Character guide

Slippery Jim diGriz

major

Also known as James diGriz, Slippery Jim, Jimmy, Jim, James, James Bolivar diGriz, James Bolivar

Jim diGriz robs, forges, and improvises his way across the galaxy with a grin, treating each arrest as a scheduling inconvenience and each escape as a timed engineering problem. His real talent is not violence but nerve and misdirection, which makes him valuable to people who need a criminal's mind on their side. When the Special Corps corners him, the question becomes whether a man who has spent his life dodging the law can be trusted to enforce it.

Angelina

major

Also known as Angelina - Engela's, Angelica, Angel, Poor Angelina, Angela, Angelilith

Angelina moves through the underworld with an assassin's calm and a planner's patience, and she is always several moves ahead of everyone around her. The photograph she carries hints at a past she has deliberately buried, and the gap between her present beauty and whatever shaped her mind is the source of her ruthlessness. She is the one adversary Jim cannot simply outrun or outfox, because she understands him almost as well as he understands himself.

Harold Peters Inskipp

supporting

Also known as Inskipp

Inskipp runs the Special Corps from behind a desk and a permanently open emergency screen, dealing with agents who wake him at all hours and crises that never quite fit the budget. He is gruff, overworked, and entirely unimpressed by Jim's theatrics, which makes him one of the few people Jim cannot charm his way past. His decision to put a career criminal on the payroll is the gamble that sets the whole story in motion.

Pepe Nero

supporting

Also known as Pepe, Roly-poly Pepe, This Pepe

Pepe is the kind of crook who talks too much, feels too much, and falls in love with exactly the wrong person. He is genuinely fond of Angelina and genuinely out of his depth, which makes him both a useful accomplice and an easy mark. When the scheme collapses, his laughter and his confession reveal more about Angelina than any interrogation could, and they leave Jim with a problem he cannot simply arrest his way out of.

President Ferraro

minor

Also known as Ferraro

President of a planet, involved in political intrigue.

Dr. Vulff

supporting

Also known as the pure-hearted Dr. Vulff, Vulff, Vulff Sifternitz, Dear Doctor Vulff, that fumble-finger quack Vulff

Dr. Vulff is the kind of genius who complains about the lack of good liquor while quietly building the technology that makes someone else's scheme possible. He is not evil so much as entirely self-interested, and he keeps a little blackmail film on hand in case his benefactor stops being generous. His work sits at the center of the plot, and his willingness to bend in any direction makes him a useful tool and a constant liability.

Count Cassitor

supporting

Also known as The Count, noble Count, Cassitor, Cassitor Rdenrundt, Cassi, Cassi Duke of Rdenrundt

Count Cassitor moves through the story with the confidence of someone who has always been the most powerful person in the room, and he does not appreciate being outmaneuvered by a former thief. He is a man of appearances and calculations, and the gap between his public dignity and his private ruthlessness is where the danger lives. His schemes force Jim to work from the inside of a world he has spent his life robbing, and the Count is never quite as predictable as he looks.

Captain Steng

minor

Also known as Steng

A spaceship captain who aids or opposes Jim.

Kurt

minor

A minor character encountered during Jim's travels.

Rocca

minor

A criminal associate of Jim's.

King Villelm

minor

Also known as Villelm

A monarch whose actions affect the plot.

Grav Bent Diebstall

minor

Also known as Grav Bent, Grav Diebstall, Bent, Diebstall

A named character with a minor role.

Zina

minor

Also known as the unlucky Zina

A character with a small but notable part.

Freibur

minor

Also known as darkest Freibur

A minor character or location reference.

Zug

minor

A minor character with a brief role in the story.

Moraio

minor

A minor character mentioned in passing.