Mercy
An allegorical personification of mercy, Mercy speaks most of the Christian doctrine in the play (in what are almost sermons in and of themselves). Mercy describes himself as a "ghostly father" to Mankind (a spiritual father) and is the "good" voice which opposes the "bad" voices of Mischief, the three vices and Titivillus.
Mischief
First entering with a cruel parody of a speech Mercy has just given, Mischief explicitly states that he has come to make fun of Mercy and his moralizing. This allegorical personification of mischief seems to be the ringleader of the three vices, and is determined to convert Mankind to sin.
Newguise
One of the three vices - and like his two colleagues, he delights in language (particularly parody), boisterous stage action and lewd jokes. His name means "fashion", and at the end of the play, Mercy outlines that the three vices represent the temptations to sin present within "The World".
Nowadays
One of the three vices - and like his two colleagues, he delights in language (particularly parody), boisterous stage action and lewd jokes. His name effectively means "to live for today only" - that is, not thinking about heaven or God's judgment after death - and at the end of the play, Mercy outlines that the three vices represent the temptations to sin present within "The World".
Nought
One of the three vices - and like his two colleagues, he delights in language (particularly parody), boisterous stage action and lewd jokes. His name means "nothing", "nothingness" or "pointlessness", and at the end of the play, Mercy outlines that the three vices represent the temptations to sin present within "The World".
Mankind
An allegorical figure who represents every man - all mankind. He is a simple man, a laborer focused on his small piece of land and his corn, and, though he initially fights off vice using his spade, he is eventually converted to blasphemy and sin by Titivillus before finally being redeemed by Mercy at the end of the play.
Titivillus
A popular character across literature of this period, Titivillus is a devil with particular guile and subtlety. In this play, Titivillus can make himself invisible and whispers unseen into Mankind's ear while he tries to pray. He also carries a net which he puts up to catch Mankind - and is responsible for Mankind's eventual conversion to sin and blasphemy. In Mankind as in other texts from the period, Titivillus is represented as having an unusually large head (perhaps a mask that the actor playing him would wear). He also appears in the Towneley Cycle of mystery plays.
