An unnamed product recall specialist for a major automotive company. He suffers from chronic insomnia caused by his empty, consumer-driven lifestyle and finds his work calculating the cost of human lives deeply alienating. Desperate for relief, he begins attending support groups for terminal illnesses he does not have, discovering that crying with dying people finally allows him to sleep. After his meticulously furnished apartment explodes in a gas leak, he abandons his corporate existence to move into a dilapidated house on Paper Street.

A charismatic anti-consumerist who works night shifts as a banquet waiter and a movie projectionist. Tyler actively rejects societal norms, choosing to live in a squalid rental house while making luxury soap out of stolen rendered fat. He pushes back against modern comfort by seeking out physical pain and encouraging other disenfranchised men to do the same through a secret fighting club.

A woman who lives in constant proximity to death, attending terminal illness support groups despite lacking any physical ailments. She steals clothes from laundromats and sells cremation urns to survive financially. Her arrival at the support groups shatters the Narrator's safe space, forcing them to negotiate a schedule so they can avoid each other at meetings.

A former bodybuilder who used steroids extensively. Following his cancer treatments and subsequent hormone therapy, he developed enlarged breast tissue. He acts as a gentle and emotional presence in the support groups, freely offering physical affection to other attendees in need of comfort.

A terminally ill woman attending the same brain parasite support group as the Narrator. Facing imminent death, she expresses a singular, desperate desire for one final sexual encounter, unconcerned with romance or physical attractiveness.

A middle-management figure at the automotive company where the Narrator works. He enforces corporate standards and expects professional appearance and behavior. He grows increasingly alarmed by the Narrator's bruised face, unwashed clothes, and strange faxes.

A dedicated member of the underground fighting group who strictly follows Tyler's philosophies. He uses erratic driving and the threat of a fatal car crash to force his passengers into experiencing a near-death state, believing this trauma will shock them out of their complacency.

A twenty-three-year-old clerk who previously abandoned his studies in biology. He is cornered behind his workplace in what appears to be a mugging but is actually a violent intimidation tactic designed to force him to return to school and pursue his dream of becoming a veterinarian.