Richard Papen
Richard is the narrator and protagonist in the story. At the time he tells the story, he is a 28-year-old graduate student in California, but most of the action takes place when Richard is a college student in New England. Richard is intelligent, sensitive, and ambitious; he wants to build a different life for himself, and at first heedlessly pursues his dreams and ambitions. Over the course of the novel, Richard realizes this desire for beauty, elegance, and intellectual stimulation have made him lose touch with moral principles. At the end of the novel, Richard is resigned to spending most of his life dwelling on the past.
Henry Winter
Henry is a student at Hampden College who also studies ancient Greek in Julian's class. Henry emerges as the leader of the friend group, and the individual whom Richard most admires. Even in a group of extremely intelligent students, Henry stands out for his intellect, and he is also calm, cool, and strategic. Henry is the one who first starts the plan to kill Bunny, and plays a significant role in covering up the crime, which shows that he might be the most cold-blooded of all of them. Henry has a romantic relationship with Camilla, and eventually kills himself when he knows the relationship between the group is falling apart.
Charles Macauley
Charles is a student who studies in Julian's class, and is a close friend to Bunny, Richard, Henry, and Francis. Charles has a drinking problem which accelerates after the murder of Bunny, leading him to become violent and reckless. Charles has an incestuous relationship with his sister Camilla and is obsessively jealous of her; when Camilla begins a romantic relationship with Henry, Charles threatens to kill him. Charles ends up suffering from addiction for the rest of his life, and never living up to his potential. He also eventually loses touch with Camilla.
Bunny Corcoran
Edmund "Bunny" Corcoran is a student who studies ancient Greek at Hampden College. Unlike the other students, Bunny is not a sophisticated intellectual and actually struggles with a number of learning disabilities. Bunny also comes from a family that has the appearance of wealth, but does not have access to any money and relies on everyone around him to subsidize his expensive lifestyle. Bunny is coarse, bullying, and often cruel; once he knows that the other students have killed the farmer, he shamelessly blackmails and torments them. Bunny dies a violent death when the other students get tired of being blackmailed by him, and push him off the edge of a ravine.
Francis Abernathy
Francis is a Hampden College student who studies ancient Greek in Julian's class. Francis is gay, and has feelings for Charles, whom he occasionally sleeps with. Francis also sometimes flirts with Richard. Francis comes from a very wealthy family and has access to the beautiful country house where the group often spends time. Francis is generally somewhat passive as the plans to kill Bunny unfold, but he is also somewhat detached, and able to see problems within the group. Francis is the one who explains to Richard that Charles and Camilla are having an incestuous affair, and that there are going to be problems between Charles and Henry. Years after leaving Hampden, Francis tries to kill himself because his wealthy grandfather is forcing him to marry a woman. After he recovers, Francis gets married and lives in New York City.
Camilla Macauley
Camilla Macauley is the only female student in Julian's class; she is the sister of Charles, and the two of them are extremely close. Both Henry and Richard have romantic feelings for Camilla, and she also has an incestuous relationship with Charles. After Bunny's murder, Camilla breaks away from Charles's controlling attitude, and begins a relationship with Henry. When Richard proposes to her years later, Camilla says that she cannot marry him because she will always love Henry. Camilla ends up spending her life in isolation, taking care of her sick and elderly aunt.
Julian Morrow
Julian Morrow is the professor who teaches Classics at Hampden College. He is very wealthy and donates his salary back to the college, so he gets away with being very eccentric. Julian only teaches very small classes of handpicked students, and he focuses on celebrating Classical ideals of beauty. Julian has a mysterious past, and when he finds out that his students have killed Bunny, he abruptly leaves the college and moves away. He proves to be cold and indifferent to Henry's death, and never sees any of his students again.
Cloke Rayburn
Cloke is a student at Hampden College who sells drugs to other students. He is a fairly good friend of Bunny's, and becomes involved in speculating about Bunny's disappearance and death.
Judy Poovey
Judy Poovey is a student at Hampden College. She tries to bond with Richard because they are both from California.
Georges Laforgue
Georges Laforgue is a French professor at Hampden College. He does not like or trust Julian, and tries to dissuade Richard from studying with him.
Dr. Roland
Dr. Roland is a psychology professor at Hampden College. He hires Richard to work as his research assistant.
Marion
Marion is a student at Hampden College. She is in a relationship with Bunny, although the two of them often disagree and fight. Marion is devastated by Bunny's death, and later goes on to marry his brother.
