The Three-Body Problem Character Analysis

Ye Wenjie

As a bright young scientist who came of age during the worst years of the Cultural Revolution, Ye Wenjie has lived through the unspeakable. Her mother, Shao Lin, and her sister Ye Wenxue… read analysis of Ye Wenjie

Wang Miao

Wang Miao is a mild-mannered scientist who is one of the world’s foremost experts on a new technology called nanomaterial. After being pulled into the Frontiers of Science by his colleague Shen Yufei, Wang… read analysis of Wang Miao

Shi Qiang

Shi Qiang (affectionately known as Da Shi) is a police officer in Beijing. Whereas most of the other characters in the novel have doctorates or important military credentials, Shi lacks a four-year college degree, having… read analysis of Shi Qiang

Wei Cheng

Though Wei is first introduced to Wang Miao as the spaced-out husband of Shen Yufei, he is actually a visionary mathematician. After Wei accidentally stumbles on what he calls an “evolutionary” approach to the… read analysis of Wei Cheng

Shen Yufei

Shen Yufei, a renowned Japanese physicist, introduces Wang Miao to the mysterious organization known as the Frontiers of Science. After the environmentalist Pan Han assassinates Shen, Wang discovers that Shen was intimately involved in… read analysis of Shen Yufei

Pan Han

Pan Han is a prominent environmentalist whose predictions of various natural catastrophes are so accurate that many believe he came from the future. He believes that human progress is actually a “cancer,” and that humans… read analysis of Pan Han

Mike Evans

Born to a wealthy oil baron, Mike Evans’s passion for the environment sprouted in opposition to his family’s values. After witnessing the consequences of an oil spill on marine birds, Evans pioneered the theory of… read analysis of Mike Evans

Listener 1379

As one of the many listeners on Trisolaris, Listener 1379 lives an isolating, monotonous life—until he receives Ye Wenjie’s communication from Earth. Unlike most Trisolarans, this listener does not feel that mere survival… read analysis of Listener 1379

The Princeps of Trisolaris

The princeps is the leader of Trisolaris as the alien society prepares to set out for Earth. Having evolved to survive the trauma and instability of Chaotic Eras, he prides himself on his “calmness… read analysis of The Princeps of Trisolaris

Ye Zhetai

Once a respected physics professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, by the dawn of the Cultural Revolution, Ye Zhetai has become a pariah for his supposedly anti-communist beliefs. Though his wife, Shao Lin, and… read analysis of Ye Zhetai

Shao Lin

Shao Lin, herself a prominent physicist, is also Ye Zhetai’s wife and the mother of Ye Wenjie and Ye Wenxue. Unlike her husband, Shao is capable of bending her scientific beliefs to conform… read analysis of Shao Lin

Ye Wenxue

The novel first introduces Ye Wenxue as a passionate, nameless, young member of the communist Red Guard. Only later is it revealed that she is also Ye Wenjie’s little sister and Ye Zhetai and… read analysis of Ye Wenxue

The Revolutionary Girls

Though they are never named, the four teenaged girls who lead the public torture of Ye Zhetai are important figures in the novel. When Ye Wenjie first encounters them, they represent the dangers of mob… read analysis of The Revolutionary Girls

Bai Mulin

As a reporter in Inner Mongolia, Bai Mulin and Ye Wenjie meet when they are both working for the Chinese Production and Construction Corps. Having been authorized by the government to read Rachel Carson’s environmentalist… read analysis of Bai Mulin

Commissar Lei

Lei Zhichang is the Political Commissar at Red Coast Base. He is a good scientist but an even better politician, and he embraces communist ideology and political symbolism in every aspect of his work. Though… read analysis of Commissar Lei

Yang Weining

Once a student of Ye Zhetai’s, Yang Weining has always successfully avoided getting in any political trouble. As a leader at the Red Coast Base, Yang Weining pushes to reveal the base’s true purpose… read analysis of Yang Weining

Yang Dong

Yang Dong is Ye Wenjie and Yang Weining’s daughter. Born and raised near Red Coast Base, Yang grows up to be a brilliant, beautiful, and closed-off physicist. Having loved abstract theory from a young… read analysis of Yang Dong

Ding Yi

Though he is a respected physicist in his own right, Ding is known to most of the characters as Yang Dong’s boyfriend. Ding had hoped to settle down with Yang Dong, but she was… read analysis of Ding Yi

King Zhou

Historically, King Zhou was an ancient Chinese ruler who lived during the 10th century B.C.E. and is widely considered to have been a brutal and erratic king. The book presents King Zhou as a computer-generated… read analysis of King Zhou

King Wen

King Wen is a computer-generated character in the Three-Body game, likely based on the historical King Wen who served in King Zhou’s court. Using the ancient Chinese oracle the I Ching, he makes… read analysis of King Wen

Mozi

Mozi was a Chinese philosopher who lived and worked in the 5th century B.C.E. (during the Warring States Period). In one of the video game’s many anachronisms, however, Mozi appears in Three-Body during the Han… read analysis of Mozi

Pope Gregory

In reality, Pope Gregory was a 15th-century leader famous for commissioning a standardized calendar (hence the name Gregorian calendar). In the novel, he appears as a computer-generated character in the medieval Europe version of the… read analysis of Pope Gregory

Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei was a scientist during the Italian Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries. He is considered to have founded modern physics and modern astronomy, in addition to pioneering the concept of gravity. Like… read analysis of Galileo Galilei

Leonardo da Vinci

In the real world, da Vinci was a prominent painter and engineer and a contemporary of Galileo. In the novel, he is another person whom Wang meets in the medieval Europe version of the… read analysis of Leonardo da Vinci

Emperor Qin Shi Huang

As a historical figure, Qin Shi Huang was the founder of the Qin Dynasty, which ruled over China from 221 to 206 B.C.E. Emperor Qin was widely known for his violent method of rule, a… read analysis of Emperor Qin Shi Huang

Albert Einstein

In reality, Einstein was a brilliant physicist best known for formulating the theory of relativity. In the novel, he makes two appearances. First, though Einstein become a much-hated figure in the Cultural Revolution, Ye… read analysis of Albert Einstein

General Chang

General Chang is the leader of the Battle Command Center, which is readying Earth to fight back a potential invasion from Trisolaris. Chang is often the first to introduce critical information, whether that is… read analysis of General Chang

Colonel Stanton

A high-ranking officer in the United States, Colonel Stanton works alongside General Chang to try and fight back against the impending Trisolaran invasion. Stanton has lived through many important historical events, but this new threat… read analysis of Colonel Stanton

Fu Xi

Fu Xi is one of the computer-generated characters who appears the first time Wang plays Three-Body. In the game, he is a black-clad figure who incorrectly believes that the son is an angry god… read analysis of Fu Xi

Feng

Feng, who is Hunter Qi’s daughter-in-law, meets Ye Wenjie when she is recuperating at the hunter’s house. The two women have babies around the same time, and Feng helps nurse and care for the… read analysis of Feng

Sha Ruishan

Sha Ruishan is a former student of Ye Wenjie to whom Wang goes in order to try to monitor the shift in the cosmic background radiation. Sha tells Wang a bit about Ye Wenjie’s life… read analysis of Sha Ruishan

Minor Characters

Follower

As his name suggests, Follower is King Wen’s companion and the person who introduces Wang to the Three-Body game. Follower offers insight into life on Trisolaris. He complains that living during a Chaotic Era is like “hell,” and he dehydrates himself in front of Wang Miao.

Aristotle

Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher who dabbled in everything from zoology to economics, is one of the most renowned thinkers in all of human history. The Three-Body Problem introduces Aristotle as a computer-generated character in the titular video game; this version of the philosopher is stubborn, literal-minded, and cruel.

Isaac Newton

Newton is famous for having invented calculus and developed Galileo’s theory of gravity. In the novel, he works with Wang Miao and Emperor Qin Shi Huang to create a giant human computer, hoping that such a machine will allow him to solve the three-body problem.

Von Neumann

Wang Miao meets Von Neumann while he is playing in the Qin Dynasty-inspired round of the Three-Body game. Given his particular sense of humor and his familiarity with computer technology, Wang realizes that Von Neumann is another real human being playing the game, not a computer-generated figure.

Xu Bingbing

Xu Bingbing is a computer specialist who works closely with Shi Qiang and other members of the Battle Command Center. Xu is also responsible for monitoring the Three-Body game. Like Shi, she is skeptical of alien or supernatural forces, believing instead that everything “must be the work of people.”

Professor Ruan

After being tortured for her allegedly anti-communist intellectual pursuits, Professor Ruan—Ye Wenjie’s most beloved mentor and teacher—committed suicide. Ruan’s decision to die wearing lipstick and high heels (both of which had been used to publicly humiliate her) signals her rebellion, even in death, against the Cultural Revolution.

Director Zhang

Director Zhang is in charge of the Chinese government’s branch in Inner Mongolia, where Ye Wenjie is assigned as a laborer. After Bai Mulin frames Ye Wenjie for his seditious letter, Zhang immediately believes her guilty, refusing to even hear her side of the story.

Cheng Lihua

Cheng Lihua is a high-ranking official in China’s government during the Cultural Revolution. She pushes Ye Wenjie to inform on various other scientists, and her initially warm demeanor turns icy when Ye refuses to cooperate.

The Interrogator

In the present day, this unnamed interrogator presses Ye Wenjie to explain her decision to make contact with the Trisolarans. The interrogator is particularly interested in exploring Ye’s relationships with her father Ye Zhetai and former husband Yang Wenining.

Hunter Qi

A well-respected hunter in the mountain town near Radar Peak, Qi takes Ye Wenjie in as she is recovering from childbirth.

Dou Dou

Dou Dou is Wang Miao’s toddler-aged son.