Characters / Crime and Punishment

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

• Above Good and Evil: Tries to become this, but to no avail.
• Affably Evil: His murders aside, Raskolnikov can be genuinely respectful towards others and treat them with decency.
• Alliterative Name: Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov.
• Anti-Hero: An unscrupulous one, at least in his vision.
• Anti-Villain Protagonist: Of the well-intentioned variety. He plans to test his theory of murdering what he calls the pests of society without second thoughts and establishing himself as an Übermensch, but that doesn't change the fact that his actions are immoral.
• The Atoner: In the epilogue, Raskolnikov is sentenced to eight years of rehabilitation in Siberia after turning himself in.
• Big Damn Heroes: He confirms Lebezyatnikov's counterclaims against Luzhin's accusations of theft by Sonya.
• Break the Haughty: He tries to work up the confidence to psychologically get away with murder, but bit by bit, he falls apart inside.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Occupies the "brooding boy" aspect of this dynamic with Sonya.
• Byronic Hero: A handsome, brooding loner prone to internal struggles of moral philosophy.
• Deadpan Snarker: Raskolnikov is prone to making cutting, sarcastic remarks about his surroundings.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Played with. Raskolnikov genuinely loves his mother and sister, as well as his friend Razumikhin, but over the course of the story, he finds himself becoming more alienated from them, as well as society as a whole. That being said, he eventually starts to warm up to Sonya as she tries to soothe him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: A murderer he may be, but Raskolnikov becomes utterly repulsed by Svidrigailov's mere presence as he learns about the full extent of his depravity. He also has a nightmarish dream about a mare being viciously whipped and beaten, showing his feelings of horror towards animal cruelty.
• Good Is Not Nice: With more emphasis on the "not nice" aspect. While he does have good qualities to him, Raskolnikov's obsession with his theory of extraordinary people leads him to overlook the concerns of others at times.
• Heel Realization: When he confesses to Sonya, he starts to show signs of horror over the crime he's committed.
• It's All About Me: Subconsciously, Raskolnikov is rather selfish, as he's too focused on his theory to see the reality of his actions.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While cold, distant, and a murderer, Raskolnikov has a good side to him. He's very protective of his sister, affectionate towards his mother, remains friends with Razumikhin, and brings himself to help the Marmeladov family in times of need.
• Kick the Dog: Raskolnikov's relationship with Sonya has shades of both this and Pet the Dog. While he does genuinely take a liking to her and at one point bows before her saying that he's bowing before "all of human suffering", he also torments her with his theory of extraordinary people, for the most part with no shame. He also has a tendency to shut out his friend Razumikhin as well.
• Knight Templar: He firmly believes that his crime was committed for the greater good.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Very protective of his younger sister Dunya, especially when Luzhin and Svidrigailov are concerned.
• Murder Makes You Crazy: After killing his old pawnbroker along with her younger sister, he slides further into delirium until it culminates in his Heel Realization.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Remorse seems to finally seep its way into Raskolnikov as he confesses his crimes to the police when he turns himself in and willingly incriminates himself during his trial.
• Pride: Raskolnikov's biggest moral downfall is his excessive pride in his own theory of extraordinary people, which falls apart as he succumbs to mental illness after his murders.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Upon seeing the Marmeladovs' impoverished state, Raskolnikov's first instinct is to help, notably by donating to Katerina Ivanovna and trying his best to aid Semyon as he dies on the way home. His relationship with Sonya also has shades of this.
  • Even as he alienates himself from Razumikhin later in the story, Raskolnikov tells him that "you are a good man", and trusts his friend to take care of his family while he's gone.
• The Stoic: In the words of his friend Razumikhin, Raskolnikov isn't known to voice his feelings.
• Sympathetic Murderer: Raskolnikov's murdering of his old pawnbroker was, on his part, an exercise in ridding the world of its pests, and later struggles to answer to his conscience about his crimes.
• Übermensch: This ends up being averted when he falls ill after the commission of his crimes.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Raskolnikov chose specifically to murder Alyona Ivanovna for being a greedy pawnbroker in order to do what he sees as a service to the world.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Best shown in his interactions with Polechka, Sonya's younger sister. He's actually surprisingly gentle with her as he comes over to help their family when her father is on his deathbed. It's also part of the reason why he reviles Svidrigailov.

Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova

• Age-Gap Romance: Was set to be in this dynamic with Luzhin, but rejected him before he could ever take her hand in marriage. She instead ends up with a much better-fitting man in the form of Razumikhin, who's actually kind to her, on top of being much closer in age.
• Badass Pacifist: Dunya can maintain her resolve in just about any situation and not have to put up a fight. She manages to save herself from the likes of Luzhin and Svidrigailov because of her strong will alone.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Her compassion doesn't prevent her from having breaking points, such as when she fiercely tells off Luzhin and banishes him from her family.
• Good Is Not Soft: There's a lot she's willing to sacrifice in the name of helping her family. That being said, there are things that she will absolutely not put up with if it means sacrificing her moral compass.
• Happily Married: With Razumikhin.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Despite having some similarities to her brother, Dunya uses those qualities towards her unwavering sense of morality.
• Nice Girl: Dunya is staunchly compassionate and has a firm moral compass.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Strong-willed, compassionate Dunya ends up in a relationship with reasonable Nice Guy Razumikhin by the end of the novel.

Pulkheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova

• Character Death: Pulkeria falls deathly ill at the end of the novel.
• Nervous Wreck: Justified, given the circumstances. She worries deeply for his son's mental health as he spirals into delirium from the murders he committed, and clings onto any sense of goodness she believes he might have.
• Nice Girl: A kind and devoted mother.

Dmitry Prokovych Razumikhin

• Boisterous Bruiser: Jovial, energetic, and always ready for confrontation when things get heated.
• Genius Bruiser: On top of being physically strong, Razumikhin can also be reasonable and intelligent, as he's no stranger to philosophical conversations.
• Happily Married: In the end with Dunya.
• Hot-Blooded: Razumikhin is known for being quite passionate.
• Nice Guy: He's a loyal friend to Raskolnikov and looks after his mother and sister as if he were their second brother and son.

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova

• Adaptational Attractiveness: Modern artists and illustrators from the Western world took Dostoevsky's description (very pretty with superb blue eyes) at face value and◊ portray◊ her as a delicate Moe with facial features of a modern girl. Russian and Soviet artists and directors from the early Soviet age understood first-hand how poverty looked and they were not so enthusiastic◊.
• Break the Cutie: Sonya suffers a lot throughout the novel while still being quite young and innocent.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Occupies the "gentle girl" aspect of her dynamic with Raskolnikov.
• Dutiful Daughter: She becomes a prostitute in order to provide for her siblings.
• Extreme Doormat: Sonya is self-sacrificial to an extraordinary degree.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: She berates herself as a great sinner when she's really anything but.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She's a prostitute and a sweet-natured soul.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Everything she does is a sacrifice for others.
• Morality Pet: Sonya tries to bring out the best in everyone, but especially Raskolnikov.
• Nice Girl: Far and away the kindest and most altruistic character in the novel, Sonya gives her life to help others. She prostitutes herself to provide for her family, tries to redeem Raskolnikov, and is an all-around polite, gentle, and compassionate individual.
• Parental Abandonment: After her father dies from being trampled by a carriage horse and her stepmother dies of tuberculosis, it's up to Sonya to look after the younger children in the family.
• Platonic Prostitution: She provides time for Raskolnikov so he can get his emotional turmoil off his chest.
• The Redeemer: Sonya saves Raskolnikov's soul by encouraging him to confess his crimes to her, which starts him on his path to redemption.
• Shrinking Violet: She's soft-spoken, easily frightened, and meek in the company of others.
• Trauma Conga Line: She endures the loss of her parental figures, the exposure of Raskolnikov's theoretical rationalizations for his crimes, the news of her friend being murdered, and the framing of theft by Luzhin.

Semyon Zahkarovich Marmeladov

• Alcoholic Parent: Semyon's alchololism proves to be his downfall, as it leads him to unemployment and poor spending habits. This is what causes Sonya to take initiative in providing for the family.
• Bumbling Dad: He's not quite there, to say the least.
• Disappeared Dad: After death by trampling.

Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova

• Abusive Parents: She's rather violent towards her younger stepchildren at times and can let some nasty words loose at Sonya, who has done absolutely nothing to deserve them.
• Freudian Excuse: Katerina went through a difficult first marriage that's left her desperate ever since.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even though she doesn't always treat Sonya and her younger siblings with the gentleness that they deserve, Katerina is shown to be capable of sticking up for Sonya when the chips are down and still tries to care for her stepchildren overall.
• Troubled Abuser: Katerina insults Sonya, beats her children when they cry, and drags her husband by the hair. That being said, it's also implied that she's doing all of this as a way to cope with her own desperations in life, even if it doesn't excuse what she does to her family.
• Would Hurt a Child: Katerina is not as gentle as she should be with her stepchildren, even if she believes that she's actually disciplining them.

Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin

• Age-Gap Romance: He tries to set this up with Dunya only to get rightly rejected by her later. For reference, Luzhin is 45 while Dunya is 20.
• Bait the Dog: Luzhin donating to Sonya? That's just to frame her for theft.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Luzhin's attempts at good manners do nothing to hide how aloof and snooty he feels towards others.
• Big Bad: One of them, anyway. He's quite a pain for Raskolnikov to deal with, at the very least.
• Dirty Old Man: His obsession with Dunya has some shades of this, even though he's middle-age and not exactly old. He wants a younger woman of poverty with good looks and pure character so he can make her see him as her sole benefactor.
• Entitled to Have You: Given how he sees himself as Dunya's gracious benefactor, he believes that she should be indebted to him.
• Evil Counterpart: To Raskolnikov if he focuses too much on his prideful side.
• Evil Is Petty: He accused Sonya of theft just to get back at Raskolnikov for coming between himself and Dunya, who deserves every right to reject him as strongly as she did.
• Faux Affably Evil: His facade of refined mannerisms is only a thin cover-up for the conniving parasite that he actually is.
• Hate Sink: Luzhin's contemptuousness is pervasive, and every instance that someone expresses discomfort with him only causes him to rebuff, serving to make him that much more detestable in the eyes of the reader.
• Hypocrite: Luzhin chides his friend Lebezyatkinov for being this in regards towards the latter's treatment of women, while remaining willfully and blissfully unaware of the fact that the former isn't interested in a woman he can actually treat as a human being.
• It's All About Me: As a narcissist, Luzhin is pathologically selfish.
• Jerkass: He can easily be considered the most unpleasant, insufferable character in the book.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: As much as he appears to give Sonya money with no strings attached, he uses this as a set-up for his plan to frame Sonya for theft.
• Kick the Dog: He has quite the mean streak, from his treatment of Raskolnikov and his family, all the way to ruining the life of an innocent girl who never even did anything to him other than simply exist.
• Meaningful Name: His name literally means "puddle", which is a signifier of his shallow personality.
• Narcissist: He admires himself above everyone else, and his life philosophy revolves around loving himself first and foremost, along with obsessing over his public image, taking any slight against him as a personal attack, and being infuriatingly self-congratulatory over making Dunya fall into his whims so that she rapturously praises him at his every whim.
• Never My Fault: After being rejected by Dunya, he has the gall to blame it on Raskolnikov as opposed to actually working to become a genuinely desirable husband.
• Pride: A particularly Fatal Flaw of Luzhin's, even more so than that of Raskolnikov to the point where it can be considered deconstructed in this case. With Luzhin having as high as an opinion of himself that he does, it does nothing to endear him to the company of others.
• Smug Snake: Very much so, at least when things are under his control and not someone else's.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Lebezyatnikov and Raskolnikov foil Luzhin's plan to frame Sonya for theft, he angrily tries to make his way out so as to show how much he feels his pride has been wounded.

Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov

• Above Good and Evil: Svidrigailov is primarily looking out for himself and will do whatever satisfies his desires.
• Age-Gap Romance: In a similar manner to Luzhin, Svidrigailov craves notably younger partners than himself.
• Bait the Dog: He invites Dunya to talk about how to resolve Raskolnikov's issues only to make more unwanted advances towards her as he once did in the countryside.
• Big Bad: He causes major strife for Raskolnikov and his family, to the point where he's probably the strongest example of this trope in the novel.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He knows the depravity he commits, and he revels in it. But eventually, even someone like him can't run from his conscience forever.
• Dirty Old Man: Maybe not quite old, but he's a 50-year-old man arranging a marriage with a 15-year-old girl while secretly continuing to pursue Dunya.
• Domestic Abuse: Svidrigailov had a whip with which he would thrash his wife Marfa Petrovna in domestic disputes, which he attributes to his view of how women love to be affronted. He also makes a contract with Marfa that essentially allows him to cheat on her, as long as he remains romantically committed to her.
• Driven to Suicide: The morning he wakes up from his nightmares, he walks out to "go to America", by which he really means putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger.
• Evil Counterpart: To Raskolnikov if he were to prove his theory of extraordinary people true.
• Evil Feels Good: Svidrigailov fully acknowledges that what he does is evil, but he enjoys the thrill of his actions anyway. He even seems to take a disturbing kind of pride in the fact that he's doing evil things in the first place.
• Faux Affably Evil: He generally maintains a calm and polite tone of conversation, even in the midst of divulging the true depths of his heinousness. This also extends to his use of flattery to win women over.
• Falsely Reformed Villain: Upon his introduction, Svidrigailov proclaims himself a changed man after confessing his past, though the following chapters quickly show this to be a facade. Eventually subverted, though.
• Guilt-Induced Nightmare: As much as he tries to rest one night, he cannot avoid the visions of his former victims coming back to haunt him. It culminates in a dream involving a 5-year-old girl who Svidrigailov seems to assist and embrace, only for the little girl to turn feverishly attracted to him. Oddly enough, he reacts in genuine horror at the sight of this, realizing just how perverted his desires really are.
• Heel Realization: After his final rejection from Dunya, Svidrigailov enters a rare moment of clarity that eventually forces him to reconsider his desire to lead an untroubled life of evil.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: This is how Svidrigailov's parting with Dunya ends up, as much as someone like him could ever be capable of love.
• Manipulative Bastard: This is part of what makes Svidrigailov such a frightening character to witness. The manner in which he's able to follow his grand designs all the while remaining an enigmatic, looming presence throughout the novel always puts Raskolnikov on edge. He uses his manipulative abilities to nightmarish ends.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After waking up from his nightmares, Svidrigailov finally seems to feel pangs of remorse for his transgressions.
• Near-Rape Experience: Even though Svidrigailov never actually went through with the act, he certainly makes a threat that entails Dunya being sexually assaulted by him. However, as Dunya stops shooting him in self-defense while still imploring him to let her go, Svidrigailov suddenly felt moved by her earnest pleas for freedom, so he gives her the key to unlock herself free.
• Pet the Dog: As much as someone like him could ever be capable of mercy, anyway.
  • He gives Dunya the key he used to lock them inside, allowing her to go free.
  • Despite his prediliction for innocent young girls, Svidrigailov never once tries to take advantage of Sonya or her younger siblings. After the death of the Marmeladov parents, he donates to the institutions that raise their children and personally gives Sonya three thousand rubles in order to ease the burden she has of providing for her family, as well as allow her to visit Raskolnikov in prison.
  • Before he rents a motel room for the night, Svidrigailov hands the rest of his money to his teenage fiance as he tells them that he's "going to America" and that he'll return one day.
• Professional Gambler: He used to be this until it got him in jail, at which point his wife bailed him out.
• Redemption Equals Death: Svidrigailov commits suicide after rediscovering his conscience and understanding that there is a higher purpose in life than solely indulging in his own desires.
• Retired Monster: Svidrigailov presents himself as someone who "regrets" his crimes. But the remorse eventually becomes real.
• Sadist: Another one of Svidrigailov's scariest character traits. The sight of others writhing in agony, whether he be the cause of it or not, brings a twisted smile on his face.
• Scarpia Ultimatum: He offers to assist Raskolnikov and Dunya with generous donations, if only the latter agrees to be in a relationship with him. Otherwise, he will blackmail her brother and forcefully have his way with her, and there'll be nothing she can do about it, because, to him, she chose to come visit him alone.
• Serial Killer: He raped a deaf and mute 15-year-old girl and beat a male servant of his, both to the point of them committing suicide, and it's also been suspected that he poisoned his wife Marfa Petrovna to death.
• Serial Rapist: His most ghastly quality is his propensity to engage in sexual violence with young girls, whether it be children that had been entrusted to his care by desperate families, or child servants who work at his mansion in the countryside.
• The Sociopath: Svidrigailov is this in the sense that his depraved behavior mostly doesn't seem to have any significant negative effect on him. And indeed, his conscience remains mostly untroubled. Mostly.
• Stalker with a Crush: Yet another of Svidrigailov's disturbing traits. He simply won't give up on having his way with Dunya. It's actually not until the point where she has to fend for her life after he threatens her with rape that Svidrigailov starts to drop this mindset, coming to realize that he cannot make her submit to him.
• Übermensch: Svidrigailov is essentially the logical conclusion of Raskolnikov's theory regarding the acts of extraordinary people.
• Villainous BSoD: Dunya's ultimate rejection seems to have snapped Svidrigailov into one. The few good deeds he does later on, the nightmares he has the ensuing night, and the suicide he enacts the next morning are the rare specks of genuine conscience of a man who lived in a realm of malice.
• Would Hurt a Child: He rapes young girls who fall under his care and supervision.

Porfiry Petrovich

• Big Bad: To Raskolnikov, at least. In reality, he's simply a police officer trying to do his job.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: A seemingly eccentric yet harmless man who turns out to be a scarily competent investigator.
• The Gadfly: In an effort to get Raskolnikov to confess to the murders, Porfiry employs the use of psychological tricks in order to throw him off guard. It ends up having enough of an effect on Raskolnikov that it gradually causes him to break.
• Nice Guy: His mind games aside, Porfiry is genuinely fond of Raskolnikov and really does want what's best for him, to the point where he suggests that the latter turn himself in and confess to the crime in order to obtain a more lenient sentence and ease the psychological strain the murders have taken on him. Porfiry even offers to allow Raskolnikov to take a walk to clear the mind.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: This is what Pofiry's psychological trickery involves.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Porfiry is an officer doing his best to uphold his end of the law while treating Raskolnikov like a regular human being, even while putting him under suspicion of murder.

Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova

• The Atoner: She devotes time towards restoring Dunya's reputation.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After having accused Dunya of encouraging her husband Svidrigailov to be unfaithful, she learns the truth when he fills her in on the details and is left guilt-ridden as a result.

Andrei Semyonovich Lebezyatnikov

• Big Damn Heroes: He foils Luzhin's plan to accuse Sonya of theft at her father's funeral and is backed up by Raskolnikov in the process.
• Everyone Has Standards: Lebezyatnikov may be alleged to have beaten Katerina Ivanovna, but he finds Luzhin to be a vile man. He is troubled by Luzhin's definition of an ideal wife and insists of Sonya's innocence when she's accused of theft.
• Meaningful Name: His last name translates to "fawn up to", which explains how he became an acquaintance of Luzhin.

Nikodim Fomich

• Nice Guy: A considerate police chief who pays his respects to the late Marmeladov and helps encourage Raskolnikov to confess his crimes.

Ilya Petrovich

• Hair-Trigger Temper: Known for his explosive temperament, best shown through his suspicion of Raskolnikov as the murderer.
• Hot-Blooded: He's quite passionately involved in the case.

Alexander Grigoryevich Zamyotov

• Confess in Confidence: Becomes somewhat subject to this by Raskolnikov in the Crystal Palace, who then only claims he was joking. Zametov then understandably feels suspicious of him.

Alyona Ivanova

• Asshole Victim: Raskolnikov specifically chooses to murder her because she's a greedy, unscrupulous pawnbroker who abuses her tenants.
• Greed: Her biggest vice is that she leeches off of her property's residents.
• Jerkass: She's unpleasant and cruel towards everyone. Not even her younger sister Lizaveta is spared.

Lizaveta Ivanovna

• Extreme Doormat: She feels afraid to stand up for herself because of the abuse at the hands of her older sister.
• Kill the Cutie: She was killed simply for being a witness to her sister's murder.
• Nice Girl: In stark contrast to her sister Alyona, Lizaveta was known for being kind.
• Shrinking Violet: Lizaveta tends to be timid and reserved in the company of Alyona.

Nastasya Petrovna

• Nice Girl: Nastasya shows concern for Raskolnikov's and his family's health and does whatever she can, whenever she can, to bring them assistance.

Nikolai Dementiev

• False Confession: A painter who gives one of these to the police about the murders, only to be cleared soon after

Praskovya Pavlovna Zarnitsyna

• Satellite Character: Not much is known about her other than that she's Raskolnikov's landlady.

Polina Mikhailovna Marmeladova

• Children Are Innocent: A normal 12-year-old girl growing up in the Crapsack World that is Dostoyevsky's St. Petersburg.

Zosimov

• Nice Guy: A good friend of Razumikhin and a doctor who tries to assist Raskolnikov with his condition.