Adso of Melk
Adso is the person who is the major narrator in the novel. Adso begins writing his story at the end of his life. When the action begins, Adso was just a young man of 18. Adso was made William’s servant by his father when the political and social situation in Italy became dire. Together with William, Adso went to the abbey where the action takes place. Because of Adso, the reader is presented with various points of views and ideas popular during the time when the action takes place. Adso does not appear to have ideas of his own as he is at times, just an observer used to recollect the events taking place.
Unnamed narrator
The unnamed narrator presents only the prologue and he writes from a time closer to our present. The unnamed narrator claims that he found Adso’s manuscript and that even though he is not sure if the manuscript is true or not, he must publish it and let the whole world learn about it. The unnamed narrator is no longer mentioned at the end of the prologue.
William of Baskerville
William is a friar from England who came to Europe to serve as an Inquisitor. Despite serving in that position, William was never comfortable with judging other people so he was not considered as being good at his job. When problems rose in the abbey, William was sent to solve them, together with Adso, his servant. William is presented as being different from the rest of the characters because instead of being completely blinded by religion, he is also interested in science and he harbors the belief that one day, science will be more important than religion. After solving the mystery in the abbey, William returns to England where he dies after he is infected with the black plague.
Malachi
Malachi is the librarian in the abbey and he is the one who tries to do everything he can to stop William and Adso from entering the library. William finds at the end of the novel that Malachi was controlled by Jorge since the first day he arrived at the abbey. Malachi is the one who killed Severinus by smashing his head in because someone suggested that Severinus and Berengar were having a sexual relationship.
Abo of Fossonova
Abo is the abbot of the abbey visited by William and Adso. Abo is a deeply religious man whose only interest is saving his abbey and making sure that nothing bad happens to it. Because of this, Abo asked William to investigate the deaths of the monks in the abbey and to help him solve the mystery. The reason why Abo wanted to solve the mystery was not because he cared about the monks, but because he was interested in maintaining the abbey’s reputation. Because of this, when William came close to find the secrets of the abbey, William insisted that he stops his investigation and even demanded him to leave the abbey. Abo was the last person to be killed by Jorge who trapped him inside a secret passageway and left him there to suffocate.
Berengar
Berenger is the librarian’s assistant who becomes librarian himself after the death of the old librarian. Berengar is an ambitious man who does not hesitate to use others for his own gain. He convinced Adelmo, the first monk who killed himself, to have sex with him in exchange for access to the books inside the library. Berengar dies on the third day after he comes into contact with the poisoned book.
Adelmo
Adelmo was the monk who died before the beginning of the novel. William is asked to investigate his death and during the investigation, William finds multiple secrets linked with the abbey. William finds that Adelmo engaged in a sexual relationship with the librarian’s assistant so he could gain access to the library, and then he decided to commit suicide as he was feeling guilty because of his actions.
Jorge
Jorge is the villain of the story, the oldest monk living inside the abbey. Jorge is also one of the most intelligent monks inside the abbey, knowing various ancient languages and being able to manipulate the librarians to listen to him and do his bidding. Jorge is the one who smeared the poison onto the pages of the forbidden book, being involved in the deaths of everyone killed at the abbey. Jorge dies at the end when he eats the pages of the book he poisoned.
Benno
Benno is anther monk inside the abbey. In comparison with the other characters, he is not killed. He decides on his own free will to jump into the flames when he sees the abbey burning, thus killing himself.
