Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian theocracy that has overthrown the United States government. Because she is fertile in a time of declining birth rates, the regime has stripped away her real name, autonomy, and family, assigning her to the Commander's household to bear him a child. She spends her days navigating strict behavioral rules, enforced silences, and the hostility of the Commander's Wife. Outwardly compliant to ensure her survival, she maintains her internal identity by carefully preserving memories of her past life with her husband and daughter.

A high-ranking official in the Gileadean government, the Commander is the head of the household where Offred is posted. He presents a respectable, midwestern-bank-president exterior with silver hair and falsely innocuous blue eyes. As an architect of the new society, he possesses immense authority but occasionally seeks to bend the rigid social codes he helped establish. He views women through a patronizing lens, seeing them as subjects to be protected, managed, or utilized.

Serena Joy is the Commander's Wife, identifiable by her required blue clothing and the walking cane she uses. In the time before Gilead, she was a gospel singer and a vocal television advocate for the traditional family values that eventually became the foundation of the state. Now trapped in the domestic sphere she championed, she spends her days gardening, knitting, and harboring deep resentment toward the Handmaids who act as reproductive surrogates for her husband.

Nick is the Commander's driver, a low-status man who lives in the quarters above the garage. Because of his rank, he has not been issued a Wife or a Handmaid. He behaves more casually than Gileadean protocol dictates, wearing his cap at angles and making unapproved eye contact. His hard-to-read demeanor leaves Offred constantly questioning whether he is a genuine ally or an undercover spy reporting to the state.

Moira is Offred's outspoken, rebellious best friend from their college days. An openly gay woman who rejects traditional gender roles, she represents everything the Gileadean regime seeks to destroy. She arrives at the Red Center for Handmaid training but immediately refuses to accept the Aunts' conditioning, maintaining her distinct personality and looking for opportunities to fight back.

Luke is Offred's husband from the time before Gilead. When the government began stripping women of their jobs and freezing their bank accounts, he tried to reassure Offred while comfortably slipping into a traditional provider role. He eventually realized the danger they were in and attempted to lead his family across the border to Canada, resulting in their violent separation.

Ofglen is a Handmaid assigned to be Offred's daily walking partner. Because Handmaids are forbidden to walk alone and are expected to report any suspicious behavior, she initially speaks only in prescribed religious pleasantries. Her identical red uniform and white wings make her a mirror image to Offred as they pass the guarded checkpoints of the city.

Aunt Lydia is one of the female officials responsible for indoctrinating fertile women to become Handmaids. She uses fear, public shaming, and twisted religious logic to convince the captives that their new, restrictive lives are actually a form of protection from the dangers of the past. Her teachings echo constantly in Offred's mind.

Janine is a fellow Handmaid who trained alongside Offred. She frequently breaks down under the Aunts' harsh conditioning, adopting a submissive and eager-to-please attitude to survive the trauma. She is eventually posted to Commander Warren's household, where she is pressured to produce a healthy child.

Offred and Luke's young child from the time before the revolution. She was physically separated from her parents when they were captured trying to cross the border. The loss of her daughter is the deepest wound in Offred's life, driving her internal sorrow.

A passionate feminist activist who participated in marches and demonstrations for women's rights before the regime took power. She frequently chided a younger Offred for taking the freedoms that older generations fought for for granted.

One of the Marthas—unmarried, infertile women assigned to domestic labor—working in the Commander's household. She wears a dull green uniform and treats Offred with visible disapproval, resenting the Handmaid's unique reproductive role in the house.

A Martha working alongside Rita in the Commander's household. She handles many of the direct interactions with Offred and displays slightly more humanity and curiosity than her coworker, though she still maintains strict distance to avoid trouble.