Inman is a Confederate soldier who has endured deep physical and psychological trauma from the brutal battles of the Civil War. Feeling completely alienated from the Confederate cause and haunted by the violence he has witnessed, he makes the dangerous decision to desert the army and return to his home in the mountains. He is a highly skilled survivalist with a strict internal moral code that often forces him to intervene when he sees cruelty. He relies on his knowledge of the wilderness to evade capture.

Ada is a well-educated young woman originally raised in the high society of Charleston, South Carolina. Left utterly alone on Black Cove farm after her father's death, she rapidly runs out of food and resources. Though initially helpless and unaccustomed to physical labor or agriculture, she proves highly adaptable. She learns to trade her sophisticated background for practical survival skills, totally altering her understanding of the world.

Ruby is a fiercely independent and highly capable young woman who grew up neglected and poor in the mountains. She understands exactly how to grow food, barter for supplies, and maintain a farm without relying on a traditional cash economy or male assistance. She demands an equal partnership with Ada rather than taking the position of a hired servant, turning the failing farm into a functional operation.

Stobrod is Ruby's absentee father, known locally as an unreliable man who drank heavily and neglected his daughter throughout her childhood. He deserted from the army and lives as an outlier hiding in a mountain cave to avoid the Home Guard. He claims that discovering a passion for playing the fiddle has entirely changed his perspective on life and given him a new form of communication.

Teague is the brutal commander of the local Confederate Home Guard unit assigned to hunt down army deserters and outliers. He uses his position of authority to enforce his own rules, often employing lethal violence and terrorizing the civilian population across the region. He represents the institutional cruelty of the war extending into the civilian population.

Junior is a disreputable local man who initially appears hospitable but harbors treacherous intentions. He boasts about his strength and family but runs a debauched household. He actively profits from the war by capturing deserters and turning them over to the authorities for a cash bounty, completely violating the cultural rules of hospitality.

Solomon is a corrupt preacher who breaks his religious vows and behaves with extreme selfishness. After Inman forces him to abandon his violent plan, he latches onto the soldier as a traveling companion. He freely indulges in drinking, fighting, and causing trouble, showing no real remorse for his actions and profaning his position in the church.

Monroe is Ada's recently deceased father and a respected minister. He moved to the mountains from Charleston, providing a comfortable but sheltered life for his daughter. His death creates the central crisis for Ada, leaving her financially destitute and entirely unequipped to manage the farm.

Sara is a desperate young widow trying to survive the approaching winter alone with her infant. With her husband killed in the war, she relies on a single pig for her future survival. She is heavily targeted by roaming soldiers but finds a rare source of mutual support and protection when she allows a traveler onto her property.

Pangle is a young man with a mental impairment who befriends Stobrod in the mountains. He learns to play the banjo and forms a musical duo with the older man, sharing a life of hiding from the military authorities in a mountain cave. He possesses a naive and trusting nature.

Esco is an established neighbor living near Black Cove. He understands the dangers of the approaching winter and the viciousness of the local Home Guard. He shares Appalachian folklore with Ada, advising her to look into a well to see her future.

Sally is a kindly neighbor who takes pity on Ada's destitute situation following Monroe's death. Recognizing that Ada cannot survive alone, she takes the practical step of sending a local mountain girl to live and work at Black Cove.

Birch is a seventeen-year-old soldier who serves directly under Teague. He acts as his commander's right-hand man and eager protégé, learning to adopt the same cruel and uncompromising tactics to enforce military law.

Reid is a deeply traumatized teenage runaway from Georgia. He joins the outliers on Cold Mountain but wishes only to escape the violence and return to his home state after witnessing the true horrors of the war.

Lila is Junior's wife, a woman who shares her husband's deceitful and debauched nature. She actively participates in a scheme to drug guests, using her sexuality as a distraction while her husband prepares to hand them over to the authorities.

Potts is a local man who surrenders immediately when threatened. He proves helpful by directing a starving traveler to a local house where he might find a hot meal and shelter.

Odell is the son of a wealthy planter family who abandoned his privileged life. He travels the countryside searching for the woman he loves, an enslaved woman who was sold away by his disapproving father.

Lucinda is an enslaved woman who entered a relationship with the son of a wealthy planter. After the affair was discovered, she was sold to an enslaver in Mississippi, prompting a desperate search to find her.

Big Tildy is an African American sex worker whose services are purchased by a traveler passing through town. She fiercely defends her prices, leading to a physical altercation.

Swimmer is a Cherokee man and friend from the past. He shared traditional stories, tales, and spells, which continue to act as a source of comfort for those who remember them.

Claire is a woman who died in childbirth. She had a complex romantic history, having almost married at eighteen before a misunderstanding separated her from her future husband for twenty years.