Bean (Julian Delphinki)

Bean is the protagonist in the story. He looks years younger than his actual age of six or seven. Bean first appears on the streets of Rotterdam, where he manipulates Poke and her crew to forcefully recruit Achilles, an older child, as a protector. This allows Poke's crew of very young children to obtain food at a charity kitchen. When Sister Carlotta hears of the amazing transformation, she takes Bean in and prepares him for Battle School. Bean discovers where he had lived before taking to the streets and then disembarks for Battle School.

While in the School, Bean demonstrates his superior intelligence, given to him through a DNA manipulation that Volescu performed illegally while Bean was still only a fertilized egg. The egg was from Bean's actual parents, along with twenty-two others. Bean escaped Volescu's illegal laboratory, leaving the other twenty-two children to be killed...