Noli Me Tangere Characters and their Characteristics

1. Captain Tiago

 A wealthy and influential Filipino man who host a dinner party to welcome
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y Magsalin back to the Philippines. He keeps close
ties with high-ranking members of the Catholic Church, despite actually
having no respect for religion, and shamelessly joins in others' racist insults
against his own people. His primary concern is to marry off his daughter,
María Clara, to an affluent man from an influential family. This is one of the
main reasons that he is quick to toss aside his loyalties to Ibarra when he is
labeled a subversive. His predilection for advantageous social pairings
makes him quick to assent to Linares as a potential new match for his
daughter.

2. Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin (Ibarra)

 A wealthy young mestizo who has just returned to the Philippines after seven
years of studying in Europe. Ibarra is sophisticated, highly esteemed, and
very idealistic. The priests of San Diego all view him with great wariness on
account of his highly liberal education and connections. His father, is Don
Rafael. Ibarra hopes to create a school in San Diego in order to carry out his
father's dreams and ideals, but he becomes entangled in conflicts with the
church and is forced to flee San Diego as a result of a conspiracy led by the
scheming Father Salví. In contrast to his more radical friend Elías, Ibarra
generally wants to work within systems to reform the Philippines, rather than
overthrow them, but he shifts towards Elías's beliefs as the novel progresses.
But the book ends without mentioning about his fate.

3. Don Rafael
 He is a very powerful man, which meant he had many enemies in both the
Spanish government and in the church. He was thrown in jail and accused of
subversion and heresybecause he accidentally pushed the government tax
collector whom he saw beating a boy in the street. He interfered and
accidentally pushed the man too hard causing the tax collector hit his head
on the rock which lead him to death. Father Dámaso also heaped new
accusations on him and everybody abandoned him. By the time he was
finally proven innocent, he had already died in prison. His body was thrown
into the lake by the gravedigger in spite of the instruction of Father Damaso
 to buried him in the Chinese cemetery, a less respected cemetery thinking
that it is more honorable resting place for him.

4. María Clara

 A woman of high social standing, she is thought to be the daughter of

Capitan Tiago and goddaughter of Father Dámaso. She is actually the
biological daughter of Father Dámaso, the product of a scandalous
relationship between the old priest and Capitan Tiago’s wife. María Clara
grew up alongside Ibarra and planned to marry him, but Father Dámaso
disapproved of the union. After Ibarra is excommunicated from the church,
her guardians set her up to be wed to Linares, a wealthy young man of
Spanish descent, and she tries to go along with the plan to avoid hurting her
father, the weak-willed Capitan Tiago. When Ibarra is put on trial for sedition,
she is coerced into surrendering the letters Ibarra has sent her as evidence
of his guilt. Ultimately, when she hears of Ibarra's apparent death, she
refuses to marry Linares and joins a convent.

5. Señor Guevara

 A lieutenant of the Civil Guard, Spain’s colonial armed forces that police the
Philippines.
 A morally upright man of Spanish descent who holds both Crisóstomo Ibarra
and the late Don Rafael in high esteem. He is one of the few who openly
support the Ibarras and is vocal about his dislike of Father Dámaso’s control.
He informs Crisóstomo Ibarra of the fate of his father and how Father
Damaso was involved in his death.

6. Father Dámaso

 A loud-mouthed friar whom Ibarra has known since childhood. He is an old,

power-hungry, and shamelessly corrupt Spanish priest who has lived among
the native Filipinos for nearly two decades. In spite of having spent all that
time among them, the years have done nothing to endear him or develop any
sympathy in him for his “flock.” He is deeply racist, as well as petty and
vindictive, and he thinks nothing of using his considerable influence to ruin
the lives of those who have slighted him, regardless of how small the offense
is. He masterminded the death of Don Rafael Ibarra, then brazenly taunted
the younger Ibarra. After he publically insults Ibarra's father, Ibarra attacks
him and he excommunicates Ibarra from the church. He is also the godfather
 (and, in fact, the biological father) of María Clara, giving him influence over
her relationship with Ibarra.

7. Elías

 A mysterious figure who saved Ibbara on an eventful fishing trip. He was the
one who told Ibarra that there is a plan to kill him during the school’s
benediction ceremony, warning him not to walk beneath a certain large stone
suspended by a pulley system. He also saved Ibbara for the second time
when Ibbara was put into prison and he helped him to escape from it and
tookhim away by a boat. When they realized that a boat chased after them,
he jump off the boat to confuse the people behind them but before diving, he
tells Ibarra to meet him on Christmas Eve in the woods near San Diego,
where Ibarra’s grandfather is buried with the family’s riches. He was
wounded and die before seeing Ibbara again and before he died, he Looked
up at the sky and utters his final words: “I die without seeing dawn’s light
shining on my country. You, who will see it, welcome it for me…don’t forget
those who fell during the nighttime.”

8. Father Salví

 San Diego’s new priest, is constantly at odds with the military ensign in
charge of the village’s faction of the Civil Guard. He uses his important
religious position to spite the ensign, fining the man for missing church
services and delivering purposefully boring sermons when he does attend.
He also interfere with other elements of everyday life in San Diego. His most
significant role in the novel comes through his plot to ruin Ibarra, who is
engaged to María Clara, who he is in love with.

9. The Ensign

 The nameless head of the Civil Guard of the township of San Diego who is in
charge of the village’s faction. He is in a constant bitter feud with Father Salví
to gain power in the town. He imposes curfews that make it all but impossible
for the citizens of San Diego to attend mass at the proper schedule. He
drinks excessively and is married to Doña Consolación, who he frequently
fights with.
10. Doña Consolación

 The pugnacious wife of The Ensign, Doña Consolación is an older Filipina

woman who is ashamed of her heritage and pretends to be unable to speak
Tagalog, her own native language. She fights with her husband frequently
and makes many of her husband's decisions for him. Despite being
described as very ugly, she is proud and demands respect from others.

11. Crispín

 A young and poor boy studying to be a sexton or church caretaker. Crispín

and his brother Basilio work ceaselessly to send support money to their
beleaguered mother, Sisa. Crispín is blamed for stealing money from the
church coffers by the head sexton and is kept a virtual prisoner until the debt
is paid. On the night that he and his brother were to visit their mother, the
head sexton keeps them until the curfew, effectively barring the brothers from
travelling. The head sexton beats him and he is never seen again afterward,
presumably dying at the hands of the cruel head sexton, though another
church official claims he escaped.

12. Basilio

 Basilio is Crispín's older brother. Like his younger brother, he works as a

sexton. Basilio makes a desperate run for their home the night Crispín is
dragged away and attempts to locate his younger brother the day after, but
his search efforts are fruitless. The following day, the Civil Guard comes
looking for him and his brother. Fearing for his life, he runs to the forest
where he goes into hiding, living with kind family until Christmas Eve. When
he finally locates Sisa, he learns that she has gone mad from grief and is
thus unable to identify him as her son. He follows her to the forest, where she
regains her wits temporarily and then dies from the shock.

13. Doctor Tiburcio de Espadaña

 A fraudulent doctor who treats María Clara for a sudden illness that
incapacitates her for several days after the incident between Ibarra and
Father Dámaso.
 He is a Spaniard who calls himself Doctor Tiburcio de Espadaña was actually
a customs officer who was dismissed from his post shortly after arriving in the
Philippines. Despite having no medical experience, he travels the countryside
posing as a doctor, charging extortionate fees for his so-called services after
 his wife encourages him to pretend to be a doctor. His patients eventually
catch wind of his schemes and he is forced to relocate to another area where
he is all but unknown. He finds his way to San Diego, where he resumes his
fake medical practice.
14. La Doctora Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña
 A brazen and determined Filipina social climber, Doña Victorina is the spouse of
the counterfeit doctor, Tiburcio de Espadaña. She is well past her prime and
relies on garish make-up to carry on a façade of youth. She eagerly tries to marry
off her nephew to María Clara, likely as a means to further advance her social
status.

15. Señor Guevara

 A lieutenant of the Civil Guard, Spain’s colonial armed forces that police the
Philippines. He is morally upright man of Spanish descent who holds both
Crisóstomo Ibarra and the late Don Rafael in high esteem. He is one of the
few who openly support the Ibarras and is vocal about his dislike of Father
Dámaso’s control. He informs Crisóstomo Ibarra of the fate of his father and
how Father Damaso was involved in his death.

16. Linares

 Dr. de Espadaña’s nephew, a respectable young Spanish man. Like his

uncle, he has forged credentials and hopes to climb through the social ranks.
He was betrothed to Maria Clara by Captain Tiago after Ibbara was
excommunicated from the church.

17. Captain General

 The topmost government official representing Spain who visits San Diego.
The friars implore him to punish Ibarra, but because his priorities are more
civic than religious and because he supports Ibarra’s mission to build a
school, he pulls strings to have the young man’s excommunication lifted.
18. Lucas
 The brother of the man hired to kill Ibarra with the large stone. Because of
the death of his brother, he wanted to make revenge on Ibbara. He was used
by Fr. Salvi to hatched plot against Ibbara and framed him which lead Ibbara
to imprisonment.
19. The Schoolmaster

 A teacher that Don Rafael housed, thus allowing him to suitably attend to the
task of instructing students. He informs Crisóstomo Ibarra of the bad state of
education of San Diego since the passing of his father. The friars closely
watch the material being taught in the school, forbidding him from teaching
Spanish. The schoolmaster is grateful to the Ibarra family, but he is not
hopeful that he’ll make headway in getting any lasting educational reforms to
happen.
20. Sisa

 The long-suffering mother of sextons-in-training Crispin and Basilio. She

goes mad upon the loss of her sons. Impoverished and married to a violent
drunkard, she is allied only with her sons. She wanders the town, clothes
tattered and hair disheveled, calling out for her sons. When she actually does
meet Basilio, she cannot recognize him.Seeing finally that he is her son, she
covers him with kisses. When Basilio wakes up, he finds that she has died by
his side.
21. Tasio

 The towns’ old philosopher who advised Ibbara with regards to his plan of
building a secular school in San Diego. He is believed to be crazy by most of
the community but he respects Ibarra and gives him valuable advice, and
also helped Ibarra's father before him.
22. Don Filipo (Filipo Lino)
 He is a representative of the younger, less religiously shackled generation of
movers and shakers in San Diego, and he also serves as the vice mayor of
the town. He despises the idea of spending lavish amounts of money on the
numerous feast days that mark the religious calendar, seeing it as both
wasteful and burdensome to the citizens. His words, however, fall on deaf
ears as he is only deputy mayor, and the mayor himself is a dedicated
follower of the Catholic church and the de facto mouthpiece of the friars.
 23. The Mayor
 Nothing more than a marionette of the Catholic priesthood, the unnamed
mayor of San Diego is very conservative and bows down to the religious
officials of the town.

24. The Yellow Man

 An assassin, tasked to kill the younger Ibarra, his plot to murder the young
man is thwarted by the cunning Elias. He is given this moniker for his
permanently sallow, jaundiced complexion.

25. Aunt Isabel

 A cousin of Capitan Tiago who raised Maria Clara as her own child after her
mother’s untimely death.