Jade

Jade
Protagonist of Beyond Good & Evil

“Let's get a move on, I've got a feeling the best is to come!”

Jade is the main protagonist of the action-adventure video game Beyond Good & Evil.

Stats

• Birth Name: Jade
• DomZ Name: Shauni
• Reporting Alias: Shauni
• Occupation: Action reporter, IRIS Network operative
• Age: 20
• Height: 5'4"
• Gender: Female
• Birth Date: 2415
• Likes: Family, Friends, Adventure, Harmony
• Dislikes: Innocents coming to harm
• Hobbies: Photography, yoga
• Birthplace: Unknown (lived her early child and adult life on Hillys)
• Relations: Pey'j (adoptive uncle)
• Species: Human
• Home: Lighthouse Shelter
• Abilities: Martial arts, agility, stealth, mysterious and mystical power
• Weapon: Combat stick (Daï-jo staff), Gyrodisk launcher, Camera
• Hair Color: Black
• Eye Color: Green
• Skin Color: Tan
• Distinguishing Features: An almost exclusively green wardrobe
• Voice Actress: Emma de Caunes (French original), Jodie Forrest (English localization).

Profile

Beyond Good and Evil

Jade is the protagonist and player character of Beyond Good And Evil. She's a determined and powerful young woman who lives on the planet Hillys in System 4. She lives with her adoptive uncle, Pey'j, who takes care of her like she were his own daughter.

Jade has a love for photography and owns her own photojournalism company, Jade Reporting. She earns her living by producing various photographic reports on commission from various companies that are interested in her photographic and reporting skills. Along with Pey'j, she currently lives at the Lighthouse shelter with six other orphans and a dog named Woof. She has gained defensive abilities and street smarts that she uses in her everyday life. All the orphans look up to her as their big sister since Jade tries her best to protect them at all costs from the DomZ or any other threat.

She eventually becomes a member of the IRIS Network - working under the pseudonym "Shauni" - after having some doubts about the Alpha Sections' claims of being heroes. She believes that the only thing that will help bring this war to an end is by learning more about the secretive elite organization and stop it before it's too late.

At the end of the game, Jade receives cryptic information from the DomZ High Priest that hints to her true identity. She is, supposedly, an entity called "Shauni" that the DomZ regard as the source of their power. Who or what Shauni exactly is remains unclear, even after the ending credits of the first game. The High Priest also hints that Pey'j knows the answers that surround this whole situation and has kept it all from Jade for unspecified reasons.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

It was confirmed at E3 2018 that Jade will be a character in the upcoming Beyond Good and Evil 2, but will not be the main protagonist, but the main antagonist. The reason for Jade's turn has yet to be disclosed.

Personality

Jade is a lively, courageous and strong woman who never gives up. She is driven through her adventure by her desire to uncover the truth and her great sense of justice. She rarely turns down opportunities and will try everything she can to complete her tasks. She'd rather have both sides of the story rather than follow someone blindly, which makes her suspicious towards certain characters' motives. Once befriended, she's extremely loyal and would never leave a friend or a family member behind. She's very concerned for the people she loves, especially her uncle Pey'j, Double H and the orphaned kids she took in.

It's Jade's generosity that has pushed her to convert the Lighthouse shelter into an orphanage. She has a caring and motherly side often seen when she's with her orphaned kids. She deeply cares for them and tries to give them an optimistic look on life whenever they feel down. She goes as far as to put herself in danger in order to save them from a DomZ sarcophagus invasion. When the lighthouse is destroyed and the kids kidnapped, Jade reaches an emotional climax during which she wants to give up, having failed to protect them like she had promised herself. This is one of the rare times when Jade will show extreme distress. Otherwise, she remains level-headed and concentrated on her task throughout her entire adventure.

Abilities

Jade has learned and acquired many different abilities throughout her life. An expert in some form of martial arts, she can defeat enemies with nothing but a combat stick, her trusty Daï-jo. Also, because of her light figure and agility, she can perform numerous stunts: jump, somersault, climb, sidestep, dodge roll, and even hang from ledges. She has the stealth and cunning needed to infiltrate highly secured facilities and bypass guards without being detected. She can also work perfectly in cooperation missions and can drive both a hovercraft and a spaceship.

Near the end of the game, Jade discovers a strange power within her she was unaware she possessed. Because of the mysterious Shauni entity supposedly living inside her, Jade is able to revive other people. She activates this power when she finds Pey'j's corpse in the DomZ lunar base and unknowingly brings him back to life. She also uses this ability to rescue all the other victims of the DomZ war. The full extent of this power remains unclear, even after the end of the game.

Weapons

In the very first battle of the game, Jade doesn't have a weapon and relies on a stick with its tip on fire to fight. In the following battle, however, Pey'j gives Jade her regular weapon, the Daï-jo. Later in the game, she acquires the Gyrodisk launcher.

Daï-jo

The Daï-jo staff is a combat stick that Jade uses as her main weapon. Because of her expertise in martial arts, she can use this staff to its full potential and execute combos. During battle, Jade can focus her energy on the Daï-jo to perform a "super-attack". When its usually green glows turns pink, she can release that energy, leaping and swirling into the air, and damage all enemies nearby. If Jade buys the Super Attack Strengthened item from Ming-Tzu's shop, she will be able to shoot projectiles during the aerial phase of her super-attack. When paired with Pey'j or Double H, Jade can execute another combo attack. All she has to do is command her companion to execute a ground pound, which will launch enemies into the air. Jade can then use her Daï-jo to slow down time, aim, and thrust foes in a certain direction. This is very useful for getting rid of electronic contraptions by knocking them into electrical gates. Whenever Jade gets close to an enemy, she will automatically take out her Daï-jo. When she's not using it, she straps it to her back.

Gyrodisk launcher

The newly found glove; the Gyrodisk launcher (or Gyrodisk glove) is a special weapon that Jade can find in a locker protected by a secret code in the Nutripils factory. It's actually a purple glove that gives Jade the ability to throw digital pink disks while using her camera to aim. It's a great long-range weapon that proves useful in many boss fights throughout the game. Jade can also use it to throw disks at Alpha Sections agents to damage their air tanks, catch their attention, reach unattainable switches and destroy bombs from a safe distance. She can also get rid of pesky rats and other pests (such as the green spiders) with this tool.

Camera

The very useful camera; Jade's camera is the most important weapon she possesses. It's the only tool she can use to denounce the fraudulent activities of the Alpha Sections to the population. When receiving missions by the IRIS Network, Jade is given the task of photographing incriminating data on the elite military organization. Once she snaps a shot, it is immediately streamed to the IRIS den where Meï includes the picture into the next IRIS publication.

When not used as a weapon, Jade's camera is also useful in completing other reporting jobs, most notably the species catalogue for the Science Center. Additionally, this contraption has a scanning ability that can give a small bit of information on the targeted object. It can also register maps and extrapolate them into a 3D version that Jade can view any time she wants.

Behind the scenes

Like many other characters in the game, Jade has gone through numerous different concepts, especially concerning her clothing. Jade was originally named 'Sally' and had a bug-like helmet that she communicated to Pey'J through. She also had a brother named Toy'l (whose model eventually was used for Nino) and the three were part of an Alien-busting group called "Insecticide Gang". Sally's name was changed to Jade as Michel Ancel thought Sally sounded too "old-ladyish". Other early sketch models wore no headband and no jacket while some others had longer, messier hair. One even had the Daï-jo designed with her outfit. Jade's shirt was also supposed to have a design printed on it, but this idea was later dropped. Her model was changed in a week to the current model as the original models were deemed too cute and cartoony, which clashed with Jade's personality, most of the concepts were fused together, which resulted in Jade's current look: green pants with darker swirl prints, a tank top, a jacket, sneakers, a headband and a more mature looking facial appearance.

In early production teasers and gameplay videos of the game, Jade was portrayed as a much younger woman, mainly because of her cartoon-like face and clothing. During that time, her chin was more pointed and round, and her hair slightly longer and loose. But the most radical change came in her clothing. Two early versions of her outfit exist: the first is composed of a long-sleeved red shirt and, oddly enough, white and brown cow print pants; the second is composed of a long-sleeved beige shirt and green pants with darker swirl prints. The latter concept is the one that resembles the current Jade the most. In addition to this, her Daï-jo was absent and her only attacks were a series of kicks.

Relationships

• Pey'j

• Double H

• Orphans

• Woof

• IRIS

Quotes

• (electricity gets blocked during a DomZ meteor shower) "You gotta be joking!!"
• "If ya' ask me, there's something fishy about this Monsieur De Cadillac..."
• (after the orphans get kidnapped) "Poor Woof... I know how you are, you tried to help them... You told yourself that you wouldn't let them come to any harm, that you'd be there to protect them... I know, boy... But that isn't what actually happened. The kids are gone. And you... You couldn't do anything... You're here... alive and well. Who do you think you are? Did you think you'd actually be able to make a difference? Well Woof, you were wrong boy... completely and utterly wrong... There's nothing anyone can do... There's nothing anyone can do..."
• (To Pey'j) "Hehehe, not bad for an ol' fart!"
• (To Hahn, debating whether to trust IRIS) "Yeah, I'd like to know too, like who's actually telling the truth and all this.."

Trivia

• In earlier versions of the game, Jade's original name was Sally, and her codename was "Jade".
• In Jade's room, several photographs hang from the ceiling. Some of them represent her in her early design;
• She is incorrectly referred to as "Miss Jade Thyrus" by Double H due to a misunderstanding;
• Her S.A.C is purple;
• Jade's shoes (when glowing pink) enable her to somersault and do other various jumping tricks during battle;
• She relaxes by doing yoga at the edge of the bluff at the Lighthouse Shelter with Fehn;
• According to Peepers, Jade smells like someone who raises pigs by the sea;
• The jade stone often symbolizes immortality and resurrection; Jade is the DomZ' power source and can bring people back to life;
• The game starts and ends with Jade waking from a meditative state (the same song plays during both occurrences, though they're two different versions);
• To celebrate the release of Beyond Good and Evil HD on Xbox Live Arcade, several avatar accessories and outfits themed after Jade were made available as downloadable content. Her complete costume (S.A.C. and Gyrodisk launcher included), a shirt with her headshot and another with her green lips are currently available online in exchange for Microsoft Points.
• In the Prince of Persia, the main female character, Elika, has an unlockable Jade outfit.
• The Engine for Beyond Good and Evil is named 'Jade'.
• A cut pedestrian model with cartoonish textures in GTA: San andreas looks very similar to her.