This page is for the standard continuity character . For other versions and uses, see Jade (disambiguation).

Jade, sometimes referred to as Jezebel Jade^[1], is a mercenary for hire, entrepreneur, ally of the Quest team, and a love interest/old flame of Race Bannon.

Physical appearance

Jade is a woman with black hair and fair skin. She is conventionally attractive, i.e. slim, with high cheek bones, small nose, and long eyelashes.

Jade's ethnicity and race are ambiguous. At times she comes off as being perhaps white/Caucasian of British origins, and sometimes she seems to be of Asian origins. Later interpretations of her character have also been inconsistent, sometimes depicting her as Caucasian with an American accent.^[1][2]

Personality

Jade is tough, courageous, and driven, jumping into action at once when needed. She is also very confident, chiding Race Bannon for his (perceived) impoliteness^[3] and openly demanding payment for her services. She remains calm and cool-headed while shooting at a wild animal in a jungle and threatens one of her contacts with a gun when he initially refuses to cooperate. She also mentions having "expensive tastes", probably referring to luxurious living standards.

Skills

She can use a firearm with great precision, drive various types of cars, and possibly deduce a man's real identity by a single kiss,^[4] although it's debatable whether this skill could work with other men than Race Bannon.

History

She popped up in the jungle of Thailand, where she saved Jonny and Haji from a wild cat. Jonny recognizes her and calls her by her first name, meaning the two must have met before. The boys immediately enlist her help and leave camp with her, showing that they trust her. Jade meets the Race Bannon impostor and their conversation implies that the two have been romantically involved in the past. When the real Race is found, Jade saves everyone by letting them escape in her helicopter, although she is not piloting it. Her parting remark that "there's only one Race Bannon," as well as the fact that she came personally to the jungle to warn him, seem to suggest she still has some feelings for him, although she still mentions she will charge him for her help.^[4]

In another mission, Jade was presented as much more ambiguous. Race went off to find her on his own, initially thinking that she actually helped kidnap Dr Quest, and he made it clear he doesn't trust her and believes she'd do anything for money. Nevertheless, he seems to care about her safety, too. Jade ends up saving both Race and Dr Quest from Chu Sing Ling's armed guard. The episode ends with Race kissing her as thanks, and her returning the kiss.^[3]

Quotes

Appearances

• Jonny Quest
  • 109. Double Danger
  • 124. Terror Island
• The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
  • 220. Diamonds and Jade
  • 225. The Robot Spies

Apocryphal

Jonny Quest (Comico)

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Jezebel Jade

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Adaptations

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Main article: Jade (The Real Adventures)

Jade returns as a mercenary for hire. Race, Jonny, and Jessie visit her and help with a diamond. Race and Dr. Quest later go to Jade for help when Dr. Zin kidnaps Jonny, Jessie, and Estella.

Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest

Jade is Race's old flame. There's a picture of her with Race, along with Dr. Quest, Jonny, and Hadji in the Quest Labs kitchen, and Race still has feelings for her. She helps Jonny, Hadji, Bandit, Tom, and Jerry when they come to Jade's Cafe Americain, her personal nightclub where she performs. She later arrives after their confrontation with Dr. Zin to help them escape.

Future Quest

Main article: Jade (Future Quest)

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Voice actors

• Cathy Lewis: The original season 1 aired between 1964-1965.
• Jobeth Williams: In Jonny's Golden Quest in 1993.
• Tasia Valenza: In The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest episodes Diamonds and Jade and The Robot Spies aired in 1997.
• Tia Carrere: The direct-to-video film, Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest, in 2015.

Notes/trivia

• In her first appearance on the 1964 show, Jade looks more Caucasian and is wearing a stereotypical "colonial explorer" outfit, complete with pith helmet, and she tells Race she will charge him in pounds sterling. In her second appearance on the same show, she looks more Asian, wears a qipao, and is shown to live on board of a junk moored in Hong Kong.
• Jade was planned to appear in the 1986 revival, but perhaps due to only lasting thirteen episodes, that never happened. Her backstory with Race was supposed to be explored (which ended up happening in the unrelated limited series of Jezebel Jade by Comico).
  • Some of the intended backstory of that was included in the telefilm Jonny's Golden Quest, particularly her being an Intelligence 1 agent working with Race. They had a short-lived romance, but it never went as far as marriage. The Jessie character was thrown in from a failed attempt at the aforementioned 1986 revival having Jessie Bradshaw be a recurring character. In addition, Jade was also made Caucasian with long red hair.
    • When production changed half way through Real Adventures, new writer Lance Falk took measures to rectify this by splitting Jade Kenyan-Bannon into two people, with Jade being restored to her former self, and the add-on of her being an ex-wife and mother of Race's child being turned into Estella, who worked as an archaeologist.

References