Dr. Alan Grant
One of the two scientists selected by John Hammond to participate in the trial run of Jurassic Park. He and his colleague, Dr. Ellie Sattler, were convinced, then invited by the millionaire visionary, John Hammond to tour his unique wildlife reserve. The request and resultant excursion was done with the intention of having both scientists authorize and, ultimately, to endorse Jurassic Park. Dr. Grant is pragmatic, bearded man of about forty who dislikes long-winded discussions, preferring straight talk above else; as a paleontologist he is more used to working on the field with a crew rather than in a lab. The discipline he picked up as a scientist also makes him a cautious man, a trait that comes in handy when chaos breaks out in the park. Dr. Grant also has a soft spot for kids. He finds himself developing into a father figure and hero for the Murphy children. Towards the end of the novel he comes to acknowledge that there is so much more to know about these creatures he has studied for so long and he also acquires a greater understanding of the significance of tampering with nature.
Dr. Ellie Sattler
Dr. Sattler is Dr. Grant's colleague and graduate student. She is described as young, energetic, and darkly tanned as a result of being out to sun working long hours during fossil digs. John Hammond selected her for her expertise as a paleobotanist, a scientist who specializes in the study of prehistoric plant life. She was initially excited to take part in the Jurassic Park project but grows concerned for the safety of the guests when she sees the plants used for décor in the waiting areas. She began to change her opinion and become less enthusiastic about endorsing the park after seeing the possible danger of mixing people with prehistoric flora and fauna. She was worried about the apparent carelessness of park staff, haphazardly placing highly toxic plants in public areas where children would be; primarily choosing plants for aesthetics rather than safety. She is engaged to a Dr. Reiman, a physicist from Berkley.
Lex Murphy
Lex is John Hammond's granddaughter and Tim Murphy's younger sister. She is depicted a young girl of eight with a love of sports. She hates dinosaurs and complains about nearly everything. She, like her father, misunderstands Tim’s interest with the dinosaurs they’ve come to see and she mocks him every opportunity she gets. Lex is reckless and because of her lack of understanding of dinosaurs finds herself in constant danger, nearly getting killed on a number of occasions.
Tim Murphy
Tim is John Hammond's grandson and Lex's older brother. He is an eleven-year-old boy who shows great intelligence and maturity for his age and unlike many boys his age he is more interested in computers and dinosaurs than sports. His dislike of sports makes him his father’s least favorite child and earns him the constant teasing of his younger sister. Despite the maturity he is capable of showing he is easily annoyed by his sister, perhaps because of the deeply personal nature of the provocations. Regardless of all the bickering they engage in though, Tim cares for his sister deeply and constantly looks out for her. He looks up to Dr. Grant, seeing him as a father figure of sorts and a man of science, something that he’d have preferred his own father to be. His knowledge of computers enables him to restore power to the park after the dinosaurs kill the engineers.
John Hammond
John Alfred Hammond is the egotistical and flamboyant visionary that discovered the miraculous means of cloning extinct creatures. He is portrayed as a jovial, blustery individual. A real born showman ala P.T. Barnum---at least externally. In truth, he was a ruthless businessman, caring more for profit, showing more interest for his expensive living toys than his human staff. There is no redemption for his character. He is revealed later on to be as a coward as well; panicking from what he had mistakenly thought was T. rex roaring but was really just a recording played over the park's P.A. system. Running in a panic, he trips and falls down a hill, fracturing his ankle in the process. In a bit of poetic justice he is eaten alive by a pack of Procompsognathus, tiny scavenger dinosaurs he had bioengineered to feed on the excrement of larger dinosaurs, as he lay incapacitated.
Dr. Ian Malcolm
Dr. Malcolm is an unconventional character; he dresses entirely in black and he carries himself with the bravado of a rock star. In the beginning of the novel he starts out as a smug know-it-all with a biting sense of humor that fails to endear him to anyone, least of all John Hammond and Dr. Grant. He is mathematician by practice who specializes in the study of the chaos theory, calling himself a "chaotician". Dr. Malcolm is the most cynical of the consultants John Hammond hired. He accurately predicts and points out the volatility and possible failings of Hammond's creations. He is badly injured and presumed dead in the novel.
Robert Muldoon
Robert Muldoon was the game warden from John Hammond's nature reserve in Kenya. He and Muldoon have a lot of history together hence the great degree of trust that he places in his abilities. Muldoon is large and well muscled outdoorsman of about fifty years of age with a steel grey mustache and blue eyes. He maintains a no-nonsense view of animals, which is to say that he sees them as merely part of his work. He also sees them as real danger to the lives of the park staff and guests. Muldoon is an alcoholic, and particularly difficult to get along with. He is constantly butting heads with the frugal and idealistic John Hammond and other park staff on matters of park safety. He hates Dennis Nedry with a passion and riles him up every chance he gets.
Dr. Lewis Dodgson
The Head of Research of Biosyn, a rival company of InGen, Dr. Lewis Dodgson is one of the antagonists in the novel. He is cruel, ruthless scientist who cares little for ethical practices. He is infamous for having conducted a vaccine test for rabies on a poor Chilean farming community---without their knowledge or consent. He conspires with Dennis Nedry to steal dinosaur embryos from InGen.
Dennis Nedry
One of the other human antagonists, Dennis Nedry was tasked with creating and managing the network of computers regulating the vital functions within Jurassic Park. He is described as unkempt, with both his work area and his clothing, and obese because of his constant snacking on candy bars. Nedry was kept in the dark about InGen’s projects. He was originally instructed to write a program for record keeping and ended up being asked by Hammond to attend to projects that weren’t included in his original contract. News of Dennis Nedry’s frustrations at work reaches Lewis Dodgson and he offers him $750,000 to smuggle dinosaur embryos. Although he is successful in stealing the embryos Nedry he is attacked and killed by a Dilophosaurus; Muldoon and Gennaro discover his half-eaten remains later on in the novel.
Dr. Henry Wu
Chief geneticist for Jurassic Park and head of the project team responsible for creating the dinosaurs, he is described in the novels as a thirty-three year old man of slight build. Dr. Wu is a gifted scientist, a child prodigy famous for his undergraduate thesis at MIT. Hammond resists his suggestion to genetically alter extant dinosaurs they’ve bred to make them easier to manage and as an additional safety measure. Both Hammond and Wu pay for this dearly as they are killed by Velociraptors in the novel.
Atty. Donald Gennaro
Atty. Gennaro was the lawyer sent by his firm to inspect the park. He is also the legal counsel for InGen. He is young, strong, resourceful, and brave in situations requiring boldness. Atty. Gennaro survives the ordeals he encounters in Jurassic Park through a combination of wit, grit, and luck.
Ed Regis
Ed Regis is the Public Relations manager for InGen. He is described as having red hair and was the unwilling tour guide and designated baby-sitter for the Murphy children when they visited the park. When the power gives out and the dinosaurs break loose he runs out of the tour vehicle abandoning Tim and Lex to hide in a pile of boulders. He is later killed eaten by the juvenile T. rex as he was trying to return to the guest pavilion, his remains are discovered by Dr. Malcolm, Muldoon and Atty. Gennaro.
John Arnold
John Arnold is the chief engineer of Jurassic Park. He is a lanky man who smokes heavily and worries about as much as he smokes. Prior to working for Hammond he worked for the US Army developing missiles but had a change of heart soon as his first child was born. He was connected with other large theme parks before finally being contacted by Hammond. He is responsible for running the main control center from the visitor's center. Despite his worrying he is a generally levelheaded fellow, breaking up a fight between Hammond and Dennis Nedry. John Arnold also proved to be a brave, selfless character volunteering to go outside and restore power to the park. In the process he falls prey to a Velociraptor concealed in the jungle.
Dr. Gerry Harding
Chief veterinarian of Jurassic Park, Dr. Harding directed the care and treatment of sick dinosaurs as well as recapturing those that have strayed from their enclosures. John Hammond was able to convince Dr. Harding to work for him by allowing him the unique opportunity of being the first medical professional to develop and create veterinary guidelines for the care and management of dinosaurs and eventually create the first Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine: Diseases of Dinosauria.
Dr. Marty Guitierrez
Dr. Martin Guitierrez is an American biologist residing in Costa Rica when he was approached to work for Jurassic Park. A rough-and-tumble field scientist he is often seen wearing tweed or khakis, he also sports a beard.
