Gene Forrester: Raised in the South, he befriends Phineas after the two are roommates together during the Devon School's Summer Session of 1942. Being five feet eight and a half inches tall, Gene had always been very obedient to the rules and devout in his academics. He does this not out of scholarly enjoyment, but rather for the sake of competing and having better grades than the other boys. He is deathly afraid of sports. Finny changes all of this and makes him more free-spirited and athletic despite the fact that Gene intentionally knocks him out of the tree because of his jealousy. He enlists in the Navy after graduating and returns to Devon's campus fifteen years later. The places he visits remind him of Finny.
Phineas (Finny): Also five feet eight and a half inches tall, he has brown hair, muscular legs and arms, and blue-green eyes. A talented athlete from a town near Boston, he has won awards for performance in many different sports at Devon. However, his grades are poor with mostly D's since he doesn't understand the need for competition, which is what drives Gene to excel in his studies. To Finny, everyone wins at sports and he just happens to be particularly good at them. Free-spirited and careless, he avoids getting into trouble because of his talent for charming adults with his big imagination. A jealous Gene knocks him from a tree and Finny is maimed for life, removing him from sports and upsetting him a great deal. He trains Gene to become athletic in his place and succeeds. Before dying after breaking his leg for a second time, he forgives Gene for what he has done. Finny's philosophy of the world stays with Gene and strengthens him in the years after graduating from Devon.
Leper Lepellier: A boy much like Finny because of his innocent, romantic view of the world, he loves nature and especially skiing during the winter. During the Summer Session he lives across the hall from Gene and Finny. Due to his oddities, he has few real friends at Devon. He joins the Army after seeing a film about their ski troops. Although he is not even fighting in the war, he is shocked to find military life , to be much different than what he expected. Let down by reality, Leper becomes an unstable and erratic person, and is given a Section Eight discharge, returning home to Vermont. He accuses Gene of knocking Finny out of the tree. He is traumatized by thoughts of killing in the war and guns; these things destroy the peaceful outlook on life that he had once held. During Brinker's inquisition into Finny's accident, Leper describes how he saw Gene shake the tree branch. This upsets Finny so much that he runs out of the room andfalls down the marble staircase, rebreaking his leg.
Brinker Hadley: At the start of the Winter Session, he moves into Leper Lepellier's old room. He is popular, aggressive and opinionated, active in student government and writes poetry. As the war increasingly impacts the schoolboys' lives, he plans to enlist with Gene, but becomes jealous when Finny influences Gene not to. Hadley is too afraid to enlist alone and as a result becomes rebellious, dropping out of all school activities, deciding to wear military boots and khakis. He obsesses about discovering the cause of Finny's accident, partly because he is jealous of their friendship, for Finny keeps Gene away from Brinker and his Butt Room crowd. He interrogates the two about the accident in the First Academy Building, insisting that he needs all the 'facts.' With Leper's help, he reveals that Gene did indeed shake the tree branch. Finny is so upset that he runs down a staircase and falls again, rebreaking his leg. Brinker is more approachable and calm after Finny's death, befriending Gene again, and enlists in the Coast Guard to avoid being drafted into the war, much to his father's disappointment.
Minor Characters
Chet Douglass: A schoolboy at Devon, he is present when Gene and Finny jump out of the tree for the first time. Chet plays his trumpet at the Devon Winter Carnival,and plays blitzball as well. Chet is Gene's main competitor to be the valedictorian of their class. Unlike Gene, Chet is not competitive and simply enjoys studying.
Bobby Zane: A schoolboy at Devon, he is present when Gene and Finny jump out of the tree for the first time and plays the first game of blitzball with them later.
Mr. Prud'homme: He is substituting as one of Devon's schoolmasters during the Summer Session. Finny avoids getting into trouble with him by use of his enchanting powers of conversation.
Mr. Patch-Withers: The substitute Headmaster for the Summer Session. Gene and Phineas visit him at his home for tea, where Finny explains the importance of his pink shirt. Mr. Patch-Withers is further charmed (although initially upset) by Phineas when he explains why he has also wrapped his Devon School tie around his waist.
Doctor Stanpole: He tends to Phineas in the infirmary both times that his leg is broken. After the second time, the boy dies from a heart attack while the doctor is setting his leg again. Stanhope is shocked and tells Gene that he is very regretful.
Quackenbush: The manager of Devon's crew (rowing) team. Gene attacks him after being called 'maimed' and the two fall into the dirty Naguamsett River. Quackenbush plans a military career after graduating.
Mr. Ludsbury: The regular Headmaster at Devon School who returns for the Winter Session, he reprimands Gene for his lack of discipline during the summer. Phineas talks back to him after being told to keep the interests of the war in mind instead of the Olympics. Ludsbury is stunned by Phineas' boldness.
Hazel Brewster: Presumably a local town belle, since there are no girls on the campus. A lock of her hair is offered as a prize at the Devon Winter Carnival. Gene creates a snow statue there in her likeness.
Brownie Perkins: Brinker's timid dormitory roommate, he is ordered by Hadley to guard the cider outside in the snow until the Winter Carnival begins. He brings Leper's message to Gene, which says he has escaped the army and needs help.
Mrs. Lepellier: Leper's mother, she is upset that Gene has attacked her son, insisting that he is ill. She forgives him after seeing his politeness and cordial manners during the meal they have together.
Mr. Carhart: Devon School's religious leader, or chaplain. His view of God helping America to fight the war is compared to Finny's fantastic belief that the war is fake. Leper runs to see Carhart after sneaking back on campus after his Section Eight discharge from the Army.
Phil Latham: Devon's wrestling coach. Trained in first aid, he helps Finny to relax after his fall down the steps of the First Academy Building until Stanhope arrives. Gene receives wrestling tips from him while Finny is in the infirmary.
Mr. Hadley: Brinker's father. He is disappointed in Brinker and Gene for their pacifism and avoidance of actively fighting in the war. He himself had fought in World War I and is proud of his memories. Brinker blames World War II on his father's generation.
