Simoun
Simoun is the protagonist of El Filibusterismo. His true name is Chrisostomo Ibarra, the young, wealthy, and idealistic protagonist of Rizal’s first book, Noli Me Tangere. After he lost love, position, and wealth in the events o Noli Me Tangere, Ibarra escaped to Cuba and reinvented himself as Simoun: a cold-hearted revolutionary intent on revenge. Thirteen years later, Simoun returns to the Philippines and wears a disguise of a white wig and blue goggles. Simoun is rich and influential due to his close link with the Captain General. Simoun uses his wealth and influence to try and destabilize the Spanish government. To achieve his goals, Simoun fuels corruption and ensures that the masses suffer so they will join his revolution.
Simoun makes a concerted effort to incorporate discontented Filipinos, such as Tales and Basilio, into his plans. After learning of Maria Clara’s death, Simoun is consumed by grief and halts plans for an upcoming attack. His attempts to start a revolution fail multiple times and the people he was leading lose faith in him. Once Simoun’s plans are discovered, he chooses to commit suicide rather than face capture. Ultimately, Simoun fails to live up to his promise. He becomes consumed by the system he tried to destroy and instead of bringing liberation to the Philippines, he increased the violence and suffering.
Isagani
Isagani is a Filipino poet and university student. He is part of the student association trying to open a Spanish school for Filipinos. Isagani is a Filipino patriot and considers himself honor bound to fight for the betterment of his country and people. His insistence in speaking his mind and being treated as an equal offends many Spanish friars. He advocates on behalf of the students’ cause to Señor Pasta and Padre Fernandez. When the students are imprisoned for their presumed involvement in the circulation of rebellious pamphlets, Isagani willingly turns himself in as an act of solidarity with the cause. However, his actions cause Paulita to lose interest in him. Isagani, who was in love with her, is heartbroken. Standing forlornly outside her wedding feast, Isagani finds out about the bomb Simoun planted. He heroically stops the attack, although all the guests in attendance remain unaware of how he saved their lives, instead calling him a thief.
Basilio
In Noli Me Tangere, Basilio lost his mother and brother to the cruelty of the church and Civil Guard. While burying his mother in the forest, he runs into a stranger who helps him. In El Filibusterismo, he learns that this stranger was Ibarra, who now goes by Simoun. Since then, Basilio has moved to Manila and is finishing up university to become a doctor. He is known for being a caring and competent doctor. Basilio rejects Simoun’s offers to fight against the Spanish and avenge his mother and brother’s deaths. Rather, Basilio hopes to marry Juli and lead a simple life as a doctor. However, after his unjust imprisonment and Juli’s death, he finally agrees to join Simoun. At the last minute, his conscience balks at the idea of causing so much violence and death and he warns Isagani who stops Simoun’s planned attack.
Cabesang Tales (Tales)
Tales represents the majority of Filipinos: a farmer without access to a formal education. Through hard work and sacrifice, Tales and his family develop their own farm. However, when a local friar claims his land belongs to the church, Tales is drawn into a protracted legal battle which he loses. In the process, his entire family suffers. Tales is a law-abiding citizen who is driven to violence and criminality by the church's greed and a corrupt system. Tales’ attempts, and failure, to legally defy the friar's theft of his land fills him with a righteous indignation and a strong desire to bring down those who wronged him. He becomes a leader of a band of tulisanes, or outlaws, and collaborates with Simoun to bring independence to the Philippines. However, when Simoun’s efforts fail, and without a broader movement to join, Tales’ rage spills out into violence against Filipinos as well as the Spanish.
Juliana (Juli)
Juli is Tales’ only surviving daughter. Early in life, she dreams of getting an education but she watches those dreams slip away as her family loses everything in Tales’ fight to protect his land from the friar-administrator. After Tales is kidnapped by tulisanes, or bandits, she is forced into indentured servitude to come up with the ransom. Basilio buys her release and the two hope to marry. However, when Basilio is wrongly imprisoned, Juli feels obligated to beg Padre Camorra for help. She is terrified knowing he will demand sexual favors. After going to see him, Juli jumps out of the convent window, killing herself.
The Captain General
The Captain General is the governor of the Philippines and the highest-ranking government official. Simoun used bribes to get the Captain General his position. Simoun manipulates the Captain General’s insatiable lust for money in an attempt to further his goal of ending Spanish rule. The Captain General rules over the Filipinos with indifference to their welfare; he prioritizes maintaining Spanish prestige and authority.
Padre Florentino
Padre Florentino is an older Filipino priest who is largely uninvolved with the institution of the Catholic Church. He devotes himself to his parishioners and takes seriously the role of priest as a moral and religious leader. Padre Florentino is Isagani’s uncle and helps raise him. Simoun takes refuge in Padre Florentino’s house at the end of his life. Here, the priest explains to Simoun that freeing Filipinos from tyranny must come by raising them up to defend their rights, not through violence and treachery.
Don Custodio
Don Custodio is a wealthy, liberal Spaniard who holds multiple government offices. Don Custodio considers himself to be a father and protector of the Filipinos but in reality he treats Filipinos with a racist paternalism and expects their submission and deference. As his name suggests, Don Custodio himself as a custodian or caretaker. He is always coming up with inventive ideas for how to improve life in the Philippines but they are rarely accepted or enacted by others in government. It is Don Custodio who is placed in charge of the decision about the Spanish school. He approves the project but takes control of the school away from the students and puts it in the hands of the church.
Padre Salvi
In Noli Me Tangere, Padre Salvi was the Spanish friar who framed Ibarra for planning a revolt. This led to Ibarra’s imprisonment and separation from Maria Clara. Padre Salvi desired Maria Clara; once she became a nun, he harassed her constantly. Simoun plans the exhibition of the sphinx to publicly condemn and threaten Padre Salvi. The sphinx’s message and Simoun’s note at the wedding feast terrify Padre Salvi as he knows they are messages from Ibarra.
Padre Fernandez
Padre Fernandez is a Spanish friar and professor at the university. He is one of the few friars who respects his students and encourages free discussion. He is a thoughtful man and is respected by the other friars and students. Padre Fernandez engages with Isagani in a discussion about how to improve the relationship between Spanish friars and their students.
Padre Camorra
Padre Camorra is a Spanish priest and the curate of Tiani, a town neighboring San Diego. Padre Camorra is racist and firmly believes that Filipinos’ role in society is to obey and pay the friars. Padre Camorra has a reputation for his interest in women and is particularly attracted to Juli. He frequently harasses her and when she needs his help to free Tandang Selo and Basilio from prison he extracts sexual favors. His abuse leads Juli to commit suicide, for which Padre Camorra is never punished.
Padre Irene
Padre Irene is a Spanish priest who supports the university students’ petition for a Spanish school. He advocates on behalf of the students before the Captain General. When the decision is made to open the school under the friars’ control, he considers the proposal successful and does not understand the students’ disappointment. He is also a close friend and advisor to Captain Tiago.
Placido Penitente
Placido is a Filipino university student who is humble and respectful; his mother sacrificed greatly so they could afford to send him to school. Before attending university in Manila, he loved learning. However, he quickly becomes disenchanted by the degrading treatment Filipino students receive from the Spanish friars. Placido reaches a breaking point one day and confronts his professor; from that point on he decides to leave the university.
Paulita Gomez
Paulita is widely recognized as a beauty. She and Isagani are sweethearts, but she often plays games with him. Paulita is invested in the norms of the mestizo and Filipino elite. Eventually, she tires of Isagani’s political idealism and decides to marry Juanito Pelaez, a wealthy mestizo.
Doña Victorina
Doña Victorina is a wealthy Filipina woman entirely focused on climbing the social hierarchy. She denies her identity and regularly criticizes Filipinos. She is extravagant and fickle and is only tolerated in society because of her beautiful, orphaned niece Paulita.
Captain Tiago
Captain Tiago is a wealthy Filipino man and the father of María Clara. After María Clara enters the convent he becomes addicted to opium. Captain Tiago is Basilio’s employer and treats him inconsistently—alternatively fond and then cruel. Basilio nurses Captain Tiago at the end of his life when he succumbs to illness and addiction.
María Clara
María Clara was the fiancée of Ibarra (a.k.a. Simoun) before he was imprisoned in Noli Me Tangere. Hearing Ibarra was killed she is heartbroken and enters a nunnery. Although María Clara never appears directly, in El Filibusterismo she is a key reason Simoun comes back to the Philippines. Simoun hopes to help her escape the nunnery and reunite with her. However, he is too late: the day his plan is to be set in motion she passes away from an illness.
Ben Zayb
Ben Zayb is a Spanish journalist with an inflated sense of importance and intelligence. As a journalist he is negligent and prioritizes flattering the powerful in his writing.
Padre Sibyla
Padre Sibyla is a Spanish priest and part of the Dominican order of the Catholic Church. He is the Vice-Rector of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and opposes the Spanish school because he considers it to be a direct challenge to the friars’ control of education in the Philippines.
