American Gods, a new TV adaptation of the famed Neil Gaiman novel, is not going to be an easy journey—but it's worth the time and effort. The novel, released in 2001 to worldwide acclaim, is something I remember reading with a computer close by. It requires at least some research in order to fully understand much of its rife symbolism, metaphors, and the tapestry of ancient characters around which it's all draped.

You could call American Gods all at once a fantasy, a western, a road trip story, social commentary, and mythology—both modern and primitive. The plot itself revolves around an ex-convict named Shadow Moon who lands in the employment of the mysterious Mr. Wednesday. Thus begins the road trip narrative, which finds the two driving through middle America and running into the new and ancient gods, legends, and spirits who are alive today scraping out livings as regular people. There's a war on the horizon, though, between the ancient gods brought to America from Africa, Ireland, and Germany and the new gods, like media and technology.

This first season will cover about third of the novel, with timely updates (specifically to the media and technology characters) written by Gaiman himself. It's a show rife with visions, flashbacks, magic, time jumps, and a complex cast of characters as symbolic apparitions of centuries of human culture. It's highly stylized. It's expensive. And with a little research, it could be among the best TV experiences of the year. That's why we've done some of the work for you to explain the backgrounds of the central cast.

The Old Gods

Starz

Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle)

This is the show's central character: an ex-convict who's released only to find the life he thought was waiting for him at home is gone. Shadow is no god, but he does end up on the side of the old gods under the employment of mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who brings him along on this road trip through a god-filled (or godless) America. But, even though he knows about as little of this world as we do, don't expect him to ask all of the right questions. You'll have to put that together yourself.

Starz

Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane)

Introduced as a clever con-man who recruits Shadow as a bodyguard, Mr. Wednesday is actually Odin, the Norse god after whom that day of the week is named. Odin is the god of knowledge and royalty, often depicted as a wandering, bearded man who protected fallen heroes. He works as the leader of the Old Gods, whom he's trying to gather together to fight the growing threat of the New Gods.

Starz

Bilquis (Yetide Badaki)

One of the most shocking scenes of the book (and the premiere episode) involves the introduction of Bilquis, who is based off the ancient Queen of Sheba. The legendary figure has appeared throughout art, literature, poetry and folklore dating back to the biblical era. Her role, which is brief in the book, has been expanded for the series.

Starz

Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber)

Though he introduces himself as a Leprechaun, Mad Sweeney is based off the Irish folklore character from Buile Shuibhne, who is driven mad by a curse and wanders the countryside. In American Gods, Shadow runs into him in a bar, tosses coins, and gets in a fight, likely in a nod to America's depiction of Irish characters.

Starz

Mr. Nancy (Orlando Jones)

An African folklore character, Anansi takes the form of a spider and is considered the god of stories, who collects and disperses the world's wisdom. He first appears in a stunning scene in American Gods, telling a boat of slaves about the horrors black people will face in America.

The New Gods

Starz

Mr. World (Crispin Glover)

Best described as the antagonist to Mr. Wednesday, Mr. World is the mysterious leader of the New Gods. His actual identity isn't revealed until later in the book, so we'll save that one for you to find out soon.

Starz

Technical Boy (Bruce Langley)

Another character updated by Gaiman for the modern era, Technical Boy is depicted as a vaping little shit who appears to Shadow in a VR headset. He's the god of, you guessed it, technology, who is powerful through the rise of computers and the internet and threatens to delete Shadow.

Media (Gillian Anderson)

It'll be surreal to see this character depicted on a television screen (especially as X-Files star Gillian Anderson), as Media first appears as Lucille Ball and is depicted in many different ways throughout the story.

Matt Miller Culture Editor Matt is the Culture Editor at Esquire where he covers music, movies, books, and TV—with an emphasis on all things Star Wars, Marvel, and Game of Thrones.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io