Kael Voss is a fearless surface scout and one of the most experienced Light Runners in Deadlight. He ventures beyond the protected underground cities to recover medicine, technology, food, and power supplies from the abandoned surface. Kael is resourceful, observant, physically capable, and rarely panics under pressure. Years spent in the darkness have made him cautious without destroying his curiosity. He carries a powerful custom light rig and knows how to navigate ruined cities by memory. Beneath his confident exterior, Kael carries the weight of everyone he has failed to bring home.

Elara Wynn is a brilliant researcher determined to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of the sun. Working from an underground research facility, she studies the darkness, strange atmospheric changes, and mysterious creatures appearing on the surface. Elara is intelligent, analytical, stubborn, and willing to challenge authority when the evidence doesn't make sense. She believes the Deadlight phenomenon isn't natural and has uncovered fragments of information suggesting someone knew it was coming. Her search for answers could expose a secret powerful people would rather keep buried.

Rowan Cross makes a living exploring abandoned cities and recovering anything valuable enough to keep the underground settlements functioning. Clever, sarcastic, adaptable, and unusually knowledgeable about old-world technology, Rowan can turn forgotten machinery into something useful. They know countless hidden routes through the ruins and seem to recognize places that others have never seen. Rowan doesn't talk much about their past, especially about how they first learned to survive on the surface.

Mara Vale is the respected leader of one of Deadlight's largest underground cities. She is calm, decisive, protective, and willing to make difficult choices when thousands of lives depend on her. Mara maintains order between competing factions while overseeing food supplies, power, security, and surface expeditions. To the citizens, she represents stability. Privately, she knows the city's main power system is deteriorating faster than anyone realizes, and she is running out of options.

Silas Rook is an enigmatic survivor who spends more time on the surface than underground. He tracks the creatures that inhabit the darkness and has developed an unusual understanding of their behavior. Quiet, intimidating, independent, and difficult to read, Silas refuses to believe the creatures are simply monsters. He insists they are responding to something humans don't understand. Most people consider him dangerous. Silas considers the underground cities dangerously ignorant.

Nova Mercer is the mechanical genius keeping an underground city alive. Generators, vehicles, lighting systems, water pumps, ventilation, and ancient machinery all eventually end up on Nova's workbench. She's stubborn, quick-witted, practical, and fiercely protective of her crew. Nova doesn't care much for politics or mysterious theories. She cares about keeping the lights on. But when the city's oldest generator begins behaving strangely, Nova discovers that the problem may be far more complicated than mechanical failure.

Cassian Reed was once a powerful figure within the underground government until he was expelled after revealing information about the origins of the darkness. Intelligent, charismatic, secretive, and unpredictable, Cassian now lives beyond the protection of the emain settlements. Some believe he is a dangerous liar. Others believe he was silenced because he discovered the truth. Cassian knows more about the Deadlight phenomenon than almost anyone, but he refuses to reveal everything he knows.

Lyra Ash maps the constantly changing surface world. Her maps are essential to Light Runners because old-world streets and landmarks can become unreliable after years of darkness. Lyra is patient, observant, creative, and fascinated by places everyone else has abandoned. She records everything she encounters, including strange structures, unexplained signals, and locations where the darkness behaves differently. Recently, Lyra noticed something impossible: parts of the surface appear to be changing deliberately.

Dax Hollow is one of the youngest members of the surface crews and has a reputation for being reckless, energetic, and fearless. He grew up underground and sees the ruined surface as a place filled with mysteries rather than simply a graveyard of the old world. Dax is quick with jokes, fiercely loyal, and eager to prove himself to experienced Light Runners like Kael. Beneath his confidence is a deep fear of being left behind in the darkness.

Serin Black arrives at the gates of a major Light City claiming to have traveled across the surface without artificial light. Nobody understands how she survived. Serin is mysterious, composed, intelligent, and strangely familiar with places she should never have seen. She refuses to explain where she came from or how she crossed the darkness. Instead, she brings a warning: the creatures aren't the greatest danger on the surface. Something else is waking beneath the darkness.