Jem Carstairs

Tessa Gray (wife)

Mina Carstairs (daughter)

Kit Herondale (adoptive son)

Emma Carstairs (distant relative)

Cordelia Blackthorn (distant relative)

John Blackthorn (distant relative)

Marcus Blackthorn (distant relative)

*This article uses material from the “Jem Carstairs” article on the Shadowhunter wiki at FANDOM and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.*

**James "Jem" Carstairs** is an inactive Shadowhunter and a former Silent Brother. Once an orphan living in the London Institute during the 1870s, along with his *parabatai,* Will Herondale, he is now a mortal who is over a hundred years old, cured of his illness.

He lives at the New York Institute with his wife Tessa Gray, daughter Mina, adoptive son Kit Herondale and the Lightwood and Herondale families.

## Biography

### Early Life

Jem was born in Shanghai, China, to his British father, Jonah Carstairs, and Chinese mother, Ke Wen Yu. He was raised at the Shanghai Institute, run by his parents. He lived there until he was twelve, when the Greater Demon Yanluo, in retaliation for the destruction of his nest, killed his parents and tortured him by poisoning him with *yin fen*—a demon poison which can be made into an addictive drug. Jem was in and out of consciousness and had become delirious, and by the time the Shanghai Enclave came to investigate, his parents were dead and he was already addicted to the drug.

Jem was rescued, though his dependence on the drug could not be cured. While Jem needed the drug for continued survival, regular doses of it were also deadly, so it became known since then that Jem would not live long.

Soon after, Jem was brought to the London Institute, where he was cared for and doted on by Charlotte Fairchild. There, Jem also met Charlotte's husband, then fiancé Henry Branwell, the Sighted mundane servants Sophie Collins, Thomas Tanner, and Agatha, and the wards of the Institute, Will Herondale and Jessamine Lovelace.

When Jem arrived at the Institute, Will was also fairly new, having arrived half a year before him. The day he arrived, Will did not greet him with the others, so Jem was instead brought to the training room by Charlotte to meet him. When Will, in an attempt to dissuade Jem from befriending him, teased him about looking weak and close to death, Jem told him about his short lifeline. Jem then told him not to pity him and instead allow him to train with him and Will agreed.

Jem was the only one in the Institute to ever get through Will, who thought the curse he had on him would not matter with Jem as he was already dying. Almost a year after they met, Will asked Jem to become his *parabatai*. Jem initially refused, thinking Will deserved someone who would be able to look after him for a long time. However, the insistent Will wagered that if he could successfully get Jem's sword away from him, they would be blood brothers. Jem agreed and lost the bet. A year later, when they were both fourteen, they underwent the *parabatai* ceremony and have been inseparable since.

When he was fifteen, the demon Yanluo was finally slain. His uncle, Elias, invited Jem to move to Idris with him, though he refused so he could remain with Will. Around this time, Jem had also asked Will to promise him to stop looking for a cure for him.

### Tessa and Mortmain

Jem was seventeen when he first met Tessa Gray. He and Will were investigating the death of the mundane Emma Bayliss, which led them to the Dark Sisters, though Jem was not part of the raid on their house since he was too ill. Instead, he met Tessa the evening after Tessa's rescue, when she came into his room while he was playing the violin. He first mistook her for Will but didn't mind finding her at all. The two talked for a while, mainly about losing their parents, before a drunken Will arrived and Jem burst into a fit of coughing.

The following day, Jem and Will were sent to the Dark House to further inspect it. There, they found the body of the Dark Sisters' clockwork servant, Miranda, which seemingly woke under Jem's touch. The creature warned them of some unknown danger before shutting off again. They brought the clockwork girl back to the Institute to be studied by Henry.

Over the next few days, Jem worked closely with Will and Tessa on their investigations. He was particularly good to Tessa, mostly to make up for Will's misbehavior. Jem tried to help Tessa understand Will and adjust to London. He also guided Tessa while she learned of the Shadow World, telling her of vampires, after she met Camille Belcourt and had to Change into her. He also tried to help her understand her own warlock power.

When Tessa ran off into the London Institute after being upset by Will, Jem found her and took her for a walk. He took her to a bridge that wasn't visited that often because it didn't have a great view. He told her that this was his favourite place to visit when he needed to get away. They were suddenly attacked by two clockwork people, one of them being the Dark Sisters' coachman. Jem fought them off, but became ill and started coughing when suddenly they were attacked by a whole army of the clockwork people. He and Tessa made it back to the Institute. By the time they got there, Jem was extremely ill and couldn't respond to Tessa. Tessa couldn't open the Institute doors because she was not a Shadowhunter. Will and the other Shadowhunters came out just in time and defeated the clockwork army, some of them escaping. However, Jem was injured and was taken back into the Institute.

Jem was treated and had to rest in bed. He wanted to speak to Tessa however and asked Will to call for her. He told her not to blame herself and then explained that he is addicted to *yin fen*, a drug that makes him severely ill when he suffers through withdrawal.

Jem showed Tessa the silver powder, *yin fen*, that satisfied his body's need for demon blood. Will bought the drugs for Jem because Jem didn't want to buy them himself, guilty of the fact that he needed the drugs in the first place. Without the drug, his natural Shadowhunter powers were weakened until he took more of the drug. Jem also had said that he took as little of the drug that he could as possible. Tessa noticed that after taking the drug, Jem's face seemed to have a slight flush to it and his eyes seemed brighter and that the powder had a sweet smell to it. She accidentally knocked the box where Jem kept the drug over while she and Jem were kissing passionately. It was presumed that Jem snorted or sniffed the drug as opposed to smoking it as Will said that the smell of burning *yin fen* that a pack of werewolves were taking as sweet-sour scent to it as opposed to just the regular sweet smell. Jem witnessed the werewolves dying from taking too much of the drug, and simply stood back and watched frightened. It was unknown how long the drug would take to take its final effect on Jem.

While the Shadowhunters were attacking Alexei de Quincey's clan, Axel Mortmain visited the Institute. Will and Jem went out to hear what he had to say. He told them the location of the remaining Dark Sister, Mrs. Dark, who was supposedly going to help the Magister raise his clockwork army. The two of them left immediately, although Jem was unsure whether it was the right thing to do.

When they arrived they were attacked by the Dark Sister. She used her powers to set the building around them on fire, but they managed to kill her. Jem grabbed a cat that had been locked up in a cage. Once they had escaped they realized that it must have been all a trap and that Tessa and the group were in trouble. Will rode on ahead of Jem and began attacking the clockwork army. Jem arrived a little later and helped Will until the rest of the Shadowhunters arrived.

At the end of the book, Jem had revealed to have named the cat Church. Jem also comforted Tessa when she believed that because she was a warlock, she could not have children.

### Running Out Of Time

Jem, Will and Tessa visited the York Institute to find out more about Mortmain's history and why he was so determined to kill Shadowhunters. Jem gave Tessa the Carstairs family ring as an engagement ring so she can pretend that she was a mundane who was preparing to Ascend and become a Shadowhunter. They met Aloysius Starkweather who showed them his spoils of war from killing Downworlders, making Tessa faint after seeing heads and body pieces of warlocks.

Jem proposed to Tessa, she accepted and he gave her his jade necklace as an engagement present. Sophie Collins was happy for them, because although she previously had liked Jem, she wanted him to be happy.

### Silent Brotherhood

It was revealed after a fight that Jem had been taking twice as much of the drug to make Tessa believe that he was getting better. Jem fell extremely ill, and there was no more yin fen for him, due to Mortmain stealing it all; Mortmain blackmailed Tessa into doing her binding until she did what he wanted: transform in John Thadeus Shade.

Later, after Will went out to find Tessa, Jem fell more ill and told everyone that it was over, meaning that they should stop searching for a cure. It was thought that Jem died because Will's parabatai rune was bleeding and he felt their connection die.

It was revealed that he became a Silent Brother at the end of the book, and he was in fact Brother Zachariah. And as Brother Zachariah, he met Tessa once a year in the Blackfriars Bridge.

### Finding a Cure

At last, 129 years after he was made into a Silent Brother, Jem was "cured" from his state, when the *yin fen* in him was burned away by the heavenly fire in Jace Herondale, whom he constantly looked after for being Will's descendant. Upon recovering, Jem was once again a mortal. The repressed emotions that did not bother him as a Silent Brother came flooding back, and he found himself unable to reclaim his Shadowhunter name and stead. Despite this, he chose to fulfill his duties and fight alongside the Nephilim in the Dark War. Though he was more than tempted to immediately go to Tessa and tell her everything, he chose to keep her away from the danger of the war.

Only days after the war, Jem quickly decided that he would no longer be an active Shadowhunter, unable to bear the thought of being one without his *parabatai*. At their annual meeting at the Blackfriars Bridge, Jem reunited with Tessa, and the pair shared a kiss and agreed to explore the world together. They rekindled their relationship, and, eventually, their engagement. The same day, the couple went to Tessa's flat in London, where Jem soon lost his virginity.

Eventually, Jem began playing the violin again, though his skill was no longer what it was before he became a Silent Brother. He settled with it, as he simply hoped to find in music a way to process and express his losses and new discoveries. Also, after his transformation, several regulars of the Shadow Market sent him an embroidered cloak with a note that said, "You'll always be our favorite Silent Brother."

In May 2008, he and Tessa attended Jocelyn and Luke's wedding in New York. There, Jem also reunited with Church, whom he took, without express permission from the Lightwoods, with him and Tessa. Even during the war, Jem had already known that he wanted to look out for the young and newly-orphaned Emma Carstairs. With Tessa, he moved to Los Angeles to be able to keep an eye on Emma and the Blackthorns, a branch of Tessa's descendants.

The following year, he and Tessa got married at London, on the Blackfriars Bridge, attended by their new friends as well as old ones—the ghosts of Jessamine and Will. For some reason, however, most of the guests do not remember the wedding. He also later attended Emma's *parabatai* ceremony with Julian Blackthorn. There, he finally told Emma about him being a Carstairs.

Jem and Tessa then set out to look for Tobias Herondale's descendants. They were eventually able to track down the family, with difficulty given its various name changes over the years. They found Johnny and Kit Rook in August 2012, with Johnny hiding his son among mundanes, keeping the secret of their heritage from him. When Johnny died, they finally approached Kit and asked him to stay at the Los Angeles Institute where he could be kept safe.

### The Lost Herondale

During his time in the Silent Brotherhood, Jem learned of a lost line of Herondales and began searching for them. After he returned to the mortal world, Jem continued his search for Tobias Herondale's descendants with Tessa by his side.

In 2012 their quest lead them to the Buenos Aires Shadow Market, where there were rumors of someone telling stories of the Herondales. However, when they arrived and attempted to enter, they were denied and told the only Shadowhunter welcome there was Alec Lightwood. They called on him for assistance and upon entry were requested by the Queen of the Shadow Market to look into the disappearances of several werewolf women. They agreed and were able to track down the culprits and arrest them, saving the women who were still alive and repairing the relationship between the Market and the Institute.

While they were asking questions around the market, Lily Chen recognized one of the vendors as someone who had a long grudge with the Herondales. Thanks to this tip, Jem and Tessa were able to find that the source of the rumors was Mother Hawthorn. She reluctantly told them the story of the First Heir's line. Now, with the knowledge of the exact threat posed to Rosemary, they set themselves back on their search to find and protect her.

Several months later, Rosemary used the heron necklace he had given her to summon him for aid. Unfortunately, Tessa and Jem arrived too late to save her; with her dying breath, she was able to ask them to save her son. Tessa, using her ability to Change into Rosemary and access her memories, discovered that Rosemary and her husband had a planned location that she should go to should she ever need him. Following this knowledge, they went to the Los Angeles Shadow Market, where Tessa, once again Changed into Rosemary, went into the bar and waited for a sign to follow. After a conversation with the bartender, Tessa figured out her husband’s new alias however when she attempted to leave she was brought up short by Fal. Apparently the faerie in the bar had recognized Rosemary and reported it to the Riders of Mannan. Fal stabbed Tessa despite Jem’s efforts to protect her.

For many days after this, Tessa was stuck in the Change — inconsistently switching between Tessa and Rosemary. When at last she regained control and awoke, Tessa told Jem how they could find Rosemary's son. They immediately returned to the Shadow Market, only to find no trace of Johnny. Eventually, they were able to get an address and they rushed to his home, only to find chaos — the remains of Johnny Rook’s body and Emma and Kit Rook fighting off a horde of Mantid demons. Jem joined Emma in fighting off the demons while Tessa got Kit out and told him of his lineage.

While they had initially planned to take him in, Tessa was called back to the Spiral Labyrinth to look into an illness plaguing warlocks around the world and Jem decided he should look for Malcolm Fade's body and find the Black Volume of the Dead. So instead they brought him to the Los Angeles Institute to remain safe for the time being.

### Family

Later that year Jem attended the funeral for Livia Blackthorn and Robert Lightwood. There he approached Emma with the news of Tessa’s pregnancy and concern over the warlock illness and that it may have ties to the ley lines Malcolm had used to raise Annabel Blackthorn. He requested she contact Catarina Loss when she went back to Los Angeles and look into the matter. Though that was not all that was concerning Jem; he had become worried that one of the Riders had recognized Kit and that he was in great danger. He asked Emma to look out for him and gave her a glass ring to use to summon him should she think that he was being hunted.

During the battle of The Cohort's parley, Jem and Tessa were tending to the wounded when they saw Kit unleash his powers upon the Riders. They immediately took him to the Silent City. After a few days of making sure Kit’s identity remained secret in Downworld, they came to him and asked him to come to live with them. Kit agreed and the three of them left for Cirenworth Hall.

They later briefly stopped by Magnus and Alec’s wedding. While they did not make their presence known, they watched from the cliffs.

In March 2013, Tessa went into labor and they soon welcomed Mina Carstairs into the world. A few months later, Jem took Kit with him to the New York Shadow Market. There they purchased something to help Mina with her teething. Later on, Jem and Church sat watching Kit practice. Eventually, Kit noticed and came over and ended up asking Jem to train him, which he agreed to.

### Herondales, Carstairs, Blackthorns, Lightwoods, & Penhallows

A few years later, the family moved back to Los Angeles. Kit has since reconciled with Ty, and they recently became engaged. Jem enjoys telling the Blackthorn, Herondale, and Lightwood children of his and Tessa's adventures and of their ancestors.

After Mina and Emmy became parabatai, Ty, Kit, Tessa, Jem, and Mina all moved to the New York Institute. Howeve, they, along with the Lightwoods and Herondales spend two weeks a month in Los Angeles.

## Personality

Jem comes across as kind, calm, gentle, quiet, exceedingly patient, and quite intelligent. He is also incredibly brave and strong and can be counted upon. He doesn't like to have people worrying about him and was especially secretive about his illness.

## Physical Appearance

While ill, Jem is described as being quite pale and having odd bright silver-colored hair, like an untarnished shilling. His eyes are said to be the same silver but with a gentle curve that hints at his parentage, and he has a fine-boned angular face, with a slight curve of his eyes. He looks youthful, partially because of his slightness. He is also tall, very slender and handsome too.

After he was cured of his illness, he is no longer pale as the color returns to his skin, his hair returns to dark brown, almost black, with only a single silver streak remaining, and his eyes are dark brown with gold flecks. Due to his stagnancy as a Silent Brother, Jem maintained his youthful appearance, looking like someone in his early twenties, though his wisdom and experiences in his long life as a Silent Brother reflects in his eyes. He has also since begun physically aging, after being cured.

Jem's *parabatai* rune, now faded to a pale white scar, is on his shoulder.

## Trivia

* Jem is fluent in both English and Mandarin.
* He is three months older than Will Herondale.
* His favorite weapon is a sword.
* His favorite ice cream flavor is maple.