Minerva Paradizo
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| Artemis Fowl character | |
|---|---|
| Minerva Paradizo | |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair colour | Blonde, curly |
| Species | Human |
| First appearance | Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony |
Minerva Paradizo is a fictional character from the Artemis Fowl series of books by Irish Author Eoin Colfer and is one of the main antagonists in Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony. She is a twelve-year-old girl, described as very pretty with tight blonde corkscrew curls and glasses (although the glasses are only mentioned once). She was born in Cagnes-sur-Mer, South of France, and her father Gaspard Paradizo is a fifty-two-year-old cosmetic surgeon of Brazilian descent. She also has a five-year-old brother, Beau Paradizo, and her mother, whose name is unknown, left them for an ex-gardener a year before the events described in the fifth book in the series. Although she is only at the tender age of twelve, Minerva has already completed High School and is currently studying for 2 long distance learning degrees. She also won a national spelling bee at the age of four. She is undoubtedly a genius with an IQ similar to that of Artemis Fowl II himself, though in the Lost Colony she is easily outwitted by Artemis due mainly to the superior technology and support he has available to him (as well as his extensive knowledge of fairies) and due to her being humiliated and overruled by her father at a conference she calls at her château.
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[edit] Character traits
Minerva bears many similarities to Artemis in the first book. She is somewhat more self-centered, has difficulty with empathy, and desires fame, fortune, and power. Like Artemis she appears to love her father, and seems to have a certain protective instinct towards her brother Beau whilst also despising him as she considers him a 'little brat.'
However, towards the end, Minerva develops a change in her personality that somewhat mirrors Artemis's progression through the series. She begins to develop a conscience (apparently), and with that starts to become more of a protagonist. At the beginning, she appears as someone who would forsake others for personal gains (ie. exposing No 1 to the rest of the world to win the Nobel Prize), as had Artemis when he kidnapped Holly Short in the first book to gain the fairies' gold. The cause of this change is not particularly clear: It appears to have come partially as a reaction to the humiliating experience of Billy Kong's kidnapping and from Artemis's willingness to help her. However, when Artemis leaves in the time warp, she has hardly gone through a full transformation; it is assumed that during the three year period that he was absent, she grew gradually into her new personality. That is to say, she does not mature "faster" than Artemis; we simply do not see her process. It is assumed at the end of The Lost Colony that she and Artemis will remain friends. That this friendship will develop into a relationship can also be more or less assumed (especially from Artemis's uncharacteristic slips of the tongue around her and the heavyhanded use of the word "puberty"), but the time at which this change will occur is uncertain.
[edit] Role in novel
During the fifth book, The Lost Colony, she discovers the existence of demons and pinpoints the exact time and place of the next materialisation, along with her father, an assassin named Billy Kong and her head of security, Juan Soto. She successfully defeats Artemis Fowl in the race to capture a demon, No1 (actually an imp and an apprentice warlock) and hopes to unveil him in a bid to win a Nobel Prize. Minerva is eventually tricked by Artemis, who steals back No1. However, Billy Kong believes that demons killed his brother, and threatens to kill Minerva, her father and Soto unless he is given a demon to kill. Artemis, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short and No1 come to their rescue - strongly implying that Artemis has feelings for her.
When Artemis, Holly, and demon warlocks Qwan and No1 go to Hybras, Minerva becomes good friends with Butler and starts him reading fiction. Artemis does not return for three years, giving Minerva the chance to feel attracted to the child genius. Butler has told Artemis on his return that Minerva has been talking about Artemis (Artemis this and Artemis that), and thinks very highly of him. There have been not-so-subtle hints throughout the book that Artemis "has blasted feelings of attraction" towards her.
Minerva is expected to return in the sixth book. It is possible that she is interested in Artemis because Artemis risks his life to save hers, even though she hasn't been friendly towards him. It is still possible yet extremely unlikely that she is only interested in Artemis because she wants vengeance on him for outwitting her as after he steals No1 she inwardly vows revenge although Colfer has stated in an interview that he hasn't actually thought of the relationship or what will happen with Minerva and Artemis; meaning that he has not planned the faking personality of Minerva.
[edit] Age
Since Artemis travelled forward in time almost three years at the end of The Lost Colony, this would now make Minerva almost 15, while Artemis would be close to eighteen legally, but still approximately 15 physically. In the Lost Colony Minerva is twelve years old, the same age as Artemis when he first met the fairy people.
[edit] Critical reception
The introduction of Minerva Paradizo in the Artemis Fowl series has gained a mixed response from fans. Some believe Minerva is a great addition to the series since they want a romantic interest for Artemis, as well as a villain who mirrors Artemis's personality (rather like Francisco Scaramanga of James Bond). Others have accused Eoin Colfer of creating a “Mary Sue", due to the fact that Mary Sues in the Fowl fandom are often rich, pretty, female geniuses with an exotic name of Roman or Greek origin.
However, fans on Minerva's side argue that Artemis could in turn be considered a 'Gary Stu', due to his wealth, genius, and ethical development from criminal to near-altruism. They also state that Minerva is merely a female version of Artemis, being smart, rich, bearing the names of classical goddesses, being good looking (though Artemis is never explicitly described as 'attractive', the features he's described as having suggest attractiveness), having a certain lack of social skills.
Conversely, some fans who don't like Minerva argue her extreme similarity to Artemis is redundant, and she is Mary-Sue-ish for that reason.
