His costume consists of a blue suit, with white shirt and red tie, hat, gloves and domino mask. Throughout the series he is seen in various states of undress, but he is never seen without the mask, aside from his very first adventure when he was still Denny Colt.
- Badass Normal: He's got no super powers but given his intellect, toughness and determination, he doesn't need them.
- Boxing Battler: He's a skilled boxer and it tends to be his go to fighting style, taking out most opponents with just his fists.
- Clark Kenting: When he needs to be in disguise, The Spirit dons a pair of large dark glasses and no one notices the mask. He has, on other occasions, simply removed his mask (more common in the Darwyn Cook-helmed reboot) since very few people know or care who "Denny Colt" is thanks to being legally dead.
- Coat, Hat, Mask: He IS a pulp hero after all.
- Deadpan Snarker: Definetly carries shades of this, especially in his solo adventures.
- Dating Catwoman: Touches on this with Sands Sareef and Silk Satin.
- Fedora of Asskicking: He's almost never seen without his famous hat and he can kick ass with the best of them.
- Nice Guy: When not whaling on criminals, The Spirit comes off as the nicest guy in the world
- The Narrator: In the stories that he isnt the main character, The Spirit will often take the role of this.
- Lightning Bruiser: Can dish out and take a LOT of damage, despite essentially just being a brawler.
- James Bondage: Would often find himself tied up by his various opponents.
- Supporting Protagonist: Oftentimes.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Borders on this on occasion, especially during one series of stories where Spirit went off the grid in the Caribbean for a while.
Commissioner Eustace (Diogenes) Dolan
Commissioner of the Central City Police Department. Friend of Denny Colt. Dolan often competes with The Spirit in solving cases.
- Alter Kocker: Invoked by name in The Movie.
- The Commissioner Gordon
- Cool Old Guy:
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe
- Embarrassing Middle Name
- Secret-Keeper: One of the few people who know that The Spirit is in fact Denny Colt.
Ellen Dolan
Daughter of Commissioner Dolan and girlfriend of The Spirit. (Though not always according to The Spirit himself). When she was first introduced, she was an upright psychology student with big ol' Nerd Glasses; however, when The Spirit decided to take her glasses off and give her a big smooch, she became considerably less upright.
- The Not-Love Interest: Its on and off exactly how involved she and the Spirit are.
- She's Not My Girlfriend
Ebony White
Black kid sidekick to The Spirit and main provider of comic relief. (He was replaced later in the series by Sammy, a white boy, mainly due to concerns over racial stereotyping.)
- Book Dumb: He's a smart kid, just uneducated.
- Deadpan Snarker: In the reboot.
- The Driver: Underage driver.
- Kids Driving Cars: Ebony drives a cab for a living despite being underage.
- Sidekick
- Uncle Tomfoolery: Visually, if not characterwise.
- Undone in the Darwyn Cooke reboot for a more realistic characterization.
Doctor Cobra
Mad scientist whose chemicals and machinations inadvertently helped Denny Colt become the Spirit.
- Create Your Own Hero: It is Cobra's experiments that cause Denny Colt to rise from the dead as the Spirit, and the Spirit's first heroic act is to take down Doctor Cobra.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul
- Mad Scientist
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: With a name like Doctor Cobra, it's no wonder he never made it as a general practitioner.
Gerhard Shnobble
Complete nobody who finds that he can fly.
- Flight
- The Greatest Story Never Told: Nobody noticed that he was flying because the Spirit was too busy fighting criminals at the time.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: He first discovered he could fly as a child. His parents forbade him from ever flying again, afraid of what the world would think of him.
Hazel P. Macbeth
Witch with apparent magical powers who often appears in Halloween themed stories.
Mr. Carrion
Con man who has a pet vulture, Julia.
The Octopus
As the Arch-nemesis of The Spirit, The Octopus appears more often than any other non-cast member. His face is never seen: it is either obscured or hidden by a disguise. He can always be recognized by his distinctive gloves. His origin would be told, not in the original strip, but in a story penned by Eisner for a comic reprint series put out in the 1960s collecting the old Spirit stories in traditional comic format.
- Arch-Enemy: To The Spirit
- The Faceless: His face is not seen once in the entire comics run. Averted in the movie, in which Samuel L. Jackson plays him.
- Iconic Item: The Octopus can always be identified by his striped gloves.
- Stealthy Cephalopod: Invoked. He uses the octopus as his namesake, and always hides his appearance with obscuring clothes or by staying just outside the panels.
P'Gell
Crime lord with a "black widow" m.o. who often tries to seduce The Spirit.
Plaster of Paris
Not much is known about the Plaster of Paris other then being a sexy French belly dancer and assassin in the employ of the Octopus. She is somewhat eccentric and is known to wield tri-pronged throwing knives and a sword.
Played by Paz Vega in the movie.
- Bedlah Babe: her outfits usually invoke this.
- Belly Dancer
- Dance Battler: Incorporates dance moves into her fighting style.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French
- Everything Sounds Sexier in French
- Femme Fatale
- Gratuitous French: Peppers her speech with French words and expressions (invoking Everything Sounds Sexier in French).
- Ms. Fanservice: Wears the skimpiest outfits of any of the Spirit's female foes.
Sand Saref
Denny Colt's childhood friend who is, in actuality, a spy.
- Childhood Friend
- Cop Hater: Developed a hard-core hatred of cops due to her father being killed by one.
- Femme Fatale
Silk Satin
Spy and potential alternate love interest for The Spirit.
Silken Floss
Evil scientist who works with The Octopus.
- The Dragon: For the Octopus.
- Femme Fatale
- Only Sane Man: At least in the movie. Though considering the company she keeps is typically the Octopus and/or his cloned henchman, well...
- Punch-Clock Villain