Peter Keating -  A classmate of Roark's who lives only for fame and the approval of others. Keating is good-looking and commercially successful, but he steals his only original ideas from Roark. In order to rise to the top, Keating flatters, lies, steals, kills, and even trades his wife, Dominique, for the opportunity to work on a promising project. His fall is even more rapid than his rise. He realizes the error of his ways too late and lives the rest of his life in frightened misery.