- Titus
The narrator Titus is the teenage son of an upper-middle-class family. For the most part, he is content with his consumerist lifestyle. When he meets Violet, Titus begins to help her "resist the feed", but ultimately abandons this project as he gives in to peer pressure and the alluring advertisements.[1] Titus was genetically designed to look like Delglacey Murdoch, a two-star actor.
- Violet Durn
Violet is Titus's girlfriend throughout the majority of the novel. She was raised by her eccentric father and was homeschooled. Violet did not get a feed until she was seven, unlike Titus and his friends, whose feeds were implanted when they were infants.[2] Violet views the feed negatively, different from Titus and his friends. She also comes from a lower-middle-class background.
- Lincoln "Link" Arwaker
Link is one of Titus's friends. He is described as being very tall and physically unsightly. His family is also depicted as much wealthier than Titus's family. Link is a clone of Abraham Lincoln and lives in a gated community.[3] Calista and Quendy compete for his attention throughout the book.
- Marty
Another of Titus's friends, Marty is described as being good at any game. He is loud and obnoxious at times. At the end of the novel, Marty purchases the "Nike speech tattoo", causing him to insert the word "Nike" into all of his sentences.
- Calista
Calista is Link's girlfriend throughout most of the novel. She is the ring leader of the group of girls and was the first to get "cosmetic" lesions. Confrontational and outspoken, she instigates a major fight she and the other characters have with Violet.
- Loga
Loga and Titus used to be sweethearts. By the start of the book, the relationship has ended, but they are still friends. Loga is the only one of Titus's circle of friends who is not hacked at the Rumble Spot.
- Quendy
Quendy tries to replicate Calista. She tends to be jealous and ever-competing with Calista for attention from Link and the group. After Calista has lesions cut into the back of her neck, Quendy takes the trend to the next level and has lesions cut all over her body in an act of competition.[4] At the end of the novel, Titus and Quendy become sweethearts.
- Titus's father (Steve)
Steve is depicted as obsessed with both consumerist desires and status. He works for a corporation, somewhere in the realm of banking, and buys Titus an upcar. Towards the finish of the novel, it is exposed that Steve is possibly having an affair with a woman he works with[3] based on a video from his business trip.
- Titus's mother
Titus's mother works in the area of Design. Titus expresses a lack of knowledge towards what either of his parents do for a living.
- Titus's kid brother ("Smell Factor")
His real name is never given, and he is referred to by Titus exclusively as "Smell Factor" throughout the story. Often Smell Factor is entranced by his feed. Having no idea of what is going on around him, he shouts out random phrases with no relevance to any given situation.
- Violet's father
Along with Violet, her father also has a different kind of feed, referred to as "Feedpack". His feed is much different in that it is a detached backpack with virtual glasses.[2] He is a college professor who uses words most of the characters are unfamiliar with and often frustrates those trying to communicate with him.[3] He teaches programming languages in a historical context. Violet's father is not as wealthy as Titus's parents. Although he was able to afford to send Violet to the moon, he was unable to afford the cost of visiting her when her feed was hacked.
