Hensch
Hensch is a famous, mysterious, and highly skilled knife thrower. He oversteps the line of the acceptable thrill when he invites members of the audience to receive “marks” by his knife, which means he will deliberately injure them. The final act of his show is the killing of a volunteer, and the audience does not know whether it is real or staged.
Albert
In “The Visit,” Albert is a simple man who bought a house in the middle of nowhere, where he lives with his wife--a frog. He enjoys gardening and happily recounts how he found his wife near the pond. He used to be the narrator’s best friend.
Harter
Harter is a playboy who has had many affairs in his life. In “The Way Out,” he has slept with a middle-aged woman named Martha. When he is caught by Martha’s husband, he expects to get away easily because the husband is a rather small man, but when he is challenged to a duel he does not want to participate and is killed.
Heinrich Graum
Heinrich Graum is a celebrated constructor of the most sophisticated automatons, which precisely imitate the real world. After running his automaton theater for many years successfully, he withdraws himself from the business entirely for ten years before he reopens his theater displaying rather clumsy machines.
Charles Sarabee
Sarabee is the typical self-made man. His father worked in the cigar shop of a small hotel in Manhattan, where Sarabee helped him from a young age. At the age of thirteen, he became a bellhop. Later, he was promoted desk clerk and assistant manager. Finally, he became the owner-manager. Tired of the hotel business, he moved on to creating a fantastic amusement park, which he sought to enhance every year with new rides and attractions. Eventually, he devises the devil park where no limits exist.
Kaspar Hauser
Kaspar Hauser was forced to grow up in dark cellars and towers. After being released, he lives in Professor Daumer's house, where he learns to speak and read. With his childhood taken away from him, he is eager to catch up with the regular people and become just like them. He spends much time reading books and perfecting his speaking as well as his motor skills.
