The Elite characters

Appears from the start

A Five from Carolina and one of the six Elite, the public's sentimental favorite to become princess. She has admitted to herself that she loves Maxon but will not commit to him, partly because she doubts she could ever be the kind of woman a throne requires and partly because Aspen, the boy she loved at home, now serves in the palace guard and she sees him daily. She is blunt, quick-tempered, and increasingly angry about the caste system she has begun to see clearly from the inside.

Appears from the start

The crown prince of Illéa, who must choose a wife from the six remaining girls. His friendship with America has become the most important relationship in his life, but he is losing patience with her refusal to decide, and his father is steering him toward a more suitable choice. He is far more constrained than he appears: the King controls what he is told, what he may announce, and whom he is permitted to favor.

Appears from the start

America's first love, a Six drafted into the army and posted to the palace as a guard. He is assigned to the floor where the Selected live, which puts him within reach of her most nights, and he has not accepted that their relationship is finished. Discovery would be treated as treason for both of them.

Appears from the start

One of the Elite and America's closest friend at the palace, a Four whose warmth has made her the country's favorite. She has grown noticeably quieter on the subject of Maxon than a front-runner ought to be, and she deflects America's questions about it.

Appears from the start

A Two and a model, the most openly ruthless of the Elite. She works the cameras, manipulates the other girls, and pursues Maxon aggressively, and she is not above circulating a story about a rival to damage her.

Appears from the start

A Three among the Elite, gracious, composed, and genuinely interested in what the crown could do for the country. She is America's friendliest rival and, as the field narrows, her most serious one.

Appears from the start

One of the Elite, quiet and watchful, with family connections abroad that make her useful to a court managing a long war on Illéa's western border. She competes carefully rather than openly.

Appears from the start

One of the Elite, cheerful, chatty, and largely untroubled by the competition. She is close to her younger sister at home and talks about her often.

Appears from the start

The king of Illéa, who has decided that America is unsuitable and works steadily to remove her: managing what his son hears, controlling what the girls may say on air, and setting the court against her. He is considerably harsher in private than the broadcasts suggest.

Appears from the start

The queen of Illéa, who won a Selection herself as a Four and is the gentlest presence at court. She is fond of America and quietly sympathetic to the girls, but she does not contradict her husband.

Appears from the start

One of America's maids, small, nervous, and wholly devoted to her. She is easily frightened, particularly by the rebel raids, and America looks out for her.

First appears in chapter 12

A palace guard, well-liked among the officers, who is discovered to have been secretly involved with one of the Selected. Under Illéan law that is a capital offense against the crown, and he is punished publicly and stripped of his caste.

First appears in chapter 22

The founder of Illéa, revered in the official histories as the man who held the country together after the wars and gave it the caste system. His private journals, kept in the palace and read by very few people, describe how he actually came to power and what the castes were designed to do.