Clyde is an ancient vampire who physically resembles a kindly, tan Italian grandfather. Having abandoned his traditional blood-drinking habits to appease his partner, he now relies on sucking lemons to temporarily numb his insatiable thirst. He lives in a state of internal conflict, feeling caught between his repressed monstrous nature and his heavily domesticated present.

Magreb is a pragmatic vampire who possesses the ability to shapeshift between human and bat forms. Having never partaken in drinking human blood, she opens Clyde's eyes to the reality of their species outside of literary tropes. She grows restless in their relationship, seeking long periods of isolation in the nearby caves while creating emotional distance from Clyde.

Kitsune is a young Japanese woman working in an undisclosed factory during the Meiji period. Unlike the other girls who were sold by their families, she voluntarily signed her contract to save her sick father from debt, a choice that fills her with relentless regret. As her physical transformation progresses, she learns to channel her intense sorrow into producing a unique, dark silk.

The Recruitment Agent is a deceptive government official who lures impoverished young women into signing away their lives. He forces the girls to drink a poisoned orange tea that triggers their monstrous transformation, turning them into highly productive assets for Japan's silk trade while treating them strictly as mechanical property.

Nal is a highly anxious, intelligent fourteen-year-old boy living in Strong Beach. Paralyzed by a tendency to overthink every action, he feels entirely out of control of his own future. The sudden influx of seagulls and their strange hoarding behaviors physicalize his deep-seated fears about destiny, missing opportunities, and coming of age.

Miles is an eleven-year-old boy living with his pioneering family in the harsh, drought-stricken Hox River Settlement of Nebraska. Eager to please his father and surprisingly brave, he accepts the perilous task of delivering his family's highly coveted glass windowpane to neighbors on horseback. His childhood innocence heavily shapes how he interprets the brutal prairie landscape.

The Stranger is a terrifying, gaunt man covered entirely in sod and mud who inhabits an isolated house on the prairie. Acting as a monstrous manifestation of the hostile landscape itself, he possesses unexplained supernatural knowledge of Miles's family and harbors dark, violent intentions beneath his hollow eyes.

Rutherford is the reincarnation of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, who has inexplicably woken up as a horse on a Kentucky farm. Unlike his peers who obsess over regaining political power or debating the theological nature of their stable, Rutherford simply longs to reunite with his wife, Lucy, and advocates for accepting their present animal existence.

Dougbert Shackleton is an enthusiastic and bitter sports fan who travels to the Antarctic to tailgate the "Food Chain Games." A devoted supporter of the perpetually doomed Team Krill, he uses his exaggerated survival guide to mask deep insecurities and festering resentment regarding his recent, painful divorce.

Beverly is a forty-four-year-old massage therapist who has worked at Dedos Magicos for two decades. Having spent her youth nursing her dying parents, she defines herself completely through caretaking. When she discovers she can physically alter a veteran's living tattoo—and thereby erase his traumatic memories—she faces profound moral questions about healing and memory.

Sgt. Derek Zeiger is a twenty-five-year-old Iraq War veteran seeking massage therapy to cope with severe PTSD. He is haunted by the fiery death of his best friend, a trauma physically manifested in a sprawling, detailed panoramic tattoo on his back that miraculously reacts to Beverly's touch.

Larry is the narrator and a former bully who used to mercilessly torment a vulnerable classmate named Eric. Operating within his own twisted moral framework, he previously felt no remorse for his cruelty. However, the sudden, inexplicable appearance of a life-sized doll bearing his victim's exact likeness forces him to confront a surfacing tide of intense guilt.

Eric Mutis is the deeply impoverished boy whom Larry and his gang used to brutally target. Described as blank and devoid of emotion, he quietly absorbed their violence before vanishing entirely. The appearance of a doll bearing his exact likeness serves as a haunting physical reminder of the spirit his bullies broke.

Fila is a teenage girl employed at the lemon grove in Italy. She views Clyde harmlessly, likening him to an elderly nonno, and frequently offers him small kindnesses like fresh lemonade. She remains completely unaware of his true identity and the physical threat he poses as his ancient thirst begins to resurface.

Dai is a fellow worker at Nowhere Mill and the proud daughter of a samurai. Viewing herself as a warrior, she possesses a fierce, rebellious spirit that refuses to break under the factory's grueling conditions. She actively encourages Kitsune to let go of her past and ultimately leads a dangerous protest against their captor.

Chiyo is one of the young women imprisoned at Nowhere Mill. She possesses specialized knowledge about the natural life cycle of silkworms, providing the other girls with crucial context about what their bodies are preparing to do as they begin spinning cocoons.

Samson is Nal's seventeen-year-old brother. He is confident, physically robust, and possesses an easygoing nature that deeply frustrates Nal. Though Samson can be insensitive and occasionally physically aggressive when irritated, he maintains a steady ease in the world that contrasts sharply with his younger brother's constant neuroses.

Vanessa is Nal's long-time crush who is initially dating his older brother. She is intelligent and was also supposed to attend the gifted summer educational program, but her strict father prevented it. She shares a natural conversational chemistry with Nal when they finally spend time talking alone during a field trip.

Nal's mother is a former nursing facility employee who was recently made a scapegoat for a missing stop screw in a resident's window. The resulting job loss plunges her into a deep depression, rendering her unable to afford Nal's academic summer camp and leaving her emotionally absent from her sons' daily lives.

Cousin Steve is an aspiring cosmetologist attending beauty school. He uses his younger cousins to practice his techniques, resulting in Nal's vivid blue hair and Samson's completely shaved head.

Mr. Johannes Zegner is an ambitious pioneer desperate to legally secure his 160 acres of Nebraska land under the strict rules of the Homestead Act. Obsessed with "proving up," he views their singular glass windowpane as a community asset to trick the government inspector, a desperate ambition that drives him to send his young son into dangerous territory.

Miles's mother lives in the sod home with her family, her voice rendered permanently hoarse from the perpetual Nebraska dust. Having lost faith in the government Inspector and burdened by the trauma of losing her daughters, she is terrified for Miles's safety and desperately opposes his journey across the prairie.

Peter is Miles's older brother who lives with the family on their Nebraska homestead. The harsh reality of prairie life has severely affected him, causing him to vanish for days at a time and return with unexplained blood on his hands.

Reincarnated into a horse alongside other former US presidents, John Adams retains his fierce political ambition. He views the stable purely as a temporary setback, relentlessly urging the other horses to put aside party lines, jump the fence, and return to Washington to resume their rightful leadership roles.

Fitzgibbons is the human farmer who owns the stable where the reincarnated presidents reside. Viewed by some of the horses as a deity and by others as a negligent shepherd, he cares for the animals in a pragmatic, mundane manner, completely unaware of their former historical significance.

The Girl is Fitzgibbons's niece who helps tend to the horses in the barn. The president horses clamor for her attention, desperately hoping she carries history books so they can learn about their legacies, though she views them simply as ordinary, sometimes noisy, farm animals.

Maureen is Dougbert Shackleton's ex-wife. Her decision to leave him for a wealthy fan of the rival Team Whale acts as the underlying catalyst for Dougbert's aggressive dedication to Team Krill and heavily colors his hostile view of the opposing fanbase.

Janet is Beverly's sister who currently lives in Sulko. She maintains a sanitized, guilt-free memory of their mother's illness, insisting she helped with caretaking far more than she actually did. This discrepancy forces Beverly to confront the inherent dangers of altered memories.

Mondo is one of Larry's friends and a core member of the Camp Dark gang. When the eerie Eric doll begins losing its limbs in the ravine, Mondo assists Larry in climbing down to reach it, observing Larry's strange shift in conscience without fully understanding the guilt driving it.

Gus is a pragmatic and aggressive member of Larry's friend group. Deeply unsettled by the bizarre appearance of the Eric doll in their favorite park spot, he takes immediate physical action to remove it, carelessly dropping it into the steep ravine below.