Amar
He is Tobias’s initiation instructor, whose death was faked in the city so that he could escape before he was killed for being Divergent. He works in security at the compound. He and Tobias seem to have a pretty strong and unique bond. He is secretly homosexual and is in a secret relationship with a fellow escapee of the city – George Wu. He is a GP, so this is forbidden, as any inhibitor to procreation would be unacceptable.
Caleb
Tris’s brother, who chose to transfer from Abnegation to Erudite, where he became Jeanine Matthew’s lackey when the Erudite controlled the city and were murdering the Divergent. His and Tris’s relationship is tense throughout the story, as she cannot forgive him for sitting by and watching her be brought to what was supposed to be her execution.
Cara
A member of Erudite; Will’s sister. She is known as one of the leaders of the Allegiant. She believes in reinstating the faction system as well as in finding out what is outside the city limits. She leaves the city with Tris and Tobias in order to do this latter task. Her Erudite tendencies get her through the alien world that she finds herself in: her attention to detail, careful planning, and never straying from rational thinking.
Christina
Tris’s best friend. She was raised Candor, but transferred to Dauntless in the same year as Tris. She leaves her family in the city when she leaves with Tris and Tobias to see what is outside its limits. She still suffers from the loss of her lover – Will, another member of her Dauntless initiate class. Her love for her family and her friends shines throughout the story.
David
The leader of the Bureau. He is obsessed with the Bureau’s attempts to heal genetic damage -- i.e., the city experiments. He believes in sacrificing for the greater good and will resort to any necessary measure to keep the experiments in action. He knew Tris’s mother before she entered the city, and he seemed to be in love with her. Their relationship is a tricky one.
Evelyn Johnson
Tobias’s mother, who undergoes physical abuse from her husband, Marcus, before she deserts their family and their faction to join the factionless. She becomes the leader of the factionless hordes, eventually taking over the city after the overthrow of the Erudite. Her strength and tyrannical leadership are constantly at odds with her vulnerability and desire to reconcile with her son.
Johanna Reyes
The former representative of the Amity, who becomes the second leader of the Allegiant alongside Cara. She is a voice of reason, working to reinstate the faction system in the city. She allies herself with Marcus only reluctantly, knowing that he comes with more support.
Matthew
A scientist for the Bureau; he is a GP, but a past and forbidden relationship with a GD led him to become a sympathizer with the GDs. He wants nothing more than to hurt the Bureau, but he must draw a fine line between becoming a murderer and working to correct the wrongs of the Bureau.
Marcus Eaton
Tobias’s abusive father, who, after being exiled from the city by Evelyn, allies himself with the Allegiant. He starts a campaign to undermine Evelyn and her factionless army by raiding their weapons storehouses. Tobias’s fear of his father and his desire to be rid of the man who hurt him so much permeate the story.
Natalie Wright (Tris's mother)
As a child, she was found in the fringe after leaving her life in the city with dysfunctional parents. David took her to the compound, until she volunteered to enter the city to combat the Erudite attack on the Divergent. Though she was supposed to join Erudite at the Choosing Ceremony, her love for Tris’s father and her desire to help others caused her to join Abnegation. Her independence ruins her relationship with David, but she is happy until her death protecting her children.
Nita
A GD from another of the city experiments; when the experiment was disbanded, she came to the compound to start a new life for herself. She is not okay with how GDs are treated by the Bureau, and she plans a rebel mission to undermine the Bureau’s strength. Her deceit and extremism are very important to the story, and her plan affects Tobias and Tris’s relationship profoundly.
Peter
Another member of Tris and Christina’s Dauntless initiate class. He is known for his heartlessness, taking advantage of those weaker than himself without remorse. His character is confusing, though, as he also helped to save Tris’s life in the Erudite compound. His major struggle in the novel is over deciding to take the memory serum, thus resetting his memory and rendering himself a new person.
Rafi and Mary
Two leaders of a rebel group in the fringe. They work with Nita to attempt to break in to the Weapons Lab and steal the death serum. Their attempt fails, but the desperation in these people does not go unnoticed.
Tobias
Half of the story is told through Tobias’s point of view. He was another faction transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless; he chose to transfer to escape his abusive father, Marcus. Tobias faces two huge struggles in the novel – first realizing that he is not truly Divergent, but that he actually possesses damaged genes. He then must deal with the fact that he took part in a plan that resulted in the death of his best friend’s little brother. He and Tris are romantically involved throughout the story. He is known for only having four fears, but nevertheless obsesses over these fears.
Tris
Half of the story is told through Tris’s point of view. She is Divergent and chose to transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless during the Choosing Ceremony. Both of her parents were killed when the factionless and the Dauntless took down Erudite and overthrew the faction system. Much of the novel follows Tris’s journey as she reads her mother’s diary and discovers how her mother truly came to enter the city experiment. She is strong-willed, cunning, and has a knack for making the correct judgments about people.
Uriah
Tris and Christina’s friend from Dauntless initiation, who joins them on their journey outside the city. He is in mourning over Marlene, a fellow Dauntless-born initiate with whom he was close. He is hit by an explosion and sent into a coma that lasts until his death at the end of the novel.
