| “ | "The Staff of One had made its way to the vaults of our academy for safekeeping. She considered it her birthright. Morgan convinced me to steal it.". | „ |
| ~ Tina Minoru to Nico Minoru. |
Tina Minoru, is one of the secondary antagonists of the Hulu series Runaways. She is a sorceress, the co-founder and CEO of Wizard and a member of PRIDE. She is the wife of Robert Minoru and the mother of Amy Minoru and Nico Minoru. Minoru assisted Leslie Dean in the management of the organization and took part in the rituals intended to revive Jonah, wielding the Staff of One. She was devastated by the death of her older daughter Amy, which caused her to distance herself from the rest of her family, especially her daughter Nico Minoru. However, they were able to slightly bond when she discovered the Staff of One and Minoru taught her how to wield it.
She was played by actress Brittany Ishibashi, who also plays Karai in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows.
Biography[]
Early life[]
| “ | "The Staff of One had made its way to the vaults of our academy for safekeeping. She considered it her birthright. Morgan convinced me to steal it." | „ |
| ~ -Tina Minoru to Nico Minoru. |
Minoru in a remote time studied the mystical arts in an academy where she became well-versed in the practice of Magic. During her training, she was contacted from the Dark Dimension by Morgan le Fay (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a powerful witch who pretended to befriend Minoru and convinced her to steal the Staff of One, which was kept in Minoru's academy's vault. Minoru was able to steal the artifact, but before handing it over to le Fay, she realized that le Fay had been manipulating her in her own interest. Minoru thus severed her ties with le Fay and decided to keep the Staff for herself as she was attracted to its power.
Joining Pride[]
| “ | "We made a deal with the Devil."
"And the Devil will have his due." |
„ |
| ~ -Geoffrey wilder and Tina Minoru |
Along with her husband Robert, Tina Minoru was recruited by Jonah to form PRIDE, a so-called charity which would serve as a front for criminal rituals meant to periodically revive Jonah. Thanks to the resources allocated by Jonah, Minoru and Robert started the high-tech company Wizard, which soon became incredibly famous in Los Angeles. Minoru would later claim that the Staff of One she had previously stolen had been created in Wizard's labs.
Minoru used the Staff of One during PRIDE's rituals to create a sound barrier to make sure that the sacrifices perpetrated in the Wilder Mansion's basement were not interfered in by anyone. Along with the rest of PRIDE, Minoru's first victim was Brooks Watten, a young member of the Church of Gibborim. Once the sacrifice was over, and while many other members of PRIDE were horrified by what had happened, Minoru admitted that she knew they would have to kill Watten, and warned them that the crime had been recorded with the video being uploaded on Wizard's servers. Minoru explained that although she felt sorry for Watten, they had to carry on with the rituals, where else Jonah could decide to sacrifice either them or their children.
Season 1[]
After the death of their daughter Amy, and after 2 years passed, Tina and Robert still continued with their work in Wizard and helping The Pride continue sacrificing children for Jonah (unaware that he had killed their daughter).
Minoru and her husband Robert then went to the Wilder Mansion for another PRIDE meeting, which was supposed to be concluded by the last sacrifice they would have to perpetrate. During the reception preceding the ritual, Minoru was annoyed by Stacey Yorkes asking her to fix her WizPhone, since she did not consider herself to be the one to deal with such customer issues. Minoru and the rest of PRIDE then reviewed the file of their next victim, Destiny Gonzalez, and agreed to proceed with the ritual.
Without knowing that his daughter nico and the rest of his friends witnessed the act and they would conspire to stop them.
Nico would discover the Staff of One and she kindly decided to teach him how to use it, Once Nico successfully used the Staff so she would no longer Minoru, which slightly annoyed Minoru, Minoru detailed how the Staff worked and explained that it had been manufactured in Wizard's laboratories. Minoru also told Nico that the Staff had been programmed to work with Minoru's DNA, but that Nico could still use it since they were of the same blood.
After finding out that her husband was cheating on her with Janet Stein, she left there crying uncontrollably, while without knowing nico and alex wilder had entered her office.
Personality[]
"She's a lot scarier when she's quiet." ―Kincaid[src]
Tina Minoru is a cold, stern and ruthless woman. As the CEO of Wizard, she displayed considerable authority and was described as incredibly intimidating by all those who knew her, including her own family. Her cold pragmatism made her a valuable member of PRIDE who Jonah and Leslie Dean could count on, to the point that many in PRIDE, including Geoffrey Wilder, outright suspected her of having murdered Gene and Alice Hernandez, when really it was Dean who perpetrated the crime. Even Minoru's own daughter Nico Minoru admitted that she would not be surprised should her mother be revealed as a criminal.
Minoru remained cold-blooded in almost every circumstance, even the harshest ones, and was described by the Magistrate's Daughter possessing her as a "control freak" and a very difficult host to manipulate. One of the rare things which could cause her to lose control was the Staff of One and its tremendous power, with Minoru being sometimes overrun by the artifact, leading her to brutally attack Karolina Dean, which could have tragically ended had Nico Minoru not found the right words to stop her mother.
Beneath this icy demeanor, Minoru has a softer side she is very unwilling to show, and she actually loves her family in her own way. The loss of her daughter Amy Minoru devastated her, reinforcing her already stern behavior, to the point that she forbade anyone in the Minoru Mansion to enter Amy's room. Minoru also loved her husband Robert, but was unable to really show it, causing him to find affection in Janet Stein's arms. The reveal of this affair left Minoru deeply heartbroken, and it was the first time that Nico Minoru saw her crying. Nevertheless, she still loved Robert and refused to let him give his life to resurrect Victor Stein, ultimately restarting a relationship with him.
Minoru also hoped to build a solid bond with Nico Minoru, despite their numerous differences and the growing distrust she had towards her mother. Minoru insisted that she loved Nico Minoru and that she wanted to protect her, especially against Jonah, teaching her how to use the Staff of One and giving it to her so the Runaways could protect themselves while being on the run. During this time, she showed concern about Nico Minoru and was determined to bring her home. Eventually though, their relationship was seriously damaged when they fought against each other during the Chase of the Runaways, as Minoru ultimately decided she was willing to hurt her daughter to force her to come back.
After being freed from her possession, Minoru's overall personality and attitude towards Nico Minoru was drastically altered. She became far more mellow and accepting than she had been before, notably playfully bantering with Nico Minoru at times and commending her on her impressive combat skills, noting that the karate lessons she had paid for had been “worth every penny”. She also reconciled with her former PRIDE colleagues during this time, specifically Leslie Dean, who, on a previous occasion, was ready to angrily engage her in a physical fight. With them, she sought to atone for PRIDE's mistakes, determined to save Molly Hernandez from the Coven as one good act to truly protect their children. Minoru's reforged love for Nico Minoru was made evident when she willingly shortened her own life to banish Morgan le Fay back to the Dark Dimension to save Nico Minoru and the Runaways.
Powers and Abilities[]
Magic: After relinquishing the Staff of One to her daughter, Minoru turned back to traditional magic, just as she did before she obtained the staff in the first place. She is notoriously skilled in a variety of different spells and under the right circumstances, has been shown with the ability to go up against Morgan le Fay. She notably quickly ended both Robert Minoru's and Molly Hernandez's enthralment, blocked the arrival of le Fay's soldiers from the Dark Dimension and eventually cast a spell which banished le Fay back to the Dark Dimension. She was also knowledgeable in blood magic, successfully imbuing salt with her blood to make it more powerful against le Fay even though it cost her years of life expectancy and she admitted that she had never done such a thing before. Despite not being a practitioner of dark magic, she was also able to read the sigils used by le Fay for her spell to merge the Dark Dimension and Earth.
Dimensional Travel: With the help of her daughter, Minoru was able to open a violet portal to be transported to Earth.
Spell Casting: Using a Darkhold spell, Minoru was able to send Morgan le Fay back to her dimension.
Former Powers[]
"Stop the ship! What's wrong? Why won't it work?" "Because it's Nico's now. Completely." ―Tina Minoru and Robert Minoru[src]
Staff of One Capabilities: Minoru, along with her daughter, could activate the Staff of One, a powerful weapon that allows the user to do almost anything by psychic means. Unlike her daughter, Minoru did not need to speak her commands for her spells to be cast, and conversely could use spells based on the pronunciation of a full sentence while Nico thought that she was limited to a single word. However, during the Battle at the PRIDE Construction Site, Minoru realized that she could no longer use the Staff, which as of this moment fully belonged only to Nico.
Force-Field Generation: Minoru is capable of constructing various barriers of light, such a soundproof barrier and an indestructible glass-like crystal barrier to prevent her family from entering her deceased daughter's room.
Disintegration: Minoru used it to prevent her husband's death by disintegrating one of the capsules that was to sacrifice him.
Strangulation: Minoru used the Staff of One to cause Graciela Aguirre to choke.
Weapon Calling: Minoru summoned the staff from Nico's hand while she was in the middle of a spell.
Electricity Manipulation: Minoru used this ability to prevent Nico from calling the police when Nico's sister supposedly committed suicide.
Thermal Manipulation: Minoru was able to freeze pool water Molly fell into. It was strong enough that even Karolina and Molly were unable to break it.
Fire Manipulation: Minoru used this ability to burn Nico's staff when she thrust it into the Staff of One.
Abilities[]
"The muscle memory of her physical skills, though? That's still here." ―Magistrate's Daughter to Nico Minoru[src]
Expert Martial Artist: Minoru is proficient in hand-to-hand combat, and was able to gain an upper hand against her daughter.
Staff Mastery: Minoru is proficient in using a staff in melee combat. She was able to use the Staff of One as a melee weapon against Nico Minoru, Molly Hernandez, and Karolina Dean, and was able to hold her own against the three.
Expert Businesswoman: Minoru was the CEO of Wizard, a tech company she founded with her husband, and her management of the company led it to be widely recognized thanks to high-quality products which were massively used by customers.
Bilingualism: Minoru is fluent in English, and can speak and understand enough Japanese to understand her husband's apology to her.
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Tina Minoru was a dark wizard along her husband Robert.
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