Paul Gauguin is a French stockbroker who abandons finance to become a full-time Post-Impressionist artist. Raised partly in luxury in Peru, he carries a lifelong identification as a "savage" and frequently rebels against European social and artistic conventions. He actively seeks out rural and non-Western environments, hoping to discover spiritual authenticity and distance himself from industrial civilization.

Sue Prideaux is the contemporary Anglo-Norwegian art historian acting as the biographical narrator. Utilizing forensic evidence, travel research, and archival documents, she investigates the reality behind the enduring legends surrounding Gauguin. She approaches her subject objectively, seeking to analyze his complex political and personal decisions without resorting to simple caricature.

Vincent van Gogh is an intense, visionary Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. He envisions creating a utopian artists' brotherhood in the south of France, working with a fervent, almost ascetic devotion to his craft. His chaotic, emotionally raw working style and heavy use of paint contrast sharply with Gauguin's calculating methods, leading to an extremely productive but tense partnership.

Mette Gad is Gauguin's practical and independent Danish wife. A former governess with a fearless, direct demeanor, she manages their household and growing family. As Gauguin transitions from a lucrative career in finance to an impoverished life dedicated to art, she faces the immense practical consequences of his shifting priorities, eventually returning to Denmark to support their children.

Gustave Arosa is a prosperous Parisian financier, photographer, and avant-garde art collector. He takes the Gauguin family under his wing, securing the young Paul's early career at the stock exchange and exposing him to a massive collection of contemporary paintings. His patronage provides essential social scaffolding for the future artist.

Camille Pissarro is an established Danish-French Impressionist painter and a central figure in the Parisian avant-garde. He acts as Gauguin's first significant professional mentor, offering the younger artist technical guidance, color theory instruction, and entry into professional exhibitions. He provides the foundational artistic education that Gauguin later expands and subverts.

Flora Tristan is a pioneering French-Peruvian socialist, feminist, and writer. Though she dies before Gauguin is born, her legacy as a radical advocate for workers' and women's rights deeply influences her family line. She establishes an ancestral precedent for anti-authoritarianism that Gauguin consciously claims as the source of his own rebellious spirit.

Félix Dupanloup is the liberal Catholic Bishop of Orléans and an innovative educator. He rejects rote learning in favor of critical inquiry, teaching his students to question established authorities and grapple with fundamental existential mysteries. His specific philosophical questions leave a lasting imprint on his students' intellectual development.

Ambroise Vollard is a major Parisian art dealer who champions avant-garde painters. By offering stipends in exchange for steady streams of artwork, he professionalizes the art market and provides crucial financial stability for struggling creators. His business practices secure visibility for emerging artists while functioning on aggressive commercial terms.

Theo van Gogh is a leading Parisian art dealer and Vincent's devoted brother. He serves as a crucial financial lifeline for avant-garde artists, providing allowances and professional representation. His practical business sense and deep loyalty offer a stabilizing force for the volatile painters he represents.

Tehamana is a 13-year-old Tahitian girl who moves into Gauguin's rural hut in Mataiea. She possesses deep knowledge of Indigenous myths, particularly concerning local spirits and creation stories. Her presence unlocks a period of intense creative productivity for the artist, serving as both his muse and his primary connection to the local culture.

August Strindberg is an acclaimed Swedish playwright and aspiring alchemist. He forms a close bond with Gauguin based on their shared anti-clerical views, mutual guilt over abandoning their families, and deep interest in Symbolist mysticism. He operates at the center of the Parisian avant-garde's fascination with esoteric knowledge.

Clovis Gauguin is Paul's father, an anti-Bonapartist journalist with radical political leanings. He attempts to establish a newspaper in South America using connections to Simón Bolívar, but his sudden death during the voyage drastically alters his family's trajectory.

Aline Gauguin is Paul's mother, a resilient woman who inherits the radical reputation of her own mother, Flora Tristan. She returns to France as a single mother, working as a seamstress to support her family. Her personal collection of pre-Columbian Moche pottery profoundly influences her son's artistic imagination.

Marie Gauguin is Paul's older sister. She shares the family's turbulent early years, experiencing the extreme contrasts between their luxurious lifestyle in Lima and their subsequent difficult transition back to provincial France.

Émile Schuffenecker is a fellow futures broker at the Paris Bourse and an amateur painter. He paints alongside Gauguin on Sundays and actively supports his transition into the professional art world, helping to organize alternative exhibitions for the avant-garde.

Ky Dong, born Nguyen Van Cam, is a distinguished Vietnamese exile and former revolutionary leader. Relocated to the remote Marquesas by French authorities to limit his political influence, he becomes a steadfast friend and practical guide for Gauguin in the island capital of Atuona.

Bishop Martin is the powerful Catholic authority in the Marquesas Islands. He enforces strict moral codes, forbids traditional Polynesian practices like tattooing and dancing, and controls the local education system. He represents the interlocking powers of colonial and religious authority that Gauguin actively opposes.

Paul-Louis Vernier is a compassionate 32-year-old Protestant pastor operating a cooperative day school in the Marquesas. He bonds with Gauguin over their shared intellectual interests, mutual respect for the islanders, and disdain for the rigid tactics of the local Catholic mission.

Gendarme Claverie represents the corrupt French colonial enforcement apparatus in the Marquesas. Holding a long-standing grudge against Gauguin from their time in Tahiti, he uses his official position to harass the artist and actively seeks opportunities to prosecute him for political resistance.

Pahura is a 14-year-old Tahitian girl who lives with Gauguin in his traditional-style hut in Punaauia. Sociable and undemanding, she serves as an excellent model for several major paintings and helps forage for food when the artist faces extreme poverty.

Annah is a young Black woman working as a popular model in Paris. She becomes Gauguin's mistress and models for his major canvases, responding with cool indifference to the racist vitriol directed at her by his former companions.

Tohotaua is the adopted daughter of Gauguin's cook and the wife of the local sorcerer. She models for several of Gauguin's late masterpieces, appearing as a striking figure painted with the bright orange turmeric powder favored by Marquesan locals.

Haapuani is the sorcerer of Atuona, raised from birth to act as the spiritual conduit for Marquesan history and occult knowledge. He represents the hidden, enduring power of Indigenous culture operating beneath the surface of French colonial rule.

Charles Laval is a dedicated painter who travels with Gauguin to Panama and Martinique in search of untouched environments. He endures extreme physical hardships and life-threatening illnesses alongside Gauguin while participating in major artistic breakthroughs.

George-Daniel de Monfreid is an artist and loyal protégé who acts as Gauguin's business manager. He handles the practical details of canvas shipments, art sales, and correspondence while Gauguin remains isolated in Polynesia.

Meyer de Haan is a wealthy Dutch Jewish artist who transforms his art under Gauguin's tutelage. He financially supports their shared living arrangements until his family cuts off his allowance in disapproval of his bohemian lifestyle.

Marie Henry, known locally as Marie Poupée, is a pragmatic innkeeper who houses Gauguin and his followers. She allows the artists to decorate her establishment with murals but strictly enforces their debts, eventually keeping Gauguin's paintings as collateral.