List of characters in Don Quixote

The following is a list of characters in the novel "Don Quixote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

The two main characters

* Don Quixote, the deluded Spanish gentleman of La Mancha Alonso Quijano (or Quesada, or Quijada), who believes himself and acts as a knight-errant as described in various medieval books of chivalry, riding his horse Rocinante.
* Sancho Panza (or Zancas), his illiterate peasant squire, who rides an ass, Rucio, and knows hundreds of proverbs.

Others

* Ambrosio, a shepherd, friend of the deceased "Grisóstomo"
* Ana Félix, fervent Christian maid, daughter of Ricote, rescued from Berbery.
* Antonia, Alonso's niece, a woman under twenty; she urges both the curate and the barber to burn all of Alonso's books
* Antonio, a goatherd, who plays a song for Don Quixote on the rebec (in Book I, Chapter 11)
* Avellaneda, author of the false Second Part of Don Quixote who is frequently referred to in Cervantes' second part.
* Cardenio
* Cid Hamete Benengeli ("Sidi Hamid Eggplant"), the fictional Arabic author (and learned authority) adopted by Cervantes and listed as the author of the adventures of Don Quixote. (In both 1605 and 1615, the very concept of a Novel was not yet even a concept in need of a term, hence the subterfuge presenting the tales as a history.) The legitimacy of amusing people for the sake of the amusement was not endemic in the times which the cultures and lifestyles were much more centered on religion. It was for example, the hey-days of the Puritans and the Calvanist religions and non-traditional experiences were looked upon with suspicion and disfavor.
* Dulcinea of El Toboso, the woman Don Quixote fancies his lady love; her real name is Aldonza Lorenzo
* Dorothea, a grieving, beautiful woman, was married to Don Fernando before he left for Luscinda, pretented to be Princess Micomicona to get Don Quixote to leave the mountains
* Ginés de Passamonte a.k.a. Ginesillo de Parapilla, criminal freed by Don Quixote
* Grisóstomo, a shepherd who dies of a broken heart after his declaration of love is spurned by "Marcela"
* Maritornes, an ugly, but kind-hearted servant at an inn in which Don Quixote and Sancho spend the night. She is unwittingly involved in a brawl in the middle of the night when Don Quixote mistakes her for the innkeeper's daughter, whom he believes is in love with him.
* Marcela, a wealthy orphan girl who dresses as a shepherdess and lives in the woods to commune with nature, and whose beauty attracts dozens of spurned suitors
* Montesinos, errant knight.
* Nicholas, the barber, Don Quixote's friend
* Pero Perez, the curate, who, along with Antonia, orders nearly all of Don Quixote's books burnt in hopes of curing him of his delusions (I:6)
* Ricote, a Morisco friend of Sancho, banned from Spain, but returned as a German pilgrim.
* Roque Guinart, a fictional version of the Catalan bandit Perot Rocaguinarda.
* Teresa (also named Joana) Panza and Sanchica, wife and daughter of Sancho
* Bachelor Sansón Carrasco, Don Quixote's friend who jousts with him disguised as a rival knight, in an effort to get him to return home.
* Don Sancho de Azpeitia, a Biscayane squire who cuts part of Don Quixote's ear off in a swordfight (I:9)
* Vivaldo, a shepherd who saves "Grisóstomo"'s poems of unrequited love from the fire

Unnamed but important characters

* The Duke and The Duchess, a couple of Aragonese aristocrats who invite Don Quixote and Sancho to their castle, where they "amuse" themselves by playing all sorts of humiliating pranks on them.
* Don Quixote's housekeeper, who carries out the book-burning with alacrity and relish.
* The innkeeper who puts Don Quixote up for the night and agrees to dub him a "knight," partly in jest and partly to get Don Quixote out of his inn quicker (I:3)