A Vietnam veteran and welder living near the Rio Grande. While hunting in the desert he stumbles across the aftermath of a drug deal and takes a suitcase containing two million dollars. Resourceful and stubborn, the decision sets in motion a pursuit across west Texas.

A hitman of extraordinary menace sent to recover the stolen money. He operates by a philosophy of fate and chance that he uses to determine who lives and who dies, often via a coin toss. He feels no obligation to those who hire him. Widely regarded as one of the most terrifying villains in contemporary American fiction.

Llewelyn Moss's nineteen-year-old wife, raised by her grandmother in Odessa. She is loyal, plain-spoken, and deeply devoted to her husband, whom she met at a Wal-Mart when she was sixteen.

A former Special Forces lieutenant colonel turned private operative, hired to track down Anton Chigurh and recover stolen drug money. He is confident, well-dressed, and wears expensive Lucchese crocodile boots.

The ageing sheriff of a small Texas county investigating the desert killings. A man formed by older values and a gentler world, Bell finds himself unable to comprehend the violence he is witnessing. His narrating voice opens each chapter, providing a moral counterpoint to the carnage.

The sheriff of Sutton County, based in Sonora, Texas. A veteran lawman who has never lost a deputy in over twenty years of service.

Sheriff Bell's wife, a steadfast and warm-hearted woman who manages the county jail kitchen and whom Bell considers a better person than himself or anyone he knows.

A DEA agent who arrives by helicopter to investigate the drug massacre in the desert. He wears boots, hat, and a Carhartt jacket.

A lurik with long thin dark hair, patchy pale skin, and a wandering eye. She tends to Bee during the journey, applying lotions to prevent the child's skin from cracking in the cold.

A deputy in the Terrell County Sheriff's Department who assists Sheriff Bell with forensic reports and field investigations.

A deputy in the Terrell County Sheriff's Department under Sheriff Bell. He is a steady and reliable officer with a dry sense of humour.

An accident investigator whom Sheriff Bell contacts regarding the car wreck connected to the murder of Carla Jean Moss.