Men who hate women Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Lisbeth Salander

A 24-year-old hacker and researcher, a legal ward declared incompetent, with a dragon tattoo and no trust in anyone. Raped by her guardian, she destroys him with a hidden camera and a tattoo gun, then destroys a financier with a keyboard, and finally walks away from the only man she loved.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Flowers That Torment; Part 2: Two Wars, One Island; Part 3: The Basement; Part 4: Hostile Takeover
Themes:: Violence against women; Institutions fail the vulnerable; Surveillance and power; Loneliness as armor

Mikael Blomkvist

Publisher of Millennium, convicted of libel after accusing Hans-Erik Wennerström without proof. He takes Henrik Vanger's offer to salvage his career, solves a 36-year-old disappearance, and publishes his way back to his name.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Flowers That Torment; Part 2: Two Wars, One Island; Part 3: The Basement; Part 4: Hostile Takeover
Themes:: Institutions fail the vulnerable; Surveillance and power; Loneliness as armor

Henrik Vanger

Retired industrialist and patriarch of a family rotten with Nazis and worse. He has spent 36 years hunting for his grand-niece Harriet, convinced a relative murdered her, tormented each birthday by pressed flowers.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Flowers That Torment; Part 2: Two Wars, One Island; Part 3: The Basement
Themes:: The past is never buried

Martin Vanger

Harriet's brother and CEO of the Vanger Corporation, a serial killer continuing his father Gottfried's murders of women. He tortures Blomkvist in his basement and dies crashing into a truck rather than be caught.

Appears in:: Part 3: The Basement
Themes:: Violence against women; Surveillance and power

Harriet Vanger

The girl who vanished in 1966 at 16. She killed her abusive father in self-defense, fled with her cousin Anita's help, and lived as a wealthy sheep farmer in Australia until Blomkvist found her.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Flowers That Torment; Part 2: Two Wars, One Island; Part 3: The Basement
Themes:: Violence against women; The past is never buried

Dirch Frode

Henrik Vanger's lawyer, the quiet fixer who commissions Salander's background report on Blomkvist and later recommends her as his research assistant.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Flowers That Torment; Part 2: Two Wars, One Island

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Nils Bjurman

Salander's court-appointed guardian, a lawyer who rapes the woman he legally controls. She records him, tattoos his crime on his body, and takes back her life.

Appears in:: Part 2: Two Wars, One Island
Themes:: Violence against women; Institutions fail the vulnerable; Surveillance and power

Erika Berger

Editor-in-chief of Millennium and Blomkvist's long-time occasional lover. She stands by him through the libel conviction and helps publish the Wennerström exposé, and her presence is what Salander cannot bear.

Appears in:: Part 4: Hostile Takeover
Themes:: Loneliness as armor

How they are connected

Key relationships

Mikael Blomkvist Henrik Vanger
He takes Henrik Vanger's offer to salvage his career, solves a 36-year-old disappearance, and publishes his way back to his name.
Henrik Vanger Harriet Vanger
He has spent 36 years hunting for his grand-niece Harriet, convinced a relative murdered her, tormented each birthday by pressed flowers.
Martin Vanger Harriet Vanger
Harriet's brother and CEO of the Vanger Corporation, a serial killer continuing his father Gottfried's murders of women.
Martin Vanger Mikael Blomkvist
He tortures Blomkvist in his basement and dies crashing into a truck rather than be caught.
Harriet Vanger Mikael Blomkvist
She killed her abusive father in self-defense, fled with her cousin Anita's help, and lived as a wealthy sheep farmer in Australia until Blomkvist found her.
Nils Bjurman Lisbeth Salander
Salander's court-appointed guardian, a lawyer who rapes the woman he legally controls.
Erika Berger Mikael Blomkvist
Editor-in-chief of Millennium and Blomkvist's long-time occasional lover.
Erika Berger Lisbeth Salander
She stands by him through the libel conviction and helps publish the Wennerström exposé, and her presence is what Salander cannot bear.
Dirch Frode Lisbeth Salander
Henrik Vanger's lawyer, the quiet fixer who commissions Salander's background report on Blomkvist and later recommends her as his research assistant.
Dirch Frode Mikael Blomkvist
Henrik Vanger's lawyer, the quiet fixer who commissions Salander's background report on Blomkvist and later recommends her as his research assistant.
Dirch Frode Henrik Vanger
Henrik Vanger's lawyer, the quiet fixer who commissions Salander's background report on Blomkvist and later recommends her as his research assistant.

Go deeper

Men who hate women themes & symbols

Violence against women · Institutions fail the vulnerable · The past is never buried · Surveillance and power

Themes explained

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