Baron Eric von Rothbart - Considering his wife's untimely death the ultimate betrayal, this powerful sorcerer dedicates his life to seeking revenge against all womankind. Scouring his lands in the shape of a great bird of prey, it is his personal mission to capture women who enflame his wrath and inspire his rage for vengeance. These poor souls he turns into swans - forcing them to spend their lives as beautiful but powerless animals who only regain their human forms briefly each night by the transitory light of the moon.
Odette - Noblest of von Rothbart's enchanted flock, only she has the courage to confront her captor, wresting from him a pact which could lead to freedom for herself and all the swan-maidens - a pact which von Rothbart will use all of his magical cunning to avoid honoring.
Odile - Von Rothbart's only child, she has studied the magical arts under her father's stern tutelage all her life. She fears her powerful father yet yearns for his rarely given approval. But she has learned far more than the baron intended to teach her - both of the magical arts and of von Rothbart's idiosyncratic nature. And as the guardian of his flock, her loyalty has begun to shift.
Prince Siegfried - Heir to his kingdom, due to inherit upon his majority and marriage, he is a selfish hedonist and a dissolute womanizer. He cares only for his own pleasure, until a woman he has wronged teaches him a lesson which will change the course of his life forever.
Queen Clothilde - Mother of Siegfried and Regent of their domain, she will stop at nothing to insure that her son never ascends the throne. But when she enters into an agreement with the rich and influential Baron von Rothbart - a bargain which she believes will prevent Siegfried from ever attaining his birthright - she will learn the true meaning of treachery.