The Outsiders characters

Appears from the start

The narrator, the youngest of three orphaned brothers and, at fourteen, the most bookish and thoughtful member of a working-class gang of greasers. He loves reading, movies, and watching sunsets, and he does well in school, which sets him apart from the tougher boys around him. Sensitive and observant, he is caught between the fierce loyalty he feels toward his gang and his sense that the bitter divide between the poor greasers and the wealthy Socs is not the whole story. Since their parents died in a car crash, he has been raised by his oldest brother, and he chafes under that authority even as he depends on it.

Also known as Darry

Appears from the start

The oldest of the three Curtis brothers, a strong, hardworking young man of twenty who gave up his own prospects to become the guardian of his younger brothers after their parents died. Serious and strict, he works long hours at physical jobs to keep the family together and out of state care. His toughness and constant correction of Ponyboy read as coldness to his youngest brother, though it springs from the weight of responsibility and worry he carries.

Also known as Soda

Appears from the start

The middle Curtis brother, sixteen, handsome, cheerful, and easygoing, a dropout who works at a gas station. Warm and full of life, he is the peacemaker of the family and Ponyboy's closest confidant among his brothers, endlessly affectionate and quick to smooth over the friction between Ponyboy and Darry.

Appears from the start

Ponyboy's best friend and the youngest and most vulnerable member of the gang, sixteen and small for his age. Neglected and abused at home, he has been badly shaken since a brutal beating by a group of Socs, and he is nervous and easily frightened. The gang is his real family, and they are fiercely protective of him. Quiet and gentle, he idolizes the tougher boys and depends on Ponyboy's companionship.

Also known as Dally

Appears from the start

The toughest and most hardened member of the greaser gang, a boy shaped by a rough childhood on the streets of a big city, with a criminal record and a cold, reckless streak. He is cynical, quick-tempered, and fond of trouble, yet he has a soft spot for Johnny, whom he tries in his own harsh way to protect. His street smarts and willingness to break the law make him the one the others turn to in a crisis.

Appears from the start

The gang's joker, an eighteen-year-old greaser known for his wisecracks, his love of fights and shoplifting, and his devotion to his switchblade. Older than most of the group and content to keep repeating his last year of school, he lightens the mood with constant humor while remaining loyal and ready to back the others up when it counts.

Appears from the start

Sodapop's best friend and coworker at the gas station, seventeen, tough and cocky, with a talent for anything mechanical. He is a full member of the gang and, while friendly with the others, tends to regard Ponyboy as a tagalong kid.

Also known as Sherri Valance

First appears in chapter 2

A well-off Soc girl, a red-haired cheerleader whom Ponyboy meets at a drive-in movie. Poised and thoughtful, she is willing to talk honestly with a greaser and to see past the labels that divide their two worlds. She tells Ponyboy that the troubles of the rich Socs are real too, and that things are hard on both sides, becoming an unexpected point of connection across the class line.

First appears in chapter 3

A wealthy Soc, Cherry's boyfriend, who drives a distinctive blue Mustang and wears heavy rings on his fingers. Arrogant and aggressive, especially when drinking, he is one of the Socs responsible for the earlier beating that traumatized Johnny, and he treats the greasers with open contempt and menace.

First appears in chapter 3

A Soc and Bob's close friend, who runs with the same crowd and is dating Cherry's friend. Initially just another of the privileged west-side boys hostile to the greasers, he begins to question the endless cycle of fighting between the groups and grows weary of the rivalry and its cost.