A princess of Mars

Captain Jack Carter

Also known as John Carter

A Virginia-born soldier of fortune and the story’s narrator. He returns to Thark, helps Tars Tarkas become Jeddak, leads the Tharks to Zodanga, frees Dejah Thoris, and saves Barsoom’s atmosphere; he then awakens back in Arizona, still longing to return to her.

the red captive

Also known as Dejah Thoris

A princess of Helium, daughter of Mors Kajak and granddaughter of Tardos Mors. Carter rescues her from her forced marriage to Sab Than, and she promises herself to Carter; at the story’s end, her fate during the atmosphere crisis is unknown to him.

Tardos Mors

Also known as the Jeddak of Helium · Dejah Thoris’s father’s father · the greatest of the red jeddaks

Dejah Thoris’s grandfather and the Jeddak of Helium. He welcomes Carter and the Tharks as allies, approves Carter’s marriage to Dejah, and leads Helium through the crisis caused by the stopped atmosphere plant.

Sola

A green Martian woman who rejects her people’s cruelty and values love. Daughter of Tars Tarkas and Gozava, she accompanies her father back to Thark after his alliance with Helium.

Kantos Kan

A padwar in Helium’s navy and Carter’s friend. He is captured before reaching Sab Than, then freed by Carter and helps guide the Tharks and their fleet to Helium.

the old man of the atmosphere plant

Also known as Carter’s invisible host

An elderly Martian who guards the atmosphere factory and wears a talisman granting safe passage across Barsoom. The council later reports that the keeper and assistant keeper are dead after the plant’s engine stops; the old man’s fate is not otherwise specified.

the atmosphere plant assistant

An unnamed assistant who shares the watch over the atmosphere factory with its elderly keeper. The council reports that the assistant keeper’s mutilated body was found after the plant stopped reporting; the text does not establish which of the two keepers this was.

the cousin of Than Kosis

Also known as the Zodangan cousin

A cousin of Zodanga’s jeddak whose life Carter saves from three green warriors. He recommends Carter for recognition and service in the royal guard.

Than Kosis

Also known as Jeddak of Zodanga

The ruler of Zodanga and father of Sab Than. Carter kills him while rescuing Dejah Thoris during her wedding ceremony.

Sab Than

Also known as Prince of Zodanga

Than Kosis’s son and prince of Zodanga, who loves Dejah Thoris and is about to marry her. He becomes Jeddak after his father’s death, but Carter kills him in the fighting.

Sarkoja

An older green Martian woman who betrayed Gozava to Tal Hajus and helped bring about her torture and death. Tars Tarkas warns her of the consequence he intends for her, and she disappears the following morning.

Tars Tarkas

A green Martian warrior, Sola’s father, and former second-in-command among the Tharks. Carter saves him in battle; he becomes Jeddak of Thark, leads the alliance against Zodanga, and acknowledges Sola as his daughter.

Lorquas Ptomel

Also known as Powell

The principal chieftain of the green Martian community; “Jed” is his title. He insists Tal Hajus honor Tharkian custom and supports the council’s decision that Tars Tarkas challenge him for rule.

Tal Hajus

Also known as Jeddak of Thark

The cruel ruler of Thark, who orders Carter brought before him and demands that he be tortured. The council requires him to prove his fitness to rule; Tars Tarkas kills him in combat and succeeds him.

the young warrior who guarded the animals

A Tharkian warrior who fell in love with Gozava and is Sola’s father, Tars Tarkas. His identity is revealed to him after Carter repeats Sola’s account of Gozava’s fate.

Sola’s mother

Also known as Gozava

A Tharkian woman who secretly loved Tars Tarkas and bore Sola, defying her people’s customs. Sarkoja exposed her; she endured torture and died without revealing Sola’s father.

the other chieftains in Lorquas Ptomel’s council

Green Martian leaders who sit with Lorquas Ptomel during Dejah Thoris’s hearing. Their council later supports the challenge to Tal Hajus, and the twenty chieftains assent to Tars Tarkas’s rule.

the royal psychologist

Also known as Notan

Than Kosis’s royal psychologist, who examines the dead guardsmen’s minds and reports that one exceptionally powerful man killed them.

the Martian guard who carries Carter

A warrior designated to carry Carter on his mount after the party accepts him.

the crews of the attacking airships

Also known as the sailors

The people aboard the fleet of airships that approaches the Thark encampment. Their ships are attacked; the crew of the captured vessel is found dead.

the dungeon creatures

Also known as the owners of the gleaming eyes

Unidentified creatures lurking in Carter’s dungeon, visible by their gleaming eyes. They drag away the dead jailer’s body.

the Warhoon jailer

Also known as Carter’s former jailer

An unnamed Warhoon who brings food to Carter in his dungeon. Carter kills him to take his keys, and unseen creatures drag away the body.

the green warrior of a far northern horde

A giant green Martian prisoner forced to fight in the Warhoon games. Kantos Kan kills him with a thrown sword.

the twelve green Martian females in the arena

Twelve unnamed female prisoners forced to fight a pack of calots in the Warhoon games; three calots survive the encounter.

the two little Carter children

Two unnamed children in the Virginia Carter family whom Carter loved and who adored him as Uncle Jack.

the young female who prepares Carter’s food

One of the women assigned to Carter’s retinue, whom he charges with preparing his simple meals.

the young females bringing Carter’s belongings

Women who bring Carter weapons, clothing, supplies, and the property of the chieftains he killed.

the thoats

Large, dangerous Martian mounts used by the green warriors. Carter trains his two mounts through a combination of authority and kindness.

the Zodangan consort

Than Kosis’s unnamed consort, seated beside him on the throne during Sab Than and Dejah Thoris’s wedding ceremony.

the Zodangan fleet commander

The unnamed commander of the Zodangan fleet besieging Helium. He signals surrender by leaping from his ship, ending the battle.

the young noble who addresses Tardos Mors

An unnamed Heliumite noble who urges the people to continue their duties bravely after learning that Barsoom may have only three days of air left.

the man who can start the atmosphere plant engines

Also known as the conscious worker at the atmosphere plant

An unnamed man still conscious at the atmosphere plant during the air crisis. He tells Carter he can start the engines if the doors are opened, then crawls through the doors toward the pump room.

the old woman in the Arizona cave

An unnamed, dead and mummified woman found in the cave where Carter awakens in Arizona. Her remains are seated beside a charcoal burner and a vessel of greenish powder.

the little boy beside Dejah Thoris

An unnamed boy whom Carter imagines standing beside Dejah Thoris in a palace garden, as she points toward Earth. He may represent their hoped-for child, but the vision leaves this uncertain.

the jed who captures Carter

Also known as Dak Kova

A Warhoon lieutenant who captures Carter and brings him to the Warhoon camp. After killing his jeddak, Bar Comas, in a duel, he becomes Jeddak of Warhoon.

Bar Comas

Also known as the jeddak of the hordes of Warhoon

The comparatively young ruler of the Warhoon hordes. He is killed in a duel by his lieutenant Dak Kova, who succeeds him.

the Ptor brothers

Also known as the three Ptor brothers

Three red Martian government officers who host Carter on their farm, help disguise him as a red Martian, and provide money, a mount, and introductions for his journey to Zodanga.

the older Zodangan nobleman

An unnamed nobleman Carter meets on the road to Zodanga. He describes the war with Helium and reports that Dejah Thoris is believed dead after escaping the Tharks and falling into Warhoon hands.

the four Zodangan guardsmen in Dejah Thoris’s antechamber

Also known as the four guards

Four unnamed guards assigned to Dejah Thoris in Zodanga. They bar Carter from her apartments and are killed by him in the ensuing fight.

the major-domo

An unnamed palace official who receives Carter and assigns him to guard Than Kosis.

the officer who decorates soldiers

Also known as the aide

An unnamed Zodangan officer who announces acts of bravery and calls Carter forward to receive an honor from Than Kosis.

the palace sentry

Also known as the sentry on the barracks roof

An unnamed sentry guarding the roof of the Zodangan air-scout barracks. Carter overpowers and binds him to gain access to the aircraft.

the red Martian farm officers

Also known as the three red Martians

Three unnamed red Martians who find Carter resting near their farm, welcome him, and direct him toward Zodanga. They are brothers who live there with their families.

the Zodangan guardsmen and servants searching the palace

Unnamed palace personnel who search for Carter after the four guards are found dead.

Dejah Thoris’s mother

An unnamed member of Helium’s royal family, mentioned as Dejah Thoris’s mother. Dejah longs to return to her and be embraced by her.

Zad

A large Tharkian warrior who challenges Carter to a sword duel after striking Carter’s thoat. He uses a mirror to blind Carter during the fight, but Carter kills him.

the young warrior who fathered Sola

A Tharkian warrior who secretly loved Sola’s mother and is Sola’s father. He is identified as Tars Tarkas, who returned from an expedition after her mother had died.

the man sleeping beside the road

An unnamed person in a cultivated Martian district who wakes at the sight of the Thark caravan and flees.

the chieftain who orders Carter’s capture

A Tharkian chieftain who orders four warriors to seize Carter if he returns to Dejah Thoris’s quarters. He says Dejah has been taken to Tal Hajus.

the four warriors ordered to capture Carter

Four unnamed Tharkian warriors assigned to ambush and bind Carter at Dejah Thoris’s quarters.

the ancient Warhoon woman who treats Carter

An unnamed elderly Warhoon woman who tends Carter’s wounds after his capture and tells the jed that he will live.

Carter’s Martian hound

Also known as watch dog · watch-thing · faithful beast · Woola · the hound

A fierce, intelligent Martian animal that guards Carter and remains devoted to him. Carter wins its loyalty through affection, and it accompanies him and Dejah Thoris.

the young Martian fostered by Sola

Also known as Sola’s youthful ward · Sola’s young Martian protégé

A physically strong, quick-learning male Martian, about four feet tall, whom Sola adopts from the incubator ceremony. Carter and the young Martian learn together under Sola’s tutelage.

the women and older children who capture the young Martians

Individual members of the community who catch newly hatched Martians as they leave the incubator and take responsibility for their care.

the council of twenty chieftains

A council that examines the stored eggs each year and selects those deemed fit for incubation.

the older woman guarding Dejah Thoris

One of Dejah Thoris’s two guards, who is indifferent to her and is less cruel than Sarkoja.

the young warrior who strikes Dejah Thoris

A green Martian warrior who knocks Dejah Thoris down during her hearing and laughs at her. Carter attacks and kills him.

Mors Kajak

Dejah Thoris’s father and a ruler of Helium; he sent her on a scientific expedition.

the messenger from Lorquas Ptomel

A messenger who summons Carter to appear before Lorquas Ptomel.

Edgar Rice Burroughs

The foreword’s narrator, who presents Captain Carter’s manuscript and recounts knowing him in Virginia and New York.

Jack

Burroughs’s son, to whom the book is dedicated; he is mentioned in the dedication.

Burroughs’s father

He hosted Captain Carter in Virginia before the Civil War and later operated general stores there with Burroughs.

Burroughs’s grandmother

She is mentioned as someone Captain Carter entertained with stories during his visits to the Burroughs family home.

the watchman

A watchman at a neighboring property who found Captain Carter’s body in the snow.

the local police chief

A local official present with the watchman and townspeople after Captain Carter’s death.

the local physician

The physician who assisted the coroner’s jury in determining Captain Carter’s cause of death.

Captain James K. Powell

Also known as Powell

A Confederate officer from Richmond and Carter’s friend and mining partner. He is killed by Apache warriors while traveling to obtain mining equipment.

the Apache warriors

Also known as Apaches · red warriors

A band of warriors who pursue Powell and Carter in Arizona; they kill Powell, and their faces appear at the cave entrance.

the Apache warrior who falls from the cliff

Also known as one of the braves

An individual warrior who is hurled from the cliff as the Apaches flee in terror from a strange sound in the cave.

the bull ape that attacks Carter

Also known as the bull ape

A great white ape that attacks Carter in a building; Carter kills it while defending himself and his Martian hound.

the bull ape’s mate

Also known as the ape’s mate

A great white ape that joins the attack on Carter and is killed by him.

the Martian warrior Carter strikes

A green Martian who roughly forces Carter to his feet and is knocked down by Carter’s punch.

the Martian warrior whose pistol Carter deflects

A warrior who is about to shoot Carter’s hound after its battle with the apes; Carter knocks his arm aside.

the Martian warrior who offers Carter an armlet

Also known as the leader of the band

The leader of the party that finds Carter on Mars. He lays down his weapons and offers Carter an armlet as a gesture of peace.

the Martian who calls for Sola

A young female summoned by Tars Tarkas to take Carter for food and drink; she is later identified as Sola.

the livery man

The man at the station who tells Burroughs that Captain Carter has been found dead.