Lois Chasse is Ralph’s romantic interest and sidekick. She is a widow who, like Ralph, develops a heightened awareness of the auras that animate the human sphere of existence. Though Ralph has a crush on Lois, he is initially cautious of confiding his experiences to her because of her outgoing nature. He mainly fears that she will gossip about him, rather than offer the emotional support he needs. This changes when he deduces that he and Lois are experiencing the same phenomena.

Ralph initially sees Lois as a ditzy, skittish woman, with Bill affectionately referring to her as “Our Lois,” though Lois later alludes to her resentment of how they underestimate her. Lois demonstrates her vanity when Ralph sees her crying on the park bench. She tries to send him away, afraid of letting him see her makeup ruined because of her aggrieved state. She is thrilled when her ability to draw from the energy of other auras restores her youthful beauty. Lois is also sometimes petty, drawing from her friend’s aura when the friend shows envy for her renewed youth. When she realizes that Atropos stole her diamond earrings, she turns violent, realizing how Atropos contributed to the misconception that she was experiencing age-related cognitive changes.

However, Lois reveals her depth and strength as the narrative progresses. Lois has merciful tendencies, often imploring Ralph not to kill any of the antagonists they face along the way. She shows her bravery when she rescues Ralph from Ed’s crashing plane at the last second. In the years following the rally, Lois and Ralph marry and have several happy years together.

The novel ends on Lois coming to terms with Ralph’s death after Clotho and Lachesis gift his aura to her. The brief glimpse that the aura affords her into the brightness of the universe reassures her that Ralph will remain a comforting presence in her world.

Ed Deepneau is the primary antagonist of the novel. Though he is a lower agent in the grand scheme of the Crimson King’s plans, the novel frames him as the final obstacle between Ralph and the resolution of the conflict.

Ed is a research chemist and an abusive husband to Helen. Ralph is surprised by the belligerence Ed shows outside the airport, claiming this is uncharacteristic of him. However, the novel implies that Ralph failed to notice earlier signs of Ed’s abuse of Helen. More than once in the novel, Ed shifts from being overly indignant to meek and penitent, though it is ambiguous whether the former is the result of Atropos’s influence over him or part of his personality. However, Ed’s ability to coolly deny his abuse of Helen also reveals an unrepentant, manipulative streak that shows he can control his behavior and rein in his emotions when it suits him to do so.  

Ed is also an aggressive protestor of the WomanCare clinic, claiming to object to their abortion services, even though it is implied he may also resent how the center also helps abused women like Helen. What is certain is that Atropos weaponizes Ed’s anti-abortion stance to further his plan to bomb the Susan Day rally at the Civic Center. Ralph recognizes this connection when he observes Atropos’s tendency to curse others in the same way he saw Ed do at the airport. Ed is also characterized by his hypocrisy: While claiming to uphold the sanctity of life, it is implied that Ed is the mastermind behind Pickering’s extremist activities, from the attack on Ralph at the library to the assault on High Ridge. His foiled plan to kill 2,000 people at the rally reinforces his character as someone who ultimately has no respect for anyone but himself.

The Crimson King is the novel’s overarching antagonist. It is the highest-known superior figure to direct Ed’s actions, ordering the death of Patrick Danville to prevent his involvement in the Dark Tower series. The Crimson King is a high figure in the Random, though Clotho and Lachesis claim to know very little about the Crimson King when Ralph alludes to it in Part 2, Chapter 18.

The Crimson King only appears to prevent Ralph from stopping Ed’s plane crash. The Crimson King is a shapeshifter, enabling it to first present itself as Ralph’s late mother, Bertha. It becomes clear that the Crimson King only takes the forms of things that inspire fear in the beholder. As Bertha, the Crimson King tries to scold Ralph, making him believe he is doing something morally wrong with his interference. The Crimson King soon assumes a second form as a catfish, which directly represents Ralph’s fear.

Ralph overcomes the Crimson King because he has a personal stake in the conflict between the Purpose and the Random: Natalie Deepneau’s life. Ralph reasons that if he cannot defeat the Crimson King, then Natalie will never get to live a life free from the Random. This determination to protect Natalie enables Ralph to detonate a trap that returns the Crimson King to the higher planes of existence.

Atropos is a secondary antagonist. He is one of the “bald doctors” who appears to Ralph, Lois, and Ed, but exists in contradiction to Clotho and Lachesis as an agent of the Random. Ordinarily, Atropos goes around the world to claim the deaths of people from the Purpose, allowing them to die in sudden, often horrific ways.

Atropos always claims a token from each person he visits, which enables him to exert his power over them. This is demonstrated by his possession of Ed’s wedding ring, which he keeps in a deathbag in a chamber filled with the tokens of everyone he is set to kill at the Civic Center. Atropos is one-dimensional because of his nature as a supernatural being. However, he is vindictive, which he demonstrates whenever Ralph intervenes in his affairs. This not only results in the death of Rosalie, but in the planned death of Natalie, which Ralph must sacrifice his own life to circumvent.

Clotho and Lachesis support Ralph in his character arc by providing him with the exposition required to resolve the conflict. The two are agents of the Purpose, who typically function by shepherding people to natural deaths. It is suggested that they directly cause Ralph and Lois to experience the insomnia that gives them perceptual access to the higher planes of existence.

Much like Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis are one-dimensional beings whose motivations are informed by their service to the Purpose. However, Clotho and Lachesis purposefully try to misrepresent their situation to get Ralph to do their bidding. While incapable of lying, the bald doctors omit the truth with the hope of escaping Ralph’s questions. Ralph only learns to trust them when he can get them to admit the full truth behind the Purpose’s motivations.