Chew/Characters
Anthony "Tony" Chu
A Philadelphia cop with a special power: cibopathy, the psychic ability to see the past of anything he's eaten. He soon joins the Food and Drug Administration, now a very powerful law enforcement agency, which makes use of his abilities. He mainly focuses on food-related crimes, especially those concerning newly illegal poultry.
John Colby
Tony Chu's partner who was badly injured while following a lead gained from Tony's powers. He is rebuilt as a cyborg by the FDA and rejoins his old partner. He opposes poultry prohibition and believes the government is lying about the bird flu but refuses to betray the FDA.
Mason Savoy
Another cibopath. He is an agent of the FDA who mentors Tony when he first joins. He murdered health inspector Evan Pepper and believes that the government is covering up the truth about the bird flu epidemic. It is implied that he lost a significant other in the epidemic. While he has the same powers as Tony, he is much fatter and is seen eating food besides beets, suggesting that he is less disturbed by cibopathic visions than Tony is.
Amelia Mintz
Tony's girlfriend. She is a saboscrivner, meaning that she can write about food so vividly that it can cause people to actually taste it. She uses her ability in her job as a newspaper food critic. Her power allows Tony to taste foods without the often disgusting visions that usually come with them. The two begin dating though Amelia is sometimes annoyed at the time taken up by Tony's job.
Chow Chu
Tony Chu's brother. A professional chef, he is strongly opposed to America's new poultry prohibition law which creates tension between himself and his brother. He lost his cooking show when he accused the government of lying about the bird flu while on camera.
Antonelle "Toni" Chu
Tony's fraternal twin sister, who works for NASA. She seems to be the only member of the Chu family that doesn't hate him.
Olive Chu
Tony's daughter. She strongly dislikes him.
Min "Mindy" Tso
Tony's ex-girlfriend. It is implied they broke up due to her blatant insanity. When Tony proposed to her, she accepted and asked him to eat one of her toes.
D-Bear
A black market chicken dealer who works as an informant for the FDA. He used to deal heroin before chicken prohibition made chicken dealing more profitable.
Caesar Valenzano
A hitman who works for Montero. He claims to be a deep-cover FDA agent who worked with Mason Savoy and didn't know he'd gone rogue. Turns out this is itself a cover as he was working with Savoy to find out the truth behind the bird flu epidemic.
Montero
A businessman who invented "fricken," a chicken substitute using frogs with modified DNA. Savoy finds out that Montero knew about the bird flu epidemic before it happened.
The Vampire
A cibopath who pretends to be a vampire and learns things by drinking blood. He has a yet-unexplained interest in the space program.
Other members of the Chu family
- Rosemary Chu-Shen: Tony's older sister. Dislikes Tony.
- Tang Shen: Tony's brother-in-law and Rosemary's husband. Also dislikes Tony.
- Ong Chu: Tony's grandfather. Had a stroke at some point in the past and uses a wheelchair and oxygen tank.
- Harold Chu: Tony's younger brother. A transvestite who uses the stage name "Miso Honey."
- Bok Chu: Tony's late father.
- Bao Chu: Tony's mother.
- Chip Chu-Shen: Tony's nephew.
- Bree Chu-Shen: Tony's baby niece.
- Charlie Chu: Tony's distant cousin. Works for Oni Press.
- Sage Chu: Tony's younger sister.