In Miguel Street, the characters are presented as unique individuals with different personalities and experiences, but they share a common outlook that sets them apart from others. They understand and appreciate the artistic temperament, valuing attitude over the product produced. For example, Bhakhu, despite his inevitable disasters, is considered a mechanical genius for his tinkering with vehicles. The people of Miguel Street also have a tendency to substitute dreams of glory for achievement, finding happiness in their illusions. The characters are imaginative, irrational, inconsistent, and ill at ease with reality, which makes them delightful and unique. Bolo's inability to accept his good fortune when he wins the sweepstakes is an example of this.

• The narrator - an observant, intelligent, and sensitive yet naïve child who recounts his life as a boy living on Miguel Street with his widowed mother. He gives an account of the eccentric personalities on the street, often imparting sympathy when the street denies it.
• Hat - a keeper of cows and a gambler who enjoys life and imbues simple things with mystery. He is the wise arbiter, conscience, and spokesman for the street. He is imprisoned for beating his unfaithful female companion, which changes the street irrevocably.
• Bogart - a would-be tailor who tries to assume the mannerisms and personality of Humphrey Bogart. He is arrested for bigamy after mysteriously disappearing from time to time.
• Popo - a carpenter who chooses not to make practical items but instead works on a project that he has never named. Despite this, he is a friendly man who the young narrator believes to be a philosopher. Popo's wife Emelda supports him, but he becomes an aggressive drunkard after she leaves him. He is arrested for theft soon after her return. Following his release from prison, Popo becomes a hero on Miguel Street, but he changes his ways and focuses on practical carpentry. His change in temperament drives the narrator way.
• George - an unemployed resident of Miguel Street who is short, fat, gray-mustached, and sadistic. Frequently, he violently assaults his spouse, who takes care of cows, and his children. After his frail wife's death, which may have been caused by a beating, he sells the cows, transforms his house into a brothel, and forces his pitiful daughter Dolly to marry. He dies a despondent and unremembered individual.
• Elias - The son of George attends Titus Hoyt's school and endures his father's frequent and harsh beatings with understanding and forgiveness. Although he dreams of becoming a doctor, a string of failures causes him to lower his ambitions and eventually settle for driving a scavenging cart.
• Man-man - an unemployed person who is mentally unstable and spends an entire day chalking a single word on the street. He has a dog whom he trains to defecate on demand, which he uses to his advantage to earn money. He considers himself a new messiah and even goes as far as staging his own crucifixion. However, he is arrested by the authorities after cursing those whom he had invited to stone him.
• B. Wordsworth - a gentle poet who claims to be working on a grand poem, with only one line being written each month. He becomes friends with the narrator and exposes him to the enigmatic and delightful aspects of life. The poet narrates a sad story about his lost love, but when he is near death, he takes back the story.
• Big Foot - a versatile worker who holds various jobs and has a reputation for being a notorious jester and comic. He is often feared by the people of...