Ubik
Ubik is described as a substance present everywhere, from food, hair products etc. Every chapter begins with a commercial description of the use of Ubik for various customer needs. Only at the end of the novel, the true symbolic meaning of Ubik is revealed, it is described as a creator of everything, and Ubik is only one of its names. This metaphysical revelation at the end reveals the main theme of the novel, which is the connection of technology, the tangible world with the metaphysical.
Half-Life
Half life is a state in which certain people are partially left alive, meaning that their souls/minds keep on existing and communicating with the living world while their bodies are kept frozen. It is one of the ways in which technology interfered with the natural process of life and death.
Jory
Jory is an entity that came to existence as a reaction to the process of half-life. It is a purely destructive force, ending the half-lives in order to maintain its existence. It is the main antagonizing force and represents the other, destructive part of the cycle of life.
Ella Runciter
Ella Runciter appears at the beginning of the novel and at the end. Her appearance represents a full circle. At the beginning she is introduces as a person living in half-life and who is constantly overtaken by someone called Jory. At the end is revealed that she constantly battled Jory, the antagonizing entity, she reveals to Joe as being the one who created Ubik; which in turn provides for another symbolic representation of her as a messenger of the creator, as an embodiment of that.
