ender wiggins
Ender is the youngest of the three Wiggin children. Ender has the compassion of Valentine, his older sister, but he also has the ruthlessness of Peter, his older brother. Ender does not wish to cause harm to anyone, yet when he is confronted with a pack of students led by the bully Stilson, Ender knows what he has to do. At age six he beats Stilson to death, although he does not know it at the time. Ender can be a killer like his brother. But Ender hates himself for that quality. Other people put him in situations where his negative side emerges, but Ender always wishes for events to be resolved without violence. His compassion is his strongest trait, and it binds people to him; his ruthlessness wins their unswerving faith in him as a commander.
Ender could be seen as a victim, a brilliant child manipulated by adults into playing a game he never wanted to play, but such an explanation is too simplistic. Ender is brilliant enough to understand the manipulation and knows that it is necessary. In the same way that Graff manipulates Ender, Ender manipulates Bean while he is commander of Dragon Army. Ender is a child in name only, and he represents the best that a human being can be, given the context. There is no part of him that desires control, and when he has it, he wishes only to avoid the abuses that he sees others commit. But Ender learns that in life we are sometimes forced to play games that we would rather not play, and that sometimes winning must be second to nothing else. Still, he manages to retain his humanity and his compassion wins out in the end, as he sets out to repay his debt to the buggers.
Ender could be seen as a victim, a brilliant child manipulated by adults into playing a game he never wanted to play, but such an explanation is too simplistic. Ender is brilliant enough to understand the manipulation and knows that it is necessary. In the same way that Graff manipulates Ender, Ender manipulates Bean while he is commander of Dragon Army. Ender is a child in name only, and he represents the best that a human being can be, given the context. There is no part of him that desires control, and when he has it, he wishes only to avoid the abuses that he sees others commit. But Ender learns that in life we are sometimes forced to play games that we would rather not play, and that sometimes winning must be second to nothing else. Still, he manages to retain his humanity and his compassion wins out in the end, as he sets out to repay his debt to the buggers.
valentine wiggins
Ender's older sister is the only person in the world who truly loves him. She protects him from Peter, their sadistic older brother. Along with Peter, Valentine takes an active interest in the world's political situation, and writing under the pseudonym Demosthenes begins to exert influence over the growing situation. Valentine also writes a letter to Ender at one point that helps him get control of himself. At the end of the book, Valentine convinces Ender to go with her to colonize the bugger worlds, and she works on a history of the world on the way there. Later she travels with Ender as he searches for a new world for the buggers.
Peter wiggins
Ender's older brother Peter is a cruel and evil child, gifted in manipulation. He has the same ruthlessness that his siblings contain but without any of their compassion. Valentine is able to protect Ender as best she can from Peter until Ender goes away. Peter then decides to take an active role in world affairs and convinces Valentine to help him. Under the pseudonym Locke he begins to gather power, working through the communication nets. After Ender's victory Peter obtains total control of earth and becomes Hegemon, the ruler of the world. His ambition is sated and he actually makes for a good ruler, although he is as amoral is he ever was.
Colonel GRaff
Graff has unerring faith in Ender and, although he manipulates Ender, he also loves him. Graff is the head of the Battle School until Ender leaves, at which time he accompanies him until he passes off the training of Ender to Mazer Rackham. He is one of the few characters who at various times allows Ender to act like the child he is, although Graff also demands much of Ender. He is put on trial after the war because of the deaths of Stilson and Bonzo but acquitted.