Jade City

Hilo, the second son of the Kaul family, starts the novel as Horn of No Peak, leading the tactical, militant arm of the clan. Hilo is known to be highly impulsive and reactive, garnering him a reputation of being unpredictable and difficult to work with. He in many ways acts as a foil to the more level-headed Lan. While Lan looks at the big picture and typically takes a diplomatic position between opposing ideas or advisers, Hilo wants to act quickly and decisively.

Of all the characters, Hilo is also the most strongly committed to aisho, the Green Bone code of honor. This cultural tradition often guides his actions. When Anden is taken by Ayt Mada, Hilo’s initial reaction to kidnap Gont’s nephew to repay like with like: “I have this godsdamned building surrounded though and it’s going to stay fucking surrounded until I get Andy back without so much as one of his hairs out of place. Gont’s gone too fucking far. My own little cousin!” (88). Where Lan is cool and collected, Hilo lives in the moment. His temperament often escalates tensions between clans.

However, Hilo is a dynamic character, and after Lan’s death, he must quickly acclimate to his new position as Pillar of No Peak. As Horn, he was inclined to strike quickly and effectively, winning victories in the moment, but as Pillar, he must see the conflict with Mountain as a longer war rather than a quick series of successive battles. He shows this newfound ability when speaking with the Maik brothers about the loss of the Twice Lucky: “Gont will be expecting an immediate counterattack. Even if we drive them out of the Docks, the cost will be too high. […] We’ll strike back at a better time” (336).

Still, this restraint has limits—during peace talks with Mountain, Hilo is unable to stick to Shae’s plan of drawing out negotiations to buy No Peak time to find resources. Instead, Hilo comes into his own when he accepts that he can use his best qualities as Horn to become a powerful Pillar. Earning allies by treating them as fellow fighters and brothers-in-arms, using battle tactics as part of a larger forked strategy to take down Mountain either through the death of its Horn or through No Peak’s death throes, and distancing himself from aisho enough to use deception during his death of consequence rather than simply accepting his fate, Hilo rises to the challenge of being a war-time Pillar.

Shae, the sole sister of the Kaul family, begins the novel wearing no jade, having forsaken her Green Bone identity for a new life in Espenia: “She’d been full of anger and optimism, determined to forge a new life and identity for herself in the great wide, modern world beyond Kekon, away from anachronistic clans and the outsized male egos of her family” (49). When she returns, she is determined to stay independent not be defined by her family or No Peak. She angers Hilo with her rejection of the culture of the Green Bones. And yet, as tragedy strikes with the death of Lan, Shae is pulled back into the clan, and her role in No Peak changes drastically.

With her appointment to Weather Man, Shae demonstrates that No Peak’s survival depends on her ability to check Hilo’s reactive and often short-range behavior. She also finally picks a side in the conflict. At the beginning of the novel, Shae wanted nothing to do with her brother or the clan, but when Ayt Mada pressures her to usurp Hilo and join their clans together, her response is one of passionate commitment to her family and No Peak: “I’m not an oath breaker. I won’t betray the memory of a slain brother, and sell the life of another for power” (411). Standing with Hilo and No Peak is most likely signing her own death warrant and forgoing any chance to ever have a life outside of the clan, but Shae nevertheless throws her fate in completely with Hilo’s and No Peak’s fate.

Anden, a secondary character, is the adopted brother of the other Kaul siblings, although Anden is so much younger that he views Lan as his uncle. After Anden’s mother and uncle both died from the jade side effect called Itches, Lan, a school friend of Anden’s uncle, took him in. Despite being having the same resources as the rest of the Kauls, Anden feels disconnected from the family: “When he was in the Kaul home, he still acted like a guest, waiting for subtle permission to sit or eat or voice opinions, even though he’d lived in the house since he was a child and resided there still during the Academy’s holiday breaks” (102). Anden is never able to overcome this disconnection, always feeling as though he owes his life to the Kauls. This feeling of indebtedness pushes him to train to be a Green Bone despite his family history warning him that he may not be able to handle jade.

After Anden kills Gont Asch, he feels intense anxiety over his reaction to jade—a level of blood thirst and rage that he has never felt before and does not believe he can control: “Discipline and jade acclimation created Green Bones who were powerful but controlled, not monsters that laughed with the pure sensate joy of reaching out and stopping hearts” (473). Hilo rejects Anden’s fears, seeing him as a tool to be used in their war against the Mountain. However, Anden finally stands up for himself, refusing the jade and advocating for his own wellbeing despite the fact that the refusal causes Hilo to expel Anden from the family—dynamic character development that recasts Anden as an antihero and sets him up to play a bigger role in the rest of the series. 

Doru, the original Weather Man of the Kaul family under Lan’s grandfather Kaul Sen, is an antagonist. As advisor to Lan, Doru undermines Lan’s position as Pillar, constantly questioning his motives and suggesting they seek Kaul Sen’s approval before any big decisions are made. His advice to Lan is coldly strategic, without considerations for family or adherence to Green Bone tradition. For example, when Ayt Mada wants to poach Anden, Doru agrees: “[W]e can send him to work for the Mountain in their new Ygutanian operations. […] Through him, we would know everything about the Mountain’s operations there, and for their part, they would be certain we were invested in keeping the peace” (105). To Lan and Hilo, surrendering their adopted brother to a rival clan is a non-starter, but Doru sees only the pragmatic tactics of the move, rather than its optics or aisho ramifications.

Eventually, Doru is revealed to be a traitor, cooperating with the Mountain Clan to combine the two organizations. When his betrayal is revealed and he is placed under house arrest, he assures Shae that he only ever meant to protect their family. He reiterates this supposed motive in a letter he sends Shae at the conclusion of Jade City, but his lack of respect for the Kaul siblings and his maneuvering behind their backs renders him irredeemable in their eyes. 

The most powerful antagonist of Jade City is Ayt Mada, Pillar of the Mountain Clan. Working tirelessly to destroy and absorb No Peak into her operation, Ayt Mada is an experienced leader who swiftly consolidates power by killing or co-opting her rivals. Although Green Bone culture typically dismisses the idea of women in leadership positions, as Shae learns upon becoming Weather Man, Ayt Mada’s status is never questioned. Shae recognizes how formidable and confident she is: “[B]eyond jade ability and training, it was constant unsentimental decisiveness that enabled Ayt to overcome all the male rivals in her clan. Even her pauses always seemed deliberate, never a symptom of hesitation or uncertainty” (404-5). In many ways, Ayt Mada is the perfect Pillar. She is decisive, ruthless, and strategic. Not bound by traditions or the considerations of aisho, she is always looking for new opportunities to expand her organization. In particular, she is interested in selling jade to other countries, enabling them to wield its powerful magic by also selling them the drug SN1. Ayt Mada is a foil to both Lan and Hilo, whose performances as Pillar are marred by their indecisiveness and insecurity.