<P> Desiderio--The Narrator and protagonist of the novel . He is now an old man and recounts the events of his life to explain how he became a hero . He was sardonic in his youth and the complex images produced by the desire machines bored him; he could not surrender to the mirages . This attitude kept him alive . Desiderio, in Italian, literally means wish, longing, and desire . The heroine of his story, Albertina, haunts his dreams and constantly seduces him . Despite his love for Albertina, he eventually murders her . He is a government minister in an unspecified Latin country that works under the Minister . The Minister sends him on a journey to find and inconspicuously assassinate Dr. Hoffman, and destroy his machine . </P> <P> Albertina--Dr. Hoffman's daughter, who supports her father's actions and ideals . She is Desiderio's soul mate and she is extremely sexually appealing . She wants to use the energy from her and Desiderio's love to propel the omnipotent desire machines, thus increasing her father's power. The name is most likely a reference to Proust's "Albertine", a female character that serves as an "other", or mirror for the protagonist . </P> <P> Minister--Works with Desiderio and essentially rules the city until Dr. Hoffman starts his campaign against human reason . The minister loves logic and admires statis . Despite his envy of Dr. Hoffman's power, the minister wants to stop the freak show that the Doctor has created . To restore society, he creates reality testing labs to discover Doctor Hoffman's secret methods . </P> <P> The Count--The egotistic and vulgar traveller that takes Desiderio into his company . Consistent with his arrogance, he claims that "he only lived to negate the world," and he travels according to his erotic desires (123). Though generally undaunted, the Count reveals a fear of the black pimp who wishes to kill him . Albertina later tells Desiderio that her father considered the Count a threat to her father's plans . </P>

The infernal desire machines of doctor hoffman characters