Minerva Paradizo is a woman who was born in Cagnes-sur-Mer, South of France. She is an adversary to Artemis in The Lost Colony, trying to subvert his plans around the discovery of the demon fairy family, that are still stuck in Limbo after 10,000 years.
Minerva is a twelve year old girl at the time of The Lost Colony, but fifteen by the end of the book, after the three years having passed while Artemis and Holly were in Limbo.
When she is reintroduced in The Fowl Twins Get What They Deserve, she is presumably in her early to mid twenties, and who is now the mother to a human-fairy hybrid named Numi.
Personality[]
Though Artemis and Minerva were both child geniuses, with seemingly similar IQs and interests, their beginning motives were quite different. At the start of Artemis Fowl, Artemis is a ruthless and cold person, whose only goal is riches. Minerva, however, is somewhat more compassionate in her plans. Her goal, in contrast to Artemis's, is instead to protect humans from an attack by that species, and winning the Nobel Prize.
She also has better social skills, possibly due to having a sibling. She can be superior, authoritative, and arrogant due to her intelligence, especially with people she deems less intelligent, but does love her family, placing their safety before her project, and showing them obvious affection. She also retains some "little girl" traits and behaviors, like panicking when her father is hit by a knife. While speaking in English, she sometimes switches to French at the moments of strong feelings. This also hints at her being more sensitive and emotional than Artemis.
Since Artemis has not seen her for only one day but she has not seen him in three years due to the time warp in Limbo, it is unknown if she has changed, though this is likely.
In The Fowl Twins Get What they Deserve, Minerva seems to be very gentle with her daughter, Numi, by mentioning the things she likes, for example .unicorns.
Accomplishments and Traits[]
Although Minerva was only 12 at the time, she had already completed high school and was studying for two long-distance learning degrees - Quantum physics and psychology. Foaly suspects Minerva might even have a doctorate in chemistry under another name. She also won a national spelling bee at the age of four, other than these, she has kept herself hidden from the world to come out and show the press her demon surprisingly, and for no one knowing her existence and attempting sabotage to her plan.
She is a child prodigy with an IQ similar to that of Artemis Fowl II himself, though in The Lost Colony, she is easily outwitted by Artemis mainly due to the superior technology and support he has available to him (as well as his extensive knowledge of fairies). By the end of The Lost Colony, due to the time warp, she is 15 years old. Butler tells Artemis afterwards that he, mentally and physically, is the same age as Minerva.
Originally, similar to the former Artemis (who had not met Holly) she shows his traits of ruthlessness, deception and arrogance, even to people far older than her. Towards the end of the book, she is kidnapped by a demon-obsessed former employee, and is traded for N°1, and shows a softer side—comforting Butler when Artemis disappears, and worrying for her father. She was also referred to as "Eloise" during a scene involving Taiwanese police when Butler poses as "Franklin Arnott" from New York and Minerva is referred to by Butler as his daughter.
During the three years Artemis is missing, she becomes good friends with Butler, encouraging him to read fiction, and presumably interacts with the other Fowls on some level. She is described by Butler as "quite a beauty, and sharp as a samurai sword too" with suggestions she has fallen for Artemis during his absence. Artemis does not seem to regard this negatively, hinting feelings for her as well.
Appearance[]
Minerva is described to have “Tight, blonde corkscrew curls” and glasses. She is described as quite attractive by Artemis Fowl.
Adult Minerva has unruly red hair, which has been changed from the blonde corkscrew curls she used to have, and beautiful swirly gnommish tattoos.
Biography[]
The Lost Colony[]
She lives with her family at the Paradizo Chateau in the South of France in a little town called Tourrettes sur Loup. 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, who has quite a love for sweets, chocolate in particular. Her mother, whose name is unknown, left her family and ran off with the gardener about a year before the events in The Lost Colony.
The Fowl Twins Get What They Deserve[]
Minerva is seen and mentioned for the first time since The Lost Colony. Minerva now seems to have lots of information about fairies, squirming in the bad side of the fairy law with her partner, who was a fairy. Unfortunately, ACRONYM agents killed her partner, leaving her alone with her hybrid daughter Numi. She seems to be very gentle with her daughter. Numi is the only named human-fairy hybrid in the series.
She mentions that Artemis used to be her boyfriend until he realized that his "only soulmate" was himself. She recalls a memory when Artemis took her to a bowling alley, wearing a weird suit/tracksuit combo. She thought she'd be mortified, but it was actually endearing.
She has also been working with Nord, Mulch's cousin and accomplice, who has been mentioned several times in the Artemis Fowl book series.
Trivia[]
- Before the release of the book, Colfer stated that she would not make an appearance in The Atlantis Complex, as he said she was involved with a skier in the Alps Maritime.
- Her first name, Minerva, is the Roman name for the goddess of wisdom, Minerva.
- Minerva and Artemis are both named after Greek and Roman virgin goddesses. Minerva is named after Minerva (Athena), the goddess of wisdom. The two names (Artemis and Minerva) also have the same number of letters.
References[]
- Illustration by aloysius-wishes on tumblr, a now deactivated account.