Dave Lister is a genial Liverpudlian and self-described bum. He was the lowest-ranking crew member on the ship Red Dwarf before the accident. He has a long-standing desire to return to Earth and start a farm on Fiji (which is under three feet of water following a volcanic eruption), but is left impossibly far away by an accident that renders him the last surviving member of the human race.

He deeply enjoys Indian food, especially chicken vindaloo.