Peer is a twenty-year-old impulsive young man from the Norwegian village of Haegstad. He possesses an overactive imagination and frequently tells compulsive lies that blur the boundaries between his reality and local folklore. Lacking money and direction following his father's squandering of the family wealth, Peer yearns to become an emperor. He evades his immediate problems by making rash decisions that force him out of his community and onto a lifelong, worldly journey.

Åse is Peer's impoverished mother, left to raise him alone after her husband spent the family fortune. She fluctuates between harshly criticizing Peer for his uselessness and aggressively defending him against the scorn of the village. She relies heavily on the fairy tales she told him during his childhood to cope with their difficult reality.

Solveig is a modest, pious young woman from a family that has recently arrived in town. She stands in stark contrast to the rougher villagers and the herd girls Peer encounters in the mountains. Her purity and adherence to her faith make her a constant fixture in Peer's mind as the embodiment of a good life.

A supernatural entity carrying a large casting ladle. He claims that souls who are neither exceptionally good nor exceptionally evil must be melted down and remolded into raw material. He challenges individuals to prove they have truly been themselves.

Aslak is the local blacksmith in Haegstad. He serves as Peer's primary physical rival in the village, frequently engaging him in brawls and asserting dominance over him. He holds significant social sway among the young men in town and actively encourages the other guests to shun Peer.

Solveig's Father is a stern man who closely monitors his family's behavior. He strongly disapproves of Peer's reputation and actions, representing the rigid Christian morality of the Norwegian community.

Helga is Solveig's younger sister. She is a timid young girl who becomes frightened by Peer's wild demeanor but serves as a crucial link between him and her sister when they are separated.

Ingrid is the daughter of a wealthy local man and the heiress to his farm. She previously held a romantic interest in Peer but agreed to marry Mads Moen while Peer was away hunting. She displays significant hesitation about her impending marriage, leading to a dramatic escape.

Mads Moen is Ingrid's chosen groom. He is a foolish, trusting young man who lacks the authority to win over his bride. He desperately seeks help from anyone, including his rival, to salvage his wedding day.

The Herd Girls are three dairy maids wandering the treeless, hilly country. Having been abandoned by their mortal lovers, they aggressively seek out supernatural encounters and enthusiastically welcome Peer when he claims to be a troll.

The Woman In Green is a troll princess who appears to Peer while he is lost and dazed. She embraces his grand lies about being a prince and offers him entry into her father's underground kingdom. She represents the seductive allure of absolute power built on illusion.

The Old Man Of The Mountain is the king of the trolls. He rules a dark underground kingdom and offers Peer the chance to inherit his throne, provided Peer adopts the troll philosophy of being true to oneself purely through selfishness.

The Child is the grotesque offspring of Peer and the troll princess. Half-human and half-troll, he displays a feral, aggressive nature completely devoid of human restraint.

Kari is a neighbor to the Gynt family. She provides a practical, rule-abiding contrast to Åse's emotional indulgence. She adheres strictly to the law and religious tenets regarding sin, advising against keeping items left behind by the court.

This group of men—Cotton, Ballon, Eberkopf, and Trumpetblast—serve as Peer's sycophantic companions during his time as a wealthy merchant. They happily consume his wine and praise his worldly success until his war profiteering plans threaten their own interests.

These thieves operate in the Moroccan desert, stealing from a local sheikh. They view thievery as an inherited generational identity rather than a choice, claiming they steal because their fathers did.

Anitra is a pragmatic woman in the Moroccan desert who recognizes Peer's wealth. She plays the role of a fawning servant to extract jewels and gifts from him, manipulating his fantasies of power and romance without returning his genuine affection.

Begriffenfeldt is the director of a Cairo madhouse. He operates under the belief that common sense has expired and that madness is the new sanity. He eagerly latches onto Peer's vague statements as profound wisdom, pulling him into his chaotic institution.

The residents of the Cairo madhouse include Huhu, an Egyptian man with a mummy, and Hussein. They are entirely absorbed in their own extreme delusions and immediately accept Peer as their new absolute ruler.

The men operating the ship returning to Norway are pragmatic sailors focused on survival. They possess strong family ties that draw resentment from their older, isolated passenger.

A local clergyman who presides over the funeral of a man who chopped off his own finger to avoid military service. The priest offers a nuanced view of bravery, valuing the man's quiet, local dedication to his family over grand heroics.

Older men attending an auction following the death of a property owner. They participate in the village's collective memory, viewing everyone from their youth as a vague sort of family unit.

The Great Bøyg is an invisible, formless entity from Norwegian folklore that serves as an impassable obstacle. It cannot be fought directly and only advises travelers to navigate around it rather than push through.

An unseen entity traveling on the ship back to Norway. He converses casually about the thrill of terror and expresses a morbid desire to claim corpses from shipwrecks.

The Thin Person is a supernatural figure traveling the road in the guise of a priest. He views human souls like photographic negatives that must be processed through hardship to become complete images. He meets desperate travelers seeking damnation to avoid the void of being melted down.