm. Twizzlers."
"That's the thing about hawt seXX0rs: they make even the smartest of people dumb."
"Yeah. Just what we need: serial killer fetishists with a kink for arson."
Trivia
- Remember the sketch book that Isaac Mendez gave to the Courier Fanboy in Season One? Nima has a digital copy that C.F. let her scan, back in 2007.
- Shortly after Return of the Jedi was released, Nima and Lee got a border terrier that was named Wicket W. Warrick. A good and true companion, he died in May of 1999. Panthro, the Russian blue cat, arrived in January of 2003. Chewbacca, the large mutt of shaggy brown, joined the family in August of 2005.
- Nima has a great talent for costuming and always places in the costume contests at the conventions she attends, often winning Best of Show. Yes, she's made Princess Leia's slave outfit, Uhura's 1967 Star Trek uniform, and a wearable replica Samus Aran's armor from Metroid Prime.
- In addition to Spanish and Japanese, Nima fluently speaks Klingon and Quenya (Tolkien's High Elvish). Thanks to four years of French in high school, and conversing with Lee, she's rather proficient.
- Jones brand green apple soda, for the win!
- 98 St. Mark's Place is most famous for being on the album cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti. It can also be seen in the video for the Rolling Stone's song "Waiting On A Friend". Nima has lived her entire life in an apartment on the 3rd floor of a building that is one block west.
- Currently holds sandan rank in Kyokushin karate and Qinghu - si duan rank in Wushu.
- An active member of New York Jedi, her persona, Izar Kumari, is a Teräs Käsi master and Jedi Knight.
- First crush was Han Solo. Second crush was Westley from 'The Princess Bride'. Totally <3 Mark Hamill for his voicework, even more than for being Luke Skywalker.
- Huge fan of Kaiju Big Battel.
- qwnage is her Xbox Live user name. Part of a team called Karmageddon, which also includes members MyLittlePwny and nyninja1116.
- For over a decade's worth of holidays, Nima has brought homemade baked goods to the local fire station and police department. She's on a friendly, first-name basis with a lot of Ladder 3 and the 9th Precinct. In her book, members of the FDNY and NYPD are real heroes.
- Has been named a Reader Babe at Seanbaby.com. In her acceptance speech, she thanks The Jumping Bomb Angels.
Themesong
Pop Will Eat Itself - 'Can U Dig It?'
('Wise Up! Sucker' video is an extra bonus, although it really has nothing to do with Nima.)