In order of appearance:
Chapter 1
I can't stand this lackeyishness in the gossip columns of the whole world, and mainly in our Russian newspapers: ... first, the extraordinary magnificence and splendor of the gaming rooms in the roulette towns on the Rhine, and second, the heaps of gold that supposedly lie on the tables ... There is no magnificence in these trashy rooms, and as for the gold, not only are there no heaps on the tables, but there's scarcely even the slightest trace.
- Alexei Ivanovich – The narrator of the story; nobleman, wiseacre. Tutor of The General's young children Nadjenka and Misha. Pathologically in love with Polina Alexandrovna: "...two days ago on the Schlangenberg you challenged me, and I whispered: say the word and I'll jump into this abyss. If you had said the word then I would have jumped."
- The General – Sagorjanski, 55, a widower, in love with Mlle Blanche. In thrall to the Marquis Des Grieux since the latter made up a shortfall in public funds that the general had to cover before he could hand over his government post.
- Polina Alexandrovna Praskovja – The General's stepdaughter. Spitefully manipulates the smitten narrator. Cares nothing for gambling.
- Maria Filippovna – The General's sister
- Marquis des Grieux – The "little Frenchman", called "Monsieur le Comte" by the servants. Pompous, holds forth about finance at the dinner table. Deeply concerned that The General receive his inheritance so that des Grieux can be repaid.
- Mr. Astley – Englishman, nephew of Lord Piebrook, serves as a steadying influence on Alexei Ivanovich. "I have never met a shyer man ... very nice and quiet". Far wealthier than des Grieux.
Chapter 3
Why is gambling worse than any other way of making money—trade, for instance?
- Mademoiselle Blanche de Cominges – The General's fiancée, assumed to be a French noblewoman. About 25, "tall and well built, with shapely shoulders ... her hair is black as ink, and there is a terrible amount of it, enough for two coiffures ... She dresses showily, richly, with chic, but with great taste". Returns the attentions of The General only insofar as she is interested in his prospective inheritance.
Chapter 6
...is it really not clear yet which is more vile—Russian outrageousness or the German way of accumulation through honest work?
- Baroness Wurmerhelm – "...short and extraordinarily fat, with a terribly fat, pendulous chin, so that her neck couldn't be seen at all. A purple face. Small eyes, wicked and insolent. She walks along as if she's doing everyone an honor."
- Baron Wurmerhelm – "...dry, tall. His face, as German faces usually are, is crooked and covered with a thousand tiny wrinkles; eyeglasses; forty-five years old ... Proud as a peacock. A bit clumsy".
Chapter 9
Des Grieux was like all Frenchmen, that is, cheerful and amiable when it was necessary and profitable, and insufferably dull when the necessity to be cheerful and amiable ceased. A Frenchman is rarely amiable by nature; he is always amiable as if on command, out of calculation.
- Antonida Vasilevna Tarasevitcheva – The General's aunt, called la baboulinka (The Grandmother). "...formidable and rich, seventy-five years old ... a landowner and a Moscow grande dame ... perky, self-satisfied, straight-backed, shouting loudly and commandingly, scolding everybody..." Takes an instant liking to roulette, with disastrous consequences.
- Potapyts – The Grandmother's butler
- Marfa – The Grandmother's maid, "a forty-year-old maiden, red-cheeked but already beginning to go gray..."
- Madame de Cominges (no dialog) – Assumed to be Mlle Blanche's mother; called "Madame la Comtesse" by the servants.
- The Little Prince (no dialog) – Companion to Mlle Blanche when it appears there may be some trouble with The General's inheritance.
- Fedosja (no dialog) – General's nanny
- Prince Nilski (no dialog)
Chapter 15
- Albert (no dialog) – Army officer in Paris, Mlle Blanche's lover
