Thomas Sutpen is an ambitious and imposing figure who arrives in Yoknapatawpha County with a ruthless determination to build a grand plantation dynasty. He purchases a vast tract of land and constructs Sutpen's Hundred, a massive and unadorned mansion. His obscure origins and bizarre behavior scandalize the local townspeople, yet he manages to acquire wealth and social standing through sheer force of will.

Quentin is a young man from a prominent Southern family, preparing to leave for Harvard University in the early twentieth century. He serves as the primary listener and subsequent narrator of the Sutpen family saga, feeling the heavy burden of Southern history and his region's complicated legacy. He is introspective and deeply entangled in the collective memory of his birthplace.

Miss Rosa is a bitter and reclusive woman who has lived in isolation for over forty years. As the younger sister of Thomas Sutpen's wife, she grew up fearing Sutpen and viewing him as a demonic force who cursed her family. Driven by a deep-seated resentment and a desire to document the past, she summons Quentin to her dim parlor to pass her version of the family history on to the next generation.

Henry is the eldest child of Thomas and Ellen Sutpen, raised to inherit the grand estate of Sutpen's Hundred. Unlike his father, he displays an early sensitivity and distress toward the cruelties of the plantation environment. He attends university, where he develops an intense and admiring friendship with his sophisticated classmate, Charles Bon.

Charles Bon is an elegant and self-assured university student from New Orleans. His mysterious background and refined manners captivate his classmate Henry Sutpen, who brings him home to the family estate. He soon becomes a frequent guest at the plantation and begins courting Henry's younger sister, creating profound tension within the household.

Mr. Compson is Quentin's father, a cynical and speculative man who provides his son with additional context about the Sutpen history. He attempts to fill in the gaps of Miss Rosa's narrative, often relying on town gossip, logical guesswork, and a deterministic view of destiny to explain the downfall of the local dynasty.

Ellen is the daughter of a middle-class merchant who abruptly becomes Thomas Sutpen's wife. She briefly enjoys the social status and shallow illusions of being the wealthiest plantation owner's wife, busying herself with shopping and planning a grand future for her children. When reality intrudes on her idealized Southern life, she faces a severe psychological decline.

Judith is the younger sister of Henry Sutpen, raised in the isolating grandeur of Sutpen's Hundred. She is drawn into the complex dynamics of her family when Henry brings his worldly friend, Charles Bon, home from university. She becomes the object of Bon's affections, quietly waiting for a marriage that is increasingly threatened by external forces.

Shreve is a curious Canadian student who rooms with Quentin Compson at Harvard. As an outsider to the American South, he listens to Quentin's recounting of the Sutpen saga with a mix of fascination and detachment. He frequently interjects to ask questions, summarize, and collaboratively speculate on the historical events.

Clytie is a resilient resident of Sutpen's Hundred who remains intimately tied to the plantation across decades. She endures the harsh realities of the antebellum and post-war South and serves as a constant presence in the decaying mansion, operating as a fierce and uncompromising protector of its secrets and remaining inhabitants.

Wash Jones is a poor, lower-class citizen of Yoknapatawpha County who squats on the sprawling land of Sutpen's Hundred. He views Thomas Sutpen with a complex mix of reverence and awe, performing odd jobs and running errands while existing strictly on the margins of the plantation's strict social hierarchy.

Mr. Coldfield is a respectable, middle-class merchant in Yoknapatawpha County and the father of Ellen and Rosa. A rigid and deeply religious man, he eventually becomes completely alienated from his community as political tensions rise in the South, choosing to lock himself away in protest rather than participate in the region's impending conflict.

General Compson is a prominent figure in Yoknapatawpha County and the grandfather of Quentin Compson. He is notable for being one of the few men in the town who develops a friendly association with the enigmatic Thomas Sutpen upon his arrival, observing the early years of the plantation firsthand.

Milly is the teenage granddaughter of Wash Jones, growing up in deep poverty on the edges of the Sutpen's Hundred estate. Her presence on the property eventually catches the attention of Thomas Sutpen, entangling her in the dark legacy of the plantation's patriarch.