Lord of the Flies / Characters

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Ralph

Played by: James Aubrey (1963 film); Balthazar Getty (1990 film)

A twelve-year-old boy who is very serious about keeping order on the island and is the main protagonist of the story. Quickly after uniting with the other boys, Ralph is elected chief.

Action Survivor: Despite only being twelve years old, he is surprisingly adept at surviving whilst stranded on the island. This is highlighted by the fact that, even after he becomes the only one on the island not on Jack's side, and thusly opposed by Jack's feral tribe, he lives and is rescued along with the other boys.
Adaptational Dye-Job: The opening line of the book describes Ralph as the boy with fair hair. James Aubrey retains this in the 1963 film, while Balthazar Getty kept his black hair for the 1990 movie.
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Ralph seems to present a mild case of ADHD as he has trouble keeping focus, remembering things and often falls into daydreams. He also got excited when he discovered the island free of adults, but sometimes lost track of what was happening around him. It's implied that the stress he's under trying to be a responsible Chief exacerbates this.
Beauty Equals Goodness: Ralph is described as fair haired and charismatic. It is implied that this is why the boys immediately selected him as their leader over Jack, because they felt comfortable with him being in charge, despite not knowing anything about him.
Berserk Button: Jack is the main cause of his anger outbursts.
- Let the fire go out. I dare you.
Big "NO!": Ralph's reaction to Piggy's death in the 90's film.
Break the Cutie: Alongside with the twins. At the end, though saved, it's implied he'll never be the same as before he landed on the island.
Cain and Abel: Symbolically, Jack and Ralph. They are good friends in the beginning, until Jack's jealousy and greed gets in the way and he ends up betraying Ralph and trying to kill him.
Catchphrase: Earlier on in the story, Ralph says "Wacco!" quite a bit. He finds himself saying it less and less as the story goes on, due to things becoming considerably less and less "Wacco!"
Character Development: Ralph starts out as a happy-go-lucky, naive boy, who enjoys circumstances just as every other regular child and particularly admires Jack for a controlling and abusive personality, while he puts down the altruistic Piggy, in a tentative to act similar to Jack. Becomes quite responsible during the book, as he befriends Piggy and Simon and learns to be more considerate from them.
Cheerful Child: Initially joyous and free-spirited, this being another strong contrast between him and Jack, who is mostly brooding and serious. Ralph also has a light sense of humor, as he plays and often laughs, makes fun of Piggy's nickname just like the rest of the kids, but stops after some time, compared to Jack whose humor is dark, violent and never gets tired of physically and mentally bullying the other boys.
Good Is Not Nice: At the beginning, he is like any other regular kid who likes to make fun of the weaknesses of other people, hence he laughs at Piggy's nickname and tells everyone about it. He also insults Simon behind his back and calls him 'queer'.
- Ralph begins his chiefdom wielding his authority with cheer and with much focus on "having fun". As time goes on and his temperance suffers from the boys' inability to follow simple rules, he begins laying down the law, introducing sensible policies and bluntly shouting down criticism.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Mostly, in the sense that he's of the nicer and civil boys on the island.
Heroic Build: One of the reasons why he is chosen is that he's broad and muscular for 12.
Jerkass Ball: See above.
No Full Name Given: Like most of the other boys, his full name goes unmentioned.
Not So Above It All: The pre-island events Ralph acts pretty similarly to Jack, though he's not nearly as vicious and wicked, but he has his moments. It is one of the reasons he gets along with Jack so well, before he is hit by the reality of the events and especially by the difference between Jack's depraved morality and Piggy's good one.
Plucky Girl: Or in his case, Plucky Boy. He's optimistic and cheerful during a great part of the book, until the group starts falling apart. This is what differentiates him from Jack too, as Jack is simply a Determinator, mostly being grim and fierce.
Pretty Boy: Most beautiful out of all the boys, which is one significant reason why he's chosen as leader in the first place. This also has some invokedambiguous implications.
The Protagonist: The story unabashedly follows him and promotes him as, comparatively speaking, the heroic character.
Red Oni, Blue Oni:
- During the island events, Ralph is the Blue Oni to Jack's Red Oni. Jack is passionate, wild, defiant, while Ralph is the calmer one, more sensible and intellectual.
- Pre-island events, the roles seem to be reversed, as Jack has a harsher and colder nature, while Ralph is quite energetic and perky.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The sensitive guy to Jack's manly man. Red-haired Jack is aggressive, even downright brutal and loves confrontation, compared to fair-haired Ralph who dislikes violence and is much more of a pacifist. They even practice different activities, as Ralph usually stays in the same place, watching over the younger boys and trying to assure them their safety, while Jack is more dynamic, as he runs around the island and is set on hunting and killing animals.
Team Mom: Along with Piggy and Simon, particularly later, when Ralph becomes more mature and responsible and actually shows his concerns over the littluns. He even bickers with Jack about it, given that they're the boys who are mostly in charge, because Jack doesn't care in the least about the problem.
Took a Level in Kindness: Transforms from a bratty kid into a considerate boy.
Younger Than They Look: Along with Jack, both boys are 12, but they are described with physiques of older teenagers.

Piggy

Played by: Hugh Edwards (1963 film); Danuel Pipoly (1990 film)

A boy around the same age as Ralph. He is bullied and excluded by the other boys because he has asthma, wears glasses, is overweight, and has minimal social skills. However, academically, Piggy is also smarter and considerably more mature than the rest of the boys.

Acting Your Intellectual Age: He acts very mature and grown up, indicating his high intelligence, but he still occasionally breaks down when things get too much for him.
Blind Without 'Em: Without his eyeglasses, Piggy can distinguish light and shadow, large areas of color, and that's about it.
Brainy Brunette: Brown hair, and the smartest or at least intellectual, of the cast.
Butt-Monkey: So very, very much. He's only known by his embarrassing nickname, tormented ceaselessly for being physically unfit, and ultimately killed off unceremoniously.
Dare to Be Badass: Towards the climax of the book, he finally musters the courage to shout down Jack's savages and call them on their stupidity and mindless brutality. It provokes Roger to kill him in irritation.
Fatal Flaw: His righteousness combined with his enormous physical handicaps made him an easy target for Jack and his minions. His final stand leaves him completely helpless and easily killed by the boulder.
The Friend No One Likes: Letting aside the fact that he's not liked by the rest of the group, not even his friends truly like him, proven by the fact that Ralph still thinks low of him in latter chapters, despite that they are quite close, and that Simon feels shame after he offers Piggy his food, because the other boys laugh at him for it. He gets truly appreciated by Ralph after his death, when it's too late.
Geek Physique: Distinguished from the others by being overweight and The Smart Guy.
Insufferable Genius: Is highly intelligent, has a great logic for his years and has many ironical lines because of it, which is why he's mostly bullied.
Kill the Cutie: He's one of the two boys who get killed in the course of the story.
Mysterious Past: Although his life prior to the events of the book have yet to be given too much detail (including his real name), what we do know is that his life was pretty sappy. His parents died some time ago and he lives with his sweet as sugar aunt, who runs a candy store.
Nerdy Inhaler: He doesn't have an inhaler on the island, but his asthma is clearly supposed to play a part in highlighting him as "the nerdy one".
No-Respect Guy: It's played for horror in that, despite his intelligence, nobody gives him any respect and ultimately he gets unceremoniously killed by Roger.
Non-Action Guy: Piggy's asthma is severe enough to render him unfit for strenuous physical activity.
Only Known by Their Nickname: It's a rather sad case: he hates his nickname, which was given to him by other boys who teased him at school. To be fair, though he’s kinda an idiot for telling Ralph this detail instead of his actual name.
Parental Neglect: Piggy talks about his aunt as if she's his mother, implying that he either spent most of his time with her because his parents were too busy/neglected him, or she was his legal guardian because his parents were dead.
Scapegoat: Piggy gets blamed for everything bad that happens on the island.
The Smart Guy: Has most logic out of all the boys, while Simon is the most spiritually intelligent.
Smart People Wear Glasses: One of the most intelligent boys on the island, and distinguished by his glasses.
Sour Supporter: Is reluctant about voting for Ralph, given how Ralph acted towards him at first, but he decides he's still better than Jack. He's also skeptical and cynical regarding the behavior of the other boys, particularly Jack's, which is why he becomes Jack's punching bag.
Wise Beyond His Years: Is the most intelligent, along with Simon.
Voice of Reason: His main role in the book.

Jack Merridew

Played by: Tom Chapin (1963 film); Chris Furrh (1990 film)

Another boy about Ralph's age who is controlling, short-tempered, and arrogant. He wanted to be chief to begin with but lost the election in favor of Ralph himself. He serves as the story's main antagonist.

Ambition Is Evil: Jack wants to be the leader, no matter what it takes, and is portrayed as a psychotic, murderous bully because of it.
Arch-Enemy: He serves this role to Ralph, ending up as the Big Bad of the book.
Author Avatar: William Golding implied that Jack represented his dark self, particularly his young, teenage self, and admitted that, like Jack, he liked to hurt and bully his peers.
Ax-Crazy: Jack's the one that initiated everything that goes wrong; he's the first to provoke the schism by convincing the other boys to abandon the signal fire to go hunting wild pigs with makeshift spears. He then lures the stranded boys deeper and deeper into savagery, from setting up a barbaric totem to placate "The Beast" to stirring up the wild tribal dance that gets Simon killed to finally trying to smoke Ralph out of hiding to spear him to death.
Adaptational Attractiveness: Described as ugly and lanky in the beginning of the book. Both actors, however, are good looking during the entire films.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Redheaded in the book, blond in the 1990 movie.
The Bad Guy Wins: Subverted at the last moment. Jack had attracted the rest of the children on his side, by the end of the book, leaving Ralph with no followers capable of mounting an effective resistance ("just some littleuns"). There was little to stop Jack killing Ralph, but the timely arrival of an adult rescue party renders Jack's triumph moot.
Big Bad: He has a Face–Heel Turn that we're not even going to bother to spoil. It was pretty obvious.

The Bully: Towards many of the other kids. Particularly Piggy, who states by the end that Jack frightens him too much.
Cain and Abel: Symbolically, Jack and Ralph. They are good friends in the beginning, until Jack's jealousy and greed gets in the way and he ends up betraying Ralph and trying to kill him.
Control Freak: He wants to be in charge and, in chapter two, he threw a fit, after a failed pig hunt, when things didn't go his way.
The Corrupter: Corrupts almost the entire group of boys into joining him.
Crazy Jealous Guy: A friendship example (invokedwhich is debatable by many). Jack seems to be extremely jealous of Ralph's friendship with Piggy, as he is particularly sarcastic and scornful to Ralph when he mentions or talks about Piggy. Jack dislikes Piggy at first because he is overweight and he finds him annoying, but Jack viciously hates Piggy later without apparent reason. He even cruelly beats Piggy at one point, suggesting that his jealousy is one of the reasons Jack has come to dislike Piggy so much.
Creepy Blue Eyes: Jack is the only character whose eye color is mentioned and emphasized more than once by the author, especially during the first part of the book, most probably to suggest that something is definitely wrong with him.
At length he let out his breath in a long sigh and opened his eyes. They were bright blue, eyes that in this frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad.
Creepy Child: His bloodlust, brutal "chieftain" behavior, murderous acts and the frequently described crazed look in his eyes deem him as this.
Determinator: Does anything to get what he wants. And he always succeeds, sooner or later.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: After he becomes chief, he uses frequent bellowed profanities, insults, taunts and rousing cheers to whip his followers into frenzied obedience.
Enfant Terrible: Only twelve years old, but capable of killing wild pigs before graduating to attempt to murder his rival for dominance.
Even Evil Has Standards: Even though Jack hates Piggy, he's still shocked—however briefly—when Roger murders him.
Evil Counterpart: To Ralph. It says something that, when Ralph thought about giving up being the leader, Piggy convinces him not to, because, as we can see, Jack being the leader would be worse and it was. Jack mostly cares about being in charge but doesn't really care about everyone's well-being or being civil like Ralph does.
Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He's amused only when he insults other people or when he bullies them.
Evil Is Bigger: The tallest boy on the island and the Big Bad.
Evil Is Burning Hot: Hot-Blooded, red-haired and burns the island in the end.
Evil Is Hammy: Arrogant and chaotic and yells a lot. Also: "Bollocks to the rules!/You should have seen the blood!".
Evil Laugh: Does one along with a savage dance, when he paints himself for the first time.
Evil Redhead: Red hair. Evil. He has blonde hair in the 1990 movie, though.
Face–Heel Turn: He starts out as first a seemingly good candidate for a leader, then a good second in command to Ralph, but he soon switches side to leading his own tribe, and then becomes determined to subjugate Ralph if he can or kill him if he can't.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: In the two films, where his good looks in contrast to the hideous book version, stand in sharp contrast to his savage and murderous behavior.
Faux Affably Evil: Is capable of acting quite polite, when he wants to manipulate other people, but the key word is "acting."
Fiery Redhead: Easily excitable and with a high temper.
Fisher Chief: He turns Ralph's lush, green island into a flaming hellhole that saves them in the end. In addition, he and his hunters have free reign over said land, with them terrorizing and bullying Ralph's group and anyone who fails to follow the rules is dealt with severely, as poor Wilfred learned the hard way.
Green-Eyed Monster: Almost everything he does is because of his envy.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Gets angry almost over everything, but he particularly blows into full rage when Piggy admonishes him and when Ralph calls him a 'thief' at the end.

The Hedonist: As the story progresses, he becomes more interested in having fun, playing and killing pigs all day (even stealing Piggy's glasses to start fires with no intent to share them with Ralph's group) than getting off the island and returning to civilization.
He Who Fights Monsters: Although it's arguable if he had good intentions to start with, he becomes increasingly brutal and downright murderous as the story proceeds.
Hot-Blooded: Reckless and hotheaded, which is why Ralph often gets exasperated with him.
Hypocrite: Initially he's incredibly enthusiastic and supportive of Ralph's idea to keep everyone in line with rules, even suggesting it would be a good idea to punish and/or scold anyone who broke them. The moment he decides he wants to start doing things that aren't allowed and Ralph scolds him, he says that the rules don't matter and that they were a stupid idea anyway.

Jerkass: Even before he becomes a direct antagonist, Jack is brash, arrogant, demanding, impatient, and generally unpleasant to be around. Many of his characteristics are inspired by Adolf Hitler.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: The only real time he showed any compassion was a brief moment after Piggy's death (which he got over rather quickly).
Lack of Empathy: Is apparently unable to comprehend positive feelings.
Large Ham: He is very loud and prone to flamboyant, braggadocios statements in order to express his feeling of his own importance.
"I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp."
Last-Name Basis: Mentions how he prefers to be called by his last name by his followers, most probably because it offers him more authority.
Lean and Mean: The tallest boy on the island and has a thin, bony build, but Jack is later described as sinewy.
Manipulative Bastard: Insincerely apologizes when Ralph and the other boys start accusing him for his fire mistake, so he can make them like him again. He also manipulates them into joining him through various promises and convincing speeches.
Might Makes Right: In the beginning he accepts Ralph's democratic leadership, because it instils a sense of normalcy and rules. But eventually, as his Sanity Slippage begins to take hold, he decides that him and his hunters have a right to lord over all the other boys and do and take whatever they please simply by virtue of being the strongest and most well-armed group.
Narcissist: Jack Merridew cares about no one but Jack Merridew.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In an attempt to kill Ralph, Jack sets the whole island on fire to smoke him out of the woods. If he hadn't done this, the navy ship never would have noticed the island, the boys would have never been rescued, and Ralph would have been murdered.
Progressively Prettier: Is described as ugly and gangling in the beginning, but the author seems to suggest that puberty starts doing good on him, as he describes him later as a tall boy with muscles and a lean body, who is also one of the physically strongest - if not the strongest- out of all the boys - this also might have to do with the fact that he's made after the Coral Island's Jack Martin, who represented physical strength.
Psychotic Smirk: Usually smirks or grins when someone is beaten or hurt. He also maniacally laughs when he paints himself for the first time.
Putting on the Reich: His reign as chief is very Nazi-esque, with Ralph's group being persecuted and those who sympathize with them, along with those who disagree with his order, being harshly punished.
Real Men Eat Meat: What ultimately brings his downfall; to show off his skills, rather than let the boys survive on fruit, he convinces them to join him in hunting the wild pigs native to the island. This causes them to abandon the signal fire, which means a ship fails to spot them, and leads Ralph to chew him out in front of the boys; this enflames Jack's ego and leads to him causing a split in the group.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Ralph's Blue Oni, respectively; whilst Ralph focuses on the logical things the survivors need to do, such as gathering food and maintaining a signal fire, Jack focuses on "having fun", such as by hunting.
Rival Turned Evil: While Jack and Ralph are friends who have some sort of rivalry in the beginning, they become straight-up enemies later on, due to Jack's bloodlust and thirst for power.
Sadist: Becomes one during the book but it becomes more telling when he decides to hunt Ralph because it sounds fun to him at the end and there's that one scene in chapter eight where he's just as delighted that they killed a sow.
Sanity Slippage: He goes from a normal Jerk Jock character to a bloodthirsty savage willing to smoke out another boy and hunt him down like a wild animal for his own amusement.
Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: He very quickly goes mad with power when he realizes the other boys are willing to follow him instead of Ralph, demanding to get his own way rather than following the rules that Ralph laid down.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly man to Ralph's sensitive guy. Jack is obsessed with doing vicious and even aggressive things, as he wants to hunt, wants to have his own group of hunters, likes to be violent, always brags about himself how strong and mighty he is, while Ralph is calmer, more sensible and much more of a pacifist.
Sir Swears-a-Lot: Is mentioned to be this, as he constantly swears and uses particularly inappropriate words, especially for a twelve years old boy. This is accentuated in the scene where Simon tries to warn them about the beast, because he rudely interrupts Simon and swears so vulgarly that the whole group of boys hysterically laughs about it.
Spoiled Brat: He is very aggressive and thinks the entire island should cater to his every need. He is also too proud to realize the damage his ineffectual rule has caused despite all his bluster.
The Sociopath: He very quickly develops a taste for blood, and soon becomes willing to kill other boys on purpose.
Stupid Evil: Downplayed. Jack and his hunters burning down the island wasn't a very smart move, but the silver lining out of this is that they got rescued.
Sympathy for the Devil: As monstrous as he is, there are moments that explore his insecurities and make it hard not to feel bad for him.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Has some snarky lines and is described as being the tallest of the boys.
Teens Are Monsters: He's technically not a teen, at only twelve, but he's still a murderous, bloodthirsty, violent, self-absorbed, vicious savage.
Took a Level in Badass: Starts off lanky when first introduced, but later on gains enough muscle to fight Ralph evenly.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: Once he ultimately sways his classmates onto his side, Ralph is ultimately alone and Jack is now the de facto king of the island. However, his reign proves to be disastrous due to his apathy, lack of common sense and he's too proud to acknowledge that he isn't "ten times the chief" Ralph is. Not to mention he ends up burning the whole island down just so he could hunt Ralph.
Villainous Friendship: With the whole group of choir boys, but this applies especially to his friendship with Roger and Maurice.
Younger Than They Look: Same as Ralph.

Simon

Played by: Tom Gaman (1963 film); James Badge Dale (1990 film)

"Maybe there is no beast. Maybe it's only us."

A boy about the same age as the three mentioned above. His chronic fainting spells and love for nature occasionally cause him to be made fun of by the other boys; regardless, he is a model of purity and kindness, and he cares deeply about others.

Ambiguously Brown: Is described as being "always darkish in color." In art made by fans, he is usually depicted as having a mocha-like complexion. However, in the 1990 film, he's white.
Cloudcuckoolander: He is prone to daydreams and wanders off by himself randomly.
Dark Is Not Evil: Described as being "always darkish in color", but is the most benevolent of all the boys.
Friend to All Living Things: He's probably the only one of the boys to take time and enjoy the natural paradise of the island. He even adopts a lizard as a pet!
Holy Child: Despite his youth, Simon is portrayed as saintly, benevolent, wise and good-natured child.

Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He's the only character who seems to never be tempted by the lure of feral savagery, unlike the others.
In Name Only: The version of Simon in the 90s film loses pretty much all of the mystical and saintly elements of the book version.
Kill the Cutie: He's one of two boys explicitly killed during the story.
Messianic Archetype: The manner of Simon’s death continues the parallels between Simon and Jesus: both die sacrificial deaths after learning profound truths about human morality. But Simon’s death differs from Jesus’ in ways that complicate the idea that Simon is simply a Christ figure. Although Jesus and Simon both die sacrificial deaths, Jesus was killed for his beliefs, whereas Simon is killed because of the other boys’ delusions. Jesus died after conveying his message to the world, whereas Simon dies before he is able to speak to the boys. In the biblical tradition, Jesus dies to alleviate the burden of mankind’s sin; Simon’s death, on the other hand, simply intensifies the burden of sin pressing down upon the island. According to the Bible, Jesus’ death shows others the way to salvation; Simon’s death exemplifies the power of evil within the human soul.
Murder by Mistake: Running into Jack's "feast" whilst they are dancing causes the excited boys to mistake him for "the Beast" and spear him to death.

Non-Action Guy: He suffers chronic fainting spells, which makes him incapable of keeping up with the others during more physical outbursts.
No Social Skills: Clumsy and quirky, also an airhead, which is why most of the other boys consider him 'batty'.
Nice Guy: The kindest of the kids.
Only Sane Man: In the 90s film, Simon is the only boy who actually thinks to take a source of light into the cave where "the Beast" was supposedly found and see what it actually is: the corpse of a mysterious adult, in a stand-in for the fatally crashed parachutist in the book.
Psychic Nosebleed: Somewhat with his hallucination of the Lord of the Flies.
The Quiet One: He knows that the others consider him "the weird one", so he tends to stay quiet and keep out of the way.
Team Mom: He's the oldest boy most concerned with looking after the littluns.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: The nicest, kindest, most level-headed and pure-hearted child is one of the first ones to get killed.
Waif Prophet: He has an apparently spiritual vision where he confronts "the Lord of the Flies" in the book.
What Beautiful Eyes!: The way that they're described.
Wise Beyond His Years: Has a great spiritual intelligence, as he is the only child who realizes the true nature of the 'beast'.

Roger

Played by: Roger Elwin (1963 film); Gary Rule (1990 film)

A skinny, quiet boy who generally keeps to himself but is in truth extremely aggressive and sadistic. He is Jack's right-hand man.

Ax-Crazy: Perhaps even more so than Jack. He really likes killing things, to the point that he's the one to murder Piggy, casually pushing a boulder onto his head just because he can.
The Bully: Also same as Jack, as he bullied the other kids, particularly the young ones.
Beware the Quiet Ones: He almost never speaks and eventually proves to be a murderous sociopath.
Chekhov's Gunman: Sort of forgettable in the first half of the book, but by the second half you'll remember who he is.
Creepy Child: Stoic, unemotional, silent, dark allure. Also a cold-blooded murderer.
The Dragon: To Jack; from the beginning, Roger is Jack's most loyal follower, supporting him in everything he does
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Implied to be this, which goes hand-in-hand with his sociopathy.
Roger remained, watching the littluns. He was not noticeably darker than when he had dropped in, but the shock of black hair, down his nape and low on his forehead, seemed to suit his gloomy face.
Enfant Terrible: He's the first boy to join Jack in hunting the pigs, and eagerly follows him down the dark path that ensues. He actually leads Jack into the climax of the book by casually killing Piggy just because he can, giving Jack the inspiration to do the same to Ralph.
Face–Heel Turn: Follows Jack down the path of darkness, though you could make the argument that he was already there.
It Gets Easier: His heartless acts slowly increase until he finally murders Piggy by pushing a boulder on top of him.
Kids Are Cruel: If he wasn't a kid, the trope would be "Would Hurt a Child" but he gets some kicks out of tossing rocks at the "littlun", Henry. He's not hitting him, of course, but we get the idea.
Lack of Empathy: He never shows even the slightest sign of guilt or remorse for the killings.
No Full Name Given
Psycho Supporter: He's Jack's loyal supporter, but probably even crazier than he is.
The Quiet One: He doesn't say much at all, which is why he's kind of forgettable. Actions, in his case, truly speak louder than words.
Sadist: He will kill and maim without a faintest hint of reluctance.
The Sociopath: Like Jack, he shows a sincere enjoyment for killing things and spilling blood. Unlike Jack, he appears to have already plunged to the deep end before arriving on the island.
The Stoic: Rarely shows emotion or speaks.
Teens Are Monsters: The most bloodthirsty and murderous of the boys, and fairly close to their pre-teens age.
Villainous Friendship: With Jack and Maurice mostly, but also other choir boys.

Sam and Eric

Played by: David Surtees and Simon Surtees, respectively (1963 film); Andrew Taft and Edward Taft, respectively (1990 film)

Identical twin boys. They are the youngest of the major characters and the two do everything together. In the book, they are usually referred to as "Samneric."

Action Survivor: Of all the characters who are portrayed sympathetically, only the twins and Ralph survive.
Break the Cutie: The way they are tortured by Roger and forced into Jack's tribe.
Half-Hearted Henchman: They don't really agree with Jack's savagery, they simply bow to his will in order to survive.

Single-Minded Twins: They can't do anything apart, and are thereby treated as one person. Some parts of the book even combines their names into "Samneric" as if they were one character.
Those Two Guys: They're always seen together. Eventually, they all but become a singular character.

Littluns

The youngest boys on the island.

Break the Cutie: By the end of the novel, Percival can't even remember his own name.
Children Are Innocent: Without a doubt, as they're the most terrified and naive of the boys and spent much of their time playing but this is best personified with Percival, whose innocence is completely gone by the end.
Death of a Child: Or children, in this case, but, after botched signal fire, a few of them, Mulberry Boy especially, aren't seen again.
No Name Given: Percival Wemys Madison, Phil, and Henry are the only three who get named. We do get one kid that gets called the "mulberry boy" but that's about it.
Prone to Tears: Percival, as the narration put it best:
"[...]Ever since then he had been peaked, red-eyed, and miserable; a littleun who played and cried often"
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mulberry Boy, who's the first one to bring up the "Beast", which sets off the boys' hysteria and fears.

The Officer

Played by: Toby Robertson (1963 film); Bob Peck (1990 film)

An adult man who appears on the island in the book's final scene.

Adaptational Nationality: In the book and 1963 film, he's a British Royal Navy officer. In the 1990 film, he's an American Marine Corps officer.
Adults Are Useless: Averted. The officer's mere presence is enough to deescalate a situation at the end of the story, and scolding the boys gets them to start crying, showing that the savagery has dropped.
The Conscience: Played with. The officer doesn't intend to be a moral voice on anything, but the moment that the boys see an adult on the island, they're all snapped out of their savagery. The most the officer says is that he's disappointed that British boys are acting the way that they are.
Deus ex Machina: His appearance isn't so much as hinted at until he's on the island. It does resolve a previous plot point about the boys setting a signal fire, but the book gave no indication that help was coming. Of course, his sudden appearance and the disappointment that comes with it was intentional, showing how things wouldn't have devolved as much as they did if some authority had been there.
Last Episode, New Character: He shows up right at the end of the story in the book's final scene. His appearance hadn't so much as been hinted at before that.
Morality Chain: The moment he makes his presence known on the island, the savage ways of the boys instantly drops, preventing Jack from getting the win. When the mere presence of an adult stops the kids' murderous battle instantly, it's shown that they haven't matured at all, and they're all still children with an instinctive deference to authority.
No Name Given: The officer's name doesn't get mentioned in the book. He's only there to serve as a voice of authority.
Small Role, Big Impact: He's in the story for a grand total of one scene, right at the end of the book. He also kind of comes out of nowhere, but this was intentional on the part of the author. His sudden appearance is meant to highlight how the savagery of the boys could have been solved if there was an adult around, and how the sudden appearance of authority can change everything in a situation.
Walking Spoiler: The officer's mere presence highlights a few of the book's central themes about authority, human nature, and how good men do nothing in the face of proactive evil. As such, it's hard to talk about his presence in the story without spoiling how it all turns out.

The Beast

A terrifying monster that the boys are afraid of, and what accelerates their decline into a feral tribe. The monster is in truth a dead human body, utterly harmless but still useful for Jack's purpose of inspiring fear.

Dramatic Irony: Simon discovers that The Beast isn't real and rushes to tell the other boys. They see him crawling out of the woods and then violently attack and kill him, suddenly convinced that the monster is a living breathing thing that's come to harm them. Thus Simon, who doesn't believe in The Beast has become it in the eyes of the characters.
The Dreaded: The Beast is the ultimate object of terror for the boys. It represents a fear of the unknown and finding a way to conquer it drives much of the plot.
Nothing Is Scarier: We, the audience, never see it and many of the characters don't either. But it's the fact that they don't know what it is that makes it so scary.
Real After All: In a way. In the 1990 adaptation, the Beast is dying man and can be heard breathing heavily from outside it's cave. Even in the book, it's later revealed that something is physically indeed spooking those boys.

The Lord of the Flies

Played by: N/A

A demonic hallucination Simon sees in the forest that represents the darkness of human nature. It manifests itself as the impaled pig's head some of the boys leave as an offering to the Beast.

As Long as There Is Evil: It tells Simon that it is a “part of him.” Judging by its clearly malevolent nature, that clearly is not a good thing.
Breaking Speech: It gives one to Simon about the evils of human nature and other unpleasant things going on with the boys.
My poor, misguided child. Do you think you know better than I do? I'm warning you. I'm going to get angry. Do you see? You're not wanted. Understand? We're going to have fun on this island. So don't try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else we shall do you? See? Jack and Roger and Maurice and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph? Do you see?
Greater-Scope Villain: It claims to be responsible for the boys turning to savagery. Downplayed, as its existence is merely to serve to be a symbolic representation for the boys’ own paranoia and depravity rather than a tangible entity.
Knight of Cerebus: Its appearance marks the point where everything goes to hell—Simon is murdered by the other boys in a frenzy, Jack seizes power for himself, Piggy is killed, and Ralph is left alone and at the mercy of their savagery.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The narrative explicitly lays out that the Lord of the Flies isn't real, but there's certainly a strange mysticism surrounding that severed pig's head. The hallucination isn't the only time the head is presented as an ominous figure.
Lord of the Flies: What are you doing out here all alone? Aren't you afraid of me? There isn't anyone here to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast.
Simon: Pig's head on a stick.
Lord of the Flies: Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill.
Satan: It's basically portrayed as this, or at least a Satanic Archetype. For added measure, its "name" is taken from one of the titles/translations of Beelzebub, a powerful devil often conflated with Satan himself.
Small Role, Big Impact: It has all of one exchange, but it's one of the most pivotal scenes in the book that sets in motion the collapse of the boys' society.

Characters / Lord of the Flies

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Characters / Lord of the Flies

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