Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, named and baptized at the cloister of Saint-Merri after being abandoned by his mother, is the book’s principal character. While narrated in the third person, the story follows Grenouille from birth to death and allows the reader to see the world through his eyes (or his nose, rather). Since the novel possesses many traits of a Bildungsroman, Grenouille’s growth and development play a major part in the progression of the story, as we see him grow up in an orphanage, apprentice with a tanner and a perfumer, and then become a wandering journeyman before settling down in the town of Grasse. He is described as “not especially big, nor strong… [but] ugly” (24), and the offensiveness of his physical appearance is surpassed only by the depravity of his soul. Grenouille’s chief characteristic is that he is a savant when it comes to scent; he can detect minute notes that no one else can and can even track people based on scent. However, he has no scent himself, a characteristic that makes others recoil from him.

As a child, Grenouille is viewed as a monster—"He was an abomination from the start” (22). The people surrounding him as a child see him as demonic since he has not yet developed the skills needed to remain unnoticed.