Beatrice "Tris" Prior
The 16-year-old protagonist of the novel. Beatrice was born and raised in the Abnegation faction, but chooses Dauntless because she feels it is who she truly is. However, her aptitude test was inconclusive, and she is "Divergent" - a fate that is mysterious but also dangerous. Once in Dauntless, she begins again under a new name - Tris. Tris is strong-willed, courageous, and reluctant to show weakness, particularly during her initiation into Dauntless. While she thrives in her new faction, she still feels strong ties to the family she left behind.
Tobias "Four" Eaton
The initiation instructor for the Dauntless transfer initiates, including Tris, who eventually becomes her primary love interest. To most, he is known as “Four,” a name given to him because during his own Dauntless initiation it was revealed that he only has four fears. Just like Tris, he was born Abnegation, but chose to transfer to Dauntless to escape the abuse of his father. At first, he has an elusive, mysterious personality, and it takes a while for him to allow himself to become close to Tris. He is very protective of his loved ones.
Caleb Prior
Tris’s brother. Like his younger sister, Caleb shocked his family by choosing to transfer to Erudite, though he had always appeared to be Abnegation through and through. Growing up, Caleb had a secret fondness for books and a ceaselessly inquisitive nature that he worked hard to keep under wraps. Caleb and Tris have shared a very close sibling bond over the course of their childhood.
Natalie Prior
Tris and Caleb’s mother. She was the daughter of a Dauntless leader and Divergent herself, but her mother warned her that people were searching for Divergents and she needed to escape, so she moved to Abnegation to begin a new life. Though she appears nothing but selfless and kindhearted, she has an inner core of strength that is revealed to Tris at the end of the novel.
Andrew Prior
Tris and Caleb’s father, husband of Natalie Prior. He was born Erudite, but moved to Abnegation to start a life with Natalie. He is a member of the city council, a group of Abnegation who govern the entire city.
Robert Black
The Priors’ neighbor in Abnegation. At one point, Tris believed that if she didn’t transfer out of Abnegation, she would probably end up marrying Robert. But on Choosing Day, he transfers to Amity, leaving behind his Abnegation identity just as like Tris and Caleb.
Susan Black
Sister of Robert Black. She choses to remain in Abnegation. At the beginning of the novel, she and Caleb have a minor crush on each other.
Marcus Eaton
The abusive father of Tobias Eaton and a member of the Abnegation city council along with Andrew Prior. He was never on good terms with his son, and is a recurring presence in Tobias’s fear landscape.
Tori
Tori Wu administers Tris’s aptitude test at the beginning of the novel and realizes that she is Divergent. She is also a tattoo artist in the Dauntless compound, and she is said to have transferred from Erudite with her brother, who was killed for being Divergent. Tori has a tattoo of a hawk on the back of her neck, symbolizing the sun and reminding her how she overcame her fear of the dark.
Christina
Christina was born in Candor, but transfers to Dauntless and becomes fast friends with Tris when she helped her jump onto the moving train in their first initiate test. She begins a relationship with Will later on in the book. Because of her Candor upbringing, Christina can be very blunt and honest, but she is brave, witty, and loyal.
Will
One of Tris’s other close friends from Dauntless initiation. Will transferred to Dauntless from Erudite, and his intelligence and wit was immediately apparent to the other initiates. At first, Will and Christina were prone to arguing, but eventually they begin a relationship.
Albert
Just like Christina, Albert, or "Al," transferred to Dauntless from Candor. At first he has trouble adjusting, and breaks down in tears on their first night in the Dauntless dormitory. Because of his soft and fragile personality, he continuously throws all fights during initiation. He has a crush on Tris, but she does not return the sentiment. He kills himself after taking part in an attack on Tris.
Uriah
Another boy in Tris’s group of initiates, Uriah Pedrad has lived in Dauntless his entire life. His father died when he was young, and he has an older brother Zeke, also in Dauntless. He invites Tris to the Dauntless initiation ritual of zip lining down from the top of the Hancock building. His two closest friends during initiation appear to be Marlene and Lynn.
Marlene
A Dauntless-born initiate, and a good friend of Uriah and Lynn. She is described as having a “childish joy” about her, and is very easygoing.
Lynn
Another Dauntless-born initiate, and a good friend of Uriah and Marlene. During initiation, she shaved her head and started to wear less form-fitting clothes in order to show the Dauntless boys that she was a threat even though she’s a girl. She’s tough and mischievous.
Peter
A central antagonist in the novel, Peter Hayes transferred from Candor to Dauntless. During initiation, he mocks Tris and her friends along with his lackeys Molly and Drew. He is physically strong and vicious, and typically places second only to Edward in all of the initiation fights. Peter is cold, cruel, tough, and ruthless, determined to do whatever it takes to come on top, including stabbing Edward in the eye.
Molly
Molly Atwood is a Candor-born Dauntless initiate, and one of Peter’s lackeys along with Drew. She mercilessly teases Tris, growing extremely angry with her after Tris beats her in a fight and causes her ranking to be low. As revenge she solicits an Erudite reporter to write a vicious article about Tris’s father.
Drew
Just like Molly, Drew is a Candor-born Dauntless initiate, and one of Peter’s lackeys. His personality is very similar to Peter’s: brutish, tough, and cruel. Because he blindly follows Peter’s orders, it seems that he’s not very intelligent on his own.
Edward
Edward transferred to Dauntless from Erudite, but immediately shows his skill and strength in hand-to-hand combat. When he is ranked first after stage one, Peter and Drew stab him in the eye in his sleep. Edward voluntarily leaves the initiation with his girlfriend Myra.
Myra
Erudite-born, and Edward’s girlfriend. Unlike Edward, though, she is a weak and incompetent fighter, losing a fight to Will in less than three minutes. She chooses to leave initiation along with Edward after he is stabbed in the eye.
Eric
Eric transferred from Erudite, but eventually became a Dauntless initiation leader along with Four. Because Four finished first in their own initiation class and Eric second, Eric has hated him ever since. During training, he is extremely harsh on the initiates, even forcing Christina to hang over the Chasm for five minutes as a punishment. Eric is cruel and emphasizes cutthroat strength over intelligence and teamwork.
Lauren
An instructor assigned to the Dauntless-born initiates upon their arrival. Her fear-landscape is the one the initiates practice with during stage two of initiation.
Jeanine Matthews
The leader of Erudite faction, selected solely based on her IQ score. She is the main antagonist in the novel, and seeks to form an alliance between Dauntless and Erudite against Abnegation.
