Robert Jordan
Hero of the story, a young demolitions expert who is having his idealism rubbed off by the war.
- Army Scout: His local knowledge of the area gets him assigned the mission.
- Comes Great Responsibility: He feels responsible for everything but mostly to doing his duty.
- Badass Bookworm: A former university professor who left academia to volunteer for the International Brigades in support of the Spanish Republican cause. He becomes an explosives specialist charged with destroying key enemy fortification.
- Demolitions Expert.
- Driven to Suicide: Played with. His father committed suicide and he worries it's in the blood. As he lays dying he switches between this and duty.
- Dying Alone
- I Shall Taunt You: Tries it on Pablo to try and make him do something stupid but he won't bite.
- I Should Write a Book About This.
- Pillow Pistol.
- Raised by Grandparents: A necessity because of his father's suicide. He hero-worships his grandfather instead of his father.
Pablo
Leader of the band of guerillas, once a legend, now gone to seed.
- Badass Decay: In-Universe, this has already happened.
- Dirty Coward: Zigs and zags this throughout.
- Distracted by the Sexy: By Maria but Robert Jordan moves in too quickly for this to mature.
- For the Evulz: Pilar and others from the band tell he engaged in massacres, torture, robbery and most of the previous months of war he had been just a bandit killing for profit.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: His taking on of the tank at the sentry post.
- Street Smart: In comparison to Robert Jordan's book smarts.
- The Alcoholic: Degraded himself into a wretch due to drinking.
Maria
Rescued by the guerillas in a train attack before the book's action starts.
- Affectionate Nickname: Robert Jordan calls her "guapa" (Spanish word meaning pretty) or "rabbit".
- I Am Not Pretty
- Love Interests
- Rape as Backstory: She was raped by the fascists who executed her parents.
- Single-Target Sexuality: After the Robert Jordan experience.
- Traumatic Haircut: Her head was shaved by the fascist mob.
Pilar
The real leader of the guerillas and, nominally, Pablo's woman.
- Effortless Amazonian Lift: In the book she carries big heavy loads through the woods and easily carries Maria on her shoulder after she is saved from a blown up convict train.
- Irony: Her speech to Pablo in front of the entire band, saying that between foul people, the drunkard is the foulest, as the thief, robber or killer still have by necessity times when they don't rob or kill and above all they don't practice their vices in their own homes. Coming from an author whose love for alcohol is legendary...
- Whatevermancy: In this case Palmistry, which she seems to believe wholeheartedly. Robert Jordan not so much. Probably.
Anselmo (The Old Man)
First of the guerillas Robert Jordan meets and his closest ally.
- Cool Old Guy: Had been a skilled mountain guide and big game hunter before the war and he can hold his own in a fight.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: A pacifist, he is averse to killing, but proves himself a valuable asset all the same.
Agustin
The joker amongst the guerillas
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: He carries a torch for Maria too.
Fernando
The big quiet guy in the guerillas
- Big Eater:
- The Quiet One: He's not the most talkative guy.
Rafael
A gypsy.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: He sometimes get distracted by game he wants to hunt, as shown in the Playhouse 90 production.
- Big Eater: He likes eating what he catches.
- Blood Knight: He enjoys war and hunting.
- Death by Adaptation: The Playhouse 90 TV film. He survives in the novel.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: In the Playhouse 90 TV film, when a rope gets caught on the bridge, he successfully pulls it loose in a last-ditch grasp, allowing the bridge to be destroyed.
- Go On Without Me: Not in the novel, but in the Playhouse 90 TV film, he insists that everyone leave him on the bridge so he it can die with him.
- Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: In the Playhouse 90 TV film, after blowing up a soldier, he pauses to smile at Pilar before getting shot.
