| 1 | Guy de Brisay | Sternwood | An elderly millionaire. Aka: General Sternwood. |
| | Philip | Marlowe | Private detective. Aka: Doghouse Reilly. |
| | Carmen | Sternwood | General Sternwood's daughter. |
| 2 | Vincent | Norris | General Sternwood's butler. |
| | Taggart | Wilde | District Attorney. |
| | Bernie | Ohls | The D.A.'s chief investigator. |
| | Terrance | Regan | Ex-bootlegger and Vivian's husband. Aka: Rusty. |
| | Joseph | Brody | One of Geiger's men. Aka: Joe. |
| | Arthur Gwynn | Geiger | A pornographer who runs an illegal smut rental shop. |
| | Vivian | Sternwood | Carmen's older sister. Aka: Mrs. Regan. |
| 5 | Charlie | Chan | Fictional Honolulu police detective. |
| 8 | Mathilda | | Mrs. Regan's maid. |
| 9 | Owen | Taylor | The Sternwoods' chauffeur. |
| | John | Dillinger | American gangster. |
| 11 | Marcel | Proust | French novelist, critic, and essayist. |
| | Eddie | Mars | Leader of a gambling racket. |
| | Larry | Cobb | Vivian's date. |
| 14 | Agnes | Lozelle | The front girl for Geiger's pornography rentals. |
| 16 | Carol | Lundgren | Geiger's young homosexual lover. |
| 18 | Captain | Cronjager | Local police captain. |
| 20 | Al | Gregory | An officer at the Missing Persons Bureau. |
| | Abba | | Gregory's secretary. |
| 23 | Lanny | | One of Eddie Mars's men. |
| 25 | Harry | Jones | Unskilled criminal. |
| | Mona | Grant | Eddie Mars's wife. Aka: Mona Mars, Silver-Wig. |
| | Lash | Canino | Eddie Mars's trigger-happy gunman. |
| 26 | Mr. | Schiff | Owner of the Glendower Apartments. |
