Nennef (Perry)—Perry is the “Earth Alien,” as a human who lives as an alien on another planet. On Nenmar he is adopted by the people of the village of Fenmon and assimilates into their life and culture. The village sage gives Perry the name of “Nennef,” which means “man of Nenmar;” this reminds everyone that the alien from Earth is effectively a naturalized Nenmaran. In Familiar Aliens, Perry is reunited with his human family, and with his daughter, Penna.
Jenna—a Nenmaran girl who courts and “possesses” Nennef, making him her husband. In Earth cultures, Jenna would be considered a princess of sorts, but the Nenmarans do not think in those terms; she is a co-protagonist in Earth Alien, and in some ways she is the most prominent character in that story. In Familiar Aliens, Jenna is not a central character, but still is an important one.
Penna—Jenna and Nennef’s daughter, their second child; after Sennef, her brother, who is otherwise identical to Penna. Penna is a central character in Familiar Aliens, as this book continues the plot of Penna, the Alien Earthling, as well as re-visiting Nenmar and continuing the story from Earth Alien
Fronna—Jenna’s closest friend while growing up; Fronna encourages Jenna in her wish to possess Nennef; Fronna, and her husband Linnan (Jenna’s brother), encounter Ellcann on one of her visits to Nenmar
Lonna—Fronna’s mother and the village school teacher; Lonna is an accomplished educator, and she enables Fronna and Jenna in their efforts to teach the Earth Alien the Nenmaran language and culture; without Lonna, Perry’s assimilation into Nenmaran society would have been a much steeper climb. In Familiar Aliens, Lonna helps her daughter, Fronna, understand some of Nenmar’s ancient history
Kaggla—a biological scientist from another alien people from the planet Gatton. The Gattonians are technologically advanced and are one of the space traveling peoples in the galaxy. With her spaceship partner and husband, Barmeth, Kaggla enables the interplanetary travels of humans and Nenmarans, none of whom are interplanetary space traveling people.
Barmeth—the pilot of the Lazy L spaceship, and Kaggla’s husband; Barmeth also is from the planet Gatton. Barmeth is instrumental in getting Bill Thompson elected to the US Senate, by hacking into a major news media computer to launch a story exposing Nash’s illegal financial dealings while he was an active duty Air Force colonel.
Sennef—Penna’s brother; he was born first before Penna but suffers from more self-doubt than Penna
Lissel—Sennef’s wife, who bears their two children, Rennil (a central character in Familiar Aliens), and Merref, Rennil’s baby brother.
