The pale, sensitive son of Sándor and Mária. He grows up alienated from his father's harshness and the rigid aristocratic expectations of his family. Deeply affected by his lineage and his physical differences, he struggles with his sense of masculinity and identity, finding solace in writing and quiet observation before attempting to restore his family's standing in adulthood.

The introverted, observant son of Lajos and Lilly. He possesses a deep sensitivity and an unusual affinity for shadows, feeling alienated from the social world of his parents. To protect his sensitive interior from bullying, he consciously transforms himself through rigorous exercise, developing a stoic and muscular exterior.

The powerful patriarch of the von Lázár family and a traditional Hungarian baron. He maintains a rigid routine to mask his deep-seated fears and his family's history of psychological instability. His obsession with appearances and decorum makes him a strict, emotionally distant figure in the household.

Sándor's wife, a woman raised in a strict household who struggles with the isolating reality of life in the ancestral manor. She practices quiet rituals of self-harm to feel alive in an emotionally barren marriage. She is fiercely protective of her secrets and deploys strategic lies to maintain the family's fragile stability.

Lajos's older sister, a perceptive and rebellious girl who despises her father's strict decorum and the stifling atmosphere of the manor. An unsettling encounter in the forest deeply affects her childhood, instilling a profound wariness of the world. She eventually seeks escape through marriage, drawn to modern power dynamics over fading aristocratic traditions.

Pista's younger sister, a resilient and intellectually curious young woman who comes of age during the decline of her family's aristocratic privileges. Denied a formal university education, she turns to reading banned feminist literature to understand her changing society. She pragmatically adapts to physical labor, seeking genuine connection outside her social class.

Sándor's older brother, a former naturalist who retreated into a world of Gothic literature following family tragedies. Confined to a blue-painted room in the manor's western wing, he spends his days watching the forest and speaking to unseen figures. He serves as a gentle companion to young Lajos, offering warmth absent at the formal dinner table.

Lajos's gentle, resilient wife, whose affection helps him momentarily escape his family's dark legacy. Originally an outsider to the aristocratic von Lázár world, she provides a stabilizing presence in the manor house. She possesses a quiet grace, enduring the mounting pressures of war and marital strain with dignity.

A shy, melancholic young writer who attends underground gatherings of dispossessed aristocrats in Budapest. Pista admires him deeply, calling him the "new Petőfi" of their generation. Outwardly, he appears decent and private, projecting the aura of a sensitive intellectual.

A young girl from a neighboring school in Budapest who initiates a silent romance with Pista. Constrained by an intensely strict and fearful mother, she communicates her affection through perfumed letters, navigating the heavy restrictions placed upon her life.

A working-class woman in Pécs who catches Sándor's eye on the street. She leaves her factory job when Sándor begins providing for her, offering him a physical escape from his failing marriage and aristocratic duties.

A young poet from Vienna who moves to the country seeking a simpler life. Hired as a tutor for the Lázár children, he meticulously records the names of his lovers in a small book and inadvertently brings romantic tension to the household.

A Benedictine priest and trenchant critic of authoritarianism who is sheltered in the western wing of the manor. He possesses a vivid love for life, literature, and nature, finding spiritual guidance in both faith and art as he quietly resists the encroaching fascist regime.

A compassionate housekeeper connected to the Telkes family. She acts as a sympathetic intermediary, understanding Mrs. Telkes's harsh discipline while quietly arranging for Matilda and Pista to share a brief, final meeting.

A handsome, pragmatic peasant worker on the collective farm where the family is exiled. Unburdened by the losses and expectations that haunt the displaced aristocrats, he approaches life and romance with a direct, uncomplicated freedom.

A gentle former military scribe who spent forty years writing love letters for a frontier captain. Hired as a tutor, he eschews strict discipline, instead fostering Lajos's deep, physical compulsion to write and record his experiences.

Pista's best friend and a stuntman. He is politically active, running the secret "Cellar" venue and eventually starting a revolutionary newspaper to challenge the oppressive government in Budapest.

A young groom who works on the von Lázár estate. Though he dies shortly after Lajos's birth, his brief, passionate connection with Mária leaves a permanent legacy on the family.

The local country doctor who attends to the von Lázár family. He provides pragmatic, medical perspectives on the family's various ailments, though he often cannot explain the deeper psychological roots of their conditions.

The grandson of a prominent banker whom Ilona marries during World War I. He is a committed pacifist, a stance that sometimes clashes with Ilona's complex attraction to power and military aesthetics.

The children's nanny in the von Lázár household. She finds pockets of freedom during the family's trips to the spa town of Hévíz, where she secretly hosts her lover and inadvertently sparks Ilona's curiosity about romance.