Honey Lemon (Aiko Miyazaki) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is commonly associated with the Japanese team known as Big Hero 6. Created by Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau, she first appeared in Sunfire & Big Hero 6 #1 (September 1998).

Honey Lemon
Honey Lemon
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceSunfire & Big Hero 6 #1
(September 1998)
Created bySteven T. Seagle
Duncan Rouleau
In-story information
Alter egoAiko Miyazaki
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsBig Hero 6
Abilities
  • Purse of hammer space
  • Trained martial artist
  • Brilliant scientist
  • Genius intellect

A re-imagined version of Honey Lemon appears as a young American woman in the 2014 Disney animated film Big Hero 6 and television series, voiced by Genesis Rodriguez and in the video game Kingdom Hearts III. She is a quirky chemistry whiz who has a kind heart and tries to find the good in everything. She has a purse that can mix different chemical elements, allowing her to create balls that she uses as explosives or traps.

Publication history

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Created by Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau in their spare time while working on another project, Honey Lemon was intended to appear with the rest of Big Hero 6 in Alpha Flight #17 (December 1998). However, the team first appeared in their own self-titled three-issue miniseries by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Gus Vasquez, which due to scheduling issues, was published before Alpha Flight #17.[1][2] The character appeared with the team in a subsequent five-issue miniseries which was launched by Marvel Comics in September 2008.

Fictional character biography

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Aiko Miyazaki was enrolled in the graduate program at the Tokyo University of Science when she was recruited by Naikaku Jōhō Chōsashitsu (Naichō), Japan's premiere intelligence agency. Miyazaki's sharp intellect and stunning looks made her a prime candidate for secret agent status, and she was promptly placed on a government research and development team. Although Miyazaki's team was responsible for several innovations in surveillance technology, by far their most significant invention was a cluster of artificial, miniature wormholes. At Miyazaki's suggestion, the wormholes were contained within an innocuous woman's purse so they could be applied in the field without attracting undue attention, enabling the purse to contain virtually any object, no matter how large.[3]

Soon after, the top-secret consortium of Japanese politicians and business entities known as the Giri began recruiting candidates for Big Hero 6, which was to become Japan's premiere superhero team. Inspired by the exploits of Sunfire, Japan's national superhero, Miyazaki persuasively lobbied her superiors in Naichō for a spot on the team. Graduating to full-fledged "secret agent" status, Miyazaki adopted the code-name "Honey Lemon" (inspired by her favorite television program of the same name). As the most caring and compassionate member of the team, Honey Lemon quickly found herself at odds with teammate GoGo Tomago, a tough-talking ex-convict who felt that Honey Lemon received special treatment because of her looks and intellect. However, after several heated squabbles, the two eventually learned to appreciate one another and became good friends.[3]

She seemingly became attracted to the team's newest potential recruit, Hiro Takachiho, inasmuch as she kept smiling at him in a flirtatious way. Later, Honey helped overthrow a menace called Everwraith and saved Japan from destruction.[volume & issue needed]

She was only briefly seen afterwards, helping Sunfire out in Canada.[volume & issue needed] Sometime later, a mysterious individual used a machine to mind-control the entire team of Big Hero Six and they were sent to Canada once again, where they fought the newest incarnation of Alpha Flight until Sasquatch discovered the plot. Honey Lemon was, along with the rest of the team, brought back to normal, and they all returned to Japan to try to discover who mind-controlled them.[4]

Powers and abilities

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Honey Lemon's Power Purse (also known as the "Nano-Purse") contains a series of miniature, artificial, inter-universe wormholes, granting her limited access to an indeterminate number of worlds and dimensions. The unstable, fluctuating nature of the wormholes makes accurate long-term mapping of them difficult. Before deploying in the field, Honey Lemon typically gathers a large arsenal of supplies, shrinks them to microscopic size using a combination of Pym Particles and cutting-edge nanotechnology, and stores them in miniature pocket universes only accessible via the Power Purse's wormholes. In the field she can instantaneously retrieve items of her choosing restored to their original size. [3]

The Power Purse's wormholes also grant access to a number of full-sized, inhabited dimensions. For instance, the Microverse planet of Coronar (home world of former Big Hero 6 member Sunpyre) is accessible through the Power Purse. The total number of dimensions accessible via the Power Purse has yet to be determined. Although Honey Lemon can use the Power Purse's wormholes as a method of personal transportation, she only does so in rare instances when her life is in danger, as a trip through the Power Purse is often a very unpleasant experience for carbon-based lifeforms.[3]

Honey Lemon is a brilliant scientist who often keeps her opponents off-guard by feigning ignorance. As a secret agent of the Naichō intelligence agency, she is extensively trained in various martial arts, including aikido, judo, jujutsu, karate, Shaolin kung fu and tae kwon do.[3]

Reception

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Accolades

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  • In 2020, Scary Mommy included Honey Lemon in "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic" their list.[5]
  • In 2020, CBR.com ranked Honey Lemon 7th in their "Marvel Comics: Ranking Every Member Of Big Hero 6 From Weakest To Most Powerful" list.

In other media

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Disney version

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Honey Lemon
Big Hero 6 character
 
Walt Disney Animation Studios re-imagining of Honey Lemon
First appearanceBig Hero 6 (2014)
Adapted by
Voiced byGenesis Rodriguez
In-universe information
NicknameTall Girl (by Karmi)[6]
GenderFemale
OccupationChemical engineering student
AffiliationBig Hero 6

Honey Lemon appears in Big Hero 6, voiced by Genesis Rodriguez.[7][8] This version is a Latina student of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology who specializes in chemistry.[9] Co-director Chris Williams said, "She's a glass-is-half-full kind of person. But she has this mad-scientist quality with a twinkle in her eye—there's more to Honey than it seems."[8][10][11] Her name is a nickname that was thought of by Fred; her real name is unknown and has not been revealed. Honey Lemon is an excitable person who is in love with her chemistry work and loves showing off her experiments in an almost maniacal way. She is the most respectable and polite of the group and tends to dress in 60's and 70's style clothing. Honey Lemon wears bright pink armor that was built by Hiro with a mechanical purse that can mix different chemical elements, allowing her to create balls that she can use as explosives, traps, or safe exits.[12]

Honey Lemon appears in Big Hero 6: The Series, with Rodriguez reprising the role.[13]

Video games

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Honey Lemon appears as a non-playable character in Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay.[14]

Honey Lemon appears as an unlockable playable character in Disney Magic Kingdoms.[15]

Honey Lemon appears as a playable character in the mobile game Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.[16]

Honey Lemon appears in Kingdom Hearts III, with Genesis Rodriguez reprising her role.[17]

Other appearances

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Honey Lemon makes a cameo appearance in Once Upon a Studio.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "MovieWeek: A Look Ahead To Big Hero 6". FanBoy's Blog. LaughingPlace.com. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  2. ^ Palmeri, Christopher (3 November 2014). "Big Hero 6 banks on a huggable robot to draw in audiences". The Vancouver Sun. Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e Big Hero 6 #1 (2008)
  4. ^ Alpha Flight #17 (1989)
  5. ^ "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic". Scary Mommy. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  6. ^ Juwono, Ben (director); Jenny Jaffe (writer) (August 18, 2018). "Fan Friction". Big Hero 6: The Series. Season 1. Episode 15. Disney XD.
  7. ^ "'Big Hero 6′: Disney Previews Its First Animated Marvel Movie at the D23 Expo". Screen crush. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  8. ^ a b Truitt, Brian (July 13, 2014). "Meet the saviors of San Fransokyo in 'Big Hero 6'". USA Today. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  9. ^ Leah (November 7, 2014). "The Problem with Honey Lemon in Big Hero 6". The Magical World of... Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  10. ^ Yamato, Jen (July 14, 2014). "Maya Rudolph, James Cromwell, More Join Disney's Marvel Animation 'Big Hero 6′". Deadline. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  11. ^ "Honey Lemon" (PDF). xprizechallenge.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  12. ^ Howe, Nicholas (2022-06-12). "10 Characters To Inspire Your Next D&D Artificer". CBR. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  13. ^ "'Big Hero 6': Maya Rudolph & More Reprise Roles for Disney XD Animated Series". Deadline. November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  14. ^ Sanchez, Miranda (2014-09-12). "Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay Coming to 3DS and DS". IGN. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  15. ^ Disney Magic Kingdoms (Gameloft) (July 5, 2018). "Update 21: Big Hero 6 | Livestream". YouTube.
  16. ^ "January 2021 Sign-In Hero & Shop Refresh!". Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. December 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  17. ^ Trumbore, David (September 10, 2018). "New 'Kingdom Hearts III' Trailer Calls in the Big (Hero 6) Guns". Collider. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  18. ^ Reif, Alex (October 16, 2023). "Disney's "Once Upon a Studio" – List of Characters in Order of Appearance". Laughing Place.
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