1. King Hamlet: Hamlet's father, King of Denmark, who was killed by his brother Claudius. Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison into his ear while he was sleeping in the orchard.
2. Polonius: Hamlet's former advisor, who was killed by Hamlet when he accidentally stabbed him while hiding behind a curtain in the Queen's chamber. Hamlet had been trying to speak with his mother and thought Polonius was Claudius eavesdropping.
3. Ophelia: Polonius's daughter and Hamlet's love interest. After her father's death and Hamlet's rejection of her, she descends into madness and eventually drowns herself in a river.
4. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz: Hamlet's former friends, who are sent by Claudius to spy on him. They are eventually executed along with Hamlet at the end of the play.
5. Gertrude: Hamlet's mother and the Queen of Denmark. She is accidentally poisoned by Claudius when he mistakenly gives her the poisoned wine he intended for Hamlet.
6. Claudius: Hamlet's uncle, who killed King Hamlet and became King of Denmark. Hamlet eventually avenges his father by killing Claudius during the climactic sword fight at the end of the play.
7. Hamlet: The main character and protagonist of the play, who dies at the end of the story after being mortally wounded by Claudius in the sword fight.