Mr. Sardonicus

Baron's wife who appears devoted to her husband but is entangled in his cruelty. She navigates fear and leverage to protect her status, sometimes aiding the baron's schemes. Her presence anchors the moral complexity of the story, showing how personal relationships can sustain or resist tyranny.

Ruler with a chilling blend of aristocratic etiquette and sadistic impulses. He seeks a cure for his grotesque grin and extorts others to achieve it, blurring the line between tormentor and victim of his own condition.

A London physician visiting the castle, forced to choose between ethics and saving Sardonicus. He pursues dangerous experiments and ultimately reveals the affliction may be psychosomatic, calling into question the very nature of cure.

The baron's loyal servant and brutal enforcer, who enforces fear and carries out painful rituals on the locals. His memory of past cruelty fuels a chilling sense of inevitability around Sardonicus's fate.

The baron's maid, subjected to leeches and mistreatment as part of Sardonicus's sadistic experiments. Her suffering highlights the human cost of power and control.

Marek's father whose death and buried lottery ticket set the tragic chain that leads Marek to rename himself Sardonicus. His open coffin scene triggers the baron's grim obsession with power and fate.

Marek's wife whose ambition and love push the couple toward desperation, culminating in tragedy after Marek's terrifying transformation.

Born Marek Toleslawski, a humble farmer who becomes Sardonicus after a life‑shattering event. His grotesque smile and inability to speak seed a cycle of power, fear, and failed cures.