Ralph is a tall, fair-haired boy who takes an early leadership role among the stranded survivors. He relies on the conch shell to maintain order and prioritizes rescue by insisting on keeping a signal fire burning. His desire to build a civilized society frequently clashes with the other boys' preferences to play and hunt.

Jack is the authoritative leader of the choirboys who quickly rebrands his group as hunters. He possesses strong authoritarian tendencies and becomes obsessed with tracking and killing wild pigs on the island. He rejects Ralph's focus on rescue, preferring to assert dominance through hunting, painting his face, and embracing a primitive lifestyle.

Piggy is a vulnerable boy with asthma, poor eyesight, and extra weight. Despite physical limitations, he is the most intelligent boy on the island and understands the mechanics of survival, such as using his glasses to start fires. He strongly advocates for rules, science, and the rational behavior expected by adults.

Simon is a quiet, introspective boy who frequently retreats to a secret, peaceful clearing in the jungle. He possesses a unique moral goodness and an intuitive understanding of the island's psychological threats. Unlike the others, he recognizes that the terrifying beast the boys fear is actually a manifestation of their own internal darkness.

Roger is Jack's brooding and violent lieutenant. He tests the boundaries of acceptable behavior once the rules of adult society no longer apply, such as throwing stones at younger boys just to see what he can get away with. He represents the natural inclination toward cruelty when unrestrained by civilization.

The Littluns are the collective group of the youngest boys on the island, aged around six years old. They spend most of their time playing in the sand, eating fruit, and suffering from nightmares about a terrifying snake-thing in the dark. They represent the general public, easily swayed by fear and completely dependent on older boys for survival.

Sam is one half of a set of identical twins who are so inseparable they are often treated as one person. Tasked with tending the signal fire alongside his brother, he is well-meaning but easily intimidated. He tries to remain loyal to civilized rules but struggles against the growing threat of the hunters.

Eric is the other half of the identical twins on the island. Like his brother, he is eager to please and generally supports efforts to maintain a signal fire for rescue. He shares his brother's vulnerability to fear and peer pressure as the island's social structure begins to collapse.

Henry is one of the larger little boys who enjoys asserting a mild form of dominance over small sea creatures in the tide pools. He becomes the unwitting target of Roger's rock-throwing experiment, demonstrating the shifting boundaries of safety on the island.

Percival is a highly anxious and sensitive small boy who cries frequently. He copes with the trauma of the crash by reciting his full name and home address, though this memory begins to fade over time. He is the first to suggest that the frightening beast might come out of the sea.

Johnny is a well-built, naturally belligerent little boy. He plays in the sand castles on the beach and is quick to cry when the older boys disrupt his play, representing the innocence and vulnerability of the youngest survivors.

Maurice is a large, broad-smiling choirboy who initially aligns with Jack's hunters. While he participates in kicking over sand castles, he still feels the lingering guilt of a civilized upbringing when he gets sand in a younger boy's eye.

Robert is one of Jack's loyal hunters who participates enthusiastically in the group's increasingly wild behavior. He is notably involved in a mock pig-hunt dance that spirals out of control, blurring the line between play and genuine violence.

The Lord of the Flies is a severed pig's head left as a physical offering to the beast by Jack's hunters. Covered in swarming insects, the object becomes a terrifying hallucination for Simon, representing the innate evil and savagery residing inside the boys themselves.