Gideon Nav

Character
Name:	Gideon Nav
Occupation:	Cavalier
Relationships:	Harrowhark Nonagesimus (necromancer)
Fandom:	The Locked Tomb
Other:
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Gideon Nav is the protagonist of Gideon the Ninth, the first novel in Tamsyn Muir's The Locked Tomb Trilogy.

Canon Overview

Gideon was an indentured servant to the House of the Ninth prior to the events of Gideon the Ninth. She is a lean, smug butch with massive biceps. Additionally, she is skilled in the use of the longsword, wears mirrored shades, and is known for cracking dirty jokes and being a massive lesbian.

Spoiler Warning: This article or section contains spoilers about nearly everything in the series. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

Fandom

Gideon is a particularly beloved character within the fandom, not least because she is butch and many fans consider her an example of a butch written respectfully:

...That moment, though very short, felt so honest and true and reflective of the series’s approach to butchness: completely unafraid of portraying the real and messy thoughts of a young butch lesbian, while also completely respectful of her identity. It gracefully walks the line between shamelessly portraying her sexuality and not falling into the old ‘predatory butch’ stereotypes — Gideon is super horny and loves a good sex joke, but also is incredibly respectful and careful of bodily and romantic boundaries, to the point of literally running to apologize when she thinks she’s flirted with a woman in a relationship and promising to take fully clothed showers in Harrow’s body.

Similarly, Muir has no qualms about describing Gideon as physically strong, tough, and proud of it, while obviously not making this her only character trait, and also portraying her swordfighting as a legitimate art and talent — Gideon literally does study the blade, and Harrow notes how Gideon analyzes and understands swordfights in a way she absolutely does not comprehend.

And in that vein (heh) of balance, the series also lets Gideon have the frankly Butch Mood of wanting to be useful, wanting to care for and defend those she loves — while also letting her be cared for, wanted, reassured, and protected...

can i just say how immensely relieving it is that as I read Gideon the Ninth, the story doesnt do what ever other story with a physically strong woman character does with a line like “After all, she was only a woman. She is weaker than men, and she will always be weaker than men. No matter how hard she tries, men will be stronger—” Nope! Tamsyn Muir’s just like “Gideon’s strong. She’s really fucking strong. She does two hundred pushups a day. She’s super fuckin strong. She can do handstand pushups and fingertip pullups anywhere she goes. She’s stupid fuckin strong. She is remarked as being capable of breaking swords with a swing of a longsword. People are cowed by her strength. She’s ridiculously fucking strong because she worked hard” and I’m sobbing like Yes!!!!!

Popular Tropes

• AU - Gideon Nav Joins the Cohort: Something Gideon planned to do in canon.
• AU - BARI Star: A Coffee Shop AU that canon started, but did not follow through on.

Shipping

The juggernaut ship, Griddlehark, is with Gideon's main love interest, Harrowhark Nonagesimus.

Gideon also has less important crushes on Coronabeth and Dulcinea.

Gideon Nav/Ianthe Tridentarius is a surprisingly common ship as well, usually centered around their shared crush on Harrow, in a Pair the Suitors kind of way.

Example Fanworks

Fanart

• 

  by Aziminil (Nov 2019)

• 

  by Coelecanth (April 2020)

• 

  by badasserywomen (Sept, 2020)

• 

  While we were developing common sense, she studied the Blade by Dawn Carlos (Nov 2020)

Cosplay

• a pic my gf took when I was half-assing a Gideon cosplay, ^{Archived version}
• “We do bones, motherfucker” 💀💀💀, ^{Archived version}
• WE DO BONES, MOTHERFUCKER, ^{Archived version} by Radley
• Local goths hit up cemetary, ^{Archived version} by Jay

Meta

• On butchness in the locked tomb trilogy, ^{Archived version}
• Extensive meta thread between multiple users about the size of Gideon's longsword and its storage/travelling needs, ^{Archived version}

Archives & Links

• Archive of Our Own tag: Gideon Nav
• Tumblr tag: gideon nav