Breakfast of Champions characters

Appears from the start

An obscure and impoverished science-fiction writer whose many stories appear in disreputable magazines and are almost entirely unknown to the public. Aging and isolated, he lives with his parakeet and supports himself through manual work until an invitation draws him toward Midland City.

Appears from the start

A prosperous automobile dealer and businessman in Midland City, widely treated as a model citizen. Beneath his commercial success and public confidence, his mental health is deteriorating, and he is becoming unable to distinguish his own dangerous ideas from reality.

Also known as Philboyd Studge

Appears from the start

The self-conscious creator and narrator of the story, who comments on his inventions, draws objects for the reader, and announces his intention to enter the world he has made. He treats the characters as beings he has controlled and hopes to release at least one of them.

First appears in chapter 4

Dwayne's secretary and lover, who works within the bright commercial order of his automobile business. She depends on him emotionally and financially but receives little security from their relationship.

First appears in chapter 5

The sales manager at Dwayne's automobile dealership. He dresses with deliberate elegance and fears that Dwayne's increasingly erratic behavior is connected to a secret about him that he carefully conceals at work.

Also known as Bunny

First appears in chapter 7

Dwayne's adult son, a gifted pianist who works at a cocktail lounge. His life and sexuality do not fit his father's conventional expectations, and communication between them is painfully limited.

First appears in chapter 7

Dwayne's late wife, whose suicide continues to shape the lives of her husband and son. The loss is part of the grief and disorder concealed beneath the Hoover family's public prosperity.

First appears in chapter 9

A Black parolee who comes to Midland City hoping that Dwayne Hoover will give him work. He has spent years imagining the businessman as a possible route into ordinary freedom and dignity.

First appears in chapter 2

A wealthy admirer of Kilgore Trout's fiction and one of the few people to recognize his name. His enthusiasm helps transform an ignored pulp writer into a guest at Midland City's arts festival.

First appears in chapter 18

A successful abstract painter invited to Midland City's arts festival. He answers local ridicule of his work by explaining the human isolation represented by a single bright band in one of his paintings.

First appears in chapter 15

A Black woman from Midland City remembered for exceptional athletic strength and achievement. The narrator uses her history to contrast genuine human ability with the narrow stories the city tells about race, beauty, and success.

First appears in chapter 3

Trout's parakeet and regular companion in his lonely home. Trout speaks to him as he prepares to leave for Midland City.