The Fountainhead characters

Appears from the start

An architecture student expelled from Stanton for refusing to copy historical styles. Roark is austere, self-contained, and wholly committed to designing buildings from their purpose, materials, and sites. He neither seeks approval nor accepts compromise in the substance of his work.

Appears from the start

Roark's classmate, graduating at the top of Stanton's architecture program as Roark is expelled. Charming, socially alert, and conventionally talented, Keating measures success through other people's admiration and is more confident in managing opinion than in his own designs.

First appears in chapter 2

An aging architect who once pioneered modern American design but lost most of his practice after refusing to follow popular taste. Roark seeks him out as the only employer whose work he respects. Cameron is bitter, exacting, and immediately able to recognize Roark's ability and the hardship his principles will bring him.

First appears in chapter 2

The senior partner of the prestigious firm Francon & Heyer and a celebrated public figure in architecture. He succeeds through polished manners, fashionable designs, and influential clients, leaving much of the practical design work to employees.

Appears from the start

Peter Keating's mother, who has organized her life around her son's advancement. Affectionate but controlling, she steers him by invoking sacrifice, respectability, and what other people will think.

First appears in chapter 4

Peter's gentle childhood sweetheart and Ellsworth Toohey's niece. She is candid, idealistic, and content with a modest future, a simplicity that attracts Peter even as it conflicts with his hunger for status.

First appears in chapter 9

Guy Francon's daughter, living independently and writing an architecture column for the New York Banner. Brilliant, severe, and contemptuous of conventional praise, she recognizes beauty readily but treats attachment to anything excellent as a source of danger.

First appears in chapter 10

An influential critic, lecturer, and newspaper columnist who presents himself as a champion of humanitarian causes and collective welfare. Soft-spoken and skilled at shaping reputations, he promotes compliant artists while treating independent achievement with suspicion.

First appears in chapter 5

A writer and public intellectual who hires Roark to design a private house after defending him from an assault. Heller values independence and becomes one of the architect's earliest clients and steady friends.

First appears in chapter 6

A construction electrician who recognizes Roark's competence while Roark is working on a building site. Direct and loyal, Mike becomes his friend and prefers working on projects where workmanship matters.

First appears in chapter 13

A businessman planning an apartment building who wants a design unlike the city's standard luxury developments. He becomes one of Roark's important early clients and refuses pressure to replace him with a fashionable architect.

First appears in chapter 20

A gifted young sculptor whose furious temperament and poverty have followed the critical rejection of his work. Roark seeks him out for a major commission because he sees integrity in Mallory's sculpture.

First appears in chapter 22

A wealthy patron who announces a plan to build a temple dedicated to the human spirit. Guided by Toohey's recommendation, he hires Roark while presenting the commission as an unusually free opportunity.

First appears in chapter 31

The powerful owner of the New York Banner and a nationwide newspaper empire. Raised in extreme poverty, Wynand has built his influence by giving mass audiences the sensation and opinions they demand. He is feared for his ability to make or ruin public reputations.

First appears in chapter 9

The amiable managing editor of the New York Banner and Dominique's supervisor. Scarret understands the paper's appetite for scandal and popularity, and he treats Dominique's provocative writing as useful even when he cannot predict it.