Saroo Brierley
Saroo is the protagonist of the story. He vanishes from his village after getting separated from his brother at a train station. Living by his wits, Saroo is able to stay out of harm's way, and eventually gets adopted and moves to Tasmania, where he assimilates himself into Australian culture. Once he starts to look for his village on Google Earth, Saroo suffers from an identity crisis, pained by the trauma of having been separated from his family and not knowing about his origins.
By the end of the film, Saroo is able to unify both sides of his heritage when he goes to India and is reunited with his birth mother and learn about his brother. Saroo is an exceedingly brave, optimistic, ingenious, and lucky young man, suffering a great deal, but finding happiness in his life eventually.
Sue Brierley
Sue is Saroo's adoptive mother, a woman from Tasmania with dreams of being a mother to a non-white child. While Saroo assumes that Sue adopted because she was unable to have children, it turns out that Sue could have had children of her own, but chose not to because she believed that her job was to help those who needed her.
Sue is wholeheartedly supportive of Saroo's search for his biological mother and encourages his journey. She is never anything but supportive of her son and wants only for him to be happy. She is a pure-hearted and loving woman, who also suffers from great stress caused by her other adoptive son, Mantosh.
John Brierley
John is Saroo's adoptive father and is very loving towards his son. He is portrayed as supportive, kind, and thoughtful.
Guddu Khan
Saroo's biological brother is older than he is, and the two get along extremely well. When he takes Saroo to the train station with him on the day Saroo goes missing, he does not return to his brother, because he has been hit by a train. He is extremely important to Saroo and to Saroo's memory of his childhood. Even after he has died, Guddu exists as somewhat of a guiding light for his brother.
Mantosh Brierley
After the Brierleys adopt Saroo, they adopt another little boy, Mantosh. Mantosh does not find it as easy to adjust to his new life, and suffers from some post-traumatic anxiety attacks and bouts of violence. He grows up to be unambitious, depressive, and financially dependent. He also resents Saroo for being so well-adjusted and successful, which strains their relationship.
Lucy
Lucy is Saroo's American girlfriend at college in Melbourne. She is very supportive and loving towards him, but the couple hits some difficulties when Saroo begins to become obsessed with figuring out his origin story.
