Persephone "Sephy" Hadley
Sephy is the youngest daughter of Kamal and Jasmine Hadley. She is wealthy even by Cross standards, and her friendship with Callum is basically the only difficult part of her young life. At the start of the novel, she is youthful and idealistic. As her relationship with Callum becomes more serious, she begins to notice the flaws in her world, eventually going to boarding school, where she joins dissident groups, sit-ins, and demonstrations for racial equality. She loves Callum and gives birth to his daughter, Callie Rose, after he is hanged, despite her parents' and society's wishes.
Sephy is a sweet person who tries her best, but her enthusiasm—especially in the first half of the novel—often results in tense or upsetting situations for Callum.
Sephy is a Cross.
Callum Ryan McGregor
Callum is the youngest son of Ryan and Meggie McGregor. He has always been aware of the difference between his life and Sephy's, and despite being her best friend, he resents her privilege. Callum begins the novel as one of only four nought students allowed into Heathcroft High School, but he becomes disenchanted with the idea of changing the system from within, particularly after his father is wrongfully arrested and then killed. Callum becomes a high-ranking member of the Liberation Militia while Sephy is away at school, and he is eventually hanged on false charges of raping Sephy.
Callum is an intelligent young man, but he struggles with anger, eventually committing murders and kidnappings for the L.M. At the end of the novel, he comes to view his hatred as a tool he manufactured to survive a world that didn't want him. He loves Sephy, and he chooses to be hanged rather than falsely admit to raping her.
Callum is a nought.
Jasmine Adeyebe-Hadley
Jasmine is Sephy and Minerva's mother, Kamal's wife. She is an alcoholic, and Sephy observes that she's rarely seen without a glass of wine in her hand (usually chardonnay). She and Kamal have a troubled marriage, and they live separately, except when Kamal returns home to maintain his image. Jasmine attempts suicide by taking sleeping pills, after which she becomes very controlling of her daughters.
Jasmine used to employ Meggie McGregor as a nanny, and she considers the McGregors her friends, despite not speaking to them for three years. She secretly pays Ryan McGregor's legal fees when he is charged with the Dundale bombing.
Jasmine is a Cross.
Kamal Hadley
Kamal is Sephy and Minerva's father, and Jasmine's husband. He is the Home Office Minister, and many believe he will be Prime Minister one day. He has a secretary named Juno Ayelette. He is firmly opposed to social equality between Crosses and noughts, and he expects his family to behave appropriately and not to tarnish his public image. Kamal has a son from a previous relationship, as well as a lover named Grace. He is cruel to Jasmine and sometimes his daughters, though he spends most of his time working.
Kamal is a Cross.
Minerva Hadley
Minerva is Sephy's older sister, daughter of Jasmine and Kamal Hadley. Minerva and Sephy aren't close, and Sephy calls her "Minnie" to tease her. Minerva has a tendency to "flounce" from rooms. Minerva is supportive of Sephy going away to school, and when Sephy is pregnant, Minerva notices and encourages her to tell their parents; however, in the end she reveals the pregnancy herself, breaking her promise to Sephy.
Minerva is a Cross.
Margaret "Meggie" McGregor
Meggie is Ryan McGregor's wife, mother of Lynette, Jude, and Callum. Meggie believes in nonviolent protest as a path to racial equality, and she is very protective of her family. When Ryan joins the L.M., she kicks him out of the house rather than let him get her children in trouble. This doesn't work, and Callum ends up joining the L.M. He never speaks to his mother again to protect her, though he does send money when he can.
Meggie is a nought, though she reveals to Jude that her grandfather was a Cross.
Ryan McGregor
Ryan is Meggie McGregor's husband, father of Lynette, Jude, and Callum. Ryan starts the novel an ineffectual, passive man whom Callum has never seen raise his voice. Particularly after Lynette dies, this changes, as Ryan becomes more angry and active. He joins the L.M. and is involved in the Dundale bombing. To protect Jude from the police, Ryan confesses to the Dundale bombing; though his death sentence is commuted, Ryan is killed while trying to escape prison four days later.
Ryan is a nought.
Lynette McGregor
Lynette is Callum's older sister, the oldest child of Ryan and Meggie McGregor. Callum is very close to her and calls her "Lynny." Three years before the main events of the novel, Lynette was horrifically beaten by noughts for dating a Cross named Jed. Since then, she's been stuck in a "fantasy world," and in the brief instances she's engaged with the real world, she believes she's a Cross. She and Jude argue often, and after one of these arguments, Lynette returns to the real world; shortly after, she steps in front of a bus, leaving a suicide note for Callum.
Lynette is a nought.
Jude McGregor
Jude is Callum's older brother, the middle child of Ryan and Meggie McGregor. He had to leave school when Jasmine Hadley fired Meggie, and he is unemployed, furious, and resentful of Crosses, whom he usually calls "daggers." He doesn't support Callum going to Heathcroft, and he joins the Liberation Militia around when Ryan does. Jude is involved in planting the bomb at Dundale.
After their father dies and Callum leaves school, Jude recruits Callum to the Liberation Militia. He eventually leads the mission to kidnap Sephy; after that goes wrong, Callum loses touch with his brother, and Callum dies unsure whether Jude is dead or alive.
Jude is a nought.
Harry and Karl
Harry was Sephy's personal driver, and she convinced him to drop her off a few blocks away from Heathcroft so the other kids wouldn't make fun of her. When Jasmine realizes his, she fires Harry immediately and replaces him with Karl. Sephy sees Harry again at Lynette's funeral, where Harry blames her for ruining his life.
Both Harry and Karl are noughts.
Dionne Fernandez, Joanne Longshadow, and Lola Jordan
Dionne, Joanne, and Lola are girls a year above Sephy in school who beat her up in the bathroom for sitting at the nought table in the lunchroom. Sephy plans to get revenge, but she doesn't tell anyone but Callum their names; after joining the L.M., Callum makes it his personal mission to "deal with" them, making Dionne in particular suffer.
Dionne, Joanne, and Lola are Crosses.
Sarah Pike
Sarah is Jasmine Hadley's secretary. Sarah is the one who fires Meggie on Jasmine's behalf in the prologue. She is sympathetic to Callum's troubles—she helps hide Callum from Jasmine after he spends the night in Sephy's room, and she delivers a letter from Sephy to Callum's house—but she's not willing to be fired to help them.
Sarah is a nought.
Mrs. Paxton, Mr. Jason, and Mr. Costa
Mrs. Paxton teaches Math at Heathcroft, and she is especially kind to Callum, arguing with Mr. Costa in favor of making Heathcroft a haven for noughts. She is dark-skinned, even for a Cross, and is open-minded and friendly.
Mr. Jason teaches History at Heathcroft, and he is especially harsh on Callum, sending him to the headmaster's office for arguing that noughts contributed to scientific discovery. Mrs. Paxton explains to Callum that Mr. Jason is hard on him because Mr. Jason himself is half-Cross, half-nought; when Callum mentions this to Mr. Jason, Mr. Jason is enraged, saying he thanks God he's nothing like Callum.
Mr. Costa is the headmaster of Heathcroft. He does not like having noughts at his school, and he argues against Mrs. Paxton, saying that the difficulties the noughts are facing at Heathcroft are necessary to prepare them for the real world. When he asks Callum to leave school while Ryan is on trial for the Dundale bombing, Callum leaves the school permanently instead. Mr. Costa is a Cross.
The Liberation Militia
The Liberation Militia (L.M.) is a group of noughts labeled as terrorists by the Cross government. The L.M. commits bombings, murders, kidnappings, and other crimes in the interest of elevating noughts to an even playing field with Crosses. Ryan and Jude McGregor join the L.M., which Meggie hates; after Lynette and Ryan die, Jude recruits Callum to the L.M. as well.
The structure of the L.M. is mysterious: it is lead by the General, whose identity is unknown, and is divided into cells that operate independently. Callum's cell is called Stiletto and is ordered to kidnap Sephy Hadley to use as ransom against Kamal.
Nurse Carter
Nurse Carter works at the busy, underfunded emergency clinic serving noughts. She appears kind, but she IDs Callum and Jude when Meggie needs medical care; whether intentionally harmful or not, that is the ID used to implicate Jude in the Dundale bombing.
Carter is a nought.
Alex Luther
Alex Luther is not depicted in the novel, but he's mentioned as a foil to the Liberation Militia. Luther is pacifist working to promote social equality, with parallels to Martin Luther King Jr. Meggie McGregor is a supporter of Luther, but Ryan thinks his tactics won't bring about meaningful change any time soon.
Alex Luther is a nought.
Adam Stanhope
Adam Stanhope is the solicitor who agrees to help Meggie and Callum handle Ryan McGregor's criminal case after he's charged with the Dundale bombing. Stanhope's outer office is intentionally shabby and run-down, but his personal office is professional and luxurious; he claims his shabby reception area helps put Crosses at ease, letting his successful business fly under the radar. Stanhope is a logical man, and he is shown to care about the trial, but he and Kelani Adams become officially involved in the case only after Ryan's legal fees are paid.
Stanhope is a nought.
Kelani Adams QC
Kelani Adams is an attorney with a reputation for being ruthless and effective. She believes passionately that Ryan McGregor shouldn't be charged with the bombing, and she's prepared to fight the case even after Ryan has given up. Her legal fees are secretly paid by Jasmine Hadley.
Adams is a Cross.
Colin, Shania, and Amu
Colin, Shania, and Amu are the three other noughts accepted into Heathcroft High School with Callum. Shania is injured in the riots, and she explains to Sephy that she has to wear a brown bandage because Band-Aids aren't made to match white skin.
By the time Callum leaves Heathcroft, Colin has dropped out, Shania has been expelled for hitting someone who hit her first, and there is a betting pool for how much longer Amu will last.
Shaun Pingule QC, Leo Stoll, and Judge Anderson
Shaun Pingule is the prosecutor in Ryan McGregor's trial. When he questions Callum, he is harsh, asking leading questions to color the jury's opinions; when he questions Sephy, he is kind. Pingule is a Cross.
Leo Stoll is a retired police officer who was in the cafe immediately before the Dundale bombing. He testifies that he spoke to Sephy as Callum was pulling her out of the cafe, and Sephy told him that Callum was just her friend taking her to see something. This testimony, especially from a respected Cross police officer, takes suspicion off of Callum's involvement in the bombing.
Judge Anderson is the presiding judge in Ryan McGregor's trial. He is kind to Sephy, and he frequently empties the courtroom when observers become too rowdy. Anderson is a Cross.
Pete, Morgan, and Leila
Paul, Morgan, and Leila are the three other members of Stiletto, the L.M. cell of which Callum becomes second-in-command. Paul is the leader. Morgan deals with computers. Callum recruited Leila after seeing her protect herself; though Leila gives Callum a standing invitation to sleep with her, Callum never takes her up on it. When the pickup of Sephy's ransom goes wrong, Pete is killed and Leila is arrested.
Paul, Morgan, and Leila are noughts.
Andrew Dorn
Andrew Dorn is the second-in-command to the General, the head of the L.M. He personally oversees Sephy Hadley's ransom. However, Sephy recognizes him from years before: Dorn actually works for her father, providing Kamal with insider information on the L.M.
Sephy tells Callum this. At the end of the novel, Callum sees an article about government spies within the L.M., and he hopes that Jude has succeeded in removing Dorn from the L.M.
Andrew Dorn is a nought.
Gordy, Rob, and Snakeskin
Gordy, Rob, and Snakeskin are mechanics that Callum works with for a few months while he's in hiding. The garage is in Sturham, but Callum leaves the group immediately after learning Sephy is pregnant.
Gordy, Rob, and Snakeskin are noughts.
Jack
Jack is the Hewmett Prison guard assigned to Callum after he is wrongfully charged with raping Sephy. Jack is kind, and though he isn't able to let Sephy in to see Callum, he does agree to take her a letter. On Callum's last day, Jack plays cards with him and tears up when they say goodbye.
Jack is a Cross.
Callie Rose McGregor
Callie Rose is Sephy and Callum's daughter, born after Callum is hanged. Her name is in honor of Callum, and her middle name was at Callum's request. Sephy includes in the public birth announcement that Callie Rose will be taking her father's last name.
