- Pierre – The main male character. Starts out as an oaf but goes through profound changes.
- Count Bezukhov – Pierre’s father. Rich and old.
- Andrei – Pierre’s best friend. Has unreasonably high ideals for achieving glory and having people love him.
- Lise – Andrei’s wife. Pregnant with their son, Nikolenka.
- Baron Bolkonski – Andrei’s father. Insufferably overbearing.
- Marya – Andrei’s sister. Religious. Devoted to their father, Baron Bolkonski.
- Mademoiselle Bourienne – Marya’s attendant.
- Butler Tikhon, Overseer Alpatych, Dron – Andrei’s servants.
- Natasha – The main female character. Very passionate. Always surprising.
- Sonya – Natasha’s best friend and cousin, an orphan who lives with the family.
- Nicholas – Natasha’s brother, who wants to be a hero. Learns the true meaning of courage.
- Denisov – Nicholas’s boss.
- Petya – Natasha’s young brother. Sweet and impetuous. Eventually goes to war.
- Count and Countess Rostov – Natasha’s lovely parents. The count may fritter away his wife’s money, but he is good at being happy.
- Boris – The social climber. Smarmy and shallow.
- Widow Drubetskoy – Boris’s mother, who helps him in his social climbing.
- Baron Vasili – The bad guy.
- Helene – Baron Vasili’s naughty daughter. A femme fatale.
- Anatole – Baron Vasili’s naughty son. A seducing Casanova.
- Hippolyte – Another son.
- Julie – Rich heiress. Pen pal of Marya (Andrei’s religious sister).
- Dolokhov – The psycho. A terrible friend but a great soldier.
- Platón – The noble peasant. Understands the joy of simply being alive.
- Anna Palovna – Socialite hostess.
- Napoleon – The enemy.
- Général Murat – One of Napoleon’s many generals.
- General (later promoted to Marshal) Kutuzov - The wise Russian military leader.
- Marshal (later demoted to General) Barclay de Tolly – Kutuzov’s boss (later replaced by Kutuzov).
- Major Bagration – Kutuzov’s main general.
- General Pfuel – Smart general with a lot of plans that never work out.
- General Raevsky – Showy general willing to sacrifice his sons for glory.
- Artillery Captain Tushin. Hardworking but under-valued.
- The Tzar – Head of Russia.
- Secretary of State Speransky. A reformer of government with a cold and artificial manner.
- Mayor Rastopchin. The foolish mayor/governor of Moscow.
- Political prisoner.
I believe that listing more characters than the above only promotes confusion, but if you want a more complete list, here Wikipedia's lists of the characters in War and Peace:
Wikipedia also has several pages about the characters:
| Fictional characters | |
|---|---|
| Historical characters |