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Citra Terranova/Scythe Anastasia
Co-protagonist and scythe apprentice for Faraday and Curie. Citra is Rowan’s friend, rival, and potential love interest. Honest, intelligent, compassionate, and idealistic, Citra finds more satisfaction in scything than she had initially assumed. Her fierce independence propels her to solve the mysterious circumstances that surround Faraday’s death, and her compassion drives her to spare Rowan after she wins their apprenticeship contest. Her stubbornness, competitive streak, and quick temper sometimes get the better of her.
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Rowan Damisch/Lucifer
Co-protagonist and scythe apprentice for Faraday and Goddard. Rowan is Citra’s friend, rival, and potential love interest. Guarded but compassionate, Rowan is more intuitive about people than his fellow apprentice Citra, and he is more invested in building and maintaining relationships. Though he becomes a skilled killer under Goddard’s tutelage, Rowan maintains his strong moral compass and is repulsed by Goddard’s cruel philosophies. By the end of the novel, he has killed Goddard and become a rogue vigilante.
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Scythe Curie
Noted scythe, the Grand Dame of Death, and Citra’s second mentor. Curie administers the first apprentice test at the Vernal Conclave and mentors Citra after Faraday’s apparent death. She became a legendary scythe for gleaning the last American president and his entire cabinet. Wise, reflective, and opinionated, Curie’s forthright and informative journal entries provide much of the epistolary frame of the novel.
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Scythe Faraday/Gerald Van Der Gans
A humble, highly ethical scythe and Citra’s and Rowan’s first mentor. Faraday takes on Citra and Rowan as apprentices after being impressed with their character in separate gleaning encounters. He maintains a strict ascetic lifestyle, relies on mortal-age statistics to guide his gleaning selections, and does not enjoy his work. He fakes his own death in an ultimately ineffective attempt to spare Citra and Rowan from finishing their apprenticeships and being forced to glean one another.
Scythe Goddard
A scythe known for his mass gleanings, Rowan’s second mentor, and the primary antagonist of the novel. Sadistic, arrogant, charismatic, and persuasive, Goddard is the figurehead of an insidious movement within Scythedom that advocates for fewer restrictions on gleanings. Goddard enjoys killing and cannot resist the challenge of molding Rowan into a remorseless killer.
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Scythe Xenocrates
The MidMerican High Blade, Goddard’s former mentor, and Esme’s father. The cryptic, sly Xenocrates dislikes Goddard’s philosophies but agrees that the winner of the apprenticeship contest between Citra and Rowan should glean the loser. He also participates in framing Citra for Faraday’s murder because Goddard is blackmailing him. Once safe from Goddard’s blackmail attempts, he agrees to drop the investigation into Faraday’s mysterious death.
Esme
Goddard’s hostage and Xenocrates’ illegitimate daughter. Mysteriously spared during a mass gleaning at a food court, she is Goddard’s pampered captive and is being held for leverage over Xenocrates. The talkative, friendly Esme takes a liking to Rowan and enjoys playing games with him. Though only a child, she is perceptive, commenting on how much Volta dislikes gleanings and opining that Rowan will be a better scythe than the others.
The Thunderhead
The infinite computer system that dictates all aspects of life in Scythedom. Highly intelligent, neutral, and practical, the Thunderhead serves as a form of government as well as a highly intuitive artificial intelligence system that surveils the population. Though it can only observe, the Thunderhead worries about the direction Scythedom is taking and warns Citra.
Tyger Salazar
Rowan’s friend and professional partier. Tyger is superficial and enjoys thrill-seeking behavior, often jumping to his death from high buildings for fun. He volunteers for live subject training, in which he gets paid to die temporarily in order to train scythes. Tyger’s shallowness increasingly frustrates Rowan.
Scythe Mandela
Leader of the bejeweling committee. Mandela oversees the committee that judges Citra’s final apprenticeship test at the Winter Conclave and is also present when Xenocrates accuses her of murder. He is impressed by Citra’s spirited defense of herself and sends her an apology after she clears her name.
Scythe Volta/Shawn Dobson
Goddard’s junior scythe and Rowan’s friend. A reluctant participant in Goddard’s mass gleanings, Volta belongs to Goddard’s group because he assumes Goddard’s methods are the inevitable future of scything. He gleans himself out of profound remorse for killing an entire classroom of children.
Scythe Rand
Goddard’s scythe. An eager participant in the mass gleanings, Rand suggests that the winner of the contest between Citra and Rowan gleans the loser.
Scythe Chomsky
Goddard’s scythe. The brutish Chomsky enjoys committing mass gleanings.
Maxim Easley
Regenesis executive and Goddard’s pool boy. Once a successful businessman, Maxim becomes Goddard’s pool boy after Goddard seizes his home.
Rhonda Flowers
Citra’s former classmate. As children, Rhonda temporarily died after Citra shoved her into traffic.
Scythe Cervantes
The scythe who administers the second apprentice test at the Harvest Conclave. He disqualifies Rowan for breaking Citra’s neck during a Bokator match.
Scythe Possuelo
An Amazonian scythe. He protects Citra when she is on the run from Xenocrates and invites her to return to Amazonia after her ordination.
Brother Ferguson
A Tonist monk who rejects the authority of scythes to glean. He explains some aspects of Tonist theology to Citra when she notifies him of his sister’s gleaning.
Ben Terranova
Citra’s younger brother and an avid collector of scythe cards. Killing Ben is Citra’s final test to become a scythe.
Mrs. Terranova
Citra’s mother. The baked ziti she shares with Faraday earns her immunity from gleaning for a year.
