They Both Die at the End Character Analysis

Mateo Torrez

Mateo is one of the novel’s protagonists; he’s an 18-year-old Puerto Rican teen. Mateo suffers from anxiety and keeps to himself as much as possible. He only has two real friends: Dad (who has been… read analysis of Mateo Torrez

Rufus Emeterio

Rufus is one of the novel’s protagonists; he’s a 17-year-old Cuban American boy in foster care. Rufus’s last six months have been almost unbearable: he watched his parents and sister, Olivia, drown after their… read analysis of Rufus Emeterio

Lidia

Lidia is Mateo’s best friend. About a year before the novel begins, Lidia had her daughter, Penny, which changed Lidia in a number of ways. Before, Lidia she got her hair done weekly… read analysis of Lidia

Delilah Gray

Delilah is a young media journalist who receives her alert from Death-Cast on the same day that Rufus and Mateo do. However, because Delilah just broke off her engagement with Vincent, a Death-Cast employee… read analysis of Delilah Gray

Andrea Donahue

Andrea is a middle-aged woman who works as a herald for Death-Cast. Andrea believes that she’s exceptional at her job because she’s discovered a useful hack to get her through her shifts: she doesn’t… read analysis of Andrea Donahue

Aimee Dubois

Aimee is one of the Plutos (a group of friends who are also foster siblings) along with Rufus, Malcolm, and Tagoe. She was also Rufus’s girlfriend until a few weeks before the… read analysis of Aimee Dubois

Howie Maldonado

Howie Maldonado is a celebrity who receives notice of his impending death from Death-Cast on the same day as Rufus and Mateo. He’s best known for starring in the film adaptations of the Scorpius… read analysis of Howie Maldonado

Malcolm Anthony

Malcolm is one of Rufus’s best friends and a member of the Plutos (a group of friends who are also foster siblings) along with Rufus, Aimee, and Tagoe. He was orphaned and… read analysis of Malcolm Anthony

Dad

Mateo’s dad has been in a coma in the hospital for two weeks when Mateo receives his call from Death-Cast. Dad had many hopes for the future, but few came true. He lost… read analysis of Dad

Peck/Patrick Gavin

Peck is the novel’s antagonist; he’s a 19-year-old boy whom Aimee is dating after being friends with him for years. Peck was part of a gang for a while—that’s where he got his nickname, as… read analysis of Peck/Patrick Gavin

Victor

Victor is Delilah’s ex-fiancé and the Death-Cast herald who calls Rufus. Victor is a kind and compassionate person who still pours his all into his job: when Rufus asks Victor to be a… read analysis of Victor

Tagoe Hayes

Tagoe is one of Rufus’s best friends and a member of the Plutos (a group of friends who are also foster siblings) along with Rufus, Aimee, and Malcolm. His parents seemingly abandoned… read analysis of Tagoe Hayes

Deirdre

Deirdre is a woman who works at the Make-A-Moment station. To Mateo and Rufus, she’s simply the woman who checks them in and accepts payment, but the narrator reveals that there’s far more to… read analysis of Deirdre

Vin Pearce

Vin is an angry and jaded wrestler who receives his alert from Death-Cast on the same day as Mateo and Rufus. He doesn’t think it should be a surprise—he recently received a multiple sclerosis… read analysis of Vin Pearce

Dalma Young

Dalma is the founder of the Last Friend app; she’s a beautiful black woman with an Afro. Dalma vacillates between being extremely proud of what she’s done through Last Friend and being horrified by it… read analysis of Dalma Young

Mateo’s Mom

Mateo’s mom died giving birth to him. She enjoyed playing hard to get and so she turned down Dad’s marriage proposals twice. She only accepted when she discovered she was pregnant. Though Mateo… read analysis of Mateo’s Mom

Kendrick O’Connell

Kendrick is a member of Peck’s gang. His life has been tragic and full of misery, but one bright spot was when Mateo came across Kendrick about a year before the novel begins. People… read analysis of Kendrick O’Connell

Elizabeth

Elizabeth is the nurse who cares for Dad in the hospital. She’s kind and competent; Rufus can tell that in terms of ensuring that Dad will have care after Mateo is gone, Mateo has nothing… read analysis of Elizabeth

Officer Andrade

Officer Andrade is the police officer who releases Malcolm and Tagoe from jail. He chooses to let the boys go because of his experience surrounding the death of his partner, fellow police officer Graham… read analysis of Officer Andrade

Gabriella

Gabriella is Zoe’s Last Friend, though she’s not a Decker. Gabriella feels so strongly about the good that Last Friend can do that she regularly connects with Deckers to be their Last… read analysis of Gabriella

Penny

Penny is Lidia’s one-year-old daughter. Lidia is raising her with the help of her Abuelita; Penny’s dad, Christian, died weeks before Penny was born. Penny is a beacon of light for Lidia… read analysis of Penny

Rufus’s Parents

Rufus’s mom and dad and his older sister, Olivia, received their Death-Cast calls a few months before the novel begins. The entire family was in a car accident—their car went through a guardrail… read analysis of Rufus’s Parents

Wendy Mae

Wendy Mae is a non-Decker user on Last Friend whom Mateo connects with. Mateo finds Wendy Mae’s profile grating—she talks about the future a lot, which is offensive to some Deckers—and chatting with her… read analysis of Wendy Mae

Sandy Guerrero

Sandy is Delilah’s boss. She generally gives Delilah the most boring assignments, but she grudgingly agrees to let Delilah come along to interview Howie Maldonado. Her dislike of Delilah shines through during the… read analysis of Sandy Guerrero

Graham

Graham was Officer Andrade’s partner, a fellow police officer, who died prior to the events of They Both Die at the End. When Graham received the call from Death-Cast, he chose to… read analysis of Graham

Olivia

Olivia is Rufus’s older sister. After receiving a call from Death-Cast, she drowned in the Hudson River with her parents a few months before the novel begins. She and Rufus were very close… read analysis of Olivia

Zoe Landon

Zoe is a Decker who finds Mateo’s mystery book on the subway; she and Mateo also connect on the Last Friend app. She spends her final day with Gabriella. Unbeknownst to her, she runs… read analysis of Zoe Landon

Jenn Lori

Jenn Lori is Rufus, Aimee, Malcolm, and Tagoe’s foster mom and Francis’s wife. Though she seems kind and as though she takes her role as a foster mom seriously, she’s… read analysis of Jenn Lori

Minor Characters

Christian

Christian is Lidia’s boyfriend and Penny’s father; he died weeks before Penny was born. He received his Death-Cast alert while out of town in a remote place. Because of Lidia’s exhaustion during late pregnancy, Lidia slept through all of Christian’s attempts to contact her before he died.

Francis

Francis is Rufus, Aimee, Malcolm, and Tagoe’s foster dad and Jenn Lori’s husband. He’s somewhat distant and doesn’t show much emotion, but he seems to genuinely love and care for his foster children. He speaks kindly at Rufus’s funeral.

The Homeless Man

The homeless man is a stranger whom Mateo and Rufus give money to. Though the man scares the boys at first, he envelops Mateo in a huge hug of thanks that helps the boys understand that people like this man are human too.

Jared

Jared is the man working the front desk at the hospital where Mateo’s dad is in a coma. He initially doesn’t want to let Mateo see Dad, as Mateo and Rufus show up at the hospital well before visiting hours begin.

Lena

Lena is Howie Maldonado’s childhood best friend and his first love. She flies to New York to see him one more time, but Howie dies before they can see each other.

Philly

Philly is a non-Decker Last Friend user who seemingly tells everyone he connects with that he has “the cure to death in his pants.”

Sean

Sean is one of Mateo’s neighbors. He’s been checking in on Mateo since Dad was hospitalized, and he offered to fix the busted stove burner.

Elliot

Elliot is one of Mateo’s neighbors; he’s been checking in on Mateo since Dad was hospitalized. He also brought Mateo food.

Rae

Rae is a waitress at Rufus’s favorite breakfast place. She’s shocked that Rufus and Mateo are Deckers and she attempts to comp their meal.

Damien Rivas

Damien is a member of Peck’s gang; he went to school with Kendrick and taught Kendrick how to throw a punch.

Dahlia

Dahlia is Dalma’s half-sister. She’s an impatient 20-year-old with a tech internship, but she wants to work for Last Friend.

Leslie

Leslie is The Around the World in 80 Minutes tour guide at the Travel Arena.

Joel

Joel is an employee at Open Bookstore who assists Mateo.

Madeline

Madeline is the skydiving instructor at the Make-A-Moment station.

DJ LouOw

DJ LouOw is the DJ at Clint’s Graveyard.

Jasmine

Jasmine is a girl who sings karaoke at Clint’s Graveyard.

Abuelita

Abuelita is Lidia’s grandmother.