History ComicBook / Blackbird2018

* VillainsOutShopping: While scanning the patrons of a paragon night club, Nina and Clint spy an ordinary member of Polaris Cabal, which had just attacked her... standing around and having a a quiet drink. This helps reinforce that the cabals are not just magical gangs. There are social groups, whose members run the gamut from militant to (relatively) harmless civilians. When the ones who ''did'' attack her storm in, it is obvious they are ''not'' Polaris's rank-and-file.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Nina's mother, Gloria, died in a car accident while driving away from her husband, Enrique, because he was having an affair. Except [[spoiler: no, she didn't. Nina died in an earthquake and Gloria had her resurrected in a deal in which Gloria faked her own death in the car accident, leaving Enrique with the guilt of having indirectly gotten a member of his family killed. If Nina ''had'' died in that accident, it might be a fair exchange (Enrique has not been portrayed in anything like a positive light so far), but Nina was actually killed by falling masonry whilst huddling under a freeway overpass during an earthquake. Enrique had nothing to do with it, one way or the other. Gloria's parting shot, while probably more an act of supreme negligence rather than deliberate malice, left him with a decade of undeserved guilt over causing her death, greatly contributing to him being an bitter, alcoholic, absentee father — which effectively left Nina and her sister with ''neither parent''. And Nina is becoming an alcoholic herself.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Nina's mother, Gloria, died in a car accident while driving away from her husband, Enrique, because he was having an affair. Except [[spoiler: no, she didn't. Nina died in an earthquake and Gloria had her resurrected in a deal in which Gloria faked her own death in the car accident, leaving Enrique with the guilt of having indirectly gotten a member of his family killed. If Nina ''had'' died in that accident, it might be a fair exchange (Enrique has not been portrayed in anything like a positive light so far), but Nina was actually killed by falling masonry whilst huddling under a freeway underpass during an earthquake. Enrique had nothing to do with it, one way or the other. Gloria's parting shot, while probably more an act of supreme negligence rather than deliberate malice, left him with a decade of undeserved guilt over causing her death, greatly contributing to him being an bitter, alcoholic, absentee father — which effectively left Nina and her sister with ''neither parent''. And Nina is becoming an alcoholic herself.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: Gloria's father, who is also Nina's maternal grandfather. He was the one who forced Gloria to agree to abandon her family as a precondition to resurrecting Nina from the dead (a faustian bargain if ever there was one), and despite Gloria currently being the head of the Iridium Cabal, his influence is apparently still strong enough after ten years to hold her to the terms of the bargain. Gloria herself describes her life under the cabals as "hell", and frankly refers to her parents as murderers.

* MindOverManners: Averted, hard. Memory wipes and spell-based behavior modification appear to be standard operating procedure in paragon society, even among family members. Nina's ability to overcome this was a necessary precondition to both finding her mother and getting to remember that she did so. It is just one example of how contemptuous paragons are of those around them.

VancianMagic: An entire society run on the stuff. Spells are encapsulated into crystals, which are handed out like a cross between street drugs and currency. They are loaded up into a bracelet called a "torque", and fired off like bullets from a gun. each crystal has a limited degree of power, and loses its color as it is drained. And torques can apparently become outdated and replaced.

ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty:

ImmortalityBeginsatTwenty:

* GreaterScopeVillain: Gloria's father, who is also Nina's maternal grandfather. He was the one who forced Gloria to agree to abandon her family as a precondition to resurrecting Nina from the dead (a faustian bargain if ever there was one), and despite Gloria currently being the head of the Iridium Cabal, his influence is apparently still strong enough after ten years to hold her to the terms of the bargain. Gloria herself describes her life under the cabals as "hell", and frankly calls ''both'' her parents murderers.

* GreaterScopeVillain:

* Greater-ScopeVillain:

* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You]]: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her and faking her own death ([[spoiler: she was forced to agree to it as a precondition for having Nina literally resurrected from the dead]]), the total collapse of Nina's family as a consequence, as well as her family's habitual mockery of Nina for her (entirely accurate) insistance on believing that ''something'' happened on the night of the earthquake and that magic was real utterly ruined Nina's life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely outcomes of the life she condemned Nina to live — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a lonely, isolated wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly the consequences of her (admittedly selfless) deal- and her willingness to abide by it years after the fact- accidentally fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.

* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You]]: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her and faking her own death ([[spoiler: she was forced to agree to it as a precondition for having Nina literally resurrected from the dead]]), the total collapse of Nina's family as a consequence, as well as her family's habitual mockery of Nina for her (entirely accurate) insistance on believing that ''something'' happened on the night of the earthquake and that magic was real utterly ruined Nina's life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely outcomes of the life she condemned Nina to live — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a lonely, isolated wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly the consequences of her deal (admittedly selfless) deal- and her willingness to abide by it years after the fact- accidentally fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.

* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You]]: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her and faking her own death ([[spoiler: she was forced to agree to it as a precondition for having Nina literally resurrected from the dead]]), the total collapse of Nina's family as a consequence, as well as her family's habitual mockery of Nina for her (entirely accurate) insistance on believing that ''something'' happened on the night of the earthquake and that magic was real utterly ruined Nina's life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely consequences of constantly gaslighting and mindraping her own daughter — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a gaslighted wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly she fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.

* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You]]: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her ([[spoiler: she was forced to agree to it as a precondition for having Nina literally resurrected from the dead]]), her constant attempts to erase her memories of the event and to prevent her daughter from ever learning about the world she now inhabited utterly ruined her life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely consequences of constantly gaslighting and mindraping her own daughter — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a gaslighted wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly she fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.

* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her ([[spoiler: she was forced to agree to it as a precondition for having Nina literally resurrected from the dead]]), her constant attempts to erase her memories of the event and to prevent her daughter from ever learning about the world she now inhabited utterly ruined her life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely consequences of constantly gaslighting and mindraping her own daughter — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a gaslighted wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly she fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.

* MommyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her ([[spoiler: she was forced to agree to it as a precondition for having Nina literally resurrected from the dead]]), her constant attempts to erase her memories of the event and to prevent her daughter from ever learning about the world she now inhabited utterly ruined her life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely consequences of constantly gaslighting and mindraping her own daughter — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a gaslighted wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly she fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.

* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her ([[spoiler: she was forced to agree to it as a precondition for having Nina literally resurrected from the dead]]), her constant attempts to erase her memories of the event and to prevent her daughter from ever learning about the world she now inhabited utterly ruined her life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely consequences of constantly gaslighting and mindraping her own daughter — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a gaslighted wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly she fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.

** Gloria is [[spoiler: hell-bent on preventing Nina from becoming a full paragon, forseeing disaster of some unspecified form if this happens. Fair enough. If she had responded to Nina's tearful embrace by welcoming her with open arms, letting her back into her life, and simply having a long talk with her about why paragonhood was not what it was cracked up to be, she might have convinced a grateful Nina to go along with it. Instead, she refused to even acknowledge her daughter's presence ''as her daughter was hugging her and weeping in pain and confusion'', and dismissed Nina with a spell meant to erase Nina's memory of finding Gloria, and of her kidnapped sister's very existence, from Nina's life. This was roughly the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull, provoking a furious Nina (who, despite her mother's spell, remembered ''everything'') into raiding and accidentally destroying one of Iridium Cabal's crystal depositories, and directly led to Nina becoming a paragon... in the thrall of her mother's rivals.]]

** Gloria is [[spoiler: hell-bent on preventing Nina from becoming a full paragon, forseeing disaster of some unspecified form if this happens. Fair enough. If she had responded to Nina's tearful embrace by welcoming her with open arms, letting her back into her life, and simply having a long talk with her about why paragonhood was not what it was cracked up to be, she might have convinced a grateful Nina to go along with it. Instead, she refused to even acknowledge her daughter's presence ''as her daughter was hugging her and weeping in pain and confusion'', and dismissed Nina with a spell meant to erase Nina's memory of finding Gloria, and of her kidnapped sister's very existence, from Nina's life. This was roughly the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull, provoking a furious Nina (who remembered ''everything'') into raiding and accidentally destroying one of Iridium Cabal's crystal depositories, and directly led to Nina becoming a paragon... in the thrall of her mother's rivals.]]

** Gloria is [[spoiler: hell-bent on preventing Nina from becoming a full paragon, forseeing disaster of some unspecified form if this happens. Fair enough. If she had responded to Nina's tearful embrace by welcoming her with open arms, letting her back into her life, and simply having a long talk with her about why paragonhood was not what it was cracked up to be, she might have convinced a grateful Nina to go along with it. Instead, she refused to even acknowledge her daughter's presence ''as her daughter was hugging her and weeping in confusion'', and dismissed Nina with a spell meant to erase Nina's memory of finding Gloria, and of her kidnapped sister's very existence, from Nina's life. This was roughly the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull, provoking a furious Nina (who remembered ''everything'') into raiding and accidentally destroying one of Iridium Cabal's crystal depositories, and directly led to Nina becoming a paragon... in the thrall of her mother's rivals.]]

** Gloria is [[spoiler: hell-bent on preventing Nina from becoming a full paragon, forseeing disaster of some unspecified form if this happens. Fair enough. If she had responded to Nina's tearful embrace by welcoming her with open arms, letting her back into her life, and simply having a long talk with her about why paragonhood was not what it was cracked up to be, she might have convinced a grateful Nina to go along with it. Instead, she refused to even acknowledge her daughter's presence ''as her daughter was hugging her and weeping in confusion'', and dismissed Nina with a spell meant to erase Nina's memory of finding Gloria, and of her kidnapped sister's very existence, from Nina's life. This was roughly the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull, provoking a furious Nina (who remembered ''everything'') into raiding and accidentally destroying one of Iridium Cabal's crystal depositories, and directly led to Nina becoming a paragon... in the thrall of her mother's competition.]]

** Gloria is [[spoiler: hell-bent on preventing Nina from becoming a full paragon, forseeing disaster of some unspecified form if this happens. Fair enough. If she had responded to Nina's tearful embrace by welcoming her with open arms, letting her back into her life, and simply having a long talk with her about why paragonhood was not what it was cracked up to be, she might have convinced a grateful Nina to go along with it. Instead, she refused to even acknowledge her daughter's presence ''as her daughter was hugging her and weeping in confusion'', and dismissed Nina with a spell meant to erase Nina's memory of finding Gloria, and of her kidnapped sister's very existence, from Nina's life. This was roughly the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull, provoking a furious Nina (who remembered ''everything'') into raiding and accidentally destroying one of Iridium Cabal's crystal depositories, and directly led to Nina becoming a paragon... with the help of her mother's competition.]]

** Gloria is [[spoiler: hell-bent on preventing Nina from becoming a full paragon, forseeing disaster of some unspecified form if this happens. Fair enough. If she had responded to Nina's tearful embrace by welcoming her with open arms, letting her back into her life, and simply having a long talk with her about why paragonhood was not what it was cracked up to be, she might have convinced a grateful Nina to go along with it. Instead, she refused to even acknowledge her daughter's presence ''as she was hugging her and weeping'', and dismissed her with a gesture. This was roughly the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull, resulted in the destruction of one of Iridium Cabal's crystal depositories, and directly led to Nina becoming a paragon... with the help of her mother's competition.]]

* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Subverted and played with. While Nina's mother did actually have the best possible reason for abandoning her ([[spoiler:it was a necessary precondition for the process which would resurrect Nina from the dead]]), her constant attempts to erase her memories of the event and to prevent her daughter from ever learning about the world she now inhabited utterly ruined her life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and an early grave were the most likely consequences of constantly gaslighting and mindraping her own daughter — a fact which does not seem to have registered with her or made her reconsider her [[spoiler:post-resurrection]] conduct toward Nina in the slightest. Even worse, when Nina's inevitable attempts to figure out what the hell is going on result in a chain of events that leads to the [[spoiler:intended-to-be permanent disappearance of Nina's own sister, whom Nina now relied upon to survive thanks to being reduced to such a gaslighted wreck]], Nina's mother has the gall to blame Nina herself for it. ''And she even tries to erase Nina's memory of her sister's existence.'' For all intents and purposes, Nina's mother is the big bad of the series, because she can't admit how badly she fucked up and continues to fuck up Nina's life.