Elliot is a 14-year-old boy of slight build who transfers to Holminster High following years of severe bullying at his previous school. Traumatized by past abuse and his father's brain injury, he intentionally invents a cold, indifferent persona to ensure he blends in. He is highly intelligent and excels on the swim team, but his constant fear of becoming a target drives him to suppress his natural empathy.

Mrs. Sutton is Elliot's hardworking mother who holds the family together following her husband's tragic mugging. She works grueling hours at a paper mill and a retirement home to afford a move to a new town. Exhausted but fiercely devoted, she hopes the relocation will provide her family a chance to rebuild their lives.

Once an optimistic, energetic design assistant starting his own packaging company, Mr. Sutton suffered a fractured skull during a violent robbery three years ago. The physical wounds healed, but the traumatic brain injury left him unresponsive and listless. He spends his days silently watching television, serving as a constant reminder of the family's lost happiness.

Richard is a handsome Holminster High junior with wavy dark hair and long sideburns. He leads the Guardians, a secret society that rules the school through orchestrated intimidation and violence. He relies on a surface-level interpretation of George Orwell's *1984* to justify his belief that people are naturally subservient and exist only to be controlled.

Ben is a small, pale student who lives in a wealthy neighborhood with his mother. His father, a deceased Air Force pilot, routinely mocked him for lacking traditional masculinity. Ben is an exceptionally talented photographer who has accepted his grim fate as a permanent target of the school's bullies.

Louise is an articulate, fiercely intelligent student in Elliot's English class. Characterized by her long black hair and green eyes, she is well-read and despises the superficial, vicious culture at Holminster High. Her interpretation of literature directly challenges the totalitarian philosophies held by the school's bullies.

Oliver is a student with sharp features and short blond hair. He initially presents himself as a welcoming classmate but is actually a nervous, eager-to-please spy for the Guardians. He acts as a messenger who points out the school's hidden rules to new students.

Mrs. Davidson is an enthusiastic English teacher in her thirties. She wears glasses and keeps her hair in a ponytail. Deeply invested in her students' well-being, she correctly senses that Elliot is hiding behind a psychological mask to cope with unseen struggles.

Stewart is a sports team captain at Holminster High. He leverages his physical size and social status to routinely abuse weaker students in the locker room, enforcing a culture of silent compliance among the bystanders.

Baker is a student with a raw nose and acne who serves as a regular target for the school's athletic bullies. He has become completely desensitized to his own humiliation, moving passively through the violent rituals enacted upon him.

Mr. Phillips is the gym teacher at Holminster High. Instead of stopping the systemic abuse in his locker room, he ignores it and actively participates in humiliating the weakest students, demonstrating that the adults in the school are complicit in the violence.

Gareth is one of the three core members of the Guardians. He lacks his own identity outside the group, functioning primarily to enforce Richard's orders and intimidate the student body through coordinated violence.

Cameron is a member of the Guardians. He recites rehearsed speeches about the gang's history and assists Richard in maintaining absolute control over Holminster High's social structure.

Kevin is a student from Elliot's previous middle school, described as the "king of the seventh and eighth grades." He initiated the organized physical and psychological attacks that traumatized Elliot and forced him to transfer to Holminster High.