Tris
The main character, a member of Dauntless, who was formerly Abnegation. Tris is Divergent, but is particularly special for having aptitude for three factions: Dauntless, Erudite, and Abnegation. Tris is loyal, selfless, and brave, but sometimes this bravery leads to a habit of throwing herself into danger without thinking. Love interest of Tobias.
Tobias
Nicknamed Four, Tobias is a former Dauntless initiate trainer and Tris's love interest. He grew up Abnegation, but left the faction to get away from his abusive father. Tobias is brave but does not trust easily, and as a result, it takes a lot for Tris to get through to him.
Christina
Tris's best friend from Dauntless, who transferred from Candor. Christina does not hesitate to tell anyone exactly how she feels, and can sometimes be brutally honest; however, she is extremely brave and a fiercely loyal friend. She has a hard time forgiving Tris for shooting her love interest, Will, but eventually overcomes her feelings of betrayal.
Caleb
Tris's brother, who transferred from Abnegation to Erudite. Caleb is extremely smart, but he can also be a bit of a suck-up to authority. At first it seems that he sided with Tris and the loyal Dauntless against Erudite, but later on readers learned that there is more to Caleb's story than meets the eye.
Marcus
Tobias's abusive father and former leader of Abnegation. Marcus is not particularly likeable, and has alienated most of those who once were close to him in life. He spends most of Insurgent seeking to recover important information that Erudite stole from Abnegation.
Jeanine
The intelligent, conniving leader of Erudite, who serves as this novel's main antagonist. Jeanine is extremely manipulative and will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. She has a constant need for control over everything.
Peter
Tris's former enemy from Dauntless, who betrays them early on in the novel and defects over to Erudite with the other traitors. Peter sees everything in black and white, and makes decisions either based on what he gets out of something, or what he owes someone else.
Johanna
A representative from Amity, who offers faction refugees safety outside the fence. Like the rest of Amity, she desires to keep peace, but does not want to do this by turning the other cheek when terrible violence or other wrongs are occurring.
Uriah
A Dauntless-born initiate who befriended Tris during initiation, and now proves himself to be an important asset on the side of the loyal Dauntless in this war. He is in love with Marlene.
Marlene
Another Dauntless born initiate, who is in love with Uriah. She is one of the Dauntless put under a simulation towards the end of the novel, and during this she jumps off a building and kills herself.
Lynn
Another Dauntless-born initiate, close friends with Uriah and Marlene. She is independent and strong, and shaved her head in order to prove that she should be taken seriously during initiation. She reveals on her deathbed that she was in love with Marlene, too.
Zeke
Uriah's older brother, who was first presumed to have defected over to Erudite. It is eventually revealed, though, that he only did so in order to spy for the loyal Dauntless side. He is in love with Shauna.
Tori
The tattoo artist who administered Tris's aptitude test. In Insurgent she is thought to be a traitor, but it is eventually revealed that she only went to Erudite to spy. She becomes a Dauntless leader along with Tobias and Harrison.
Eric
A former Dauntless leader, who is ruthless and violent. He leads the invasion to capture the Divergent in Candor headquarters, but is stabbed by Tris and eventually executed.
Jack Kang
Leader of Candor, who is heavily concerned with justice and honesty. He will do whatever is in his faction's best interests, even if that means sacrificing the Divergent in order to save Candor from harm.
Evelyn
Tobias's mother, presumed dead for a long time, but actually a leader of the factionless. She is manipulative as well, and uses Tobias to help her ally with Dauntless in order to further her goal of abolishing the factions.
Shauna
Another Dauntless, Zeke's love interest and Lynn's sister. She is paralyzed by a shot to the back while eavesdropping on Jack and Jeanine's meeting.
Susan
One of Tris's old friends from Abnegation, for whom Caleb has feelings.
Edward
A former Dauntless initiate who left initiation when Peter stabbed him in the eye. Now he is a prominent figure of the factionless, working alongside Evelyn.
Will
One of Tris's close friends from Dauntless, a former Erudite, and Christina's love interest. At the end of Divergent, Tris shot Will while he was under the simulation.
Cara
Will's older sister, who remained Erudite when her brother transferred. Cara is extremely logical, so she can understand why Tris shot Will under those circumstances and does not hold it against her. She defects from Erudite to join the loyal Dauntless during the war.
Harrison
An older man, one of the three new Dauntless leaders.
Edith Prior
The woman from a long time ago, who voluntarily forgot everything to join the beginnings of faction society. Likely an ancestor of Tris's.
