Daniel Plainview
A mineral prospector turned petroleum entrepreneur in the early days of the 20th century, Plainview is middle-aged, unmarried, and the adoptive father of H.W., a young boy orphaned by a fellow oil rig worker. Plainview seems driven, or haunted, by a misanthropy formed early in life which has led him to look for the worst in people. He is a shrewd businessman who is not above deceit and corruption to get what he wants. He seems to show affection to H.W. and his supposed brother Henry, but the veracity of these feelings is uncertain. One could say that his nemesis is the entire human race, but narratively, his wrath and rivalry is focused on Eli Sunday.
H.W. Plainview
H.W. is orphaned at a very young age following a fatal oil drilling accident. Daniel adopts him and raises him as his own, and the boy remains by Daniel’s side even during land negotiations with town residents. Another oil drilling accident leaves H.W. deaf, and this situation creates an irreversible distance between father and son which had not previously existed. Daniel sends H.W. away to a school for the deaf in San Francisco, further damaging their relationship.
Eli Sunday
Eli Sunday is the fiery evangelical leader of the local church who distrusts Daniel on the basis of Daniel’s apparent atheism and the belief that Daniel took advantage of his father in the deal to drill for oil. He tries to insinuate himself into the town’s power structure, which is tilting away from the church and toward the economic boom the oil business is creating. While he seems to be a true believer, Eli’s religious practice is filtered through a belief that he himself has been granted a special, almost messianic status by God. He relishes the praise and validation of his community as well as the power he wields overs them.
Paul Sunday
Eli’s strained relationship with his father, whom he physically and emotionally abuses, is tied in part to his identical twin brother, Paul. It was Paul who first—secretly—sought out Daniel to make a deal on his own. Paul only appears in one scene early in the film, and his presence afterward is only alluded to through conversation.
William Bandy
Bandy is the owner of the one parcel of land which to which Daniel is not able to buy access. He remains stubborn as the lone holdout, and as such wields a certain amount of power over Plainview and his company. He comes to own a much greater power—or so he certainly imagines—when he discovers that Daniel has murdered Henry. Bandy is not moved by the allure of money but rather by faith, a fact Daniel finds vexing.
Henry Plainview
A man calling himself Henry and claiming to be Daniel’s half-brother mysteriously shows up shortly after the accident which caused H.W. to go deaf. Suspicious at first, Daniel gradually grows closer to Henry, which in turn leads H.W. to attempt to burn down their house; this is the stimulus for Daniel’s sending him to San Francisco. Henry lacks serious ambition and is happy to defer most decisions to others, leading Daniel to suspect that Henry is not who he claims to be. One night while drunk, Daniel forces the truth out of Henry that he is an imposter, and kills him.
Fletcher Hamilton
Hamilton is Daniel’s loyal business associate and, aside from H.W, probably the person with whom he is closest. There are indications in Fletcher’s manner and speech which indicate that he is at times disturbed by Daniel’s attitudes, and also that he acts as a kind of surrogate father for H.W., but neither of these characterizations are made explicit or explored thoroughly in the film.
Abel Sunday
Abel is a pious and generous but somewhat naive old farmer. Even after it becomes clear he has been swindled by Daniel, he remains happy and takes solace in his humble family life, much to Eli’s chagrin. He is also said to beat his daughter Mary, but this aspect of his character is not explored thoroughly.
Mary Sunday
Eli’s little sister and H.W.’s future wife. She is quiet but fascinated with the Plainviews and follows them around, leading to her eventual romance with H.W.
H.M. Tilford
A real-life figure who was a vice president at Standard Oil, John Rockefeller’s massive oil company. In the film, he attracts the ire of Daniel for his business tactics, but the rivalry is one-sided as Tilford does not see Daniel as a major player in the grand scheme of the oil business. He treats Daniel with a polite but dismissive attitude, more bemused than fearful of Daniel’s antics.
