Theo
Theo is the main character and the narrator if the novel for the vast majority of the chapters. Theo is a 50 year old man who lives in a society that is dying. He is a history professor at the Oxford University and he spends his time teaching the remaining population about history. Theo is also related to the dictator that rules over England and he was in the past a member of his council. Because of this, a group of rebels try to convince him to talk with his cousin about certain changes they want to see in society. Theo agrees to talk with his cousin even though he knows nothing will change. Theo’s attitude changes when he discovers that one of the members of the group is pregnant. From that point on, he does everything he can to keep her safe and to make sure that his cousin does not find the baby. At the end of the novel, Theo kills his cousin to protect the baby and he becomes the next ruler of England.
Julian
Julian is one of the members of the Five Fishes and also the woman who gets pregnant. Julian was one of Theo’s former students and she goes to him for help regarding Theo’s cousin. Julian is a member of a group that tries to better the living conditions in the country and who believes that everyone should be treated with humanity. Julian is married to another member of the group, a man named Rolf. Julian has a deformed hand and because of this she did not had to submit to the compulsory physical tests everyone had to go through. Julian is a very religious person and is among the only character who still believes in God. This does not stop her from cheating on her husband however with another member of the group.
Xan
Xan is the name given to the dictator who ruled over England at the time when the novel is set. Xan is Theo’s cousin and the two used to be close in the past when they used to spend their summers together. When Xan became the warden of England, he made Theo a member in his council and Theo served in the council for a long time before retiring. When Theo sees Xan again after many years, he notes how Xan changed drastically, becoming a man obsessed with power. Xan is killed at the end by Theo.
Rolf
Rolf is Julian’s husband and also the leader of the rebellious group. Rolf is a learned man, an engineer who is driven by his desire to accumulate as much power as possible. In comparison with the other characters, Rolf is the only one who is selfish and who does not want to see the world change for the better. Rolf is also a jealous man and when he finds that Julian’s child is not his, he gets angry and leaves the group to fend for themselves, even possibly going to Xan to save himself.
Luke
Luke is another member of the Five Fishes and he is a former priest. Luke is the father of Julian’s child and also Julian’s counselor and confessor. Luke, just like Julian, was not tested to see if he was fertile because he suffered from epilepsy in his childhood. Luke is a compassionate man who cares about Julian and her unborn child and he makes the ultimate sacrifice when their group is ambushed by a rouge group of Omegas. Luke is killed during the struggle and after he dies Julian confesses to the rest of the group that the child she was caring was his child.
Miriam
Miriam is another member of the Five Fishes. Miriam was a former midwife who wanted to see the world change just like Julian. Because of this, she joined their group and engaged in rebel activities. Miriam helps Julian give birth but is unfortunately killed soon after that by Xan’s men.
Natalie
Natalie was Theo and Helena’s daughter who died when she was 15 months old. Her father accidentally killed her while pulling the car out of the driveway. While Theo confesses that he did feel some kind of affection towards his daughter, he claims not to feel any remorse about his actions.
Gascoigne
Gascoigne is another member of the Five Fishes. He is captured by Xan’s men and after his arrest the group finds itself in the situation to have to flee their homes to save their lives. Gascoigne’s fate remains unknown but is it implied that he was most likely killed by Xan.
Jasper
Jasper was one of Theo’s former teachers with whom he still remained in contact with. Theo goes and visits Jasper and his wife at the cabin where they were staying and there Theo finds that Jasper’s wife planned to take part in a mass suicide reserved for the elderly. While on the run, Theo stops at Jasper’s house to ask for help and he finds him dead. Theo then takes the gun with which Jasper killed himself and he later kills Xan with the same gun.
Hilda
Hilda is Jasper’s wife who takes part at a ceremony in which the elderly commit mass suicide. Theo goes to the ceremony as well as a viewer and he tries to save Hilda when he sees her thrashing against the men taking her to a boat. He is however unsuccessful and Hilda dies.
The mother
Theo talks briefly about his parents and offers a few information about them in the novel. Theo mentions his mother, the person who took care of him and who was the main provider in the family since her husband was extremely sick. Theo mentions that his mother was an artist who made a living by selling paintings. She also came from a good family but for some reason she did not received any help from them. Because of this, her family sometimes struggled financially and did not have the things necessary to survive.
The father
Theo talks briefly about his father, only mentioning the fact that he was sick for almost all his life. Theo’s father died in 1983 of stomach cancer and from that point on Theo became the man in the house.
Harriet Marwood
Harriet is a member in Xan’ council. Theo mentions her as being the oldest member in the council and a skilled politician.
Carl Inglebach
Carl is another member of the council, The minister for Justice and State Security in England. Theo mentions that he does not like Carl and that he cannot bring himself to trust Carl.
Hedges
Hedges is the driver who takes Theo to meet with Xan at the Parliament. Theo talks briefly with Hedges during the car ride.
