Character Analysis
R.U.R. isn't really a character-driven drama. Even the main characters don't have a lot of depth; the minor characters are often just a stereotype or even just a name. There are quite a few of them though.
Radius
Radius is the leader of the robot revolution. When Helena asks if Radius has a soul, Gall replies "I don't know. He's got something nasty"(1.270-271). And, well, that pretty much sums him up. Radius wants to kill all the people and be master of everything (much like Domin). So he does. He's basically the villain—though one without a whole lot of personality. That's not his fault, though; he's just a robot. He's doing the best he can, for cryin' out loud.
Nana
Nana is Helena's servant. She's basically a stereotype of an ignorant, superstitious, lower-class woman. She thinks that the robots are blasphemous. The play portrays her as being possibly right, but also ridiculous. "All inventions are against the will of God," she declares, condemning robots and the wheel all in one swoop (1.328). Overall, she shows the play's ambivalence about the working class. The play thinks enslaving people is bad—but the one actual working-class human portrayed is a clichéd figure of fun and contempt.
Busman
Busman is the marketing director of R.U.R. Besides Alquist, he's the supervisor who comes closest to having a personality—though the personality is mostly defined by his job. He is into money. He tries to give the robots money in exchange for the lives of all the humans, but of course it doesn't work, and he dies with a fortune on his chest. The money guy dies with his money, which cannot save him. That's irony for you, Shmoopers.
Robot Primus and Robot Helena
Robot Primus and Robot Helena are the two robots with souls at the end of the play. They don't do much except talk about how they love each other—which, okay, that's often what young robots in love do, but it doesn't leave a lot of room for character development. See our "Symbols" section, though, for their thematic importance.
Dr. Gall
Gall is the head of physiology and research at R.U.R. He is in love with Helena, he says (though he may just have a crush on her). Anyway, he lets her convince him to try to give some of the robots souls. He's sort of the father of Primus and Robot Helena as a result.
Sulla
Sulla's a robot secretary who Helena mistakes for a human being early in the play.
Dr. Hallemeier
He's an expert in robot psychology and education.
Fabry
Fabry is the technical director at R.U.R.
Damon
Damon's a leading robot towards the end of the play. Alquist dissects him—yuck.
Marius
He's a robot at the beginning of the play.