Petr Verkhovensky

Pyotr Verkhovensky is the chief ideologist and organizer of the revolutionary cell in the novel "Demons." He is an energetic, cynical, and obsessive young man who dreams of the total destruction of the existing world in order to create something new out of chaos.

Lacking any firm moral principles or convictions, Verkhovensky views people merely as pawns in his game. He is a talented manipulator and provocateur, skillfully exploiting the weaknesses of others to achieve his own ends.

Despite his outward adventurism, he betrays an inner emptiness and hysteria. Essentially, he is a "demon" in human form, the bearer of that very destructive idea that leads to tragedy.