Among the other noteworthy characters, Cora Munro, though she indicates some timid affection for Heyward and some cautious interest in Uncas, goes beyond the usual sentimental heroine. She takes on depth because of her moody nature and her innocent involvement in miscegenation, but she too does not develop within herself. Chingachgook throughout is the quiet, stoic, and noble Indian who has been dispossessed of land and tribe. He is a chief (one notes that when he joins the battle near the end, Hawkeye relinquishes to him his "place" as rightful leader of the armed Indian band) whose sadness and loss are intensified, not altered, by the final turn of events. The venerable patriarch Tamenund, who does not appear until late in the novel, is nonetheless significant as an Indian who, in growing very old, has watched and felt the decimation of his race. Much as in a Shakespearean tragedy, he, as the most important personage left on the scene, gives the final, summary oration. Yet his too is a static characterization.
Magua deserves separate consideration as perhaps the second most important persona in the novel. He is the archenemy in whom all the evil side of savagery is illustrated. Other bad Indians are common but are usually in the background or come to the fore only occasionally. Magua is a constant threat, motivated by revenge, a man of great strength and cunning. He is an individual in his own right, pursuing his personal cruelty and desires, but he is also representative. As such, he embodies the salient attributes of evil, yet he is not merely evil. Within his way of life, his is a worthy ambition to reinstate himself with his people, to regain a chance to lead an existence that to him is noble and right. His real attitude toward Cora is revealed in his final inability to kill her and his immediate attack on the man who does stab her to death. Since Magua, who represents the evil Indian, is not all bad, he stands as a caution against a too easy assumption that Cooper invariably separates his Indians into the good and the bad. As an antagonistic character seen mostly from across the line of conflict, Magua is yet one of the best developed ones in the novel.
