Citra is a sixteen-year-old girl living in a post-mortal world. Recognized for her fierce compassion and readiness to challenge authority, she is selected as an apprentice scythe. She possesses a natural curiosity and competitive spirit that aid her in the grueling physical and mental training required for the role, though she frequently struggles to control her temper.

Rowan is a highly empathetic sixteen-year-old who feels like an outsider in his own large family. After showing exceptional moral courage during a classmate's execution, he is chosen as an apprentice scythe. He is observant, loyal, and physically adept, but he struggles deeply with the moral weight of his violent training.

Scythe Faraday is an approximately 180-year-old scythe who wears a simple, unadorned ivory robe. He approaches his grim duty with methodical reverence, using statistics from the Age of Mortality to select his subjects objectively. Unlike his peers, he makes the unprecedented decision to take on two apprentices simultaneously, demanding they maintain their humanity while dealing out death.

Famous for gleaning the final president and his cabinet before the Thunderhead took power, Scythe Curie is a highly respected and formidable figure. She lives in a remarkable home called Falling Water and prefers to kill her subjects instantly and without warning, attempting to replicate the suddenness of natural death from the mortal age.

Scythe Goddard is a cruel and ostentatious leader among the new guard of scythes. He openly flouts the traditional humility of his office, preferring extravagant parties, wealthy estates, and brutal mass killings. He views scythes as fundamentally superior to normal humans and seeks to expand their power without limits or quotas.

Xenocrates is the fat, politically minded leader of the MidMerica Scythedom. He wears heavy, gold-laden robes and focuses on maintaining order and tradition, though he frequently bends to the political pressure exerted by increasingly popular, aggressive scythes.

Wearing a yellow robe, Volta is a junior scythe who follows Scythe Goddard. While he participates in Goddard's lavish lifestyle and brutal operations, he quietly harbors a conscience and frequently shows signs of deep psychological distress regarding the methods of his peers.

Scythe Rand is a green-robed scythe entirely devoted to Goddard's violent philosophies. She is aggressive, deeply competitive, and actively works to make the apprenticeship of Faraday's students as difficult and hostile as possible.

Wearing an orange robe, Chomsky serves as the physical muscle in Goddard's inner circle. He actively enjoys the violence of his profession and participates enthusiastically in Goddard's mass slaughter events and brutal training sessions.

Esme is a fourth-grade girl whom Scythe Goddard captures and spares during a brutal food court massacre. Kept at his lavish estate, she is treated as a highly important guest, though the exact nature of her significance remains closely guarded by Goddard.

Tyger is Rowan's classmate and a thrill-seeker who regularly engages in "splatting"—jumping off buildings simply to experience the rush and let the medical nanites heal him. He represents the boredom and stagnation of immortal youth.

The Thunderhead is the omniscient, benevolent artificial intelligence that governs the entire world. It controls everything from weather to resource distribution with perfect fairness, but is legally barred from interfering with the Scythedom or its methods.

Ben is Citra's younger brother. He is a typical boy who collects scythe cards and views the deadly figures with a mixture of fear and celebrity worship. His existence provides Citra with a strong anchor to her humanity.

Kohl is the high school's star quarterback. He fits a specific statistical profile from the Age of Mortality—involving alcohol and driving—making him the target of a scythe's random selection process.

Maxim is a wealthy executive who runs a major corporation in the revival industry. He is forced to trade his lavish estate and his career for a grant of immunity, demonstrating the absolute power scythes hold over even the highest echelons of society.