Piranesi characters

Appears from the start

The narrator and devoted explorer of an apparently endless House made of marble halls, statues, staircases, clouds, and tidal waters. He carefully records what he observes, fishes and gathers seaweed for food, and tends the remains of the dead with reverence. He believes the House is the whole world and that only one other living person shares it with him.

Appears from the start

The only living companion Piranesi knows at the beginning. Well dressed and supplied with objects from somewhere beyond Piranesi's usual range, he meets Piranesi twice a week and directs their shared search for a hidden form of knowledge in the House. Piranesi trusts him despite his impatience and secrecy.

First appears in chapter 2

Thirteen people whose bones Piranesi has found in the House. He regards them as people under his care, brings them offerings, and records what he can infer about them. Their presence is the clearest early evidence that the House has held more people than the Other admits.

First appears in chapter 7

An unknown person whom the Other calls dangerous and insists must be avoided. Piranesi initially knows this possible newcomer only as the sixteenth person to have entered the House, but messages appearing in distant halls suggest that someone is actively trying to contact him.

First appears in chapter 12

An elderly visitor who appears unexpectedly in the House and speaks as if he understands both it and Piranesi's forgotten past. Grandiose and manipulative, he claims the title of prophet and hints that the Other has concealed essential facts from Piranesi.

First appears in chapter 22

The police officer behind the messages from the person Piranesi has called Sixteen. She has spent years investigating disappearances associated with Laurence Arne-Sayles and Valentine Ketterley, and she enters the House to find the missing Matthew Rose Sorensen.

First appears in chapter 22

The occultist and academic who popularized the theory that another world could be reached and its ancient knowledge recovered. Piranesi's reconstructed records connect his circle to several disappearances and identify him as the visitor who called himself the Prophet.

First appears in chapter 22

An earlier victim of Laurence Arne-Sayles who was confined in the House and eventually returned to the ordinary world. His experience left lasting psychological damage, and his case helps Sarah Raphael establish what happened to other missing people.