Zachary is a twelve-year-old middle schooler who loves playing imaginative games with his friends but worries about being mocked by his basketball teammates. He struggles with his parents' home dynamic, especially his father's recent return and immediate pressure to stop playing with toys. His active imagination helps him process his frustrations, giving him courage when he adopts fictional personas like his pirate character.

Poppy is a tiny, fierce, and freckled girl with red hair who loves directing her friends' make-believe games. Growing up with neglectful parents and unruly older siblings, she uses storytelling to exert control and create structure in her otherwise chaotic life. She harbors deep fears of abandonment, making her intensely protective of her social circle.

Alice is a bronze-skinned girl with glossy box braids who lives under the strict rules of her overprotective grandmother. Orphaned at a young age, she uses her bold role-playing character to experience the freedom she lacks in reality. She matures faster than her friends, changing their group dynamic as she develops a secret crush on Zach.

The Great Queen is an antique bone china doll with straw-gold curls and paper-white skin. She serves as the eternal captive in the children's role-playing games. The doll is secretly filled with the ashes of Eleanor Kerchner, a young girl from 1895 whose tragic history initiates the friends' supernatural journey.

Zach's father is a gruff man who recently moved back in with his family after a three-year absence. He struggles to connect with his son, showing interest only in Zach's basketball skills while aggressively disposing of his action figures. His own rough childhood has made him bitter and highly critical.

Alice's grandmother is an overprotective guardian who assumed care of Alice after her parents died. She controls every aspect of Alice's life, from picking her clothes to forbidding her from participating in the school play, instilling a deep fear of consequences in her granddaughter.

Lukas Kerchner is a well-known historical potter who worked for a china manufacturer in the late nineteenth century. Following the tragic loss of his daughter, Eleanor, he calcinated her remains to create bone china, molding the haunting figure of the Great Queen.

Eleanor's aunt is an overly strict and controlling historical figure who forced her niece to do chores and forbade her from playing outside. She treasures a collection of flawed and broken china, reflecting her suffocating grip on the youth in her care.

Miss Katherine is a quirky local librarian in East Liverpool. She discovers the runaway children sleeping in the library and locks them in her office so they can contact their parents.

Tinshoe Jones is an unhoused man traveling on the same bus as the kids. He experiences hallucinations and speaks directly to the Great Queen as if she is a real, living, blond little girl.

Tom is one of Poppy's older brothers. Growing up in a chaotic household with neglectful parents, he takes advantage of the lack of rules, frequently getting into trouble and teasing his younger sister.

Nate is another of Poppy's older brothers. He shares the same unstructured home environment as his siblings and joins Tom in making fun of the younger kids' make-believe games.

Leo is an odd classmate of the main trio. He participates in their spooky conversations about superstitions and the supernatural during their walk home from school before breaking off for his own house.

Alex is a middle school classmate of Zach. Zach spends time playing video games with him to distract himself after his father throws away his action figures.