Callenreese, Aslan Jade

アスラン・ジェイド・カーレンリース / アッシュ・リンクス

Ash is the series' protagonist. He has a half-brother named Griffin (whom he calls "Griff"), sharing the same father. Ash and Griffin are the sons of their father's first and second wives, respectively. At age 8, Ash fled his Cape Cod home to avoid social pressures and was placed under the custody of Papa Dino, the Corsican Mafia leader. Since then, Ash has been groomed and trained to succeed the Mafia Head, and was given command of Manhattan's largest street gang to prepare him for a role he does not want. Much of the manga focuses on Ash's attempts to escape Papa Dino's expectations.
Visually, Ash fits the "beautiful" type described by many characters in the manga, featuring shaggy platinum blond hair, pale green eyes, and a slender build. However, his personality is far less refined. He is known for his snarky attitude, recklessness, and seemingly cold capacity for killing, which has earned him numerous enemies. Conversely, his intelligence and charismatic leadership have secured him many connections, which he readily exploits. His special skills include sharp marksmanship, the ability to hack 1980s computers, and a sixth sense for detecting when he is being followed. Although he never finished high school, Ash reads extensively and has self-taught advanced mathematics. He can also appear quite cultured when he chooses to.
His later character design was based on the actor River Phoenix.