Pierre Delacroix/Peerless Dothan
Peerless Dothan, who goes by the name Pierre Delacroix, is a black Harvard graduate who works as a scriptwriter for the television network CNS. At CNS, Delacroix is unsuccessful due to his white, racist boss, Thomas Dunwitty, rejecting all of his scripts due to the fact that he portrays his black characters as positive, complex, and intelligent. In order to get out of his contract for CNS, Delacroix attempts to get fired instead by creating a minstrel show that is blatantly and outrageously racist. The minstrel show, as he describes it, will have a black cast wearing blackface.
Against his initial plans, however, the minstrel show — Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show — becomes wildly popular, and Delacroix begins to enjoy the fame and riches that its success brings him. As the film progresses, Delacroix becomes increasingly comfortable with the racism that Mantan perpetuates and fosters, claiming that it is merely satire.
Despite the rage that Mantan causes groups of the public, including the Mau Maus (a militant rap group), Delacroix refuses to put an end to the show. This refusal to put an end to the show eventually leads to his death.
Manray
Manray is a poor, black tapdancer that Delacroix recruits to star in Mantan alongside his friend Womack. Manray sees the minstrel show as an opportunity to gain fame and riches — something that he cannot achieve if he continues performing and busking on the street. He plays Mantan in the show. As the show gains popularity, Manray's ego grows, causing a rift between him and Womack.
Eventually, Manray realizes that he is being exploited by Delacroix, and quits the show. He is then kidnapped by the Mau Maus, who publicly execute him during a livestream.
Sloan Hopkins
Sloan Hopkins is Delacroix's personal assistant, and the sister of Julius, the leader of the Mau Mau's. After Mantan gains popularity, Sloan is ashamed to have been a part of it's success. Throughout the duration of the show, Sloan and Manray become closer, which is something that angers Delacroix. Delacroix confronts her, and when she defends herself, he fires her.
After Manray's death, Sloan confronts Delacroix, who is wearing blackface, in his office. Holding him at gunpoint, she tells him to play a tape that she had previously given him, which contains a montage of racist TV shows and cartoons from the past, each depicting characters in blackface. As the tape plays, Sloan talks about the lives that he ruined with his show, and how he contributed to the racism exemplified in the tape. Sloan shoots Delacroix in the stomach when he attempts to take the gun away from her, and flees the scene.
Thomas Dunwitty
Thomas Dunwitty is Delacroix's racist boss at CNS. He constantly says "nigger" and uses AAVE, despite being white. He claims that it is his right to say "nigger" due to the fact that he has a black wife and two half-black children. Dunwitty tells Delacroix that because he speaks this way and Delacroix does not, Dunwitty is more black than him.
Dunwitty rejects all of Delacroix's scripts because he does not think that they are a realistic depiction of black people — they are too positive and intelligent. It is not until Delacroix presents Mantan to him that he agrees with and is excited by one of Delacroix's scripts.
Julius
Julius is Sloan's brother and the leader of the Mau Mau's. He and the Mau Mau's despise Mantan and anyone associated with it, which leads them to plot to kidnap and murder Manray. They livestream Manray's execution, which allows the police to locate them. Once the police arrive, Julius and the rest of the Mau Mau's are killed by the police, except for the only white member of the group.
