Jack is a transgender man living in 18th-century London who begins his life apprenticed to a cruel carpenter. He copes with his dysphoria and abuse by sneaking out at night into the city's criminal underworld. Drawn to the freedom of thievery, he seeks a way to reclaim his labor and live authentically. He is resourceful and deeply conflicted about his identity and future.

Dr. Voth is a transgender scholar and humanities professor at an underfunded university. Placed on unpaid leave for playing phone games during office hours, he dedicates his free time to translating and annotating a historical manuscript. He views the text as a vital piece of LGBTQ history and feels an intense personal connection to the story.

Bess is a sex worker of South Asian descent operating out of the Black Lion Inn and Seraglio. As a survivor of a resistance group from the English Fens, she holds radical political views against privatization and wage labor. She becomes a guiding force for Jack, offering him acceptance and pushing him to rebel against his servitude.

Aurie, also known as Blueskin, is a skilled thief of Afro-Roman descent who operates independently of the city's corrupt crime rings. He identifies as a molly and quickly forms a tight bond with Jack. Deeply loyal and slightly paranoid, Aurie serves as Jack's guide and partner in the criminal underworld.

Wild is the Thief-Catcher General of London, operating out of the Waste House. He runs a massive racket where he orchestrates thefts and then profits from recovering the stolen goods or arresting the perpetrators. Obsessed with efficiency and wealth, he seeks to commodify every aspect of the criminal underworld for personal gain.

Evans is a surgeon fascinated by people who do not fit neat sex or gender binaries. He approaches non-conforming bodies as medical curiosities requiring management and correction. His scientific hubris often exceeds his actual surgical abilities.

Jenny is a practical and experienced sex worker who recruits Bess into the trade. She views sex work as a more honest approach to the vices of capitalism than the hypocritical pacifism preached by the city's religious leaders.

Sullivan is a representative of P-Quad Pharmaceuticals. He strong-arms Dr. Voth into preparing a historical manuscript for publication as a corporate publicity stunt. He micromanages the professor's work and demands sensationalist descriptions of bodies to sell books.

Kneebone is an abusive carpenter who views his apprentices merely as tools for profit. He misgenders Jack and keeps him locked up at night, demanding constant labor to produce luxury items for the aristocracy. He represents the oppressive wage-labor system that relies on exploitation.

Andrews is the university's Dean of Surveillance. Armed with video footage of minor infractions, he places professors on unpaid leave, leveraging the university's power to force compliance with corporate demands.

Ursula is a pharmacist and single mother who lives near Dr. Voth. She shows an active interest in Voth's scholarship, leading to a tentative romantic dynamic. Her employment situation makes her vulnerable to corporate pressure.

Sykes is a London thief who works directly under Jonathan Wild. He follows orders to manufacture crimes that his boss can then solve for profit, though his incompetence occasionally earns him intense wrath.

The Lion-Man is a captive exhibition in the King's Menagerie. Covered in glued-on fur to look monstrous, he is actually a survivor of a mutineer colony. He possesses critical information about a mysterious substance desired by the city's corrupt officials.

Okoh is an African sailor who was pressed into service on a British ship before participating in a mutiny. He helped establish a freebooter society focusing on communal care and liberation.

Smith is a preacher who calls for equality and a return to community over profit. Despite his public sermons on extreme pacifism, he privately solicits the services of sex workers.

Franny is a molly living in London's criminal underworld. Beautiful and socially marginalized, she helps Jack understand the diverse community of gender-nonconforming people thriving outside the rigid bounds of mainstream society.

Laurent is a molly and a pirate bearing a skull-and-crossbones tattoo. Like Franny, he provides Jack with a sense of belonging, showing him that there are others who break the rules of gender and labor.

Mandeville is an insurance broker and philosopher who engages his clients in deep discussions about the nature of commerce. He refuses to insure illicit ships but offers medical literature to help further corrupt schemes.

Fireblood is a gang member working under Jonathan Wild. He is tasked with stealing corpses to fuel his boss's grim medical experiments.

Flanders is a low-level criminal in Jonathan Wild's syndicate. He helps execute the physical labor required for Wild's elaborate, morbid plots.

Davis is another subordinate in the massive criminal empire running London. He assists in the logistical planning of corpse theft.

Tommy is Aurie's boyfriend. He supports Aurie's underground existence and assists in his illicit operations when necessary.

Hunter is the brutal former captain of the British East India ship Katherine. His mistreatment of the crew, prioritizing maximum profit over their well-being, directly led to a massive mutiny.