Andrew “Ender” Wiggin
The protagonist of Ender’s Game, Ender Wiggin is a brilliant, compassionate child who’s summoned to study war at Battle School and defeat the alien Buggers. Ender has always felt like an outsider because he’s…
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Peter Wiggin
Ender’s older brother. Peter Wiggin is a cruel, bullying child who resents Ender for being smarter and better suited for Battle School than he is. Peter’s natural impulse is to hurt and destroy, and at…
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Valentine Wiggin
Ender’s older sister, Valentine Wiggin is gentle and kind—even more so than Ender himself. She’s fiercely intelligent, even if she lacks the same drive as her brothers. For years, Valentine is Ender’s protector and…
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Mr. Wiggin / Father
Ender’s Father is a gentle, kind-hearted man who nonetheless can’t connect with his youngest child on an emotional level. He and his wife are given the chance to have a legal third child because the…
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Mrs. Wiggin / Mother
Ender’s Mother is, like her husband, a kind, gentle, and deeply religious woman. She’s given the chance to have a legal third child because the government suspects, correctly, that the child would be an…
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Get the entire Ender’s Game LitChart as a printable PDF.
Bonzo Madrid
Bonzo Madrid is a young, aggressive, and highly ambitious student at the Battle School. Largely because of his strict Spanish upbringing, he’s been taught to fight at all costs and defend his honor before all…
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Mazer Rackham
The legendary military commander and pilot who is celebrated on Earth for defeating the Buggers (though exactly how he did so isn’t common knowledge) seventy years before the novel begins. Mazer Rackham travels at extremely…
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Colonel Hyrum Graff
Colonel Graff is one of the most complicated characters in the novel: a stern, callous bureaucrat who believes in the importance of defeating the Buggers at all costs, but also seemingly comes to believe that…
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Major Anderson
Major Anderson (later Colonel Anderson) is Colonel Graff’s immediate subordinate at the Battle School. He shares Graff’s belief that defeating the Buggers is humanity’s most important goal, but frequently objects to Graff’s harsh methods…
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Dap
Dap is the “mom” of the new students at the Battle School—a man who’s paid to be kind and considerate to the young students who find it hard to cope with their new environment. At…
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Bernard
A young soldier in Battle School, whose arm Ender breaks during their shuttle flight. Bernard is a classic bully: arrogant and mean, but also charismatic and persuasive. Bernard, who’s always been jealous of Ender’s success…
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Shen
A friend of Ender’s who arrives in Battle School at the same time, Shen and Ender bond with each other after Bernard teases Shen. Ender and Shen remain friends even after Ender is sent…
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Alai
Alai is a loyal friend to Ender. He practices alongside Ender so that they can improve their maneuvers in the battleroom, and frequently defends Ender from others. At times, Ender thinks that Alai…
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Petra Arkanian
A sharp, talented soldier in the Salamander Army, and later the commander of the Phoenix Army, Petra is one of the only girls in Battle School. She’s often singled out for being a girl, and…
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Bean
A young, brilliant soldier in Ender’s Dragon army, whom Ender teases and abuses in an imitation of the way he was teased and abused when he was younger. Ender realizes he treats Bean in…
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Minor Characters
Miss Pumphrey
Ender’s schoolteacher immediately before he’s sent to Battle School.
Stilson
A young bully whom Ender fights, defeats, and (unknowingly) kills—proving to the International Fleet that he’s ready to be sent to Battle School.
Mick
A 13-year-old student at Battle School who talks to Ender on his first day and unwittingly inspires Ender to work hard—so that he doesn’t end up like Mick.
Rose
The lazy, undisciplined commander of the Rat Army, Rose at first teases Ender, but eventually ignores him when Ender proves that he’s far more talented than his commander.
Major Imbu
An officer at the Battle School.
Crazy Tom
A talented Battle School student who serves under Ender in the Dragon Army, and ultimately helps Ender defeat the Buggers.
Carn Carby
A Battle School student who commands the Rabbit Army, and is, Ender notes, one of the few truly decent people in Battle School.
Admiral Chamrajnagar
An important military leader, and the director of Command School (previously he had Colonel Graff’s job as director of Battle School).
Dink Meeker
A talented soldier in the Rat Army, who teaches Ender about the subtleties of combat, fights alongside Ender in his final battles with the Buggers, and suggests to Ender that the Bugger War is a vast conspiracy—a suggestion which Ender ultimately rejects.
General Shimon Levy
The “Strategos”—implied to be the leader of America.
The Polemarch
The supreme leader of Russia.
General Pace
An important American general who is involved in organizing Colonel Graff’s court-martial.
William Bee
Commander of the Griffin Army.
