The Fall of Hyperion Study Guide

Pilgrims

• Martin Silenus – Silenus is a poet who has lived for centuries due to advanced technology and the coma-like cryogenic fugue state. Silenus was born into an aristocratic family on Earth, during the Hegira, and was later among the settlers of the Poets' City. He believes that the Shrike is his muse, as he is ableto write epic poetry only during the presence of the creature.
• The Consul – The Consul is a Hegemony diplomat whose home world, Maui Covenant, was invaded by FORCE during his youth. His grandparents sparked an unsuccessful but legendary rebellion against Hegemony rule, but his father became a Hegemony senator, and the Consul followed his father into the governmental structures of the entity that drastically changed their homeland. The Consul remains bitter toward the Hegemony, and has served as an erstwhile agent of the Ousters at times. He believes that he is responsible for the "opening" of the Time Tombs, due to actions he took while serving as consul on Hyperion.
• Brawne Lamia – The daughter of an influential Hegemony politician who was killed by the TechnoCore under the guise of a suicide, Lamia is a private detective who carries with her, in a neural implant, the persona of her "cybrid" lover, the first reincarnation of John Keats. It is through this persona that thenarrator is able to "dream" the pilgrims' experiences.
• Sol and Rachel Weintraub – Sol is a Jewish ethics professor, and his daughter Rachel, a former archaeologist, has been aging backwards since she was touched by the Shrike while researching the Time Tombs. Sol has compelling dreams to hand over his now-infant daughter to the Shrike. Having spent a portion of his life trying to understand the dilemma of Abraham when ordered to sacrifice his son Isaac, Sol has come to believe that the sacrifice of an "innocent" is unacceptable, but nevertheless travels to Hyperion.
• Fedmahn Kassad – Formerly a senior FORCE officer, Kassad has had encounters, both in computerized simulations and during an interlude on Hyperion, with a woman called Moneta, who appears to be the Shrike's "keeper" and eventually became Kassad's lover. After a bizarre transformation in which Moneta appeared to become the Shrike, Kassad fled, vowing to kill Moneta and destroy the Shrike.
• Het Masteen – Masteen is a captain of a "treeship," an interstellar passenger craft belonging to the Templar Brotherhood, an exclusive society dedicated to the preservation of nature. The Templars are secretly aligned with the Shrike Cult and have sent Masteen as their representative on the pilgrimage. He isalso directed to "pilot" the Shrike's "Tree of Thorns," on which the creature supposedly impales his victims. Masteen disappears during the events of Hyperion , but reappears near the end of the novel and is found at the beginning of The Fall of Hyperion .
• Father Lenar Hoyt – A Roman Catholic priest, Hoyt wears the cruciform, a parasite that resurrects its host continuously, until the host has atrophied into an asexual, mentally impaired being. Hoyt's mentor, Father Paul Duré, was assimilated into a tribe of cruciform-wearers on Hyperion, called the Bikura, who planted a cruciform on Duré. Hoyt, who wears his own cruciform as well as Duré's, hopes to die so that his mentor may yet again live.

Hegemony leadership

• Joseph Severn/John Keats – The second of two "cybrid" reincarnations of the poet, "Severn" updates CEO Gladstone on the fates of the Hyperion pilgrims and effectively narrates the novel through his vivid dreams.
• Meina Gladstone – Gladstone is the chief executive officer of the Hegemony and is a former senator and protégé of Brawne Lamia's father. Gladstone is often compared to Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and a fictional politician called Alvarez-Temp.
• Senator Gabriel Kolchev – Kolchev is considered to be among the most powerful Hegemony senators, and is a supporter of Gladstone's faction. He succeeds Gladstone as chief executive after the fall of the WorldWeb, but is forced to flee due to the ensuing chaos.
• Theo Lane – Lane succeeded the Consul on Hyperion after the latter retired; he is now the Governor-General of the planet, since admitted to the Hegemony's Protectorate. Lane is described as a bookish, bespectacled man.

TechnoCore artificial intelligences

• Ummon – Ummon is a leading figure in the TechnoCore's "Stable" faction, which opposes the eradication of humanity. He was responsible for the creation of the Keats "cybrids", and is mentioned as a major philosopher in the TechnoCore.
• Councilor Albedo – Albedo is a member of the AI Advisory Council, the organ of the TechnoCore that advises the Hegemony leadership circle. He serves as the Council's spokesman, and appears as a holographic projection.
• Councilor Nansen – Nansen serves as the Council's primary spokesman toward the end of the novel, and takes on a holographic form intended to create an impression of trustworthiness and reliability.

Ousters

• Coredwell Minmun is an Ouster spokesperson who participates in the tribunal that judges the Consul for his prior actions against the Ousters.
• Freeman Ghenga is a more senior Ouster leader who also participates in and seems to preside over the tribunal.

Others

• Monsignor/Bishop Edouard – Edouard is a confidante of Father Duré and a prestigious Church figure.
• True Voice of the Worldtree Sek Hardeen – Hardeen holds the most prestigious position in the Templar Brotherhood, and is described by Father Duré as the equivalent of a pope.
• The Shrike Cult Bishop – The Bishop, unnamed in the novel, is the leader of the Church of the Final Atonement. Among the Hegemony's most wanted men due to his role in inciting riots on the planet Lusus, the Bishop is mentioned to die after the fall of the farcasters, trapped with numerous acolytes in a suddenly airlesscavern.