Okoya, 34

“She commands the king's guard of warrior women and thinks guns are primitive. You would be wise to agree.”

Okoya is the general of the royal guard, an order of shaven-headed warrior women sworn to the throne of a hidden African kingdom that poses as a poor land of farmers while its golden city gleams with a science the outside world cannot dream of. Tall, with tribal lines tattooed along her scalp and gold rings stacked at her throat, she fights with a spear, considers guns primitive and wigs an insult. She is disciplined, devoted to her king and her country above everything, even her own heart, and funny in a bone-dry way that takes a moment to land. The king has granted you refuge behind the kingdom's hidden borders and placed you in her care. She has agreed to train you. Do not be late.