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Main Characters
Derek Cho
Derek Cho
Played By: Steven Yeun
The main protagonist, a fired lawyer of Towers and Smythe Consulting (TSC). Not liable for any crimes committed under the quarantine, he decides to force his way to the board of directors to confront them.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: On the path to becoming one at the film's start.
- Morality Pet: His sister; she's not mentioned much, but its made clear that they're close, that she's concerned about how much he's losing himself to his job, and that the mug she gave him means a lot to him personally. He later begins to see Melanie as one, to the point he turns down Towers' We Can Rule Together offer for her sake.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Drops f-bombs aplenty, partly due to being the narrator.
Melanie Cross
Melanie Cross
Played By: Samara Weaving
The deuteragonist, a bitter client of TSC.
- Blood Knight: She revels in the violence even more than Derek.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While (justifiably) a Jerkass for most of the movie, she does warm up to Derek throughout the film, even hooking up with him midway.
- Metalhead: She's wearing a Black Dahlia Murder shirt underneath her clothes.
- Not So Above It All: Frequently smiles or laughs after Derek swears, jokes or insults someone.
- Tank-Top Tomboy: She's a metalhead who's clearly uncomfortable in the professional dress she has to wear into the TSC office, and once she gets infected, one of the first things she does is ditch her suit jacket for the red tank top she's wearing underneath. She later gets rid of that for the sleeveless black band shirt she's wearing underneath it.
Antagonists
John Towers
John Towers
Played By: Steven Brand
The tyrannical CEO of TSC.
- Bad Boss: Gladly sets Derek up for the Vandacorp case.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: See above.
- Bait the Dog: In his very first scene, he's shown to be cutthroat and eccentric, but at least professional and willing to hear Derek out. In his second appearance, he suggests he and the board "draw, hang and quarter the little fucker", and he goes off the rails when Derek attempts to return to the elevator.
- Defiant to the End: As Derek holds him against a railing and his board of directors unanimously vote to execute him, he still mocks and insults Derek, even bringing up Ewan's death again.
- Faux Affably Evil: Even when ordering Derek beaten up, he acts warm and congenial.
- Psychopathic Manchild: For a CEO, he is prone to throwing tantrums and cursing like a sailor.
- We Can Rule Together: When he realises Derek has gotten past everyone else, he simply offers to make him partner and buy him off from his revenge. He does the same to Kara to get her to sacrifice her only bargaining chip to protect him, and to Kara's assistant to betray Kara and ensure the keycard is destroyed.
Kara "the Siren" Powell
Kara "The Siren" Powell
Played By: Caroline Chikezie
Derek's direct superior.
- Evil Brit: Has an English accent.
- Jerkass: Already a total bitch without the virus' effect; matter of fact she seems more personable while infected.
- Non-Action Guy: She is the only one of the five main villains not to face off with Derek and/or Melanie, and doesn't even do anything violent throughout the entire film.
Colten "the Bull" Schneider
Colten "The Bull" Schneider
Played By: André Eriksen
Towers' enforcer, presumably his bodyguard or the head of security.
- Affably Evil/Faux Affably Evil: Unlike the rest of the Smug Snake villains, Colten seems to be rather affable even when he's beating or pepper-spraying someone. He even shows slight hints of guilt after killing Ewan.
- Knight of Cerebus: When he appears, the film gets straight into horror territory and TSC become straight-up villains instead of mere Jerkasses. Notably, while his actions are in-large-part motivated by the same Hate Plague as everyone else, his mere existence confirms that TSC are apparently OK with roughing people up and possibly killing them.
- Noble Demon: Implied when he disarms himself of his gun to fight Derek head-on, mentioning "Bullets are for cowards".
Lester "the Reaper" McGill
Lester "The Reaper" McGill
Played By: Dallas Roberts
TSC's human resource director.
- Affably Evil: Cold and businesslike, but unlike Towers and Kara, he never goes out of his way to antagonise Derek and even admits that he hates Kara and wishes her death.
- Combat Pragmatist: When confronted with an armed Derek and Melanie, he hides in his office. When Melanie is paralysed on the ground later, he takes the chance to attack her.
- Dirty Coward: In spades:
- In his first scene with Derek, he attempts to buy his silence for the scandal with the severance package.
- When he first spots Derek and Melanie, he runs away from them and hides in his office. Notable in that aside from Kara, he is the only member to run away from a confrontation.
- After Melanie is left paralysed on the ground after being shocked with a stun gun, he leaves his office to stomp on her.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Mentions "gender equality" as he beats Melanie with his cane and kicks her.
- The Stoic: Save for one moment after Derek and Melanie chase him into his office, he speaks almost in a monotone for most of the movie.
- Would Hit a Girl: After Melanie is stunned by a stun gun, he leaves his office to beat and kick her while she's down.
Irene Smythe
Irene Smythe
Played By: Kerry Fox
The head of the board of directors of TSC.
- Evil Brit: Has an English accent and is the penultimate enemy that Derek and Melanie face.
- Evil Is Petty: Refuses to sign Melanie's loan extension for no known reason, even when willingly handing over the card.
- Terms of Endangerment: She refers to Melanie as "sweetie".
Other TSC Employees
Ewan Niles
Ewan Niles
Played By: Mark Frost
Derek's friend and coworker.
- Big Damn Heroes: Comes to Derek's rescue when he's sent to the basement to be tortured by the Bull.
- Nice Guy: A pretty nice man from what little we see of him.
- Sacrificial Lion: Killed in the beginning to showcase the true depravity of the firm.
- Token Good Teammate: Seems to be the only decent person in the entire company.
