Joe
Joe, whose full name is Joseph Coppock, is a young boy who appears to live alone in a house situated by a meadow. He spends much of his time reading comic books and tracking time by listening for the passing of a train that comes at noon, which he nicknames "Noony." Joe has a lazy eye. After Treacle Walker's arrival, Joe develops an ability to see an alternate, distorted reality through his good eye.
Treacle Walker
Treacle Walker, a rag-and-bone man, is a traveling, mysterious man who arrives at Joe's doorstep. In the medieval period, "treacle" also meant "medicine," implying that Treacle Walker has arrived in order to heal Joe by giving him the ability to see an alternate world. He often speaks in nonsensical words, rhymes, songs, British regional colloquialisms, and antiquated words that date back to the medieval period.
Thin Amren
Thin Amren, a naked figure in a leather hood, lives in a bog and is an allusion to the mummified "bog bodies" commonly found across the United Kingdom. Thin Amren is also reminiscent of many figures from fables and folktales, and only appears when Joe is looking through his "glamourie" eye. When Joe first meets him, Thin Amren is sleeping at the bottom of the bog. Joe's arrival wakes him and for the remainder of the story, Thin Amren hopes that Joe will return so that Thin Amren will not have to go back to sleep and encounter his dreams.
