Character Relationship Map: The 355

Characters

• Khadijah Adiyeme (played by Lupita Nyong'o) — protagonist

  Retired British MI6 operative and Mace's longtime friend. Recruited to help locate the decryption drive, she joins the team in London and travels to Morocco with them. Her boyfriend Ahmed is taken hos...

• Graciela Rivera (played by Penélope Cruz) — supporting

  Colombian DNI psychologist with no field experience, initially tasked with receiving the decryption drive. She joins the team at a safe house and travels to Morocco. Her family is later held hostage b...

• Marie Schmidt (played by Diane Kruger) — supporting

  German undercover BND agent who intercepts the drive deal in Paris. Pressured by her boss Jonas Muller, she assists Mace and the team in tracking down the device and a thief in Morocco. After her boss...

• Lin Mi Sheng (played by Fan Bingbing) — supporting

  Agent from the Chinese Ministry of State Security who uses the decryption drive as bait to identify criminals at a Shanghai black-market auction. She secretly retrieves the device but is captured by N...

• Nick Fowler (played by Sebastian Stan) — supporting

  Mace's longtime CIA partner and secret mole for criminal mastermind Elijah Clarke. Fakes his death to maintain his cover. He captures the team, executes several hostages including Lin's father and Mar...

• Elijah Clarke (played by Jason Flemyng) — supporting

  A ruthless criminal mastermind who acquires the universal decryption drive. He orchestrates the theft and uses the device to trigger global cyberattacks. Though he punishes Nick for delivering a decoy...

• Luis Rojas (played by Edgar Ramírez) — supporting

  Colombian DNI agent who secures the decryption drive after a drug lord's mansion is raided. He attempts to sell it to Mace in Paris but is later murdered at a London market by a corrupt colleague. Bef...

• Jonas Muller (played by Sylvester Groth) — supporting

  Head of the German BND and Marie Schmidt's boss. He pressures Marie to recover the decryption drive and holds past professional failures against her. He is later captured by Nick Fowler and executed o...

• Larry Marks (played by John Douglas Thompson) — supporting

  Mace's CIA superior who authorizes her to retrieve the decryption drive using any means necessary. He receives the device in Morocco before a series of global cyberattacks begin. He is later found mur...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Larry Marks → Khadijah Adiyeme (Power Mission Authority) — Marks's authorization places Khadijah under the mission's operational command structure.

  Marks authorizes the CIA operative to retrieve the drive by any means, leading to the operation that includes Khadijah.

• Marie Schmidt → Jonas Muller (Professional Subordinate) — Marie operates under Jonas's authority and instructions.

  Jonas is Marie's BND boss and pressures her to pursue the decryption drive.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Larry Marks → Marie Schmidt (Alliance Operational Ally) — Marks temporarily benefits from Marie's recovery operation.

  Marks receives the drive in Morocco from the joint group that includes Marie before the cyberattacks begin.

• Elijah Clarke → Larry Marks (Alliance Secret Paymaster) — Clarke secretly finances or controls Marks within the CIA structure.

  Lin reveals that Marks had been on Clarke's payroll after Marks is found dead at the safe house.

• Nick Fowler → Elijah Clarke (Narrative Secret Mole) — Nick's hidden allegiance links the CIA operation to Clarke's criminal network.

  At the Shanghai auction, Nick is revealed to be secretly working as Clarke's mole inside the CIA.

• Nick Fowler → Lin Mi Sheng (Conflict Captor) — Nick controls and exploits Lin to access the device.

  Nick abducts Lin after she surrenders the drive and forces her to authenticate it.

• Nick Fowler → Marie Schmidt (Conflict Enemy) — Nick attacks Marie's professional world and opposes her directly.

  Nick captures the team and executes Jonas, Marie's boss, during the coercion campaign.

• Nick Fowler → Graciela Rivera (Conflict Hostage Taker) — Nick weaponizes Graciela's family against the team.

  Nick holds Graciela's family hostage and uses their safety to force Lin to surrender the drive.

• Nick Fowler → Khadijah Adiyeme (Conflict Enemy) — Nick directly threatens Khadijah and becomes her principal adversary.

  Nick captures the group, holds Khadijah's boyfriend hostage, and later faces Khadijah during the rescue operation.

• Jonas Muller → Nick Fowler (Conflict Hostage And Victim) — Nick turns Marie's superior into a hostage and kills him.

  Nick captures Jonas and has him executed on camera to force the women to cooperate.

• Marie Schmidt → Lin Mi Sheng (Alliance Rescue Partner) — Marie supports Lin's rescue and the final assault.

  Marie joins the other women in arming themselves, locating Lin through her glasses camera, and rescuing her.

• Khadijah Adiyeme → Lin Mi Sheng (Alliance Rescue Partner) — Khadijah helps recover Lin after her abduction.

  Khadijah participates in the group that follows Lin's transmitted location and rescues her from Nick.

• Lin Mi Sheng → Graciela Rivera (Alliance Protector) — Lin sacrifices possession of the drive to protect Graciela's family.

  Lin surrenders the drive after Nick threatens Graciela's family, directly acting to preserve their lives.

• Luis Rojas → Graciela Rivera (Alliance Protector) — Luis protects Graciela and entrusts her with the key to locating the drive.

  Before dying at the market, Luis gives Graciela a phone that only she can open and that tracks the drive.

• Marie Schmidt → Graciela Rivera (Alliance Teammate) — Marie becomes Graciela's ally after initially pursuing the same objective.

  Marie takes Graciela to a safe house, where they are joined by Khadijah and the CIA operative before forming a working group.

Story Analysis

A group of rival intelligence operatives must overcome institutional corruption and betrayal to prevent a universal decryption device from enabling global catastrophe.

Plot Progression

1. The Drive Enters Play — Elijah Clarke obtains a universal decryption drive, while Luis Rojas secures it during the raid. A Paris exchange collapses when Marie Schmidt steals the money and Nick Fowler appears to die.
2. Rivals Become Allies — Khadijah Adiyeme joins the pursuit in London, where Luis dies after giving Graciela Rivera a tracking phone. Marie, Graciela, and Khadijah unite and recover the drive in Morocco.
3. The Conspiracy Surfaces — Global cyberattacks follow the handoff to Larry Marks, who is then found dead while the women are framed. An interrogation points them toward a black-market auction in Shanghai.
4. Moles And Hostages — Nick is exposed as Clarke's mole, while Lin Mi Sheng reveals the drive was used as bait. Nick captures the group and uses hostages to force Lin to authenticate the device.
5. The Drive Destroyed — The women trace Lin through her glasses camera, rescue her, shoot Nick, and destroy the drive. Later, they drug Nick and arrange for him to spend his life in a foreign prison.