Me[]
Performed by James LaBrie (Dream Theater)
Me is the main character in this story, and most other characters (specifically those named after emotions), are aspects of his personality. Throughout the story, Me is in a coma. He ended up there after a bizarre accident in which he hit a tree with his car in clear daylight.
Me is shown to have a complex personality, brought about by his traumatic childhood. He was abused by his father and bullied by classmates in school, which taught him to deal with confrontations in a violent way. He's not afraid to betray his best friend to get ahead in his career, and is told to be neglectful towards his loving wife.
Underneath all the violence, Me is shown to actually be an inherently caring and loving spirit, a creative man who didn't want his current career, and abhors the choices he's made to get where he is. He's frightened of the future
Throughout the story, Me becomes increasingly upset with his own past, and vows to make his amends. He confronts himself, eventually tells the truth of his betrayal to his Best Friend, and promises to make the best of his relationship with his Wife.
Best Friend[]
Performed by Arjen Lucassen
The Best Friend has been lifelong friends with Me. He cares deeply for his friend, and is at his bedside daily together with the Wife. He stimulates Me by bringing up happy memories, in attempt to bring him back to life.
Best Friend is a troubled soul, who's recently lost his job due to Me's betrayal, and ends up sharing his distress with Me's Wife, starting an affair with her. During the story, the Best Friend wonders whether Me saw him and the Wife embracing each other.
In the end, the Best Friend forgives Me for his betrayal after Me's confession.
Wife[]
Performed by Marcela Bovio
The life partner of Me, also someone he knew long before they got a relationship. They met in a club on that fated night, and they had been in love all along. They ended up married, and had a mostly loving relationship. She was always supportive of Me, and stood by him through thick and thin.
Prior to the accident, the Wife became increasingly upset with Me's focus on his job and his negligence towards her. Although she never stopped loving him, she ended up in an affair with his Best Friend. Her love is a continuous motivation to Me, and a recurring theme through most songs.
Reason[]
Performed by Eric Clayton
Literally the voice of Reason, this emotion is the analytical and objective aspect of Me's personality. Mostly pacifist, Reason typically shies away from violence as a means to an end, and instead promotes open dialog and communication. He is, however, not afraid to admit when strength is required in order to break free from a situation.
Pride[]
Performed by Magnus Ekwall
The aspect of Me's personality that encourages strength and perseverance. Pride condones using violent means to achieve objectives, and overcome hardship. He blames Me for the situation he ended up in, and is surprised Me let this happen.
Passion[]
Performed by Irene Jansen
Passion is an emotion that stimulates both love and violence. In any situation, she encourages the use of the most heartfelt reaction, whatever that may be. She's impatient and somewhat trigger-happy, but mostly concerned with living life to the fullest.
Agony[]
Performed by Devon Graves
A purely negative aspect of Me, Agony is convinced that life is nothing but pain, and Me is better off dead. Any situation is approached with pessimism, withdrawal and dismissal.
Fear[]
Performed by Mikael Åkerfeldt
Fear is the voice that vocalizes the dread for recurrence of past mishaps. He constantly reminds Me of things that went wrong in the past, but sometimes accepts the need for Me to confront his fears and conquer them.
Love[]
Performed by Heather Findlay
Love is the embodiment of the feelings Me has for his Wife. She's always optimistic, motivated to break free from the coma in order to see the Wife again, and is constantly reminding Me of the positive aspects of their relationship and other good memories.
Rage[]
Performed by Devin Townsend
The embodiment of anger and frustration, Rage mostly rages against the things and persons in Me's life that went wrong. Interestingly, the vocal performance becomes more harsh as the Rage builds up, with the epitome of Rage being shown as the Father comes into the picture.
Father[]
Performed by Mike Baker
Easily the most despicable character in the story, Father is the main cause of Me's childhood traumas and his violent tendencies. He's nothing but derogatory, selfish and comes up from (what is implied to be) the bowels of hell, just to mock the one son that does not resemble him, or so he says.
In life, the Father managed to ruin several marriages, was such a failure at raising kids that half of them ended up in jail, and still manages to somehow consider himself a winner.
Forever[]
Performed by Peter Daltrey
A singular member of the Forever race, likely tasked with the job of regaining their memories. It is unclear whether The Human Equation is before, after or concurrent with the Second Coming of the Universal Soul.