Hannibal Rising characters

Appears from the start

As a boy, the son of an aristocratic Lithuanian family living on their country estate, precociously intelligent and devoted to his young sister. This prequel follows him from a privileged childhood shattered by the Second World War through his youth in its aftermath. Gifted, self-possessed, and marked by early loss, he grows into a brilliant, cold young man whose refined manners conceal a hardening resolve, as the reader watches the origins of the figure he will later become.

Appears from the start

Hannibal's small, cherished younger sister, a bright and trusting little girl whom he loves above everyone. Their close bond is the center of his childhood world, and his devotion to her, as the war closes in on their family and their safety unravels, is the emotional heart from which the whole story grows.

First appears in chapter 2

The ruthless leader of a band of armed deserters and looters who prey on the helpless during the collapse and chaos of the war. Cruel, cunning, and entirely self-interested, he and his men seize on the vulnerability of refugees and the isolated, and his crossing of the Lecter family's path sets in motion the tragedy that defines Hannibal's life.

First appears in chapter 3

Hannibal's uncle, a Lithuanian painter living in France, who takes the orphaned, traumatized boy into his home after the war. Cultured and kindly, he offers his nephew a refuge and a semblance of family in a foreign country, reconnecting the boy with his aristocratic heritage.

First appears in chapter 3

The Japanese wife of Hannibal's uncle Robert, a graceful, cultivated woman from a distinguished family who becomes the young Hannibal's mentor, protector, and the object of his deep devotion. She introduces him to art, discipline, and beauty, and her influence is one of the few tender forces in his life, though she comes to sense the darkness growing in him.

First appears in chapter 4

A French police inspector who investigates wartime atrocities and collaborators as well as present-day killings. Perceptive and dogged, and himself scarred by the war, he takes an interest in the brilliant, guarded young Hannibal, and his patient scrutiny gradually brings him into conflict with the youth he cannot quite prove anything against.