Character guide

David Innes

major

Also known as David, Innes, David I

An American explorer who bores back into the hollow Earth and finds himself emperor of a human federation he must hold together.

Abner Perry

major

Also known as Perry, dear old Perry, Poor Perry, the Perry, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, Presently Perry

The elderly inventor whose iron mole drilled David into Pellucidar, and whose restless genius keeps reshaping the world they found there.

Dian the Beautiful

major

Also known as Dian, Dian the Beautiful One

A Pellucidarian woman of the land of Sari, prized and pursued, whose steadiness of will matches David's own.

Hooja the Sly One

major

Also known as Hooja, the treacherous Hooja, the Sly One, hated Hooja

A Pellucidarian schemer whose talent for betrayal has cost David his empire, his federation, and nearly his mate.

Juag

supporting

A Pellucidarian castaway who throws in his lot with David, trading the sea's loneliness for a place in a growing human alliance.

Ghak the Hairy One

supporting

Also known as Ghak

King of the Sarians and David's most loyal lieutenant, a hairy chieftain whose kneeling homage restores an emperor to his throne.

Raja

supporting

Raja belongs to Pellucidar's dominant race, the winged Mahars, who consider humans a lower order and themselves the sole purpose of creation. Having passed through the iron mole into the outer world, she has seen night, stars, and machines driven by rational gilaks, and she creeps toward the sea carrying that unsettling knowledge. David lets her go, gambling that her testimony will force her kind to reckon with humanity's intelligence.

Gr-gr-gr

supporting

Also known as old Gr-gr-gr

Gr-gr-gr occupies the role of elder and keeper of lore among Pellucidar's human tribes, a figure whose age and experience set him apart from younger warriors. His authority rests on memory rather than strength, and the tension in his position lies in how much of what he knows is bound up with the Mahars' long dominion over men. For David, he represents a living archive of the world beneath the crust, useful precisely because the surface-born explorer cannot read Pellucidar on his own.

Ja the Mezop

supporting

Also known as Ja, First Ja

Ja stands among the Mezop people, a Pellucidarian race whose knowledge of coastlines, jungle, and the habits of the inner world complements David's outside perspective. His bond with David is tested by the constant pressure of Mahar dominance and rival tribes, and his willingness to fight beside an outsider marks him as both brave and politically exposed. He matters because David's mission depends on men like Ja who can move through Pellucidar's human societies without the Mahars' notice.

Dacor the Strong One

supporting

Also known as Dacor

Dacor moves through Pellucidar's warrior culture, where physical prowess and reputation determine standing and where the Mahars' shadow shapes every human calculation. His strength is matched by a pride that can curdle into suspicion of outsiders, and his relationship with David turns on whether he reads the surface man as ally or threat. He matters because the human resistance to Mahar rule needs fighters of his caliber, and because his choices reveal how Pellucidarians weigh honor against survival.

Cogdon Nestor

minor

Also known as Nestor

A human captive in Pellucidar encountered by David.

Frank Downes

minor

Also known as Downes

Another human captive from the outer world in Pellucidar.

Kolk

minor

A Sagoth leader who opposes David.

Goork

minor

A Sagoth warrior serving under Kolk.

Ranee

minor

A female Pellucidarian character encountered by David.

Tu-al-sa

minor

Also known as Tu

A Mezop ally who assists David.

Gilak

minor

A Pellucidarian warrior who joins David's group.