Harry Hope
Hope is a gaunt, 60-year old man, a little deaf, and although he can get riled up easily, he is immensely likable. He runs the No-Chance Saloon, a place he hasn't left for 20 years, since his wife Bessie's death. Before her death, he was going to be an Alderman but that dream was derailed. He claims he could take a walk around the neighborhood and see everyone again and be elected, which is what Hickey encourages him to do. When he does step out, though, he is frightened and rushes back inside after a brief moment, claiming he was almost hit by a car.
Ed Mosher
Mosher is the brother of Bessie Hope and thus the brother-in-law of Harry Hope. He is fat, slovenly, indolent, and amusing. He used to take tickets in the circus and his pipe dream is to return to that life. He is usually accompanied by McGloin.
Pat McGloin
McGloin was once a Police Lieutenant but was fired. He is large and slovenly but his once-rough face has softened. His pipe dream is to return to the force and be cleared of all wrongdoing.
Willie Oban
Willie is in his early 30s but wears threadbare clothing and has a look of haggardness and dissipation. He is the son of a big-time criminal who was put away, attended Harvard for law, and dropped out due to the allure of whiskey. He often sings wittily and cheerily, but evinces a deep-seated fear of being left alone in his room upstairs. He dreams of getting back into law and taking on McGloin's and Parritt's cases.
Joe Mott
An African American man, Joe once ran his own gambling house. He dresses well but has a deep scar on his face. The other men amiably call him "white" and while he accepts this sometimes, he becomes angry when they fall back into epithets. His dream is to open a gambling house catering only to black patrons.
Piet Wetjoen ("The General")
A large and imposing man of the Dutch farmer type, Wetjoen served in the Boer War. He still looks somewhat authoritative, but his once-strong body has become flabby. His dream is to return to the Netherlands. He is closest to Lewis, once his enemy in the War, but their relationship becomes fraught with tension when Hickey shows up.
Cecil Lewis ("The Captain")
Lewis is a 60-year old Englishman; he is lean and has excellent posture. Like Wetjoen, his closest friend and former/sometimes enemy, he dreams of returning home.
James Cameron ("Jimmy Tomorrow")
Jimmy has a face like a bloodhound but is elegant, intelligent, and reserved. He is compared to a Victorian old maid as well as a boy who never grew up. He dreams of returning to work; he worked in publicity but was fired.
Hugo Kalmar
Hugo is a small man who has the appearance of an anarchist foreigner. He has a thick mustache, a pug nose, and wears threadbare clothes. Though he spends much of the play in a drunken stupor, when he does speak it is with a heavy German accent. He is a devotee of the Movement but it is revealed that he has bourgeois yearnings.
Larry Slade
Larry is about 60 with a gaunt face and dry, sardonic wit. He is dirty and worn, and is compared to a weary priest. He was once part of the IWW Movement and knew Parritt's Mother (it is suggested that they were lovers). He left the Movement and now spends his days at the bar, idling away his remaining years. He claims that he does not have a pipe dream and is grimly aware of the realities of life and death. He can be kindhearted to his friends but quick to anger as well. He is very bothered by Hickey's intense need to strip the men of their dreams and is the salesman's harshest critic. Parritt seeks Larry out as a father figure but Larry wants none of it; he eventually tells Parritt he ought to commit suicide to atone for turning his Mother in.
Rocky Pioggi
Rocky is a 20-something Italian-American who tends bar at night. He maintains Pearl and Margie as prostitutes but fervently claims that he is not their pimp and that he treats them well. His temperament is prickly and irascible.
Don Parritt
Parritt was part of the Movement along with his extremely dedicated and bohemian Mother, but he struggled with his vacillating feelings of love and hate for her and eventually anonymously tipped off the police about her involvement in illegal activities. Parritt went on the run and sought out Larry, a man his Mother was involved with and seems to have really cared for. Parritt is in turns sneering and mocking, frightened and needy. He eventually confesses what he did to Larry, hoping that the older man will release him from his tremendous guilt and suffering.
Pearl
A young woman who works for Rocky as a whore, but she likes to think of herself as just a tart.
Margie
Like Pearl, a young woman who works for Rocky but insists she is not a whore.
Cora
An older prostitute who plans on marrying Chuck and moving to a farm in New Jersey.
Chuck Morello
The day bartender at the saloon who plan to marry Cora and move to a farm in New Jersey.
Theodore Hickman ("Hickey")
A beloved traveling salesman who visits the bar once a year and customarily buys everyone drinks and tells jokes. When he appears this time, though, he is changed; he no longer drinks and says he is committed to helping everyone realize what he realized - one must give up their pipe dreams to truly have peace, free from delusion. Although he is still friendly, everyone sours on his advice and urging. Eventually he reveals he killed his wife to free her from the pain of loving him, and that he only did so because he was insane (which is, of course, a dubious claim). It is likely he will get the electric chair.
Moran
A police officer who arrests Hickey.
Lieb
A police officer who arrests Hickey.
Bessie Hope
Bessie is the deceased wife of Hope and sister of Mosher. While never seen on stage, many of the characters talk about her. Hope speaks often of how much he loved her and how wonderful she was, but it seems clear that while she was alive he found her nagging and nasty.
Evelyn Hickman
From Hickey's account, Evelyn is a kind, forgiving, generous, and loyal woman. She turns a blind eye to Hickey's faults and loves him unconditionally. This eventually fills Hickey with guilt and resentment so he kills her to release her from the pain of loving him.
Rosa Parritt (Mother)
From Parritt's account, she is a fierce devotee of the Movement, both a loving Mother and a terrible one, and a practitioner of free love - she once had a relationship with Larry Slade. Parritt's anonymous tip gets her thrown into jail for her radical actions.
