The Diamond Age

Young woman of low birth and formidable skills; reads the Primer at the window as the Causeway explodes, escapes Fist captivity through lethal force, broadcasts her heraldic crest on a skyscraper, leads the Mouse Army, and ultimately rescues Miranda from the Drummers by transferring counter-nanosites through a blood-mingling kiss.

Returns filthy and gaunt from military consulting work in China; listens to Nell's articulation of her philosophy and affirms her rejection of simple conformity or rebellion.

Ractor and Nell's surrogate mother; found at the center of the Drummer ritual altar, about to be consumed by the Seed computation; rescued by Nell's counter-nanosites and carried out by Carl.

Actor and director who fights his way out of Shanghai with Boers and Zulus, reaches Pudong, is appointed special envoy to Nell, discovers the wet Net's function, and carries Miranda out of the Drummer cavern.

Walks with Carl Hollywood along the riverbank; reveals the three Primer recipients' divergent outcomes and seeks to contact Miranda, learning she has joined the Drummers.

Recently extracted from the Drummers after a decade of nanosite-mediated unconscious existence; debriefed by Colonel Napier; retains fragmentary images of nanotechnological work he performed.

Impulsive, confident girl who rushes to the wall first; later vanishes from her family estate and is rumored to be with CryptNet.

Nipponese technologist with an interest in using tech to convey meaning; formerly did theatre with Carl in London; attends the party with Mr. Oda.

Accompanies Mr. Beck at the party; only recently met Carl Hollywood; communicates ambiguously about religious or cult involvement.

Princess Nell's Primer companion who teaches secret lore; sacrifices herself fighting the djinn king, transforming into a giant eagle before dying.

Mistress of 'Joy' at the Three Graces Academy; disciplines students through ruler strikes and public humiliation; ideological enforcer of neo-Victorian norms.

Dying headmistress of the Three Graces Academy; summons Nell for a final conversation in which she names Nell her favorite student and urges her to transcend tribal belonging.

Travels with her father; questions him about the Alchemist and the Seed; her Primer dreams are filled with seed imagery; she vanishes independently into the Dramatis Personae event.

Nell's brother, confined to the Free Phthisis Sanatorium with chronic asthma; bloated from steroids, uses an immersive ractive to pass time, communicates less with Nell over time.

A Victorian soldier and client of Madame Ping's who repeatedly falls asleep in his ractive scenario; proves lethally effective against Fist attackers with his cavalry saber.

A Turing-machine-based mechanical figure in the Primer narrative; found to be a machine by Princess Nell through poetic testing; harbors the dead inventor's computational notebooks.

Runs a high-end scripted fantasy operation in Pudong; hires Nell as a scriptwriter for the Victorian client market; delivers a philosophy that all post-scarcity economy is entertainment.

Young Chinese man who intercepts Nell in Madame Ping's lobby, advances her ucus for a suitable dress, and introduces her to Madame Ping for the interview.

Character within Napier's scenario played by an actress; paralyzes Napier with nanosites and ties him to a rack before the scenario is interrupted by the Fist attack.

Middle-aged man who built Wizard 0.2; concedes defeat to Princess Nell after his machine is crashed by a zero-divide; surrenders the twelfth key with rueful informality.

A Chinese figure of power who articulates the Confucian ti/yong philosophy to justify needing the Seed technology; argues it would restore Chinese social order freed from Western Feed dependency.

Victorian soldier who fights alongside Carl Hollywood through Shanghai; rendered unconscious during the retreat and dies of a leg wound during the river crossing.

Elderly Boer woman who walks alone into the path of the advancing Celestial column and detonates a body-bomb, sacrificing herself to halt the army and allow the barbarians to escape.