The War of the Worlds

Characters

• The narrator — Narrator: An unnamed philosophical writer from Woking who recounts the invasion in the first person.
• The narrator's wife — The narrator's wife: The narrator's wife, whom he takes to safety in Leatherhead and is separated from.
• The narrator's brother — Medical student in London: The narrator's younger brother, a London medical student whose flight from the city forms a parallel account.
• The curate — Clergyman: A clergyman driven to hysteria who is trapped in a ruined house with the narrator.
• The artilleryman — Soldier: A surviving gunner with grand schemes for humanity's future life underground.
• Ogilvy — Astronomer: The astronomer who first observes the Martian firings and inspects the fallen cylinder.
• Henderson — Journalist: A London journalist who telegraphs the first report of the cylinder.
• Stent — Astronomer Royal: The Astronomer Royal who leads the deputation to the pit and is killed by the Heat-Ray.
• Miss Elphinstone — Refugee: A resolute young woman the brother defends and travels with out of London.
• The Martians — Invaders: Cool, vast intellects from Mars who cross space in cylinders to conquer the Earth in fighting-machines.