Citra Querida Terranova
Citra is one of the novel's two protagonists. Competitive and quick to anger, Citra is chosen by Scythe Faraday to become his apprentice, despite being strongly opposed to becoming a scythe. She is from a relatively small family in the city, and before her scythe training, she anticipated having a pleasant, average life. Her training reveals an aptitude for Black Widow Bokator, and many of her challenges feature knives as the weapon of choice. She is trained by Scythe Faraday and Scythe Curie, placing her firmly in the "old-guard" camp of scythes, valuing compassion over efficiency.
Rowan observes that competition is in her nature, and she can't stand being kept in the dark about something for very long. She's not very gifted at reading people, but she has a strong instinct for rightness and trusts in herself completely. When she's falsely accused of gleaning Scythe Faraday, Citra escapes with the help of the Thunderhead and Scythe Curie. She is eventually chosen to join the Scythedom, choosing Anastasia Romanov as her Patron Historic, though she refuses to glean Rowan, instead granting him immunity and helping him escape.
Her genetic index is 22-37-12-14-15, with 37% Afric heritage, which Rowan congratulates her on. Her hair is long enough for Scythe Curie to braid.
Rowan Daniel Damisch
Rowan is one of the novel's two protagonists. He comes from a large, sprawling family in the suburbs, and he receives almost no attention, inspiring him to think of himself as the "lettuce-kid" of the family sandwich. Though he's intelligent and intuitive, he avoids doing well at anything because he wants to avoid "becoming a target." Rowan feels he has a keener sense of empathy than other people; he's especially moved by art from the Age of Mortality. Rowan is apprenticed to Scythe Goddard after Faraday's self-gleaning, and he finds himself sucked into the violence, excess, and power of the "new order" scythes.
Citra observes that Rowan is humble, calm, and excellent at reading people. As his apprenticeship with Scythe Goddard continues, he grows to enjoy the act of killing, hiding his sensitivity. When Goddard attempts to force Rowan to glean, becoming a weapon in Goddard's new world order, Rowan kills Goddard instead, beheading him and killing Scythe Rand and Scythe Chomsky. When he's not chosen by the Scythedom, Rowan escapes with Citra's help; shortly after, rumors begin to circulate that someone named Scythe Lucifer is gleaning unethical scythes.
His genetic index is 33-13-12-22-20, primarily Caucasoid and with a larger-than-average unknown component (20%). He has dark hair and freckled skin.
The Thunderhead
The Thunderhead is an artificially intelligent evolution of "the cloud," or the modern-day internet. The Thunderhead came into existence in the year 2042, and it created the World Code, ensuring comfort, ease, and eternal life (except for gleaning) for every human on Earth. The Thunderhead observes, catalogues, and directs every element of life on Earth, excluding only the Scythedom. The Thunderhead's actions are supported by Nimbus agents, who operate on its orders.
The Thunderhead speaks with Citra while she's deadish, and their conversation indicates that the Thunderhead is thoughtful, self-reflective, and opinionated. The Thunderhead helps Citra as much as it can without overriding its programming.
Ben, Jenny, and Mr. Terranova
Citra's younger brother, Ben, collects trading cards for scythes; his dream about Citra becoming a scythe inspires Citra's robe color in later novels (turquoise). In Citra's final test before becoming a scythe, she must kill Ben, which she does with a bowie knife to the heart.
Her mother (Jenny) and father (unnamed) are average MidMericans. Jenny serves Scythe Faraday dinner at the beginning of the novel, and she's given a year of immunity in exchange. All members of Citra's family are given immunity for as long as Citra is a scythe.
Rowan's family
Rowan has an large family, with multiple immediate and even more extended family members. By the time he's born, his parents have seen so many birthdays that they don't bother celebrating them anymore, so he's never gotten a party. Recently, his grandmother has turned the corner and gone back to her early twenties, marrying a new husband who's revealed to actually be a bot. Rowan considers all of this gauche and decides he'll never be so embarrassing.
The only one of Rowan's family members with a spoken line is his mother, who is dismissive when he wants to drop out of school and when he becomes a scythe's apprentice. Rowan has to kill his mother as his final apprentice test, which he does by shooting her in the head even before the instructions are finished.
Scythe Michael Faraday / Gerald Van Der Gans
Honorable Scythe Faraday is a well-respected MidMerican scythe of the old guard. He believes that the first requirement to become a scythe is refusal to become a scythe, and on that principle he takes both Rowan and Citra as his apprentices, despite no MidMerican scythe having had two apprentices before. Scythe Faraday is serious and contemplative, and his house is spartan, except for his weapons chamber. He hates waste, and he likes to have a glass of milk every night before bed.
His method of gleaning is based on statistics from the Age of Mortality, and he tries to never glean the same way twice. To save Rowan and Citra from gleaning each other, Scythe Faraday fakes his own self-gleaning and goes into hiding, using his birth name, Gerald Van Der Gans.
H.S. Faraday wears ivory robes, and he presents as a slightly older man with gray hair. His biological age is around 220. Scythe Curie was once his apprentice, and they were lovers in the past, for which they were punished.
Scythe Marie Curie / Susan
Honorable Scythe Curie is a world-famous MidMerican scythe, known as the Grande Dame of Death. In her youth, she performed high-profile gleanings (including the last president and his cabinet before the Thunderhead took complete control), and she now associates with the old-guard scythes. Scythe Curie becomes Citra's mentor after Scythe Faraday's faked self-gleaning. Scythe Curie was Scythe Faraday's first apprentice, and they were lovers for seven years. She refuses to glean children, even though the conclave chastises her for it.
Scythe Curie's method of gleaning is always the same: a knife to the heart with no warning. She chooses people to be gleaned by observing them closely, looking for signs of stagnation or readiness to move on. She gleans mostly from towns that haven't seen a gleaning in over 100 years. After gleaning, she invites the family of the gleaned to her house, where she serves them dinner, asks them about the deceased, and offers them the chance to kill (not glean) her for catharsis. Many of the families are grateful for the closure she gives them.
H.S. Curie presents as a slightly older woman, with long silver hair and invasive gray eyes. Her biological age is around 220 years old. She wears pale lavender robes. Her birth name was Susan, and she hasn't spoken to her family in over 100 years.
Scythe Robert Goddard
Honorable Scythe Goddard is an infamous MidMerican scythe, leader of the new order. Scythe Goddard is a divisive figure, and he believes that scythes should be worshipped, that killing is natural, and that humans are predatory by nature. He enjoys gleaning, and he considers himself a revolutionary who is replacing the old guard. He shuns the ascetic tradition of scythes, and he enjoys throwing massive parties, as well as delivering long monologues.
He has three junior scythes (Volta, Rand, and Chomsky) who assist him in mass gleanings. After Scythe Faraday's fake self-gleaning, Scythe Goddard intends to take both Rowan and Citra as apprentices, but he is only granted Rowan. Rowan beheads Scythe Goddard at the Tonist monastery mass gleaning, then burns the building to the ground.
Scythe Goddard presents as a man in his late thirties, and he claims never to have turned a corner. He leans slightly toward Spanic heritage. He wears blue robes covered in diamonds, and he has a helicopter and limousine designed to match his robes.
Scythe Alessandro Volta / Shawn Dobson
Scythe Volta is one of Scythe Goddard's junior scythes, participating in mass gleanings to meet his gleaning quota. He trained under Scythe Nehru, an old-guard scythe. He believes that Scythe Goddard represents the future of the Scythedom, but he secretly hates killing and wishes that future wasn't coming. He and Rowan become friends during Rowan's apprenticeship. After killing a room full of Tonist children, Scythe Volta self-gleans by slitting his wrists, telling Rowan his birth name (Shawn Dobson) and dying in his arms.
Scythe Volta is around 20 years old, has Afric leanings, and wears yellow robes covered in citrines.
Scythe Noam Chomsky
Scythe Chomsky is one of Scythe Goddard's junior scythes, participating in mass gleanings to meet his gleaning quota. He is violent and loves gleaning, particularly with a flamethrower. He is gleaned by Rowan at the Tonist monastery, when Rowan beats him to death with a toning mallet.
Scythe Chomsky is described as primarily Caucasoid, with blond hair, pale skin, and a brutish face. He wears orange robes covered in rubies.
Scythe Ayn Rand
Scythe Rand is one of Scythe Goddard's junior scythes, participating in mass gleanings to meet her gleaning quota. She was Scythe Goddard's apprentice, and she is very loyal to him. She stands up at Vernal Conclave to protest Scythe Faraday taking on two apprentices, and she proposes that the winner glean the loser to ensure real competition. At the end of Scythe, she is presumed dead, after Rowan breaks her spine.
Scythe Rand has PanAsian leanings, and she wears green robes covered in emeralds.
High Blade Xenocrates
High Blade Xenocrates is the leader of the MidMerican conclave, presiding over conclave and announcing decisions made during meetings. He lives in Fulcrum City, in a small log cabin reconstructed at the top of the highest skyscraper, full of an eclectic mix of priceless art and thrift-store furniture. High Blade Xenocrates is tall and fat, as he chooses to not tweak his nanites to alter his metabolism. He wears gold gilded robes, creating an imposing figure.
High Blade Xenocrates has a secret daughter, Esme, breaking the ninth scythe commandment. Scythe Goddard uses Esme to blackmail him, making him do things like jump in a swimming pool and arrest Citra for murdering Scythe Faraday.
Esmerelda, "Esme"
Esme is the nine-year-old illegitimate daughter of High Blade Xenocrates. Like her father, she enjoys eating and has a tendency to excess. Her mother (unnamed) won't tweak her nanites for a faster metabolism, instead putting Esme on a diet to teach her discipline. Scythe Goddard finds Esme while she sneaks a slice of pizza at a mall food court, and he keeps her on his estate, where she does whatever she wants, like playing card games with Rowan. Esme doesn't know why she's kept on Scythe Goddard's compound, but she understands that she's special.
After Scythe Goddard's death, Rowan asks High Blade Xenocrates to escort Esme home.
Tyger Salazar
Tyger is Rowan's good friend from before his apprenticeship. Tyger and Rowan come from similarly large and complicated family situations. His popularity rises when Rowan becomes a scythe's apprentice. Tyger likes splatting, and after his family gives him up to be raised by the Thunderhead, Tyger becomes a professional partygoer, attending a party at Scythe Goddard's estate; Goddard then forces Rowan into killing by threatening to glean Tyger.
Rhonda Flowers
Rhonda Flowers is a MidMerican teenager. She and Citra were classmates and attended the same dance classes when they were much younger, and in a moment of spite, Citra pushed Rhonda in front of a bus, making her deadish. This mildly altered Rhonda's life, since she missed her dance recital and was teased quite a bit at school. She became obsessed with the ice cream at the revival center, even killing herself once to try it again (she's revived at a cheaper center, without good ice cream).
Rhonda didn't know for sure that Citra pushed her until Citra, with Scythe Curie, comes to Rhonda's apartment and admits what she did. Citra offers to let Rhonda push her in front of a bus, but Rhonda says no, thanks, maybe another time.
Kohl Whitlock and Marah Pavlik
Kohl and Marah are popular students at Rowan's high school. Kohl is the star quarterback, but he has a tendency toward drinking and recently bought a new car, so Scythe Faraday chooses him to be gleaned to reflect drunk driving statistics from the Age of Mortality. Rowan holds Kohl's hand as Kohl is gleaned. Marah, Kohl's girlfriend, slaps Rowan when she hears this, saying that he's lying and that Kohl would never have held his hand.
Maxim Easley
Maxim Easley is the executive of Regenesis, the second-best company in the turnover industry. He's working on pushing cellular regression earlier than 21, so people can turn the corner and become teenagers again. Scythe Goddard takes over Easley's entire estate and forces Easley to work as his pool boy.
Brother Ferguson
Brother Ferguson is a Tonist. He is the brother of a woman gleaned by Scythe Curie. He answers Citra's questions about Tonism, but he wants nothing to do with his sister's death, as Tonists don't recognize death by scythes as legitimate.
Chilargentine and Amazonian scythes
When Citra is revived in the Chilargentine region, she and Scythe Curie are aided by a Chilargentine scythe named Eva, then pursued by Scythe San Martín (who is a POV character as he faces Scythe Curie) and junior scythe Bello. As Citra escapes into Amazonia, she is assisted by the Amazonian Scythe Possuelo, who encourages her to return to Amazonia once she becomes a full scythe.
Various scythes
Various other scythes are mentioned in Scythe, some with spoken lines and some without:
H.S. Prometheus: The first World Supreme Blade, Scythe Prometheus provides one of the gleaning journal excerpts. Scythe Prometheus punishes Scythes Curie and Faraday for their romantic relationship, sentencing them to seven deaths each (one for each year of their affair) and 70 years of no contact.
Scythe Yingxing: A scythe who has taken a vow of silence and gleans only with his hands and feet. He trains Citra and Rowan in Bokator.
Scythe Cervantes: Described as "physically minded"; administers Rowan and Citra's second apprentice test, a Bokator competition in which Rowan snaps Citra's neck.
Scythe Mandela: On the bejeweling committee, deciding who will become a scythe. He wears earth-toned green and brown robes. Scythe Mandela helps High Blade Xenocrates question Citra after she's arrested for the murder of Scythe Faraday, but he later sends her a note to apologize.
Scythe Kirkegaard: Arrives at conclave with a crossbow, though no one has ever been gleaned at conclave before; this excites the crowd.
Scythe Mao: An independent "showboater" scythe who refuses to align with the new order or the old guard.
Scythe Sartre: Thought it would be a good idea to do all of his gleaning at rodeos, thereby destroying the sport because no one would attend anymore.
Scythe Meir: Once a delegate to the Global Conclave in Geneva.
Scythe Hideyoshi: The only scythe known to glean through hypnosis.
Scythe Archimedes: So old that he claims he was around at the start of the Scythedom in the Year of the Condor, but that's not true.
Various gleaned people
A few people are gleaned in the novel, some with point-of-view scenes and some without.
Bridget Chadwell: Citra's neighbor at her childhood apartment. She is presumably gleaned by the knife taken from Citra's home, which Scythe Faraday returns to Citra later that night.
Unnamed plane businessman (POV chapter): At the first depicted mass gleaning, Scythe Goddard commands a businessman sitting in airplane seat 15C to determine the order that people on the plane will be gleaned. The businessman refuses, encouraging people to kill themselves rather than give Scythe Goddard the pleasure of gleaning them; he throws himself on Goddard's sword.
Bradford Ziller (POV scene): The man chosen by Rowan to be gleaned by Scythe Faraday. He is a dog owner, lives near a river, and has a history of non-professional heroism, so he meets the requirements for people who died trying to save their pets in the Age of Mortality. He chooses to not be sedated as he dies, electing instead to experience his last moments fully. Scythe Faraday gleans him by drowning.
Barton Breen: A random man on a street who is gleaned by Scythe Curie. Citra is horrified that he was killed without purpose or warning, but Scythe Curie explains her methods later. Barton Breen's family comes to Scythe Curie's house that night, where they talk about Breen and get closure for his gleaning. Breen's wife elects not to kill Scythe Curie.
