Character guide

The Narrator

major

Also known as I, me, mine, myself

An unnamed philosophical writer who witnesses the Martian invasion firsthand.

The Martians

major

Also known as Martians, the armoured Martians, These Martians, The sprawling Martians

Intelligent, tentacled invaders from Mars who devastate southern England with heat-rays and poison gas.

The Curate

major

Also known as curate

A panicked clergyman who shares the narrator's hiding place and descends into religious hysteria.

Ogilvy

supporting

Also known as poor Ogilvy

An astronomer who first confirms the Martian projectiles and is killed by the Heat-Ray.

Henderson

minor

Also known as poor Henderson

A journalist who reports the landing and is killed by the Martians.

Stent

minor

The Astronomer Royal who leads the delegation to the first cylinder and is killed.

Miss Elphinstone

supporting

A young woman fleeing the invasion with her sister-in-law, later rescued by the narrator's brother.

Mrs. Elphinstone

minor

The sister-in-law of Miss Elphinstone, fleeing London with her.

Lord Hilton

minor

A local landowner who tries to organize resistance and is killed.

Thunder Child

minor

Also known as The Thunder Child

A British ironclad warship that rams a Martian tripod before being destroyed.

The Artilleryman

supporting

A soldier the narrator meets who later proposes a futile underground resistance scheme.

The Narrator's Brother

supporting

A medical student who escapes London and rescues the Elphinstone women.