A very odd young woman of 25, with multiple piercings in her face, dyed black hair, and a few tattoos including a large dragon on her back and a wasp on her neck. Salander is something of a computer genius; her work as a private investigator at Milton Security is unparalleled. The boss Armansky kept Salander on his team despite her refusal to adapt to office culture because he had never seen a background check more thorough in all his life, until he hired her. She seems to be averse to all social norms and keeps to herself, preferring the company of her (rather expensive) laptop. Her only friends are Mikael Blomkvist, the members of a group of young women rebels known as "Evil Fingers", and the anonymous members of her hacker collective who know her as "Wasp".
A tall and handsome man in his 40s. Blomkvist co-owns Millenium Magazine with his dear friend and occasional lover Erika Berger. Atypical for a financial journalist, he has strong morals and a passion for truthseeking. Very early in his career, he became famous for -- more or less accidentally -- uncovering the identities of a group of bank robbers. That's when he got his despised nickname "Kalle Blomkvist" after a heroic investigator from a childrens' novel. Despite their glaring differences, he considers Salander to be one of his closest friends. And despite her anti-social nature, she feels much the same about him.
CEO and COO of Milton Security.
Co-owner and Editor in Chief of Millenium Magazine. Married, but her husband has no issue with her continued relationship with Blomkvist.
Probably a hoarder, also a tech genius like Salander.
Stieg Larsson published his books The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest shortly before his death in 2004. They were originally written in Swedish, translated into English, and made into film franchises in Sweden and the US. He started the magazine Expo, an anti-racist paper dedicated to exposing right-wing activities through investigative journalism.