Stranger in A Strange Land - Characters

Characters

• Crew members of the Envoy, the first human attempt to travel to Mars. Their ship survives the trip to Mars, but then ceases transmission, and their fate is unknown for the next 20 years.
  • Mary Jane Lyle Smith — power technician. Before leaving Earth she patents technology, placed in trust, which was subsequently developed into the Lyle Drive, the principal form of spaceship propulsion. Biological mother of Valentine Michael Smith, who legally owns the fortune accrued from the profits on sales of her invention.
  • Dr. Ward Smith — ship physician and legal father of Valentine Michael Smith.
  • Captain Michael Brant — captain and biological father of Valentine Michael Smith.
  • Dr. Winifred Coburn Brant
  • Mr. Francis X. Seeny
  • Dr. Olga Kovalic Seeny
  • Mr. Sergi Rimsky
  • Mrs. Eleanora Alvarez Rimsky
• Valentine Michael Smith — known as Michael Smith or "Mike"; the "Man from Mars", raised on Mars in the interval between the landing of his father's ship, the Envoy, and arrival of the second expedition, the Champion; about 20 years old when the Champion arrives and brings him to Earth.
• Officers of the Champion. These people became "water brothers" to Mike on Mars or during the trip back, but this information is only revealed to Mike's earthbound human friends when they meet the officers.
  • Captain van Tromp
  • Dr. Mahmoud, nicknamed Stinky — semanticist, of Arab descent, and a devout Muslim; the second human (after Mike) to gain a working knowledge of the Martian language, though does not "grok" the language.
  • Dr. Sven Nelson — ship's physician and personal physician to Mike at Bethesda Medical Center until he withdraws from the case in a confrontation with the Secretary General (see below)
• Government officials — Several government officials have roles at least at the beginning
  • Secretary-General Joseph Douglas ("Joe Douglas") — the head of the Federation of Free States, which has evolved indirectly from the United Nations into a true world government.
  • Gil Berquist — assistant to Secretary Douglas. Mike makes him and a policeman disappear during a confrontation with Jill (see below).
  • Alice Douglas — (sometimes called "Agnes"), wife of Joe Douglas. As the First Lady, she controls her husband, making major economic, political, and staffing decisions. She frequently consults an astrologer Becky Vesant (see below), for major decisions. It is implied that she is an agent of the same afterlife in which Foster, Digby, and later Mike find themselves.
  • Assemblyman Kung — de facto head of the Eastern Coalition, a political bloc opposed to Douglas in the Federation.
  • Senator Tom Boone — politician and senior member of the patriarchal Church of the New Revelation (Fosterite), who wants Mike's wealth and prestige to accrue to the faith.
• Gillian (Jill) Boardman — frees Mike from his imprisonment at Bethesda Hospital where she is a nurse. Ben Caxton continuously proposes marriage to her throughout the book.
• Ben Caxton — investigative journalist and potential boyfriend of Jill. He makes her aware of Mike's legal significance (potential ownership both of enormous amounts of Earthly wealth and the planet Mars itself, at least according to Federation law), and persuades her to bug Smith's hospital suite, revealing an attempt by Douglas to defraud Smith of this wealth and power.
• James Cavendish — a Fair Witness employed by Ben in an attempt to expose a fake Man from Mars shown on stereovision. Fair Witnesses are a legal institution created to provide impartial and accurate observation of potentially contentious legal situations. The character Anne (see below) is also a Fair Witness.
• Jubal Harshaw — popular writer, lawyer, and doctor, now semi-retired to a house in the Poconos northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Harshaw's age is never given but is probably at least 80 by indirect indications. When Ben Caxton disappears, Jill takes Mike to Harshaw to defend his rights, but succeeds only when the authorities threaten Mike. Harshaw himself is addressed as "Father" by Mike in the book's later portions, and comes to perceive himself as such after Mike's death.
• Anne — (no last name given) oldest and tallest of three female secretaries to Harshaw. Has total recall and Fair Witness standing (see Cavendish above).
• Archangels — provide some commentary and act quite apart from the humans. A third archangel, Michael/Mike, is introduced by Foster to Digby at the very end of the book as Digby's new supervisor.
  • Foster — The founder of the Church of the New Revelation (Fosterite); apotheosis after poisoning by Digby.
  • Digby — Supreme Bishop Digby, Foster's successor as head of the Church of the New Revelation; apotheosis to angel under Foster after Smith causes him to disappear.

In the preface for the re-issued book, Virginia Heinlein writes

The given names of the chief characters have great importance to the plot. They were carefully selected: Jubal means "the father of all," Michael stands for "Who is like God".