Character Relationship Map: The Devil's Backbone

Characters

• Carmen (played by Marisa Paredes) — protagonist

  The curt yet considerate headmistress of the orphanage who manages daily operations while maintaining a sympathetic stance toward the defeated Republican cause.

• Jacinto (played by Eduardo Noriega) — protagonist

  The nasty and volatile caretaker whose aggressive behavior is triggered by the presence of outsiders and his extreme protectiveness over a restricted storage room containing a deep well.

• Carlos (played by Fernando Tielve) — supporting

  The ten-year-old protagonist and son of a deceased Republican hero who arrives at the isolated orphanage, navigating war, bullying, and supernatural encounters.

• Jaime (played by Íñigo Garcés) — supporting

  A student residing in the orphanage who is part of the group of war orphans navigating the tense wartime atmosphere.

• Conchita (played by Irene Visedo) — supporting

  A female student at the orphanage who becomes one of Carlos's primary peers as he adjusts to the isolated environment.

• Domínguez (played by Miguel Ortiz) — minor
• Ayala (played by Juan Carlos Vellido) — minor
• Orphan (played by Víctor Elías) — minor
• Santi (played by Junio Valverde) — supporting

  The ghost of a former orphan who haunts the residence, ominously warning that many will die, and serves as the central supernatural anchor tied to the home's tragic past.

• Alma (played by Berta Ojea) — supporting

  A young female resident of the orphanage who navigates the war-torn environment alongside her peers.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Jacinto → Orphan (Power Captive And Attacker) — Jacinto exercises coercive power over the children before they resist.

  Jacinto and his associates imprison the orphans while searching the orphanage for the gold. The children later attack him with improvised weapons.

• Carmen → Carlos (Family Guardian) — Carmen provides institutional care for Carlos.

  Carmen helps operate the orphanage and takes Carlos in when he arrives with two loyalists.

• Jacinto → Conchita (Romantic Fiancé) — Their engagement collapses into violent retaliation.

  The orphanage staff includes Jacinto and his fiancée Conchita. After Conchita shoots Jacinto, he later confronts and kills her.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Santi → Orphan (Narrative Warning Ghost) — Santi's haunting shapes the children's understanding of danger.

  Santi's ghost warns that many of the children will die and later helps create the conditions for Jacinto's downfall.

• Carlos → Orphan (Social Fellow Resident) — Carlos becomes part of the children's survival group.

  Carlos lives among the orphanage children and joins them in resisting Jacinto after they are imprisoned.

• Jaime → Orphan (Alliance Resistance Leader) — Jaime helps organize collective resistance.

  Jaime reveals Santi's murder and encourages the children to fight back. The children then make weapons from sharpened sticks and broken glass.

• Ayala → Domínguez (Alliance Loyalist Partner) — They share a wartime mission connected to Carlos's relocation.

  Ayala and Domínguez travel together as loyalists when they bring Carlos to the orphanage.

• Carlos → Domínguez (Alliance Escorted Child) — Domínguez is part of Carlos's wartime escort.

  Carlos arrives at the orphanage with Domínguez and Ayala, who are identified as loyalists.

• Carlos → Ayala (Alliance Escorted Child) — Ayala helps deliver Carlos to a place of refuge.

  Carlos arrives at the orphanage with Ayala and Domínguez, two loyalists who bring him there.

• Carmen → Alma (Alliance Emergency Ally) — They cooperate during the orphanage fire.

  Carmen and Alma attempt to extinguish the fire Jacinto starts in the kitchen.

• Jaime → Jacinto (Conflict Witness And Enemy) — Jaime's testimony motivates the children's resistance.

  Jaime witnesses Jacinto attacking Santi and later reveals the murder to the other children. He encourages them to fight back when Jacinto returns.

• Carlos → Jacinto (Conflict Enemy) — Carlos moves from fearful observer to active opponent.

  Carlos encounters Jacinto investigating the orphanage at night and later joins the children in attacking him after Jacinto imprisons them and searches...

• Carlos → Santi (Narrative Supernatural Witness) — Carlos becomes the ghost's principal living intermediary.

  Carlos sees Santi's pale, wounded ghost and hears the warning that many of the children will die. After learning the truth, Carlos is no longer afraid...

• Jacinto → Santi (Conflict Murderer And Victim) — Their unresolved crime drives the supernatural revenge plot.

  Jacinto shoves Santi against a stone wall, ties stones to him, and sinks his body in the cistern. Santi's ghost later drags Jacinto into the same cist...

• Jaime → Santi (Social Childhood Companion) — Jaime is the surviving witness to Santi's final moments.

  Jaime says that he and Santi were collecting slugs near the cistern when they saw Jacinto trying to open the gold safe.

Story Analysis

A war orphanage becomes the site of a buried murder, supernatural vengeance, and the children's resistance to violence.

Plot Progression

1. A Stranger Among Orphans — Carlos arrives at the isolated orphanage during the Spanish Civil War and is placed among children living beside an inert bomb. A dare, a rescue, and a ghostly warning establish the central dangers.
2. Secrets Beneath The House — Carlos investigates the ghost of Santi and discovers clues connecting the haunting to the orphanage's past. At the same time, Jacinto searches for the hidden gold while using his relationship with Car...
3. Fire Over The Orphanage — The threat of Ayala's capture forces the adults to consider evacuation. Jacinto's demand for the gold leads to violence, arson, an explosion, and the deaths of Carmen, Alma, and several children.
4. The Buried Crime Revealed — Jaime finally explains how Jacinto murdered Santi and concealed the body in the cistern. Conchita is killed by Jacinto, while Santi asks Carlos to bring his murderer back.
5. The Cistern's Judgment — Jacinto returns for the gold and imprisons the surviving children. With supernatural assistance, the children escape, attack him, and push him into the cistern, where Santi completes his revenge.