Theodore “Ted” Bannerman is the protagonist and one of the narrators of The Last House on Needless Street. He lives with his cat, Olivia, and his daughter, Lauren. Ted is a large man, and his bulk has grown even larger due to his poor diet and lack of physical activity. Ted experiences a particularly acute form of dissociative identity disorder. He has a tenuous grasp of time. Young Teddy created the personas of Lauren, Olivia, and Night-time to protect himself from his mother’s constant physical and mental abuse during his childhood. Lauren exists to take on Ted’s physical pain. He created Olivia to alleviate the emotional burden of abuse. Night-time is a manifestation of Ted’s survival instincts and most basic will to live. Ted represents the misunderstood and often vilified nature of living with DID, but above all, Ted is a survivor, trying his best to be a good person.

Ted’s mother was an immigrant from Brittany, from a small village where death was an intimate part of life. She subjected Little Teddy to horrific, systematic abuse. If Ted made any noise or objected in any way, Mrs. Bannerman would lock him in the chest freezer and pour boiling water and vinegar through the air holes, scalding his skin and burning his wounds.