Yossarian The novel’s protagonist is a bombardier, a burgeoning pacifist, and an avowed adversary of Catch-22.
Chaplain Tappman One of the most decent characters in the novel, and consistently a friend to Yossarian, the chaplain grows from a timid, ineffectual fool to a bold and assertive force for reason and justice. Throughout, he is kind and introspective.
Corporal Whitcomb The chaplain’s antagonistic, atheistic, sadistic assistant, he initiates the form letters of condolence and is partly responsible for the C.I.D. investigation of the chaplain.
Milo Minderbinder Initially a friend of Yossarian, the mess officer is a genius as an entrepreneur, creating a syndicate that controls the black market. As a human being, his failings include bombing his own men for profit.
Doc Daneeka A flight surgeon who first explains “Catch-22” to his friend Yossarian (Chapter 5), he is listed on McWatt’s logs so he can receive flight pay despite his aversion to flying. Pronounced officially dead by the military when McWatt crashes, he is frustrated in his attempts to convince anyone that he is alive.
Mrs. Daneeka Officially informed of her husband’s death, she is confused by written pleas for help from Doc Daneeka. She comes into a fortune through insurance policies and moves to Lansing, Michigan, leaving no forwarding address.
Colonel Cathcart The squadron’s commanding colonel, who wants to be a general, he keeps raising the number of missions needed to complete a tour of duty. Cathcart has a fear of failure (“black eyes”) while yearning for success (“feathers in his cap”).
Colonel Korn A lieutenant colonel who is Cathcart’s assistant, he is the more clever and sinister of the two and the one who articulates the “deal” to Yossarian.
Nurse Duckett Despite Yossarian’s boorish assault on her in the hospital, she later becomes his lover until she decides to marry a doctor, any doctor, because doctors make lots of money. Critics point to Duckett as an example of Heller’s difficulty in creating credible female characters.
Luciana A somewhat romanticized young woman with an “invisible scar,” she has a brief fling with Yossarian while he is in Rome on leave.
McWatt A bold but foolish pilot, he delights in buzzing Yossarian’s tent as well as the bathers at the beach, eventually killing Kid Sampson.
Kid Sampson One of Yossarian’s pilots, he is killed by McWatt in a macabre accident.
Lieutenant Nately A nineteen-year-old friend of Yossarian, from a privileged background, he falls in love with a prostitute whom he plans to marry. His argument with a diabolical old man at a brothel in Rome is one of the novel’s entertaining debates on values.
