Anders
Anders is the protagonist of the novel. Likely in his twenties or thirties, Anders works as a trainer at a gym; he is known for his ability to help older clients rehabilitate after injuries. Anders is among the first people in his town to change skin color, going from white to brown overnight. He responds to the change by staying inside for a week, but eventually resigns himself to the change and resumes life as normal. He is casually dating Oona, a woman he knew in high school who has recently moved back to town. When more and more people change color and violence erupts on the streets, Anders arms himself with his father's rifle. Anders is eventually pushed out of his small house by white militants who feel threatened by dark people. He moves in with his sick father and spends the winter waiting for a confrontation with militants that never comes. When his father's pain becomes too unbearable, Anders risks going outside to buy unspecified palliative care medication to ease his father's death. After his father dies, Anders moves Oona into his childhood home, which they renovate and repaint. The couple start their own family in the house, giving their daughter Anders's old bedroom.
Oona
Oona is a yoga teacher; she is Anders's lover. When her twin brother dies from his addiction issues, Oona moves back from "the city" to the town where she grew up. Although she initially thought of yoga teaching as a side job, it becomes her main career focus, as she is unsure what else she ought to be pursuing. When she learns that Anders has changed color, Oona is reluctant to offer him emotional support. However, she goes to see him anyway, feeling ambivalent when they have sex, as she feels like he is a stranger. Oona cares for her mother, trying to dissuade her from getting swept up in right-wing conspiracy theories around the phenomenon of people changing color. During the winter lockdown, Oona tries painting her face brown with makeup one night. When she changes color, Oona embraces it as inevitable and likes the way she looks. After Anders's father dies, Oona moves into Anders's father's home to start a family with Anders.
Oona’s Mother
Oona's mother is an older white widow. Having lost her husband suddenly to an undisclosed illness and her son gradually to drug addiction, Oona’s mother has spent much of her later years in mourning. She takes several medications for various health issues; Oona moves in with her to make sure she is taking care of herself. Described as a "fantasist," Oona's mother is an avid listener of right-wing radio and a watcher of right-wing television. When reports of people changing color first emerge, she reacts with excitement and fear. She is also active on the Internet, taking part in conspiracy forums that support militants' actions against dark people. Initially hostile to Oona and Anders's relationship, Oona's mother eventually makes an effort to accept them. Although she changes color herself, Oona's mother talks incessantly about the white past to her granddaughter, who eventually tells her grandmother to stop.
Anders’s Father
Anders's father is the "last white man" of the book's title. An elderly widower, Anders's father lives alone in Anders's childhood home. Although he is prejudiced against dark people, Anders's father is protective of his son and gives him a rifle to protect himself. When militants push Anders out of his home, Anders moves in with his father, who promises to himself to protect his son no matter what. Anders's father's health suffers and he endures immense pain from an unspecified ailment. When the pain becomes too much, Anders facilitates his father's end-of-life care by purchasing drugs that will assist his father in dying. Anders and Oona move into and renovate Anders's father's home after his death. When he is buried, Anders's father is the last white person in a town where everyone else has changed.
Militants
The militants are pale-skinned people who react to the fact that people are changing skin color by organizing themselves into armed mobs. Ostensibly keeping the peace, the militants soon turn on the dark people, pushing them out of town or engaging in violence and murder. Three white militants come to tell Anders to leave his house, arriving at his door with rifles at the ready. Oona's mother is supportive of the militants, while Oona feels their menacing presence on the streets and avoids going out.
Anders's Boss
Anders's boss is the unnamed man who owns the gym where Anders works as a trainer. When Anders calls in sick the first week of being "changed," Anders's boss tells him he had better be dying if he is missing a week of work. Anders' boss is a large man who lifts weights with a violent intensity. The boss closes the gym temporarily during the winter riots, furloughing employees without pay. The boss eventually changes from white to dark; Anders notices he is more subdued and perhaps somewhat bigger. When Anders asks for time off to grieve his father, the boss is sympathetic and respectful.
Gym Cleaner
The gym cleaner is an unnamed dark-skinned man who cleans the gym where Anders works. After Anders changes color, he thinks more and more about this scrawny man, who Anders never speaks with other than to exchange pleasantries. Anders wonders if the cleaner, who has always been "dark," might educate him about life. When Anders finally speaks to the man, he offers to train him to use the gym equipment. The man says all he wants is a raise.
Oona's Brother
Oona's twin brother dies before the events of the novel begin. The narrator insinuates that Oona's brother struggled with addiction issues for many years, and hints that prescription painkillers may have been the catalyst. Oona and her mother speak of the brother's addiction issues as the cause of his early death, the exact circumstances of which are never made clear.
Oona's Brother's Ex-Boyfriend
Oona's brother's ex is a man who works at the driver's licensing center. Toward the end of the novel, Oona renews her driver's license. Although they have both changed color and physical appearance, the man behind the counter recognizes her name. The two have an enjoyable coffee together and catch up. The man was Oona's brother's "big love" when he was younger, and attended Oona's brother's funeral, where Oona didn't have a chance to speak with him. The man says he got married a week after the funeral, and being married is a more significant adjustment than having changed skin color.
Oona's Friend in the City
Oona's friend in the city is an unnamed acquaintance of Oona's. Having moved back home to "the town" following her brother's death, Oona feels a nostalgia for the city in which she had been living. One night, she goes to visit an old friend, going out drinking and dancing before sleeping on the floor of the friend's tiny apartment. In this way, Oona's friend offers a brief reprieve from the stresses of Oona's life in the town.
Anders's and Oona's Daughter
Anders's and Oona's daughter, unnamed in the text, is born several years after everyone in the country changes color. She is described as self-confident and fierce. When her grandmother won't stop talking about the family's past as white people, Anders's and Oona's daughter politely but forcefully tells her grandmother to stop talking about it. At the end of the novel, Anders's and Oona's daughter is a teenager. After having spent all night out on the town, she crawls into her parents' bed for comfort.
