The Exorcist characters

Appears from the start

A veteran Jesuit priest and archaeologist working in northern Iraq. A discovery among the ruins gives him a sense that an old spiritual conflict is approaching again. He is physically frail but experienced in confronting alleged possession.

Appears from the start

A successful actor and director temporarily living in Georgetown while making a film. Practical, direct, and not religious, she is devoted to her twelve-year-old daughter Regan and initially seeks medical explanations when the girl's behavior changes.

Also known as Rags

Appears from the start

Chris MacNeil's affectionate twelve-year-old daughter. She lives with her mother in a rented Georgetown house, makes art and models, and has begun using a Ouija board to speak with an unseen companion she calls Captain Howdy.

First appears in chapter 2

A Jesuit priest and trained psychiatrist who counsels other clergy. Intelligent and skeptical, he is suffering a crisis of faith and intense guilt about his elderly mother's poverty and isolation.

First appears in chapter 3

A British director working with Chris on her current film. He is sharp-tongued, drinks heavily, and visits the MacNeil house socially, where his public quarrels and later fate draw police attention.

First appears in chapter 5

A homicide detective investigating a death near the MacNeil residence. Mild and conversational in manner, he is nevertheless persistent, observant, and difficult to divert once the evidence suggests more than an accident.

Appears from the start

Chris's secretary and close household companion. She helps care for Regan, manages practical matters around the house, and remains loyal as the crisis becomes harder to conceal.

Appears from the start

The MacNeils' reserved Swiss houseman. His guarded manner and family troubles make him one subject of Kinderman's inquiries, though he continues to help the household through Regan's illness.

Appears from the start

Karl's wife and the MacNeils' housekeeper. She is quiet, religious, and increasingly frightened by the disturbances surrounding Regan.

First appears in chapter 4

A physician who treats Regan and coordinates extensive neurological and psychiatric testing. He searches for an organic cause and regards an exorcism, if used at all, as a possible form of suggestion rather than proof of the supernatural.

First appears in chapter 2

A Jesuit priest and friend of Damien Karras. Warm and sociable, he is concerned about Karras's grief and failing faith and remains close when the MacNeil case reaches its violent end.

Also known as Captain Howdy

First appears in chapter 9

The hostile intelligence speaking through Regan after her condition has passed beyond ordinary illness. It gives shifting identities, mixes taunts with fragments of private knowledge, and tries to convince observers that Regan is beyond rescue.