Aboan
Oroonoko's true friend in Coramantien, who helps him enter the otan to visit Imoinda.
Bannister
Elected by Byam to round up, whip, and finally kill Oroonoko to dissuade the other slaves from revolting.
Byam
The historical deputy-governor of Surinam who betrays Oroonoko by having him whipped and put to death.
Clemene
The slave name given to Imoinda when she arrives in Surinam.
Caesar
The slave name given to Oroonoko by Trefry when he arrives in Surinam. The name is an allusion to Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor who was murdered by his "friends."
Imoinda
The African beauty whom Oroonoko loves. She is sold into slavery after Oroonoko attempts to rescue her from his grandfather the king's otan.
Jamoan
African warrior defeated by Oroonoko, whom he treats with great dignity and as a brother. He mirrors the overseer Trefry, who similarly treats Oroonoko well.
Narrator
A young English woman, based on the author Aphra Behn, who visits Surinam and befriends Oroonoko.
Onahal
The senior wife of the king who helps Oroonoko meet his love Imoinda in the otan, the king's seraglio.
Oroonoko
The African prince who is captured and enslaved by a British slave trader and brought to Surinam, where in time he leads a slave revolt and then dies.
Trefry
The overseer of Parham Plantation, he befriends Oroonoko and attempts to free him and return him to Africa.
Tuscan
The Surinam slave who helps Oroonoko organize the slave revolt but ultimately betrays him.
Willoughy
The lord governor of Surinam, who owns Perham plantation and never arrives to free Oroonoko.
