Toby is a pragmatic, resourceful survivor of the global plague who previously served as Eve Six in the God's Gardeners eco-cult. She holds extensive knowledge of herbal medicine, mushroom foraging, and apiary care. Despite her capable exterior, she struggles with deep insecurities about her age and self-worth, particularly regarding her inability to have children. She acts as the primary caretaker and storyteller for the Crakers, taking over the role from Jimmy out of necessity.

Zeb is a rugged, highly capable survivor who acts as the primary tactical protector for the cobb-house camp. Before the plague, he lived as a hacker, a transient worker, and an Adam in the God's Gardeners. He spent most of his adult life changing identities to evade his wealthy, abusive father. He masks his fears and vulnerabilities with sarcasm, crude jokes, and a habit of singing under his breath when anxious.

Jimmy is the reluctant prophet of the Crakers, originally tasked by his childhood friend Crake to shepherd the genetically engineered species after the global plague. He carries immense guilt over his indirect role in humanity's destruction and his failure to save the woman he loved. He spends the early portion of the narrative comatose, while the Crakers maintain a constant vigil over him.

Adam is the charismatic, pacifistic founder of the God's Gardeners and Zeb's brother. Raised by a wealthy, abusive father, Adam developed a calculated, serene demeanor and a rigid adherence to his moral principles. He built his eco-cult to prepare humanity for a coming disaster, relying on his brother Zeb to handle the violent or legally compromising tasks he refused to do himself.

Crake was a brilliant, emotionally detached scientist who engineered the apocalypse. Convinced that humanity was a fundamentally flawed species destroying the planet, he manufactured a lethal virus hidden within a popular pharmaceutical, simultaneously designing the peaceful, vegetarian Crakers to inherit the earth. His actions shadow every present-day struggle the survivors face.

Ren is a former erotic trapeze dancer and sex worker who survived the plague while locked inside a quarantine room at her club. She spent part of her childhood with the God's Gardeners, where she formed her closest friendships. She is unselfish, deeply affectionate, and focuses her energy on physically and emotionally rehabilitating those around her, especially Jimmy and Amanda.

Amanda is a tough, resourceful former "pleebrat" who survived the streets before joining the God's Gardeners as a child. Before the plague, she was fiercely independent and protective of Ren. In the present, she suffers from profound psychological trauma and physical exhaustion after enduring extreme brutality at the hands of the Painballers.

Blackbeard is a young, highly intelligent Craker child named after the infamous historical pirate. He possesses the Crakers' genetic lack of aggression and their literal worldview, but he exhibits a unique curiosity about human behavior. He eagerly learns to read and write from Toby, bridging the gap between human history and Craker oral tradition.

Swift Fox is a brilliant former geneticist and one of the surviving MaddAddamites. Before the collapse, she was a top-tier scientist forced to work on Crake's Paradice Project. In the survivor camp, she is brash, openly sexual, and deliberately provocative, frequently flirting with the men and clashing with Toby over social decorum. She strongly advocates for repopulating the human race.

Katrina is an ambitious, beautiful acrobat who eventually founds Scales and Tails, a high-end, exotic sex club. She is fiercely independent, turning down Zeb's early romantic advances to build her own enterprise. She secretly operates as an essential ally to the God's Gardeners, managing dangerous corporate clients while protecting Adam's interests.

The Rev is the wealthy, hypocritical father of Zeb and Adam. He runs a massive religious cult that preaches the divine right to extract and consume fossil fuels. Behind closed doors, he is physically abusive, embezzles church funds, and indulges in extreme virtual violence, creating a terrifying home environment that forces his sons to flee into the pleeblands.

Rebecca is the pragmatic, hardworking cook for the survivor camp and a former member of the God's Gardeners. She originally met Toby while they both worked at a degrading fast-food chain. She excels at scavenging and preparing edible meals from the strange flora and fauna of the post-apocalyptic landscape.

Lotis Blue is an attractive, kind-hearted MaddAddamite survivor who assists Ren in caring for the camp's injured and traumatized members. Before the plague, she attended the same corporate high school as Jimmy, serving as his lab partner and the object of his teenage infatuation.

Oryx is a mysterious figure from Crake and Jimmy's past who served as the primary teacher and caretaker for the Crakers inside their laboratory enclosure. Jimmy believes she was a victim of child trafficking he once saw online, though she denied it. The Crakers revere her memory, believing she controls the natural world and watches over them from the sky.

Ivory Bill is an older MaddAddamite survivor who previously worked as a high-level geneticist on the Paradice Project. He is prone to long, academic lectures regarding genetics and environmental adaptation. He frequently makes misogynistic comments regarding female survivors, viewing them primarily through the lens of species propagation.