Judge Dee
The protagonist Judge Dee is a man equally revered and feared in his community. According to his job description, he is both prosecutor and judge, so he holds a great deal of power over people. As a judge, he's a member of the Literati, an elite citizen who has been well-educated. In fact he has been trained as a doctor and uses his skills to help a local woman during one of the cases. One consequence of his lofty position is his celebrity status. He isn't allowed to leave his judicial compound without being accompanied by an entire procession of court officials and guards and the like, which only complicates his ability to investigate cases, so he often escapes in disguise. Although he is primarily concerned with justice, Dee is not opposed to violating the law to get a confession, often torturing his suspects. He is also a spiritual man who believes in dream visitations and ghosts.
Mr. Hua
Another member of the elite class, Mr. Hua is a former prefect who belongs to the sphere of academia. When his son's brand new wife is poisoned on her wedding night, he approaches Dee for help. He's a man of prejudice who is already convinced that one of his son's meddlesome friends is responsible for the murder.
Candidate Lee
He's the primary suspect in "The Poisoned Bride." Mr. Hua has it out for him because he's a member of the lower class. It turns out that he knows the murderer personally and has a score to settle with him, so he ends up helping Dee track him down.
Warden Pang
He's the local lawman of Six Mile Village. He's efficient at his job, but he's eager to delegate responsibility, often involving Dee in cases which lack the appropriate leg work necessary for the judge to do his job. Overall he's kind of a lazy bum.
Mrs. Bee
Mrs. Bee stops the judge while he's disguised as a doctor, asking for help with an ailment of hers. While he's at her house, he learns about the mysterious case of "The Strange Corpse" surrounding the death of her son a year ago. It turns out she has many secrets to hide and would have benefitted from not involving Dee in her affairs at all.
Mrs. Djou
She is Mrs. Bee's daughter-in-law who appears to be suffering from some sort of psychotic condition. Despite the fairly recent death of her husband she shows no signs of grief, or really of any emotion in particular. Coupled with her daughter's refusal to speak and presumed deafness after her father's death, this woman has her fair share of problems. Her erratic behavior sparks Dee's suspicion regarding the death of Bee Hsun.
