Jim Hawkins Twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy, an innkeeper’s son. Jim is the novel’s protagonist and chief narrator.

Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins Jim’s parents.

Billy Bones (“the captain”) An old sailor; a pirate.

Dr. David Livesey Local physician and district magistrate; Livesey is a minor narrator in Chapters 16–18.

Black Dog Billy Bones’ old shipmate; another pirate.

Pew A blind beggar; another pirate.

Mr. Dance A revenue officer, tax collector.

Squire John Trelawney A country squire; a wealthy man who finances the trip to Treasure Island.

Tom Redruth Trelawney’s gamekeeper.

Hunter Another of Trelawney’s servants.

Joyce Another of Trelawney’s servants, apparently the valet who takes care of his clothes and grooming aids.

Long John Silver A Bristol tavern-keeper; ship’s cook; another pirate.

Captain Alexander Smollett The new captain of the Hispaniola, the ship Trelawney has bought.

Mr. Arrow First officer of the Hispaniola; a drunkard.

Abraham Gray An honest seaman who is carpenter’s mate on the Hispaniola.

Tom An honest seaman who defies Silver; Silver kills him.

Alan A third honest seaman who is killed by the pirates.

Job Anderson The boatswain (officer in charge of the deck crew, anchors, boats, and so on) on the Hispaniola; a pirate.

Israel Hands The coxswain (officer in charge of the ship’s main boat and usually acting as its helmsman or steersman) on the Hispaniola; another pirate.

Tom Morgan, George Merry, O’Brien, Dick (and nine more unnamed) Crewmen on the Hispaniola; all are pirates and mutineers.

Ben Gunn The “man of the island,” who has been marooned there three years before; a reformed pirate.