Sia Yatabéré (Fatoumata Diawara)

Sia Yatabéré – She represents fighting spirit, hunger for life, a vital body battling death and the pseudo-spiritualism orchestrated by the priests. Intelligent and sensual, she carries the banner of feminist demands.

Kerfa the Fool (Hamadoun Kassogué)

Kerfa the Fool – Like an ermit, he lives away from the city and claims to be the living expression of other people's dreams. He symbolizes truth and liberty against society's lies and the violence of people in power.

Wakhané Sakho (Sotigui Kouyaté)

Wakhané Sakho – He holds military power. Though hard and loyal to the emperor, he soon lets out his sensitivity, as he is tormented by remorse for letting his own daughter be sacrificed on the altar of the Python God.

The Emperor Kaya Maghan (Kardigué Laïco Traoré)

The Emperor Kaya Maghan – He is the symbol of the Master bedazzled by his own power, who becomes a tyrant while thinking of himself as a protector. He, also, is victim to the loneliness of power.

Mamadi (Ibrahim Baba Cissé) - © Copyright Christophe Dupuy

Mamadi – He is the model hero who acts more than he thinks. Young and brave, he is unyielding and acts on his feelings. He unwillingly rises to power but he's yet unable to establish a new order.

The Griot Balla (Habib Dembélé)

The Griot Balla – He is in the pay of the people in power. Lacking in personality and in dignity, he is always ready to turn his coat in favor of whoever is in power.

The young Prince (Ahmed Kadio)

The young Prince – He is always present at court. He never talks but he observes everything that is being done and said around his father. He symbolizes the naive and impartial inner eye on the complexity of the management of power.