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Nod is the deuteragonist of the Blue Sky Studios film, Epic.

Information[]

Other names: Buddy (by Ronin)
Age: 17
Family: Unnamed father (deceased)
Friends: Ronin, Mub, Grub, Nim Galuu, Professor Bomba, Ozzi, Finn, the Leafmen
Enemies: Mandrake, the Boggans, Bufo
Love Interest: Mary Katherine Bomba
Personality: Charming, rebellious, easygoing, free-spirited, selfless, independent, carefree, outgoing, caring, fun-loving, brave, energetic, protective, cheerful, gentle, athletic, romantic, competitive

Formerly: Cocky, impulsive

Personality[]

Nod took risks and has been convinced he does not need anyone else's help. He has an independent mind and preferred to work alone, and not be bossed around by others. Nod is also a great flyer and always coming through in the end. According to his voice actor, Nod is not really rebellious, but rather free spirited, which conflicted with authority figures such as Ronin.

Background[]

Nod was raised by his father, who taught him many things including how to ride a deer. When his father died, Ronin took over raising Nod though they didn't always see eye to eye. Nod eventually joined the leafmen himself and though he has great skills for the task, he isn't fond of working as a team. He'd seen Bomba in the forest before and like Ronin, enjoyed mocking him for the clumsy way that a big creature moves, believing that he was dumb.

Role[]

While out on patrol with his leafman group, Nod became annoyed by how slow they were proceeding and went ahead on his own. But this left him an easy target for a boggan ambush. One of them separated him from his hummingbird mount and while it dropped, and has to be rescued by Bomba, Nod managed to catch a tree branch. The boggans continued firing arrow at him as he tried to run away along the branch.

During this, he was found by his mentor Ronin, though rejected any need of help as he would have to rather handle the trouble alone. Despite this, he fell off of the branch, grabbed by one of the boggans' grackle mounts, and ready to be eliminated. Ronin stepped in to fight his captor, simultaneously asking Nod why he wasn't with his group and disapproving his continued refusal to work with a team. Ronin finished beating off the boggans, telling Nod to get a bird and get back to Moonhaven, then left him still in the grackle's talon with expectation that he could free himself.

Nod does get free and, as Ronin told him, he got a new bird to take him to Moonhaven. But he picked a sparrow, not a hummingbird as Ronin meant, which does not impress his mentor. After dealing with Ronin's disappointment and bossiness again, Nod finally declared that he is done following his orders as he is not a kid anymore. Ronin declared that he just wanted to look out of him and, uninterested, Nod declared that he can stop as he is now officially quitting the leafmen. That said, he hopped back on his sparrow and took off to Ronin's exasperation, but Finn's amusement.

After leaving the leafmen, Nod decided to put his impressive bird flying skills to use by joining the bird racing circuit. However, he joined in a team owned by Bufo, a bull frog, who preferred to fix the races. Though it was Nod's job to lose the race to align with how Bufo was betting, he let his all or nothing nature get the better of him and, even with the others of his racing team trying to sabotage him, he won the race, which did not earn him any praise from his new boss.

He's dragged into the pit area and beaten up by Bufo, who tried to explain "teamwork" to him, which they will know is the reason he was removed from the leafmen, despite Nod's declaration he quit himself. Bufo ordered his thugs to feed the boy to a snake but they are interrupted by the appearance of Ronin, who mentioned throwing him in a hornet's nest would have to be more fun. Bufo greeted Ronin as a "party pooper" and Ronin pointed out that he let them get a hit on the teen, to which Nod marked that they did so twice. The frog and his group will back off and leave, unwilling to fight Ronin over Nod.

Now alone, Nod assumed that his mentor came to drag him back into the Leafmen and refused to go, only to be shocked when Ronin told him Queen Tara had died earlier that day during a boggan ambush. Nod was shocked then gave apologies to Ronin, knowing the two were close. He asked what would have to become of them all without her and Ronin informed him of the need to deliver her Royal Pod to Nim Galuu. Nod volunteered to saddle a bird and join them, but Ronin declared he didn't need his assistance. Nevertheless, when his only other option, which is MK, proved unable to drive a bird, Nod again offered to come which Ronin accepted the second time.

Riding his sparrow with MK, the two became acquainted and Nod offered to show her how to fly a bird, asking she put her arms around him. She refused on the grounds of not knowing him which he accepted but sent them into a dive, forcing her to latch on anyway. Ronin commanded him to perch the bird and Nod did, expecting a lecture. Instead, Ronin pointed out the devastated part of the forest they have entered, proof of Mandrake's forces taking over without Tara to stop them. They could see a single boggan scout flying nearby and Ronin wanted to avoid it in fear of more but Nod, fearless, flew MK right into the zone.

As Ronin had warned, many more boggans came after them and the group was forced to flee. They landed on the group to hide, but Nod and MK were separated from the others, dropping down a hole, where they were confronted by a mouse. Nod immediately knew of the danger and tried to warn MK, who thought the creature cute, though she quickly saw how threatening it was. Nod easily leapt out of the hole and promoted MK to do the same. Yet, unused to her gravity-defying size, she hit her head and dropped unconscious, at the mercy of the mouse. Nod came back down to keep the mouse from attacking her, but his efforts failed as he became the target. Ronin leapt to his rescue once more, slicing the rodent's sensitive whispers which made it run away. He suggested they get moving as where there are mice, there are chipmunks, a fact Nod knew and agreed was a greater danger. Ronin helped MK up and reassigned their seating arrangements so he would take the girl and Nod would take the slugs, in light of what had just happened. Nod was disgusted by the idea. Mub heard this and confronted the leafman. Having noticed the interactions between Nod and MK, believing Nod has a crush on her as well, Mub tried to intimidate the teen with threats and insults, though Nod declared his efforts were only grossing him out. Mub ended his threat by bopping Nod's face with his eyeball, effectively getting the last word.

The group continued on with their mission, though Nod was in charge of the slug and snail. Whenever they had to stop, he was wedged between their slimy bodies which had Mub vindictively laughing at him.

They eventually arrived to the tree of Nim Galuu so they could learn from him more about the royal pod. They found a big crowd of Jinn ha also come, seeking answers as they had noticed the rot spreading. M.K. asked if he was the "wise man of the forest" to which Nod declared him more like the "Crazy uncle". Inside, they watched Nim Galuu give his performance, trying to calm everyone in their fears only to learn mid-show that Queen Tara was gone. To avoid revealing this info, he fled from the stage and met Nod's group, to which they explained the need to learn more about her pod.

Nim took the group down into the tree where the Ring of Knowledge reside, with scrolls on the forest's history. From one of them, he red the instructions that the pod would need to bloom in the moon's light when at it's highest peak. There was also info on what would happen if it bloomed in darkness but that part was missing from the scroll. Now knowing how to bloom the pod and choose the next queen of the forest, the group returned upstairs.

While Nim explained Tara's death to the other jinn and held a party in her honor, Nod approached Ronin, declaring he should relax now that their mission was completed. But Ronin rejected this as they still had to get the pod to Moonhaven. He put Nod in charge of guarding the pod while he would get a message to the other leafmen. Nod was not happy about this and quickly became distracted by MK, who he invited to take a walk with him, leaving the pod in the care of the slugs and the protection of Nim Galuu's tree. He took her out to see a deer passing by, which amazed her. He invited her to come with him for a ride on the antlers, playfully asking her to put her arms around him to which she joked she didn't know him. Still, she climbed up to join him and they let the deer walk them around the forest. Nod mentioned to her that his father was the one who taught him how to ride the dear, this being one of his best memories of him.

Unfortunately, while they were gone, Mandrake attacked Nim Galuu's tree and carried off the pod nd the slugs. When they returned, Ronin was livid at Nod for ignoring his orders and refused to hear excuses from him or MK. To make up for his mistake, Nod volunteered to go into boggan territory for a rescue and while Ronin remarked to this with jokes, the boy pointed out it was super dangerous and might get him killed, which was what he thought Ronin would want. As the general pointed out, what they really needed were disguises and MK offered a way to get some, commandeering Nod's bird to fly him and Ronin to the location she was talking of.

M.K. brought the group to the human house that the leafmen has known about, now revealed to be the home of the "Stomper", a big person who spent a lot of time trying to find them. Nod happily filled in MK about the stomper's determined hunting while Ronin mentioned the various ways the leafmen had been leading him astray. The two go on to mock the giant man, ignoring MK's protest, up until she revealed that man to be her dad and that she was a stomper herself, just shrunken down. She continued that Ronin already knew this and when Nod turned to him, he could only defend that it had been a strange day. MK challenged Nod about his further views on stompers and the boy made a joke that one had stepped on his uncle, horrifying MK. Admitting he was just kidding earned him a punch on the arm while MK stormed away angry. He asked Ronin if perhaps this was too far to which his mentor joked he should try again and be punched harder.

Carrying on with their mission, Nod and Ronin went to Bomba's research board where he had pinned up the various leafmen related items he had collected, including sets of boggan armor. Ronin tried one on and asked how he looked, getting a sarcastic reply form Nod. They were interrupted by MK running from her dog, Ozzie, and then attracting the attention of Bomba. He managed to catch MK in his vacuum machine but on seeing it was his own daughter, he fainted which allowed her to get free. Nod encouraged her to come along and together, with the armor, they headed to Wrathwood.

Putting on their armor, the group slipped into the lair of the boggans. Ronin mentioned having come to Wrathwood before, on a mission with Nod's father. This confused Nod as his father never told him of such an adventure, to which Ronin admit the man never got the chance. This revelation shocked Nod. With so many enemies, Ronin proposed they split up. He through off his disguise and attracting all attention to the "leafman", let Nod and MK keep looking for the slugs. They found them stuck in a hole, still with the pod, and pulled them up. But getting out of the lair was going to be difficult or their large group. Mub - after one unhelpful idea for all to hide in their shells - suggested a plan. The snail and slug used their stickiness to walk across the ceiling while Nod and MK hung from tehri eyestalks, Nod hanging on to Mub. The plan worked pretty well until a couple of the boggans noticed them and tried to stop them, leading to a mid-air chicken match. Nod won, kicking off their attackers, but sent them tumbling down to where Mandrake was fighting Ronin, drawing attention to them. Mandrake summoned the full might of his army to stop then and Ronin sacrificed himself to give them time to escape. Nod at first refused to leave him to which Ronin complimented his thinking like a leafman, but it was too late to get Ronin out. Heavy hearted, Nod saddled his bird with MK and the slugs and left for Moonhaven with the royal pod.

During their solemn ride back, they were joined by Finn and other leafmen who questioned Ronin's whereabouts. Nod could only say he had given them a head start, though Finn could understand Ronin was gone. The group arrived to Moonhaven and the special chamber which Nim Galuu had set up for the blossoming. The Royal pod was placed in the center and began to open, only to have its light suddenly cut off. Bats had swarmed over Moonhaven, commanded by Mandrake's army, in the hopes of corrupting the pod with darkness. Nod joined the other leafmen in armoring up and readying to face the enemy. Finn asked if he was ready for battle to which Nod joked about the heavy odds, questioning why he ever quit. The entire leafmen army charged into battle.

Nod fought valiantly against the bat-riding boggans. At one point, he was knocked from his own hummingbird but managed to take command of a bat, using it to go after Mandrake who was heading towards the queen's fortress. The boggan king infected Nod's bat with rot, disintegrating it from under him and leaving Nod to fall to the ground. He was unhurt from the long fall but was out of the air battle.

He made his way to the Moonhaven fortress, finding Ronin alive but losing to Mandrake. Nod came to his rescue, declaring that not even he was alone, and they managed to push back Mandrake with help from their fellow soldiers. During this fight, the pod finally blossomed (thanks to MK and Bomba driving off the bats) and unleashed its power, sealing Mandrake away in a tree while healing the forest of all his rot.

With Moonhaven now safe, the energy of the pod reconstructed itself into the form of Queen Tara, giving her blessing to a marigold jinn to become the new queen of the forest. With their new ruler crowned, all in the room bowed to her including Nod and Ronin. The former queen disappeared and both leafmen sat down to rest from their mutual injuries, mocking one another for their ragged states. Ronin admit to feeling like a poor substitute for Nod's father but Nod insisted that he'd done the best he could and joked that lately, he'd shown promise as a mentor.

MK cut into this conversation, declaring that they should just admit they love each other which Ronin joked that they just did. Nod commented on MK not being gone and she admit to having missed her chance when the pod bloomed without her. Nod apologized but also declared not being too sorry as he would be happy for her to stay with him. he offered her his hand and she accepted. But a force began to lift her up into the air, both teens trying to hold on. It was soon revealed to be the work of their new marigold queen, fulfilling Tara's promise by using her new powers to send MK back to her proper size. MK worried about saying goodbye to everyone and Ronin mentioned she was now a part of their world. For Nod, he followed her instructions to put his arms around her and the two shared a kiss before she was swept away, their adventure together officially over.

Sometime later, Nod officially rejoined the Leafmen and grew to love his job. Using Bomba's camera and sensors, he made frequent calls to MK. staying in touch. On one such occasion, Mub came to interrupt their call so he could flirt with MK. When Nod fought him on this, Mub engulfed him in his mouth. MK and Bomba had to rush to his rescue.

Appearance[]

Nod has an athletic build, and yet he is lithe and slim. He has messy brown hair, parted at the middle, and hazel-brown eyes. He has a light spray of freckles across his nose. He initially wore the standard armor for Leafmen, but after quitting switched to a simple white short sleeved scruffy tunic, black pants, black fingerless gloves, and boots made of leaves.

Relationships[]

Ronin[]

Ronin became Nod's guardian after the death of his father, who had been his friend. The two had many differences between Nod's free-spirit ways and Ronin's no-nonsense views on duty. Nod found Ronin's constant attention and attempts to mentor him as suffocating, believing he was still treating him like a kid. Similarly, Ronin disapproved of Nod's soloist tendencies, repeatedly trying to teach him about teamwork and sticking together, which Nod struggled with. Despite everything, though, the two did admire and care for one another. Ronin came to Nod's rescue when he was being attacked by boggans, beaten by Bufo's thugs, and ambushed by a mouse. Likewise, Nod's first reaction to hearing of Queen Tara's death was to worry about Ronin's feelings, knowing of their relationship. He also hesitated to leave Ronin behind in Wrathwood until it was clear there was nothing he could do to help him. After the events of the movie, the two reconciled their differences.

Mary Katherine[]

Nod first met M.K. when Ronin picked him up from Bufo's races. At first they were a bit odd to one another due to the fact that M.K. was not a small person. Nod however was unaware of her background. Later Nod takes M.K. on a deer ride and they begin to fall in love and share something in common, they both lost a parent whom they were very close too, Nod lost his father at young age and M.K. lost her mother. One time when Nod mocked M.K.'s father she got angry and punched him which left Nod confused. Later he learned M.K.'s background. After the new queen is chosen, M.K. is being whisked away to be returned to her normal size. M.K. didn't want to leave though and so they embraced each other. After their embrace they kissed each other on the lips for the first time and later when they are chatting through one of Bomba's video cameras revealing they are still continuing their relationship. Their special saying to each other was "Put your arms around me."

Mub[]

It may be apparent that Nod and Mub see eye to eye with each other because Mub sees Nod as a rival for M.K.'s affection. Towards the end Nod and Mub are still fighting over M.K.'s affection, even though Nod is M.K.'s love interesrt. Despite this they are sometimes on good terms.

Grub[]

Not much of their relationship is known since Grub is best friends with Mub.

Character Development[]

After the adventure, Nod apparently gains more respect for responsibility and sacrifices himself for others. He starts to realize what it means to be a Leafman and becomes a team-player instead of a one man show.

Quotes[]

  • "Hey, I'm Nod, by the way."
  • "Come on! You're with us now!"
  • "Don't turn around."
  • (telling her again)"Out! Jump OUT!"
  • "What, you've never seen a Boggan?" (to MK; starting to stand up) "SOMEONE had a happy childhood."
  • "Come on, MK, we've got to go."
  • "I'm not leaving without you!" (to Ronin)
  • "I'm sorry...but not completely sorry." (after MK tells him that she couldn't return to normal size)
  • "You'll have to get through me first!!" (to Mandrake) (from a trailer)

Trivia[]

  • Nod is the only prince from Blue Sky Studios film
  • Nod’s real name is Nicolas Balthazar
  • Was born in EnchanciaNod is one of two characters who has a romantic relationship with Mary Katherine; the other is Mub. But Mub technically does not count because Mary Katherine didn't exactly like him back.
  • Nod is arguably the most foolish of all the Leafmen characters, as he continually throws himself into danger without any thought. On top of this, he does not think that a romantic relationship with Mary Katherine might raise a few problems, the least of which being what happens when she returns to her world.
  • Nod is, like all the Leafmen, based partially on Japanese samurai.
  • He is the first and only prince in Blue Sky Studios film

Notes[]

Gallery[]

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