List of Alex Rider Characters - Protagonists - Jack Starbright

Jack Starbright is Alex Rider's closest and best friend, a 28-year-old American woman, originally Ian Rider's housekeeper and after his death Alex's legal guardian. She has appeared in every novel so far, with her most prominent roles being in Eagle Strike and Scorpia Rising. She is described as slim, with tangled red hair, and a boyish, round face that "is always cheerful, even when in a bad mood". She has a crooked smile, and is described to look more like a big sister than a housekeeper. She is killed during the events of Scorpia Rising.

She came to London from Washington D.C. when she was twenty-one to study law, but never left, and has known Alex since he was seven years old. After the death of Ian Rider, Jack became Alex's legal guardian, and continued to live with him in Chelsea. She is very protective of Alex, having looked after him for several years, and as a result has developed a strong relationship with him.

In most of the novels, Jack appears at the beginning and the end of the story, but does not have a part in the major plot. However, in Eagle Strike, she helps investigate Damian Cray's organization by travelling with him through Europe, and assists in pickpocketing a V.I.P.'s ticket in order to get into the premiere of Damian Cray's new video-game console, the Gameslayer.

In the original version of Scorpia, Jack hires a tutor to help Alex catch up with the schoolwork he missed because of his various missions, having become concerned about the way Alex's assignments have affected him. In Snakehead, it is revealed that Jack had met Alex's godfather and John Rider's best man, Ash. She had a brief relationship with him - it is implied that the relationship was of a romantic nature.

She strongly disapproves of MI6's demands of Alex, but Alex and Jack have a somewhat "unspoken agreement" not to discuss his MI6 life. In Stormbreaker, her visa was close to expiring, and Blunt used this to blackmail Alex into working for MI6. Jack speaks fluent French, and although being a good cook refuses to make anything that takes longer than ten minutes. Jack's name may be short for Jackie or Jacqueline - in Stormbreaker, it is mentioned that Alex once asked, but she never revealed what it was.

In Scorpia Rising, Jack is planning to return to America, after her father has a stroke, and she feels that Alex no longer needs her. However, after an incident with a sniper (arranged by Blunt), she travels with Alex to Cairo to spy on former war hero Erik Gunter. After being captured by Razim in the act of doing so, Jack manages to break out of her cell, knock out a guard and steal a Land Rover. However, Razim has been allowing her to do so, and, with Alex watching on television (and as part of his measurement of pain experiment), has Julius Grief detonate a bomb placed underneath Jack's Land Rover, and the car explodes, killing Jack instantly.

In the Stormbreaker film adaptation, Jack is played by Alicia Silverstone. Jack also appears in the graphic novel adaptations of both Stormbreaker and Point Blanc.