Blindsight characters

Appears from the start

A professional observer whose childhood hemispherectomy left him adept at analyzing other people without sharing their instincts. Sent aboard Theseus to translate the specialists' discoveries into terms humanity can use, he is the mission's narrator and its least conventionally expert member.

Appears from the start

Siri's mother, who chooses radical neurological treatment for him after severe childhood seizures. Her increasing reliance on immersive technology becomes part of his early understanding of distance, intimacy, and altered human experience.

Appears from the start

Siri's father, a practical and emotionally guarded man who remains in the physical world while much of society retreats into constructed experience. His choices shape Siri's detached view of family and human motives.

Appears from the start

Siri's former partner, whose direct emotional intelligence exposes how much of his social life depends on consciously inferred responses. Their relationship is part of the personal history he carries into the mission.

Also known as The Vampire

First appears in chapter 2

The commander of Theseus, a resurrected member of a predatory human subspecies whose unusual pattern recognition and intimidating presence make him valuable to the mission. He directs the crew with little explanation and answers closely to the ship's intelligence.

First appears in chapter 2

The mission's military specialist, responsible for security, weapons, and tactical systems. Disciplined and heavily augmented, she prepares defenses against an object whose intentions and capabilities remain unknown.

First appears in chapter 2

A biologist on the Theseus team, physically adapted for work in extreme environments. His easy warmth toward Siri contrasts with the crew's increasingly alien surroundings and with Siri's own guarded manner.

First appears in chapter 2

The mission's linguist, whose deliberately partitioned mind contains several specialized personalities. Susan is the principal identity; the others bring distinct temperaments and modes of analysis to the attempt to communicate with the alien signal.

Also known as Sascha, Michelle, Cruncher

First appears in chapter 2

The alternate personalities sharing Susan James's brain. Sascha is abrasive and socially forceful, Michelle is quiet and inward-looking, and Cruncher specializes in rapid pattern analysis; each can take control when her abilities are needed.

First appears in chapter 2

The mission's reserve biologist and medical specialist. He assists in examining the alien organisms and approaches the encounter with a harsher, more competitive manner than Szpindel.

Also known as Captain

First appears in chapter 2

The artificial intelligence that operates Theseus and mediates the crew's connection to distant mission control. It manages the ship's resources and treats the human specialists, including Sarasti, as components of a larger plan.

First appears in chapter 3

The enormous alien structure discovered near the dark giant called Big Ben. It communicates fluently enough to suggest an intelligence within, while its shifting architecture and hostile environment resist ordinary ideas of organism, machine, and mind.

First appears in chapter 3

Fast, many-limbed organisms found inside Rorschach. Their bodies and movements are exquisitely suited to the structure's extreme conditions, making them dangerous subjects for the crew's attempt to understand alien intelligence.