Paul Bäumer (BOY-muhr) The sensitive twenty-year-old narrator of the novel, who has written poems and a play entitled "Saul." Paul reaches manhood during three years' service as a soldier in the Second Company of the German army during World War I. His loss of innocence during the cataclysm is the focus of the author's antiwar sentiment.
Tjaden (JAH-duhn) A thin, nineteen-year-old soldier with an immense appetite. A former locksmith, Tjaden is unable to control his urine during sleep and draws ridicule from Himmelstoss. Tjaden's drive for revenge reveals the negative side of an otherwise peaceable personality.
Müller (MEW-luhr) A scholarly young man who continues studying his physics books and thinking of exams. Pragmatic to a fault, he inherits Kemmerich's soft airman's boots, then wills them to Paul as Müller lies dying with an agonizing stomach wound.
Stanislaus "Kat" Katczinsky (STAN-ihs-laws kuh-ZIHN-skee) About forty years old, Kat, a crusty, jocular cobbler and veteran of the battlefield, serves as a noncommissioned tutor and father figure to Paul and the others, who depend on him for locating food, arranging for light duties, and helping them cope with the exigencies of survival, such as listening for incoming shells and sensing an attack. Not the least of his skills is the ability to joke in order to take the men's minds off bombardment.
Albert Kropp (kruhp) The best student in Paul's class, he joins Paul in rebelling against Himmelstoss' bullying. Albert is promoted to lance corporal, then threatens suicide after his leg is amputated at thigh level. Taking comfort from his companions, he resigns himself to an artificial limb.
Leer (lair) Paul's mature schoolmate and math whiz who titillates his comrades with details of sexual intercourse, which the others have yet to experience. In the summer of 1918, Leer bleeds to death from a hip wound.
