Theo is the novel’s protagonist and the narrator of approximately half of the story, which unfolds through his diary entries. When the novel begins, Theo is a 50-year-old professor of Victorian Studies at Oxford University. Theo’s training as a historian helps him see the troubling aspects of his cousin Xan’s rise to power and helps him make projections about the future behavior of the human race.

Theo is a passive man who finds it hard to experience deep emotions. His loveless marriage ended after he accidentally killed their infant daughter Natalie. Theo’s emotions in the aftermath of these tragedies are complex. He cared about Natalie, but felt incapable of loving her as much as he thought he should. When his wife left him, he was stricken but also relieved, realizing that “I don’t want anyone to look to me, not for protection, not for happiness, not for love, not for anything” (31). This attitude helps him survive his grief, but it also makes him lonely and acquiescent.

Theo mostly takes on an observer role in life, even given his firsthand knowledge of Xan’s dictatorship and the rule of the Council of Five.