- Alan Wake
Alan is the main protagonist and the only character which is playable.In the game he's a best-selling writer who lives in New York, however he hasn't been able to write anything for over two years. The game begins as he and his wife retreats to Bright Falls. Before the game he created a series of books starring Alex Casey, a New York detective, the following promotional tour led to several fights with the press.
- Alice Wake
Alice is a photographer who disappears after shortly after arriving in Bright Falls. She has a fear of the darkness. To combat her fear, Alan gives her an old childhood toy, the Clicker, which he admitted believing as a child to hold mystical powers to scare away the creatures in the dark. It was Alice's idea to travel to Bright Falls, unbeknownst to Alan, they retreated there so that he could regain his writing talent. Alice contacted Emil Hartman, concerned about Alan's short temper and drinking habits due to his writer's block.
- Barry Wheeler
He is Alan's agent and the comic relief in the game. Barry is protective over the writer, so much so that he blamed Alice for bad choices and for being a "bad influence" on him. He is heard in the first Episode but only appears in Episode Two after Alan punches Hartman. During the game he admits his interest in Lord of the Rings and rock music.
- Barbara Jagger
Barbara is the main antagonist of the game. She used to be the wife of Thomas Zane, until Tom realized that saving her unleashed evil, as she was possessed by the dark presence. He later killed them both after he found out the truth. Barbara trapped Stucky in the toilets, meeting with Alan to give him the keys to Cauldron Lake lodge instead. She can be seen in the game in the shadows, wearing a veil over her face and in morning wear.
- Thomas Zane
Tom is one of the first characters that Alan meets in the game. He is only seen in a deep sea divers outfit. Throughout the game he appears mainly as an disembodied voice and a light descending from the sky. Fans of Remedy's previous games might recognise him as the voice of Max Payne.
- Rose Marigold
Rose is one of the first characters that Alan meets in the game. She recognises the writer as he walks into the door at the "Oh Deer Diner" where she worked as a waitress. She admits to Wake that she is a big fan, which she proves by indicating a life sized statue of the writer which was previously used in a nearby bookshop. In a later episode, Rose is possessed by the dark presence, who lures Wake and Barry to her house after promising them that she found pages of the missing manuscript. However the coffee she served was lined with a sleeping drug.
- Rusty
Rusty is a logo park ranger looking after Elderwood National Park. He is one of the only characters to have read a piece of Wake's missing manuscripts. He is first seen at the Oh Deer Diner and the protagonist meets him again twice later.
- Tor Anderson and Odin Anderson (The Anderson Brothers)
The Anderson Brothers are patients of Emil Hartman who secretly sneaked away to Valhalla (their home on the Anderson Farm) where they get drunk of their own home-made moonshine. The brothers also used to own a rock band, two of their songs can be heard during the game, both in the same episode, "Children of the Elder God" at their farm and "Poet and the Muse" at their house.
- Sarah Breaker
Sarah Breaker is a sheriff at Bright Falls. She is the only member of police seen to stand up to Agent's Nightingale's outlandish theories about Alan Wake being a murderer and taking down numerous police vehicles. She accompanies Wake and Barry in several episodes. She is the only character that was seen to be able to fly a helicopter. Her father was a cop in New York, she admits during the helicopter flight that she used to tease him about being just like Alex Casey (the protagonist from Alan's book series).
- Max
Max was a dog which Rusty when Alan visited asking about cabins. Rusty tells Wake that the dog was injured with a bear trap while in the walking in the woods. The name is a small nod to the Max Payne franchise which Remedy previous created and recently sold to Rockstar.
- Clay Steward
Clay Steward is a fictional character which is only seen in the dream sequence at the start of the game. Clay claims that they've met, yet Alan has no memory. The character life in the game is short lived, after ordering Wake into a nearby cabin to escape the tornado, the door shuts in front of him, trapping him outside. He is quickly killed by a Taken with an axe.
- Agent Nightingale
Nightingale is an FBI agent who doesn't trust Wake. He is often mentioned as being drunk, which explains why he fires his gun at Wake. Breaker is the only cop to stand up to him. He hardly calls Alan by his name, instead substituting it for other writers including Stephen King, H.P Lovecraft and Dan Brown.
- Mr Scratch
He's the doppelganger of Alan who only appears temporarily. Zane informed Wake that Mr Scratch will be there when Alan is not. So far this section of storyline has yet to be explained.
- Cynthia Weaver
Also known as "The Lady of the Light", she is the one mentioned in the song "Poet and the Muse". She stays in a nearby power station which is constantly bathed in light. Her house also has a tunnel leading to the "Well lit room" where an important object in the story is hidden. She admits having a crush on Thomas Zane, and feeling happy when Barbara was in a car crash. Zane told her to look after an object and to keep it protected in the Well-Lit room waiting for Alan's appearance.
- The Hitchhiker
The Hitchhiker is the first character who appears in the game. He is killed when Alan's car accidently hits him. When the protagonist gets out of the wrecked car, he sees that the character is dead, however the body mysteriously disappears. After Wake walks towards the lighthouse, he looks around to his car to see the Hitchhiker alive. Apparently the character is actually someone from one of Wake's books, he is also killed which led to the Hitchhiker in Alan's dream having a grudge against him.
- Carl Stucky
Stucky was the person that Alan was supposed to get the keys to Cauldron Lake Lodge from, however he is trapped by the Dark Presence who lures Alan and his wife into a trap. Later in the episode, Stucky is taken over by the Taken.
- Emil Hartman
Before travelling to Bright Falls, Alice contacted Hartman explaining that Alan has an anger problem. In Episode 4, Hartman tricks Wake into thinking that his wife was killed who has "episodes". He forces Alan to write more pages which Hartman planned to use to his advantage later.
