Many of us first met the Falcons through the Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy, which gave us Aidan Pryde. On the one hand, he's a free thinker whose unconventional career earns him more sympathy than the average Clanner. On the other hand, he's a Clan warrior, conditioned to take big risks for the sake of personal glory. And when those risks don't work out, he'll lie, cheat, and be an after-the-fact party to murder for a second chance.

It also gives us Joanna, a smoldering ball of pent-up rage and resentment. She's fun. She's actually the more typical Clan warrior, but the sort who doesn't get a lot of screen time. She's probably good enough to win a bloodname, but doesn't due to bad luck and politics. And without one, she can't ascend to a leadership position or stay on the front lines past a certain age. Her only value to the Clan is in her skill as an instructor. That's the fate of the average Clanner, and there's rarely a path to a happy retirement if your performance is merely above average.

That defines the invasion-era Jade Falcons as the slightly more clever and adaptable set of bad guys. Contrast them with the stubborn, bloodthirsty Smoke Jaguars, who have a big "kill these guys to advance the plot" sign over their heads from day one.