First published: New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons (1969)
This is a complete list of characters in Roger Zelazny's novel Damnation Alley. This list is provided as a resource for students and researchers. Characters in bold print are the most important.
| Name | Page First Mentioned | Brief description, role |
|---|---|---|
| Hell Tanner | 7 | The novel's protagonist. Yes, 'Hell' is his given name. Considers himself the last of the Hell's Angels. Orphaned as a child, raised by various relatives in post-apocalyptic California, his experience as a smuggler makes him the best driver available. Has a violent past but a good heart, buried very, very deep down. Resourceful and intelligent. Apparently he is an ethnic Mormon by birth (but wasn't raised with any religion). |
| unnamed California State Patrolmen | 8 | various unnamed California State Patrolmen |
| Mr. Denton | 12 | Secretary of Traffic of the nation of California |
| Mrs. Fiske | 12 | Mr. Denton's secretary. A prayerful Catholic. |
| Franklin Harbershire | 18 | President of Boston |
| Peabody | 19 | Pres. Franklin Harbershire's assistant |
| the Chief | 20 | chief of police in Boston |
| Denny Tanner | 21 | Hell Tanner's brother. A driver, he hires on to be one of the drivers to Boston, but his own brother punches him to break his ribs, in order to prevent him from going on the dangerous journey. Denny is engaged to be married, and Hell Tanner doesn't want to see Denny die. |
| Greg | 32 | Another of the original five drivers. Greg becomes Tanner's driving partner when one of the three vehicles is destroyed and another driver is killed. May be part Native American. Most important character other than Tanner. |
| Mike | 32 | Another of the original five drivers. Killed by a giant Gila monster. |
| Marlowe | 32 | One of the origial five drivers. In a different car from Tanner after one of the three cars is destroyed. His name isn't revealed until pg. 37. |
| two other unnamed drivers | 37 | Rounding out the original five. Tanner really never gets to know him or Marlowe because they are in a different car, which is eventually destroyed or lost. |
| Charles Britt | 34 | Boston businessman making a lot of money on funeral services as the plague decimated Boston's population. |
| Gorman | 41 | Was the supervisor of the California to Albuquerque mail run. Tanner injured Gorman when working under him as a driver. Retired the year before the novel takes place due to his injuries. |
| Margaret | 41 | A young blonde piano player who had worked at Pedro's, a bar in Albuquerque when Tanner had been driving regular mail runs between there and California. |
| street preacher | 42 | In Boston |
| John Brady | 43 | The only driver sent from Boston who made it all the way to California to ask for the medicine needed to cure the plague there. His first name is given on pg. 48. |
| Monk | 49 | A mechanic in Salt Lake City. Acts as a temporary guide for Tanner and Greg while they're in SLC. |
| President Travis | 49 | First mentioned on pg. 49. First appears on pg. 51, when he pays a visit to Greg and Tanner. Secular leader of the civilization centered on Salt Lake City, and probably the Latter-day Saint religious leader as well. |
| Darver | 50 | A resident of Salt Lake City who had been sent to accompany John Brady to help him make it the rest of the way to Southern California to ask for medicine for Boston. Darver never made it to California and presumably died en route. |
| Red | 50 | A resident of Salt Lake City. Monk tells him to bring Tanner and Greg some breakfast. |
| Blinky | 54 | A small-town crook who lives in Salt Lake City. Attacks Tanner physically, which proves to be an injurious mistake. |
| Alex | 62 | A guy Greg knows in California, who told him about the dog-eat-dog ecology of post-apocalyptic wildlife. |
| Sergeant Donahue | 76 | An officer in Boston |
| Lieutenant Spano | 76 | An officer in Boston. Shoots a young boy who was looting a sporting goods store. |
| unnamed boy in Boston | 76 | Shot and killed by law Boston law officers while looting a sporting goods store. |
| Geoffrey Kanis | 84 | A scientist, specifically a biologist, that Tanner and Greg meet while stopping in a barn in Ohio to get out of bad weather. Kanis is quite insane, having witnessed a nuclear holocaust, and then participated in the mob violence against university professors that came afterward. |
| Bates | 85 | Originated the theory of Batesian mimicry. Mentioned by Kanis. |
| Samuel Potter | 95 | An old man in Pennsylvania who provides assistance, and a clean place to wash up to Tanner and Greg, and lets Greg stay at his place to recuperate from injuries. |
| Roderick Potter | 96 | Samuel Potter's son. |
| Caliban Potter | 96 | Samuel Potter's son. |
| Susan Potter | 101 | Samuel Potter's wife. Very kind, like her husband. |
| unnamed doctor | 102 | The doctor in Pennsylvania that Samuel Potter brings to treat Greg's injuries. |
| Jerry Potter | 103 | Samuel Potter's grandson. A boy fascinated with Tanner. They have some extended conversations. |
| unnamed teacher | 106 | Tanner's school teacher, who he recalls told him a story about a machine that controlled everything in the world. It was a metaphorical story, but Tanner took it literally. |
| Bill | 110 | Bartender in a bar and restaurant Tanner stops in enroute between Pennsylvania and Boston. Fills Tanner in about the conditions in Boston, but doesn't believe that Tanner is from California. |
| Evelyn | 113 | A young woman (17 years old) dying of the plague in Boston. Fred's girlfriend. |
| Fred | 113 | A young man dying of the plague in Boston. Evelyn's boyfriend. |
| unnamed motorcycle gang members | 119 | Dozens of motorcycle gang members who try to stop Tanner between Pennsylvania and Boston. |
| Cornelia | 120 | Member of the 'Studs' motorcycle gang, until Tanner wipes them out after they attack him. She joins Tanner on the last leg of his trip to Boston, and is the novel's third most prominent character after Greg and Tanner. Goes by 'Corny.' |
| Dr. Henry Soames | 137 | Doctor in Boston trying to treat the countless people dying of the plague. |
| Karen Akers | 137 | Nurse assisting Dr. Soames. |
| Mermoz | 143 | A historic figure who "crossed the South Atlantic in a hydroplane and negotiated that region called the Black Hole off the coast of Africa..." |
| Big Brother | 146 | Leader of a gang (the second major one) that tries to stop Tanner between Pennsylvania and Boston. |
| Father Dearth | 149 | a priest out of Albany, who Tanner sees in a dream |
Web page created 24 March 2001.