A high school-aged youth, on the verge of death from tuberculosis, an extremely rebellious, talented, yet at war with his own existence and the order of nature. He cannot accept the meaninglessness of his death; the idea that ordinary people in the world live while someone as intelligent and capable as him dies drives him mad. He writes a deadly manifesto of defiance against society, God, sycophants, and especially Prince Myshkin's passive Christian mercy. Ippolit, an angry scream against the sun and social justice, is one of the extreme characters in whom Dostoevsky embodies his existentialist crisis.
He is the eldest son of a poor, widowed officer's wife. He grew up with deprivation and illness, his dreams of completing his education crumbled with a tuberculosis diagnosis, and he waited for his end in rebellion for months while staring at Meyer's brick wall.
Seventeen or eighteen years old, as skinny as a skeleton from illness, with a pale yellow face. Bright red spots of tuberculosis glow on his cheeks. He has jet-black, flaming, and restless eyes.
Burdovskiy
Even though he is a so-called comrade from the group he defends, he secretly controls the naive Burdovskiy.
Prens Mışkin
He loathes him because the Prince renders Ippolit's attacks ineffective by approaching his nihilistic anger only with understanding.
Lizaveta Prokofyevna
Though she calls him a 'mad child,' Ippolit takes pleasure in defeating her aristocratic arrogance.