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Mae Holland

Both the protagonist and antagonist of the novel. Mae is a recent college graduate who lands a job at the Circle, a powerful tech company at the cutting edge of social interfacing. Mae’s rise within the company threatens her close relationships and poses ethical and moral questions over her compliance with the Circle’s company mission for “transparency,” the idea that an individual’s actions should be always made completely public as a moral imperative. 

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Annie Allerton

Mae’s college friend who gets Mae the job at the Circle. She is two years older than Mae. Annie has an ebullient, attractive personality and rises quickly within the ranks of the Circle to become one of the Gang of 40. Annie participates in a Circle project that extensively traces one’s family history and suffers a nervous breakdown after it uncovers her family’s sordid past. 

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Ty Gospodinov / Kalden

The Circle’s founder. Ty is a tech genius who creates TruYou, a way to streamline one’s online accounts into one, traceable online persona, that revolutionizes the field. Ty masquerades as Kalden to monitor the company’s practices on the ground once he becomes fearful of the Circle’s far-reaching power. He and Mae develop a romantic relationship .

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Eamon Bailey

One of the three Wise Men, the leaders of the Circle. Eamon is a “family man” who owns a modest home, has a son with cerebral palsy, and has a secret library where he keeps books and historical artifacts. A socially upstanding man, Bailey believes that keeping information private is the equivalent of killing a baby. He convinces Mae to “go transparent” for the company.

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Tom Stenton

Another of the three Wise Men of the Circle. Stenton is an aggressive corporate man, whom Annie describes as a shark. He’s hired to make the company commercially viable. Stenton is obsessed with the Marianas Trench and is having a special submarine built to explore the trench. He brings a shark whose body is transparent to the Circle campus as a subtle nod to the company’s “transparency” mission.

Francis Garaventa

Mae’s co-worker and love interest. After Francis’s parents died, he was sent into foster homes and his sisters were tragically abducted and murdered. He leads a child security program that aims to put a chip in every child’s bone to make them permanently traceable by authorities. 

Mercer Medeiros

Mae’s ex-boyfriend. Staunchly anti-technology, Mercer constantly challenges Mae’s naive faith in the Circle, which infuriates her. Mae causes his suicide towards the end of the novel when she has him chased by cameras as a demonstration of a new technology at the Circle.

Mae’s Mother and Father

Mae’s unnamed parents. They are overwhelmed navigating the healthcare system once Mae’s father is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The couple lives in a small town outside of San Francisco. 

Dan

Mae’s boss. Dan is completely aligned with the Circle’s missions and pressures Mae to comply.

Dr. Villalobos

The Circle’s on-site physician. Mae is impressed with Dr. Villalobos’s polished appearance and position at such a young age, as Villalobos appears to be under 40. Dr. Villalobos’s practices, on behalf of the Circle, raise questions over patient confidentiality when she makes Mae’s health data public.

Marion

The woman who runs the local kayak rental business that Mae frequents. When Mae is caught stealing one of the kayaks after hours one night by the Circle’s newly released SeeChange webcams, Marion orders the police to release her.

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