Minerva Paradizo

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 and the Lost Colony. Minerva is a twelve-year-old girl, described with tight blonde corkscrew curls and glasses (although the glasses are only mentioned once,so it may be assumed that they are either reading glasses or sunglasses). 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. Her mother, whose name is unknown, left their family for their now ex-gardener. She left about a year before the events narrated in Book 5. Although she is only 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 a child prodigy with an IQ similar to that of Artemis Fowl II himself, though in Book 5 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).

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 toward 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, and with that starts to become more of a protagonist. At the beginning, she appears as someone who exploits others for personal gain (i.e. exposing N°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 progress. It is assumed at the end of The Lost Colony that she and Artemis will remain friends. It is uncertain whether this friendship will develop further.

Role in novel

During the fifth book, The Lost Colony, we find out that Minerva has discovered the existence of demons and pinpoints the exact time and place of the next materialisation, along with an assassin going by the name of Billy Kong and her head of security, Juan Soto. It seems that Minerva does not know about the other species of faerie, as she refers to Holly, an elf, as a demon. She successfully defeats Artemis Fowl in the race to capture a demon, N^o1 (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 N^o1. However, Billy Kong believes that demons killed his brother Eric, 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. When Artemis, Holly, and demon warlock Qwan and N^o1 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 teenage 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 are hints throughout the book that Artemis has "blasted feelings of attraction" towards her. Minerva is expected to return in the sixth book. Colfer has stated in an interview that he hasn't actually thought of the relationship or what will happen with Minerva and Artemis.

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.

See also

• Femme fatale
• Evil genius
• Child prodigy