Sebastion Rodrigues
The main character of the novel. A young Portuguese Jesuit missionary sent to Japan.
Francisco Garrpe
Rodrigues's missionary companion.
Christovao Ferreira
A revered Portuguese priest who vanished in Japan after more than 30 years as a missionary. Rumored to have apostatized. His new Japanese name is Sawano Chuan.
Kichijiro
A Japanese interpreter for the Portuguese, a secret Catholic, and a cowardly man.
Ichizo
A man of 50 years old, a Christian, who visits Rodrigues and Garrpe's hilly hideaway in Tomogi.
Omatsu
Ichizo's older sister.
Monica
A captive Japanese Christian that Rodrigues meets when he is captured.
Juan
A Japanese Christian who Rodrigues meets when they are both captured.
Inoue
The magistrate/governor of Chikugo, an old samurai with a terrible reputation for torturing Christians to force them to apostatize.
Jonassen
A Dutch clerk in Nagasaki in 1644.
The interpreter
A Japanese man who translates for Rodrigues. He went to seminary but is not a Christian.
Valignano
A Jesuit Superior who founded a college in Macao for missionaries going to China and Japan.
Mokichi
A young villager in Tomogi.
