Noa is a sixteen-year-old Dutch girl who works as a cleaner at a train station after being cast out by her family for becoming pregnant by a German soldier. Having had her own baby taken from her by a Lebensborn home, she carries profound trauma and grief. She is resourceful and physically strong, qualities she relies on when she joins the circus and begins training as a trapeze flier.

Astrid is a highly skilled Jewish aerialist who adopts a Gentile persona to hide from the Nazi regime. Previously married to a high-ranking German officer who divorced her due to her heritage, she carries deep emotional scars and a guarded demeanor. She serves as the catcher on the flying trapeze, a role requiring intense strength and reliability.

Peter is a Russian clown at the Circus Neuhoff who carries a profound, quiet sadness from losing his family years ago. He translates his artistic integrity and personal sorrow into his performances, which often include subtle, dangerous mockery of the Nazi regime. He provides quiet comfort to Astrid.

Herr Neuhoff is the pragmatic and benevolent owner of the Circus Neuhoff. He acts as a patriarch to the circus community, creating a sanctuary for refugees and outcasts while maintaining the public illusion of a compliant German business. He balances the safety of his troupe with the constant threat of Nazi inspectors.

Luc is a young French man and the son of the collaborationist mayor in the occupied town of Thiers. He possesses an artistic temperament, frustrated by an injury from his abusive father that ended his dreams of painting. He represents a connection to the outside world beyond the circus grounds for Noa.

Emmet is Herr Neuhoff's son, a bitter man who lacks both his father's compassion and circus acumen. He resents the talented performers in the troupe and frequently looks for ways to undermine them or assert his own unearned authority. He views the refugees his father takes in as liabilities.

Theo is a Jewish infant rescued by Noa from a transport train headed for a concentration camp. He brings pure vulnerability to a brutal world. His presence forces Noa and Astrid to make dangerous choices to ensure his survival.

Metz is a Jewish clockmaker who works as a handyman for the Circus Neuhoff. Like Astrid, he is hidden in plain sight by the circus owner, living in constant fear of discovery by the Nazi authorities.

Erich is a high-ranking Nazi officer in Berlin and Astrid's former husband. Following orders from the Reich, he divorced her because of her Jewish heritage, effectively abandoning her to the regime's persecution, though he retains complex ties to her past.