A girl raised among the scholars of Jordan College, Oxford, in a world where every human soul takes the form of an external animal companion called a daemon. Reckless, gifted at deception, and possessed of an instinctive ability to read the alethiometer, she embarks on a journey north to rescue missing children that becomes something far larger - a journey that places her at the centre of a war for the nature of consciousness across all worlds.

A boy from our world who has spent years caring for his mentally fragile mother while searching for his missing father. His discovery of a window into the abandoned city of Cittagazze brings him into Lyra's world and eventually makes him the bearer of the subtle knife - a blade capable of cutting windows between any two worlds. Quiet, self-contained, and accustomed to carrying adult burdens, he forms a partnership with Lyra that becomes the emotional centre of the trilogy.

The Regent of the Authority - the most powerful angel in existence, who has effectively supplanted the ancient and fading god-figure and rules the Kingdom of Heaven in his stead. The primary supernatural antagonist of The Amber Spyglass.

A guide, interpreter, and former professor of mathematics at the University of Alexandria (real name Rashid Xenakis). He guides Lyra from Seleukeia through Aleppo and beyond, with deep knowledge of Dust and the Rusakov field.

A teenage kitchen girl at the inn near Oxford who is drawn into Malcolm's journey during the flood in La Belle Sauvage. Prickly and initially hostile, she proves courageous and resourceful under pressure.

Malcolm Polstead's daemon, who can still change shape as Malcolm is a child. A loyal and perceptive companion who helps Malcolm navigate dangerous situations.

An angel of relatively low rank who, along with Baruch, is tasked with guiding Will in The Amber Spyglass. Acerbic, proud, and grief-stricken.

A botanist who previously visited the red building and returns to the ruined Tashbulak station from the desert. His daemon is a lemur named Cariad.

A stocky military officer with a Franz Joseph beard who serves Delamare by destroying the openings between worlds using tonnerre double explosives.

A good-looking young Oxford man with gyptian heritage who works at the Royal Mail depot. He is a loyal friend to Lyra and helps her escape Oxford when she loses Pan. His daemon is a vixen called Bindi.

A former cleaner at the Tashbulak research station who teaches herself science from surviving equipment. Her daemon is a small desert fox named Samal.

Elder statesman and advisor to the Gyptian people, and former lover of Serafina Pekkala. Old and physically frail but sharp in mind, he guides Lyra and counsels John Faa throughout the northern journey.

The gaunt, fanatical President of the Consistorial Court of Discipline, a Scotsman who exercises brutal self-discipline. He authorises both Father Gomez's assassination mission and the bomb powered by intercision that targets Lyra.

A physicist and former colleague of Lord Asriel whose obsessive pursuit of the infant Lyra drives the threat narrative of La Belle Sauvage. Disturbed, brilliant, and dangerous.

The aged bearer of the subtle knife in Cittagazze, whose injury forces him to pass the knife to Will. He instructs Will in the knife's use, passing on both the weapon and the burden that comes with it.

Dick Orchard's gyptian grandfather, a large tough boatman who captains the narrowboat Maid of Portugal. He takes Lyra to the Fens and tells her stories of the secret commonwealth.

The Director of Oakley Street, a secret service department opposed to the Magisterium. A capable woman in her fifties whose daemon was paralysed by a tropical fever, she coordinates the fight against the Magisterium's growing power.

A small gryphon living under a curse that has kept her cat-sized for far longer than any gryphon expects to remain so. She befriends Pantalaimon during his travels and serves as intermediary between humans and the gryphon nation.

An Oxford academic and alethiometrist who works as an agent of Oakley Street. She serves as a mentor to Malcolm and a crucial link between academic Oxford and the resistance against the Magisterium.

The usurper king of the armoured bears on Svalbard. He is cunning in a human way, building a marble palace and seeking to imitate human society, and has made deals with the Oblation Board to imprison Lord Asriel.