Major characters[edit]

Crisóstomo Ibarra[edit]
Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, commonly referred to in the novel as Ibarra or Crisóstomo,
is the novel's protagonist. The mestizo (mixed-race) son of Filipino businessman Don Rafael Ibarra,
he studied in Europe for seven years.[5][6] Ibarra is also María Clara's fiancé.

María Clara[edit]

A crayon sketch of Leonor Rivera-Kipping by Rizal. Rivera, who was Rizal's longtime love interest, is the
commonly accepted basis for the María Clara character.

Main article: María Clara

María Clara de los Santos, commonly referred to as María Clara, is Ibarra's fiancée and the most
beautiful and widely celebrated girl in San Diego. [7] She was raised by Kapitán Tiago de los Santos,
and his cousin, Isabel. In the later parts of the novel, she was revealed to be an illegitimate daughter
of Father Dámaso, the former curate of the town, and Doña Pía Alba, Kapitán Tiago's wife, who
had died giving birth to María Clara.[8]
At the novel's end, a heartbroken yet resolved María Clara entered the Beaterio de Santa Clara (a
nunnery) after learning the truth of her parentage and mistakenly believing that her lover,
Crisóstomo, had been killed. In the epilogue, Rizal stated that it is unknown whether María Clara is
still living within the walls of the convent or is already dead. [9]

Kapitán Tiago[edit]
Don Santiago de los Santos, known by his nickname Tiago and political title Kapitán Tiago, is
said to be the richest man in the region of Binondo and possessed real properties
in Pampanga and Laguna de Baý. He is also said to be a good Catholic, a friend of the Spanish
government and thus was considered a Spaniard by the colonial elite. Kapitán Tiago never attended
school, so he became the domestic helper of a Dominican friar who gave him an informal education.
He later married Pía Alba from Santa Cruz.[7]

Padre Dámaso[edit]
Main article: Father Dámaso
Dámaso Verdolagas, better known as Padre Dámaso, is a Franciscan friar and the former parish
curate of San Diego. He is notorious for speaking with harsh words, highhandedness, and his cruelty
during his ministry in the town.[10] An enemy of Crisóstomo's father, Don Rafael Ibarra, Dámaso is
revealed to be María Clara's biological father.[8] Later, he and María Clara had bitter arguments on
whether she would marry Alfonso Linares de Espadaña (which he preferred) or enter the nunnery
(her desperate alternative).[11] At the end of the novel, he is again reassigned to a distant town and
later found dead in his bed.[9]

Elías[edit]
Elías is Ibarra's mysterious friend and ally. Elías made his first appearance as a pilot during a picnic
of Ibarra and María Clara and her friends.[12]
The 50th chapter of the novel explores the past of Elías and history of his family. About sixty years
before the events of Noli Me Tángere, Elías's grandfather Ingkong in his youth worked as a
bookkeeper in a Manila office. One night the office burned down, and Don Pedro Eibarramendia, the
Spaniard owner, accused him of arson. Ingkong was prosecuted and upon release was shunned by
the community as a dangerous lawbreaker. His wife Impong turned to prostitution to support
themselves but eventually they were driven into the hinterlands. There Impong bore her first son,
Balat.
Driven to depression, Ingkong hangs himself deep in the forest. Impong was sickly for lack of
nourishment in the forest and was not strong enough to cut down his corpse and bury him, and Balat
was then still very young. The stench led to their discovery, and Impong was accused of killing her
husband. She and her son fled to another province where she bore another son. Balat grew up to be
a bandit.
Eventually Balat's legend grew, but so did the efforts to capture him, and when he finally fell he was
cut limb by limb and his head was deposited in front of Impong's house. Seeing the head of her son,
Impong died of shock. Impong's younger son, knowing their deaths would somehow be imputed
upon him, fled to the province of Tayabas where he met and fell in love with a rich young heiress.
They have an affair and the lady got pregnant. But before they could marry, his records were dug up.
Then the father, who disapproved of him from the start, had him imprisoned. The lady gave birth to
Elías and his twin sister but died while the two were still children. Nonetheless, the twins were well
cared for, with Elías even going to Ateneo and his sister going to La Concordia, but as they wanted
to become farmers they eventually returned to Tayabas.
He and his sister grew up not knowing about their father, being told that their father had long died.
Elías grew up to be a young abusive brat who took particular joy in berating an elderly servant who,
nevertheless, always submitted to his whims. His sister was more refined and eventually was
betrothed to a fine young man. But before they could marry, Elías ran afoul with a distant relative.
The relative struck back by telling him about his true parentage. The verbal scuffle mounted to the
point where records were dug up, and Elías and his sister, as well as a good part of town, learned
the truth. The elderly servant who Elías frequently abused was their father.
The scandal caused the engagement of Elías' sister to break off. Depressed, the girl disappeared
one day and was eventually found dead along the shore of the lake. Elías himself lost face before
his relatives and became a wanderer from province to province. Like his uncle Balat he became a
fugitive and his legend grew, but by degrees he became the gentler, more reserved, and more noble
character first introduced in the novel.

Pilósopong Tasyo[edit]
Filósofo Tasio (Tagalog: Pilósopong Tasyo) was enrolled in a philosophy course and was a
talented student, but his mother was a rich but superstitious matron. Like many Filipino Catholics
under the sway of the friars, she believed that too much learning condemned souls to hell. She then
made Tasyo choose between leaving college or becoming a priest. Since he was in love, he left
college and married.[13]
Tasyo lost his wife and mother within a year. Seeking consolation and in order to free himself from
the cockpit and the dangers of idleness, he took up his studies once more. But he became so
addicted to his studies and the purchase of books that he entirely neglected his fortune and
gradually ruined himself. Persons of culture called him Don Anastacio, or Pilósopong Tasyo, while
the great crowd of the ignorant knew him as Tasio el Loco on account of his peculiar ideas and his
eccentric manner of dealing with others.[13]
Seeking for reforms from the government, he expresses his ideals in paper written in a cryptographic
alphabet similar from hieroglyphs and Coptic figures[14] hoping "that the future generations may be
able to decipher it."[15]

Doña Victorina[edit]
Doña Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña, commonly known as Doña Victorina, is an
ambitious Filipina who classifies herself as a Spaniard and mimics Spanish ladies by putting on
heavy make-up.[10] The novel narrates Doña Victorina's younger days: she had lots of admirers, but
she spurned them all because none of them were Spaniards. Later on, she met and married Don
Tiburcio de Espadaña, an official of the customs bureau ten years her junior. [16] However, their
marriage is childless.
Her husband assumes the title of medical "doctor" even though he never attended medical school;
using fake documents and certificates, Tiburcio illegally practices medicine. Tiburcio's usage of the
title Dr. consequently makes Victorina assume the title Dra. (doctora, female doctor).[16] Apparently,
she uses the whole name Doña Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña, with double de to
emphasize her marriage surname. [16] She seems to feel that this awkward titling makes her more
"sophisticated".

Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio[edit]

Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio represent a Filipino family persecuted by the Spanish authorities:

 Narcisa, or Sisa, is the deranged mother of Basilio and Crispín. Described as beautiful and
young, although she loves her children very much, she cannot protect them from the beatings of
her husband, Pedro.
 Crispín is Sisa's seven-year-old son. An altar boy, he was unjustly accused of stealing
money from the church. After failing to force Crispín to return the money he allegedly stole,
Father Salví and the head sacristan killed him. It is not directly stated that he was killed, but a
dream of Basilio's suggests that Crispín died during his encounter with Padre Salví and his
minion.
 Basilio is Sisa's 10-year-old son. An acolyte tasked to ring the church's bells for
the Angelus, he faced the dread of losing his younger brother and the descent of his mother into
insanity. At the end of the novel, a dying Elías requested Basilio to cremate him and Sisa in the
woods in exchange for a chest of gold located nearby. He later played a major role in El
filibusterismo.
Due to their tragic but endearing story, these characters are often parodied in modern Filipino
popular culture.

 Salomé is Elías' sweetheart. She lived in a little house by the lake, and though Elías would
like to marry her, he tells her that it would do her or their children no good to be related to a
fugitive like himself. In the original publication of Noli Me Tángere, the chapter that explores the
identity of Elías and Salomé was omitted, classifying her as a totally non-existent character. This
chapter, entitled Elías y Salomé, was probably the 25th chapter of the novel. However, recent
editions and translations of Noli include this chapter either on the appendix or as Chapter X (Ex).