Character Relationship Map: Salt

Characters

• Evelyn Salt (played by Angelina Jolie) — protagonist

  A CIA operative accused of being the Russian sleeper agent KA-12, Salt becomes the story's central figure. She survives pursuit, kills or defeats several conspirators, aborts a nuclear attack, and esc...

• Darryl Peabody (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) — supporting

  A CIA counterintelligence officer who observes Orlov's interrogation and orders Salt detained after hearing the accusation against her. He pursues her, later listens to her explanation, verifies her c...

• Oleg Vasilyevich Orlov (played by Daniel Olbrychski) — supporting

  A Russian defector who warns the CIA about sleeper agents and identifies Salt as KA-12, claiming she will assassinate Matveyev. After escaping custody, he tests Salt by arranging Mike's death, then di...

• Shnaider (played by Corey Stoll) — supporting

  A sleeper agent who operates under the cover of a Czech-NATO liaison officer. Salt joins him while disguised as his male attaché, and he carries out a suicide attack at the White House that drives Lew...

• Mike Krause (played by August Diehl) — supporting

  Salt's boyfriend and an arachnologist who brings publicity to her imprisonment in North Korea and proposes marriage after she admits being a CIA operative. He is later kidnapped and killed in front of...

• Chenkov's Mother (played by Olya Zueva) — minor
• Chenkov's Father (played by Vladislav Koulikov) — minor

Canonical Relationships

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

• Chenkov's Father → Chenkov's Mother (father)
• Darryl Peabody → Oleg Vasilyevich Orlov (Professional Security Interrogator) — Peabody is part of the security apparatus evaluating Orlov's intelligence.

  Peabody observes Orlov's interrogation and responds to Orlov's accusation by ordering Salt detained.

• Evelyn Salt → Oleg Vasilyevich Orlov (Professional Interrogator And Informant) — Their interrogation reveals the central conspiracy and Salt's alleged designation as KA-12.

  Salt interrogates Orlov after his defection, while he provides information about the KA network and Day X.

• Evelyn Salt → Darryl Peabody (Professional Colleagues) — Their professional relationship turns into a direct investigation and pursuit.

  Peabody observes Salt's interrogation of Orlov and orders her detention after Orlov identifies her as KA-12.

• Evelyn Salt → Mike Krause (Romantic Partner) — Their relationship gives Salt a personal stake in the unfolding conspiracy.

  Mike Krause is identified as Evelyn Salt's boyfriend and proposes marriage after she admits she is a CIA operative.

Story Dynamics

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

• Darryl Peabody → Mike Krause (Social Case-Related Associate) — Peabody's institutional investigation intersects with Mike's public campaign for Salt.

  The CIA arranges a prisoner exchange partly to suppress the publicity Mike brings to Salt's imprisonment.

• Mike Krause → Oleg Vasilyevich Orlov (Conflict Victim And Captor) — Orlov uses Mike as leverage and eliminates him to verify Salt's cover identity.

  Orlov reunites Salt with Mike only to have Mike killed in front of her as a test of Salt's loyalty.

• Evelyn Salt → Shnaider (Alliance Operational Partners) — Salt temporarily presents herself as Shnaider's operative partner.

  Salt leaves the barge to meet Shnaider, accompanies him in disguise into the White House, and supports the operation until its attack begins.

• Oleg Vasilyevich Orlov → Shnaider (Alliance Sleeper-Agent Associates) — They belong to the same operational sleeper-agent network.

  Orlov waits on the barge with other sleeper agents and later states that Salt will meet another KA, who is identified as Shnaider.

Story Analysis

A fugitive CIA operative confronts a sleeper-agent conspiracy while trying to prevent nuclear war and expose the truth about her identity.

Plot Progression

1. Prisoner Under Suspicion — Salt is imprisoned in North Korea as a suspected spy, while Mike supports her case and proposes marriage. Two years later, Salt interrogates Orlov, whose warning identifies a sleeper-agent conspiracy.
2. The Fugitive Accusation — Orlov names Salt as KA-12, prompting Peabody to order her detention. Orlov escapes, Salt breaks away, and she searches for the kidnapped Mike while preparing for a dangerous mission.
3. The Sleeper Network — Salt shoots the Russian president at the funeral and reaches Orlov's barge. Her memories expose the Soviet training and identity substitution behind her apparent biography.
4. Bunker Of Deception — After killing Orlov and the sleeper agents, Salt joins Shnaider's White House infiltration. The attack drives the president underground as nuclear retaliation threatens global catastrophe.
5. The Last Reversal — A hidden KA begins a missile attack, but the Russian president's survival exposes the deception. Salt aborts the launch, kills the conspirator, and earns Peabody's conditional trust.