ForemanDefense crew foreman
An unarmed Anarresti woman wearing a Defense armband who oversees the warehouse crews at the Port of Anarres and attempts to manage the crowd during Shevek's departure.
Captain of the MindfulFreighter Captain
The armed, patronizing Urrasti captain of the freighter taking Shevek to Urras.
ShevekAnarresti physicist and Syndicate founder
The central figure of the Syndicate of Initiative who debates the right of an individual to travel to Urras. He struggles with the social backlash his family faces on Anarres and contemplates leaving to finish and share his theory.
Dr. ShevekShevMoon Man
Doctor KimoeShip's Doctor
An Urrasti doctor who administers vaccines to Shevek on the ship and expresses sincere appreciation for Shevek's kindness.
Kimoe
TakverBiologist and Shevek's partner
Shevek's fiercely loyal partner and mother to Sadik and Pilun. She comforts their bullied daughter and ultimately pushes Shevek to travel to Urras to break the societal stagnation and complete his work.
Tak
BedapSyndicate member and Shevek's close friend
An outspoken member of the Syndicate who defends Shevek at the PDC meeting against violent threats. He is deeply moved by Shevek's family life and realizes his own lack of personal connections.
DapTaddle Dap
TirinShevek's Friend, Playwright
Shevek's dark, snub-nosed adolescent friend who questions the Anarresti dogmatic hatred of Urras and exchanges coded physics letters with Shevek.
Tir
KveturShevek's acquaintance
An adolescent Anarresti who firmly defends the local doctrine against Urras, believing the propertarians would exploit them.
Kvet
GimarAnarresti Workmate
A muscular, gentle workmate on the tree-planting project who kindly rejects Shevek's romantic advances because she is already partnered.
Saio PaeShevek's Escort/Companion
A clever, opportunistic Urrasti physicist who manipulates Shevek, handles military classification of research, and eagerly anticipates the engineering of the ansible.
Pae
President of the Senate of the Nation of A-IoPolitical figure
A man with strange, cold eyes who proposes a toast to Shevek at a luxurious University reception.
Laia Asieo OdoHistorical Figure
The historical founder whose tomb Shevek visits in the Trans-Sua district of A-Io.
Odo
Demaere OiieUrrasti physicist
An Urrasti physicist who hosts Shevek. He justifies Urrasti military intervention in Benbili using the 'politics of reality', which earns Shevek's deep contempt.
Oiie
PalatShevek's father
A reliable and affectionate engineer who raised Shevek alone after Rulag left, eventually dying in an earthquake in Wide Plains.
RulagShevek's estranged mother and PDC member
Shevek's mother who left when he was two. She is a formidable opponent at the PDC meeting, arguing fiercely against the Syndicate of Initiative and insisting that anyone who leaves for Urras should not be allowed to return.
GvarabPhysics lecturer
An aging, brilliant physicist whose lectures inspire Shevek, but who dies neglected and largely unappreciated by her society.
ChifoiliskUrrasti/Thuvian physicist and agent
A cynical agent of the Thuvian government who warns Shevek about Iotic spies and urges him to defect to Thu.
SalasAnarresti composer
A musician who is denied a posting in his field by Divlab because his art is considered a mere decoration rather than useful labor.
VeaUrrasti socialite
A wealthy, attractive Urrasti woman who flirts with Shevek, questions him about Anarresti customs, and represents the superficial yet captivating luxury of Urras.
DesarAnarresti mathematician
A stammering mathematician and acquaintance of Shevek on Anarres. Shevek realizes Desar harbors a deep, possessive malice toward him.
SabulAnarresti physicist
A senior physicist on Anarres who actively stalls and gatekeeps Shevek's work on the Principles of Simultaneity.
DearriUrrasti party guest
A demanding and pragmatic interrogator at a party who aggressively challenges the practical technological applications of Shevek's temporal theories.
Dean
BunubAnarresti acquaintance
A cruel individual on Anarres who taunts Shevek by suggesting Takver took a famine posting to escape him and their baby.
Divlab ClerkAdministrator
An Anarresti administrative worker who assigns Shevek to a work-coordinating emergency posting in Southwest.
EforServant
Shevek's servant on Urras who agrees to keep unwanted visitors away.
MaeddaRebel Leader
An underground leader in A-Io who passionately advocates for nonviolent protest and recruits Shevek to write for the cause.
Tuio
SiroRebel
A young female rebel and sister to Remeivi who kisses Shevek in gratitude.
Wounded CompanionProtester
A demonstrator whose hand is shot off during the massacre; Shevek drags him to safety, but he eventually dies of blood loss.
KengTerran Ambassador
The ambassador from Terra who recognizes the revolutionary implications of the ansible and reveals the history of her ruined home planet to Shevek.
FerdazOld PDC adviser
An old adviser at the PDC who quibbles over the legalisms of the Terms of the Closure applying only to Urrasti.
TrepilPDC member
A calm, heavy woman at the PDC meeting who dismisses the focus on legalisms and quibbling.
Young man from NorthrisingAggressive PDC member
A new PDC member who aggressively threatens violent reprisal against Shevek or anyone who leaves for Urras and attempts to return, viewing them as traitors.
the new member
Southwest miners' delegateVisiting PDC delegate
A visiting delegate with a dust cough who softly quotes Odonian philosophy regarding the abandonment of reward and punishment.
thin, small, middle-aged man
PilunShevek and Takver's baby
Shevek and Takver's baby girl, getting on to two years old, who is small and fragile with cloudy grey eyes.
SadikShevek and Takver's daughter
Shevek and Takver's ten-year-old daughter. She is tall, thin, and usually stoical, but breaks down in tears because she is being ostracized and bullied at her learning center dormitory due to her father's politics.
TerzolDormitory big sister
The big sister in Sadik's dormitory who leads the bullying against Sadik by calling Shevek a traitor.