;Ric Hochet :A journalist from Paris with a strong sense of justice who takes huge risks to see a culprit brought to justice. His first name "Ric" is a diminuitive; but while Duchâteau has stated that Ric's first name is "Frédéric", while Tibet has insisted on "Richard". ;Commissaire Sigismond Bourdon :Ric's close friend and most important contact with the Paris police department. ;Nadine :Bourdon's grandniece and later on Ric's girlfriend. ;Richard Hochet :Ric's father, a former gentleman thief and fugitive from the police who appears sporadically in the series, mostly to help Ric (or for Ric to help him) out of sticky situations. ;Inspector Ledru :Bourdon's assistant, and mostly a rival to Hochet and his superior. He later becomes the captain of an anti-terrorism unit. ;Bob Drumond :First a journalist, later editor of
La Rafale, and a close friend of Ric. ;Professor Hermelin :A bad-tempered and cowardly but genius scientist with a dislike for Bourdon. ;"Le Bourreau" ("The Executioner")/"B" :A sadistic, overweight spy for a foreign power and a long-term enemy of Ric. He is habitually
exchanged for another prisoner to haunt his nemesis anew. After trying to get revenge in Ric by having him implicated for several murders, he finally dies in
Dernier Duel when he gets shot with a blank cartridge by Ric. ;Lambert :An unscrupulous journalist, formerly working for
La Rafale before taking a new job at the rival newspaper agency
Paris-Night. However, in tough cases he is able to provide Ric with essential informations. ;Lamberto :A flamboyant, sensationalist Italian movie director. ==Translations==