Stanley Yelnats
The novel's protagonist, Stanley is an overweight kid with a lot of bad luck. He is convicted of a crime he did not commit and is sent to the Camp Green Lake juvenile detention center. Non-violent and generally kind, Stanley has a difficult time in school and at the camp. Through his experience at the hellish Camp Green Lake he becomes physically stronger and more self-confident. He befriends Zero, another boy at the camp and through this friendship he succeeds in eradicating his family curse.
Elya Yelnats
Elya is Stanley's great-great-grandfather and the reason that Stanley's family has such bad luck. After becoming disillusioned with the woman he thought he loved in Latvia, Elya travels to America, forgetting to fulfill a promise that he made to the gypsy, Madame Zeroni. Elya passes down generations of bad luck to his family. He also passes down the song that Madame Zeroni taught him while he was still in Latvia.