A vain and status-obsessed civil servant of the eighth rank who falsely insists on using the army equivalent title of "Major" to boost his public prestige. He treats working-class individuals, including his servants and carriage drivers, with cruel disdain. Desperate to secure a high-ranking position and a wealthy wife, he views his sudden facial disfigurement purely as an unacceptable threat to his social ambitions.

Kovalyov's detached nose, which miraculously takes on an independent life of its own. It parades around St. Petersburg wearing the gold-embroidered uniform, doeskin breeches, and plumed hat of a State Councillor, meaning it vastly outranks its former owner. Completely at ease in high society, it projects perfect piety and unwavering self-assurance.

A cynical, heavy-drinking barber whose business is falling apart. He routinely shaves Kovalyov every Wednesday and Sunday, often working with dirty hands that reek of snuff. Terrified of the law and assuming he will be falsely blamed for mutilating his customer, he frantically wraps the nose in a rag and tosses it off St. Isaac's Bridge.

A distinguished-looking lawman equipped with wide sideburns, a three-cornered hat, and a sword. He represents the corrupt and biased legal system of Imperial Russia. He actively profiles and threatens working-class citizens like the barber, while treating wealthy civil servants with exaggerated reverence in hopes of securing financial tips.

The ornery, practical wife of Ivan Yakovlevich. When she discovers a human nose in her freshly baked bread, she immediately assumes her husband drunkenly mutilated a client and ruthlessly kicks him out of the house, threatening to summon the police herself.

The socially conscious widow of a first lieutenant who desperately wants Kovalyov to marry her daughter. When Kovalyov irrationally accuses her of hiring a witch to curse away his nose, she completely misinterprets the letter as an awkward declaration of love and eagerly offers her daughter's hand in marriage.

Kovalyov's working-class valet. He endures constant mistreatment from his employer, functioning as a convenient human punching bag whenever the major feels frustrated by society's refusal to accommodate him.

A young, unmarried woman from a respectable family. She provides flattering attention to Kovalyov, who is happy to entertain her company to stroke his own ego despite having zero genuine intention of actually proposing to her.

A pragmatic bureaucrat who handles the local newspaper's public classifieds. He sensibly refuses to print Kovalyov's missing-person advertisement for a nose, fearing it will damage the publication's reputation. To console the distressed major, he inappropriately offers him a pinch of snuff.

A self-interested medical professional. He hides his underlying financial motivations behind a veil of professional honor, refusing to perform a reattachment procedure because it might look bad for him. Instead of offering treatment, he attempts to purchase the severed appendage.