Dr. Ransom
Dr. Ransom is the main character and protagonist of the novel. First in the English countryside on a mission to find a place to stay for the night, Ransom is abducted by Weston and Devine, who drug him to sleep with a drink. They take him into a spaceship while he is asleep, and take him to a planet called Malacandra. Ransom has been told that he was taken from Earth to be a sacrifice to the Sorn people of Malacandra. On the planet, he runs into the forest before he can be sacrificed, and there he meets a Hross. The Hross is named Hyoi, and is nice to Ransom. They exchange knowledge about their home worlds until it is time for Ransom to go back to Earth.
Dr. Weston
Ransom first meets Weston when he hears some commotion inside the gate of Weston's estate. Weston is grabbing a child, who is struggling to get free. Ransom convinces Weston to let the poor child go, and is invited inside by Weston and his comrade, Devine, for a drink. Weston puts sleeping tablets in Ransom's drink, and brings him to a spaceship to take to the planet Malacandra.
Hyoi
Hyoi is a Hross native to the world of Malacandra. Ransom and Hyoi first meet at a lake, where Ransom was stopping for water. Hyoi is very nice to Ransom, and invites him to his home. There, they talk about each of their worlds, and ancient legends on Earth that are reality on Malacandra. Ransom says that Earth must be The Silent Planet, because, at one point, it was separated from the Heavens. Hyoi explains that Oyarsa is head god of all gods in the heavens (space).
Oyarsa
Oyarsa is head god of all of the gods in the universe. Hyoi explains to Ransom that he is alive and sent for Ransom to bring him to the planet. Apparently, Ransom was the most satisfactory human candidate to explain all of this mythology to. When Ransom returns to Earth, he is greeted by Lewis, his former student. Lewis says that the term "oyarsa" was used in Latin texts, and he was unsure what it meant.
