Dominic "Dom" Cobb is a professional thief who specializes in conning secrets from his victims by infiltrating their dreams. According to Hollywood Reporter, both Brad Pitt and Will Smith were offered the role. Who do you think would be the ideal Cobb?
Ariadne is an undergrad student of architecture who is recruited to construct the various dreamscapes, which are described as mazes. The name Ariadne hints at a princess of Greek myth, who aided Theseus by giving him a sword and a ball of string to help him navigate the labyrinth which was the prison of the Minotaur. Page said her character acted as a proxy to the audience, as "she's just learning about these ideas and, in essence, assists the audience in learning about dream sharing".
Arthur is Cobb's partner who manages and researches the missions. He makes Cobb's vision and dreams a reality (no pun intended).
Mr. Saito is a businessman who employs Cobb for the team's mission. He knows Cobb is the best extractor in the whole wide world. That's why he commissions him to perform the opposite of extraction - inception. It's one of the most challenging tasks, and nobody except Cobb is sure if it's even feasible. Mr. Saito wants them to implant the idea of discontinuing the family business in the target's mind. This would allow him to get rid of his greatest competitor on the market.
Mallorie "Mal" Cobb is the film's main antagonist. She is a manifestation of Cobb's guilt about Mal's actual suicide. He is unable to control these projections of her, hindering the progress of his missions. Nolan described Mal as "the essence of the femme fatale."
Eames is a sharp-tongued and cynical associate of Cobb's. Eames uses his ability to impersonate others inside the dream world in order to manipulate Fischer. He prides himself in using his imagination and detests Arthur for his inability to think big.
Robert Michael Fischer is the heir to a business empire and the team's target. He lives in the shadow of one of the greatest Australian tycoons, his father. Although, materially-wise, he has anything he pleases, he is lacking emotionally.
Yusuf is the team's chemist. Yusuf is presented as an avant-garde pharmacologist, who is a resource for people, like Cobb, who want to do this work unsupervised, unregistered and unapproved of by anyone.
Peter Browning is Robert Fischer's godfather and fellow executive at the Fischers' company. He acts as a "surrogate father" to Robert, who calls him "Uncle Peter." He spent more quality time with him than his father.
