Rafe is one of the novel’s protagonists and is also its hero in the sense that he is the character who evolves the most over the course of the narrative. He has golden hair and blue eyes. Grown-up Rafe has an unkempt beard at the beginning of the novel; after the beard is shaved off, he is described by various characters as exceptionally handsome, with Emilie noting that he is “beautiful […] like he’d walked out of a painting of knights, kings, and fair damsels” (124). The description is fitting because in Shanandoah, Rafe is a prince, often called “your highness” by other people (84). Jeremy came up with the British nickname Rafe, as he considers it a far more suitable name than Ralph. Rafe is quiet, reserved, and heroic, with Emilie calling him intimidating because he does not talk constantly.

As the narrative begins, Rafe is a reclusive artist who is more at home in the world of animals and birds. He is often troubled by the loss of his memories of the six months he spent in Red Crow, Jeremy’s seeming abandonment of him, and his troubled childhood with his father, Bill. Since Bill invalidated the teenage Rafe at every step, Rafe feels less than confident in his prodigious talent as an artist and archer and in his sexuality.