Jessica Jones Jessica Jones (portrayed by
Krysten Ritter) is a former superhero with the abilities of superhuman strength and flight, suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder after
Kilgrave enslaved her for eight months and made her kill Luke Cage's wife, Reva Connors; after Jones gives up the superhero life, she opens her own detective agency,
Luke Cage Luke Cage (portrayed by
Mike Colter) is a man with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, with a mysterious past that Jones encounters in the course of an investigation and who changes her life immensely. and is set to return in its third season.
Trish Walker / Hellcat Patricia "Trish" Walker (portrayed by
Rachael Taylor) is a former model and child star known as "Patsy" who is Jones' adoptive sister and best friend and now works as a radio host. Trish is depicted as the main
antagonist of the
third season of Jessica Jones as the
vigilante serial killer "Hellcat". Taylor was cast in January 2015. The role of Jones' best friend was intended for the character of
Carol Danvers when Rosenberg was developing the series at ABC, but was changed to Walker due to the changing nature of the MCU and that Danvers would appear in
her own film. Rosenberg ultimately found this to be "much more appropriate...it was better that [Jessica's] best friend was not someone with powers. It actually ends up being a really great mirror for her." Speaking about the character, Loeb said, "what's most important is the relationship between her and Jessica, and how these two women who are, in some ways, sisters, in terms of their friendship, could be that different, and yet believe in the same kinds of things. That question of, what is it to be a hero and the responsibilities that you have when you have abilities, is something that brings them together, but also continually pushes them apart. I think we're very lucky to have Melissa as a writer because she really grasps the insight of what it is to have a friendship with a woman, and the way that two women can actually be competitive and friendly, and love each other and hate each other, and have a history with each other." Taylor added that Jessica "was the first person to not care about the exterior parts of Patsy Walker or Trish Walker. She was the first person to see her for who she really was". Catherine Blades portrayed a young Trish. To prepare for the role, Taylor "looked into a bunch of child stars" and determined "that the main source of [their] damage comes from feeling that they're loved for what they do and not who they are. The maternal/paternal or familial love or any kind of love is dependent on them being successful, making money, being sparkly, being famous, whatever the thing is." On the multiple alias Trish wields in the series, Taylor said, "Trish has a number of them. I think there is a part of her that is alpha that actually, if she had the kind of abilities that Jessica had, she would probably be President of the United States in that world or the equivalent. She would take it as far as she could because she has that in her."
Will Simpson Will Simpson (portrayed by
Wil Traval) is an
NYPD sergeant who is very serious about his job. He was later killed by Alisa Jones. Traval joined the cast in February 2015. He felt that Simpson sees everything in "black and white" and that "justice can be served easily," an opposite to Jessica, who "deals in a world of gray" that causes the two to have friction between them. Traval described the character as "reinvented" and "reshaped" for the series from the one in the comics, where the character is known as Frank Simpson, as the comic character was "a little bit too hard to handle. [H]e was just a psychotic crazy guy."
Hope Shlottman Hope Shlottman (portrayed by
Erin Moriarty) is a student-athlete attending
New York University who is a client of Alias Investigations, upon her parents hiring Jessica to find their missing daughter. Later made to murder her parents by Kilgrave, proving her innocence becomes Jessica's objective for much of the first season; during this time, Hope discovers that she was impregnated by Kilgrave during her time as his slave, whereupon she has the fetus aborted. Exhausted by the ordeal and feeling that Jessica's drive to help her has caused more lives to be destroyed by Kilgrave, she takes her own life willingly to ensure that Jessica has nothing standing in her way of stopping Kilgrave permanently. Moriarty joined the cast in February 2015. She called her character a "polar opposite" to Jessica Jones, describing Hope as "an all-American girl, [innocent and] really earnest". Over the course of the series, the two form a bond, with Jessica becoming protective of Hope, due to a shared experience they have with Kilgrave.
Malcolm Ducasse Malcolm Ducasse (portrayed by
Eka Darville) is Jones' neighbor who struggles with drug addiction, resulting in his personal journey intertwining with hers. Darville joined the cast in February 2015. He stated that Malcolm was a new character for the series, though inspired by "seed characters" from the comics. He also felt playing the character with the drug addiction "was pretty intense and dark" and that Malcolm's relationship with Jessica "is like a flip-flop between victim and savior... much more [sibling-like] than anything else."
Jeri Hogarth Jeryn "Jeri" Hogarth (portrayed by
Carrie-Anne Moss) is an attorney and potentially powerful ally to Jones, who hires Jones for cases. Moss was announced as cast in early February 2015, with her character revealed in October to be a gender-swapped (changed from male to female) version of the comics character Jeryn Hogarth. The character was also made a
lesbian. Moss signed on to the series after reading the first two scripts, having been pitched the character by Loeb and Rosenberg. Moss described the character by saying that "she's fierce, she's strong, she's powerful, and she likes that power." She worked "a few days every episode", which allowed her to grow the character throughout the series, while not knowing what the character would become as she played each moment, which she noted was how real-life is. Moss reprised her role in the
second season of
Daredevil and in
Iron Fist. Comparing those experiences to her much larger role on
Jessica Jones, Moss said, "You want to come in and have something powerful. For
Jessica Jones, that's where I get to have that experience. With the other shows, I'm having fun."
Kevin Thompson / Kilgrave Kevin "Kilgrave" Thompson (portrayed by
David Tennant) is a mysterious man from Jones's past who can control minds and whose reappearance shakes up her life. He was born with a neural disease and experimented on as a young child, which resulted in his acquiring an airborne virus that gave him his powers. He later changed his name to Kilgrave. Rosenberg stated that Tennant was the choice for the character when the series was originally developed for ABC, but he was unavailable at that time, so the production made sure to "jump on him" when the series moved to Netflix. To pitch Tennant on this version of the series, Rosenberg and Loeb spoke with him and gave him the scripts for the first two episodes (in which Kilgrave does not appear much) and drafts of some scenes from later in the series, including of the flashback where Kilgrave and Jones first meet. Tennant was cast in January 2015. Maslansky, who had originally planned to custom-make Kilgrave's wardrobe, used many suits created by designer
Paul Smith from the previous fashion season for him since Smith "was about purple." On his outfits, Maslansky added the designers "wanted to find a place where we could utilize clothing in shades of purple, but not go so over the top that it would look silly and that he would stop feeling ominous or menacing." James Freedson-Jackson portrayed a young Kilgrave. Tennant stated, "Kilgrave is the classic character who is abused and therefore perpetuates abuse. It was just a terrible, horrible cycle." Loeb called Kilgrave "a terrible man who doesn't see himself as terrible" and compared him to
Vincent D'Onofrio's
Wilson Fisk in
Daredevil, saying, "There are going to be times [watching
Daredevil] when you're uncomfortable because you're not quite rooting for Matt, you're kind of rooting for Wilson, and it's the same kind of thing you're going to find in
Jessica. There's going to be moments where some of the things that she does [are] pretty questionable. And some of the things that, when you learn about Kilgrave's character and the way that David Tennant plays that character, it's really extraordinary." Tennant noted that at first the idea of mind control seems "quite a rather splashy, kind of comic book idea" but that in reality, "the idea that everyone should bend to your every whim and that no one should ever contradict you, that you can have whatever you want whenever you wanted it....it's rather aspirational and rather desirable at first glance, but the fact of it is then rather horrifying, because you could never have a genuine human relationship with anyone...that starts touching on what kind of personality that would create, what kind of person that would make you, how that would pollute your worldview."
Oscar Arocho Oscar Arocho (portrayed by
J. R. Ramirez) is the new
building superintendent in Jones' building, and a single father whose son becomes enamored with Jones and her powers. Ramirez was cast in March 2017, which was revealed that July after the airing of his character's death on
Power.
Pryce Cheng Pryce Cheng (portrayed by
Terry Chen) is a rival private investigator.
Inez Green Inez Green (portrayed by
Leah Gibson) is a "street-wise" nurse. Gibson was cast as Inez by July 2017.
Alisa Jones Alisa Jones (portrayed by
Miriam Shor in season one,
Janet McTeer in season two) is Jessica's mother who was seemingly killed in a car crash when she was young. It was later revealed that Karl Malus of IGH saved her life and has been going around targeting anyone involved with IGH. Alisa was later killed by Trish while she was on the ferris wheel with Jessica. Detective Costa gave Jessica the credit of putting her mother out of her misery.
Erik Gelden Erik Gelden (portrayed by
Benjamin Walker) is a gambler with empathic super abilities. He blackmailed other individuals with his powers until he crossed paths with Gregory Sallinger. Erik becomes Jessica's newest love interest and ally.
Kith Lyonne Kith Lyonne (portrayed by
Sarita Choudhury) is married to law professor Peter Lyonne and the former flame of Jeri Hogarth.
Gregory Sallinger Gregory Sallinger (portrayed by
Jeremy Bobb) is a psychotic killer with high intelligence and an unusual obsession with wanting to kill Jessica and other powered beings.
Zaya Okonjo Zaya Okonjo (portrayed by
Tiffany Mack) is an employee of Hogarth's and Malcolm's new girlfriend. == Recurring characters ==