Adopted from Tonkin and raised in Louisville high society, Jordan is a professional golfer making her way through 1920s America as a queer woman of color. She has innate paper-cutting magic but suppresses it to fit in with her wealthy, white peers. She is cynical, observant, and fiercely protective of her independence.

A wealthy Southern Belle with a lineage close to American royalty. Daisy hides her deep anxieties and restless nature behind a veneer of careless charm and domesticity. She frequently relies on Jordan to fix her problems, viewing her friend as both an intimate confidante and a useful accessory.

A mysterious bootlegger who throws extravagant parties at his Long Island mansion. Gatsby possesses mesmerizing, reality-altering magic inherited from his half-Chippewa, half-Black mother. He is ruthlessly driven by a singular obsession to reclaim a past romance, using enchanted liquor called demoniac to influence those around him.

Daisy's cousin from St. Paul, Minnesota, who moves to New York after serving in the war. Nick presents himself as a mild-mannered observer but is quickly drawn into the intoxicating orbit of Gatsby and the New York social scene. He carries Thai heritage from a Bangkok-born great-grandmother.

Daisy's husband, hailing from a prominent and wealthy Chicago family. Tom is physically imposing, arrogant, and highly prejudiced. He frequently engages in extramarital affairs while fiercely defending his traditional, white-centric view of American society and supporting the anti-immigration Manchester Act.

The young daughter of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. She is largely raised by a nurse and is brought out mostly when Daisy wishes to use her as a social prop.

A working-class woman living near the ash yards who is having an affair with Tom Buchanan. She is desperate to escape her bleak surroundings and views Tom as her ticket out of a miserable marriage.

Myrtle's exhausted husband who runs a struggling garage. He is beaten down by poverty and grows suspicious of his wife's activities, representing those defeated by the capitalist system.

A deceased missionary who brought Jordan from Tonkin to the United States. She acted as a white savior figure but died shortly after returning to America, leaving Jordan to be raised by her conservative parents.

Also known as Mrs. Sigourney Howard, she is Judge Baker's aunt and Jordan's patron in New York. A liberal-minded suffragette, she offers Jordan a freer environment than Louisville, though she maintains some upper-class prejudices regarding immigration.

The leader of a traveling Vietnamese paper-cutting troupe performing in New York. He embraces his cultural heritage and recognizes Jordan's innate magical abilities, offering her a connection to the roots she has long suppressed.

Eliza Baker's mother who reluctantly takes over Jordan's upbringing after Eliza's death. She isolates Jordan from school and struggles to connect with the adopted child.

Eliza Baker's father, a racist Southern judge who hands down harsh sentences to Black men. He resents Jordan's presence and openly blames her for his daughter's early death during drunken stupors.

A member of Khai's traveling paper-cutting troupe. She shares Jordan's ethnic background but lives a vastly different, more authentic life, directly challenging the colonial names and concepts Jordan was taught.

A relative of the Fay family with whom Jordan has a brief, intense sexual encounter. His sudden departure from her life leaves Jordan surprisingly devastated.

A girl from Jordan's youth who marks Jordan's first real attraction. They share clandestine physical encounters in closets, beginning Jordan's history of hidden romances.

Daisy's maid, who bears the brunt of Daisy's frantic perfectionism and physical frustration when preparing to meet Gatsby.

A woman Jordan briefly escapes with when feeling overwhelmed by Nick's questions and the increasingly hostile political climate surrounding the Manchester Act.

A man who resides at Gatsby's mansion and provides musical entertainment for Gatsby and his guests during their extravagant gatherings.