Snow Crash

The science fiction novel Snow Crash (1992), written by Neal Stephenson, follows in the footsteps of the cyberpunk novels by such authors as William Gibson and Rudy Rucker, though Stephenson breaks away from the typical "techno punk" stories by embellishing this story with a heavy dose of satire and black humor.

Important characters

• Hiroaki "Hiro" Protagonist — As the name suggests, the hero of the novel, a hacker, swordsman, and sometime pizza delivery man.
• Juanita Marquez — Hiro's old girlfriend from the days when they both worked for Da5id and were developing the software that supports the Metaverse. Both men were in love with Juanita; she married and later divorced Da5id.
• Y.T. (Yours Truly) — A teenage skateboard-riding car-harpooning courier who helps Hiro investigate the mysterious metavirus.
• Da5id Meier — Friend of Hiro, co-creator of the elite Metaverse club The Black Sun. First to fall victim to the Snow Crash virus. He is possibly based on game programmer Sid Meier.
• L. Bob Rife — All-around magnate, plies the seas in an aircraft carrier with a city's worth of boat people lashed to it (and possibly may have been based on L. Ron Hubbard).
• Dmitri "Raven" Ravinoff — Rife's evil, spear-throwing, "molecularly sharp" glass knife-making, motorcycle-riding, Aleut henchman. He carries a nuclear warhead with him that is wired to a dead-man's switch for protection. His goal in life is to "nuke America."
• Dr. Emanuel Lagos — Researcher who discovered the metavirus and foolishly told Rife about it.
• Uncle Enzo — Head of the American Mafia, which is now also known as Nova Sicilia. Also in charge of the pizza delivery service Hiro works for in the beginning of the story.
• Mr. Lee — Head of Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong; a franchise that Hiro belongs to and gets helped out by numerous times.
• Mr. Ng — Head of Ng Security Industries, severely handicapped after a helicopter accident in Vietnam, maker of the security pitbull cyborgs commonly called Rat Things.
• The Librarian — An artificial intelligence who helps Hiro understand what is going on.
• Vitaly Chernobyl, Hiro's roommate, shares his 20x30 foot U-Stor-It. He is the singer for the nuclear rock band Vitaly Chernobyl and the Meltdowns.
• Fido, A semiautonomous security drone partially composed of a stray dog once adopted by Y.T.