Editing Snowpiercer (section)

==Population and social structure==
Snowpiercer provides shelter, heat and food to about 3,000 "''sparks''". It is, by design, a heterogeneous environment with well delimited social classes and several formal and informal professions, each a distinct group with its own levels of influence and expectations. Snowpiercer's social structure is organized in two main categories, based on both physical placement on Snowpiercer (from front to tail) and social status.

While they only represent about 30% of her occupants (about nine hundred people), about half of the length of the train is dedicated to First and Second Class Passengers. The second half of the train houses both technical and agriculture cars, Third Class and Tail-Section. The last few cars of the train once housed about 400 stowaways who boarded right before Snowpiercer left Chicago.

===Ticketed Passengers ===

====First Class Passengers====
[[1st Class]] Passengers are the few cosmopolites and privileged mega-rich guests who bought an exclusive one-way ticket from Wilford Industries or invested early in the project. Among them are the world's richest and most influential, some of whom were industrial tycoons responsible for global warming before the Freeze.

This select category of ticketed passengers had the highest social status aboard Snowpiercer :
* They enjoyed a mostly limitless variety of daily calories and rare products such as alcohol.
* They had access to most of the train sections without limitation.
*They live up-train, close to the Engine Car, in spacious accommodations with luxurious amenities, and each family has its own double-decker carriage.
* Some of them enjoy the company of their pets.
* Some brought along their help, mostly armed bodyguards.
*They also had unlimited reproductive rights.
Many First Class Passengers attempted to live as if there was no significant change in the world's environment.<ref name="s1e01" /> A feature of that alienated lifestyle was their tendency to make complaints and demands to Hospitality, arguably in outright denial of how autocratic the governance of Snowpiercer ultimately was.<ref name="s1e01" />

Ironically enough, the First Class Dining Car can fit a bit more than 32 guests, which represents about 1% of Snowpiercer's population. The First Class population might yet be more important.

Notable First Class Passengers include:
*[[Lilah Folger]], a former lawyer, her husband [[Robert Folger|Robert]], daughter [[LJ Folger|Lilah Jr]] and their bodyguard [[Erik Sotto]]. Aside from LJ, the Folgers were killed in the First ''Snowpiercer'' War. A year later, LJ choked to death.
*[[Rajiv Sharma]], Chairman of the First Class Committee, his wife, and son (and daughter?).
*Members of a Scandinavian Royal Family.
*[[Martin Colvin]], his Cantonese husband [[York Lam]], and their two sons Gavin and Murray. Martin was later an accidental stowaway on the [[Pirate Train]].
*Early investor [[Eugenia]]. Executed for her role in the murders of the Breachmen.
*[[Edith Gusterfeld]] (#1097).
* The [[The Schwartz Couple|Schwartzes]], a chic couple in their eighties who take cyanide the morning that the Tallies took the train. Mr. Schwartz was an international architect before the Freeze.
*[[Andre Layton]] and [[Zarah Ferami]] who were moved to First Class by Ruth Wardell after Zarah got pregnant.
* [[Jackboot Stu Whiggins]], who is forced to work as a Jackboot when First Class is temporarily decommissioned by Mr. Wilford. He spends most of time drinking in the Night Car.

In ''[[The Train Demanded Blood]]'', Robert and Lilah Folger and 8 other First Class passengers are sent to their deaths when seven cars of the train are disconnected by Melanie, Layton, Bennett, and Miles.

====Second Class Passengers====
'''[[2nd Class]]''' is for highly skilled and specialized workers, management, and their families.

This category had a medium social status aboard Snowpiercer :
*They enjoyed a diverse yet fixed amount of daily calories (rations included dessert every night).
*They had access to most of the train as part of their position.
*They live middle train in spacious compartments with comfortable amenities. Family compartments might be bigger than single passenger compartments.
*They might have either enjoyed free reproductive rights or have been subjected to a Baby Lottery.
Notable Second Class Passengers include :
*Primary Teacher [[Miss Gillies|Mary Elizabeth Gillies]].
*Dr. [[Henry Klimpt]], once in charge of the Drawers Cars.
*[[Jinju Seong]], Agriculture Officer.
*Dr. [[Doctor Pelton|Pelton]], in charge of the Third Class Clinic.
*[[The Notary]], Notary.
* [[Tristan]], Hospitality Assistant.
*Engineers [[Bennett Knox]], [[Javier De La Torre]], [[Miles]], Head of Hospitality [[Melanie Cavill]], Concierge [[Ruth Wardell]] and Commander [[Nolan Grey]] might have also been considered Second Class Passengers though it is shown that Melanie's quarters was actually in the Engine car.

====Third Class Passengers====
'''[[3rd Class]]''' is for low skillset workers and their families.

Thirdies were passengers with a well defined social role but not much privilege or authority as they did not pay for their tickets :
* They enjoyed a limited amount of calories
*They had limited access to the train outside of their work shift.
*They live in smaller accommodation down-train. While some Third Class Passengers live in shared quarters in the Chains Car(s), it is not the case for all Third Class Passengers.
* Their reproductive rights were limited to a Baby Lottery.

Notable Third Class Passengers include :
*[[Zarah Ferami]], Bartender. Moved to First Class by Ruth Wardell after getting pregnant.
*[[Astrid]], Food Processing Worker.
*[[Clay]], Bartender. Froze to death in detached section of the train.
* [[Walter Flemming]], Papermaker. Executed during the First Snowpiercer War.
*[[Miss Audrey]], Manager of the Nightcar.
* [[Sean Wise]], Agriculture Worker. Murdered by LJ and Eric Sotto.
* [[Terence]], Head Janitor. Assassinated by Pike on Layton's orders.
*[[Nikki Genêt]], Nightcar Worker. Murdered by Eric Sotto.
*[[Pastor Logan]], Pastor of the [[Tea Room]]. Committed suicide after being discovered as Wilford's spy.

Jackboots, Brakemen, Agriculture and Sanitation workers, Craftsmen, Janitors, Breachmen and Tunnelmen are all considered Third Class Passengers despite their essential role in maintaining Snowpiercer. The Train Rules however state that Third Class has the right to petition Wilford in labor disputes and matters of jurisprudence.

Lead Brakeman Sam [[Roche]] and daughter Carly share a couchette in the residential section in Third Class.

===Stowaways===
[[The Tail|Tailies]] were apparently not an intentional part of Snowpiercer's society. Until the Civil War, they were not considered as passengers and were kept prisoners in the last few cars of the tail section. As such, they did not have any rights. They had no permission to visit other cars except on rare occasions, and when specifically given notarized authorization. According to Andre Layton, most hadn't seen the sun since first boarding the train seven years before.

Group commitment among Tailies is strong, yet they were often tempted to find some way of entering a higher status group. The original Tailies were the survivors of a desperate group of stowaways who entered Snowpiercer by force of numbers after a violent conflict with the authorized crew (mainly Jackboots). At some point, an uneasy understanding was reached, and once 400 people strong, the Tail Section had very limited rights and survived on rations given unilaterally by Snowpiercer's management, to considerable distress of all involved. Tailies are easily the most tightly knit of all four social classes aboard Snowpiercer, to the point of often decreeing their commitment to the tail as a whole and feeling duty-bound to the group even after years of distance and sparse contact.<ref name="s1e04" />

===Class upgrade and social mobility===
Third Class Passengers and Tail section survivors represent 70% of the once 3,000 souls onboard Snowpiercer (approximately 2,100 persons).

There was a small measure of social mobility in Snowpiercer. While the Tail Section was apparently given compulsory contraceptives, what few children existed among the Tailies were sometimes recruited for an apprenticeship when a position needed to be filled, in skilled or unskilled labor, which is implied to open access to at least Third Class. After the death of Electrical Engineer Di Marco, [[Miles]] was promoted to an Engineering apprenticeship in the Engine Car, after attending Miss Gillies' Class and tutoring lessons by Melanie Cavill. He and several other Tailie children had previously been selected to move up train in what is suggested to be a once somewhat routine occasion where talented Tailie children were given the chance of a better lifestyle in exchange for their skills. The fact that Miles, a Tailie, was given such personal attention even before the revolution suggests that at least with the children, the train's staff didn't discriminate in cultivating their gifts.

Third Class Passengers once could apply to regular Fightnights which, while brutal, were nonetheless a means of progressing from Third to Second Class.

While once frowned upon by Thirdies, stable relationship between Third and Second Class passengers could lead to some sort of civil union and Class upgrade.

Under unknown circumstances, some Tailies have been able to move up train such as Zarah Ferami and [[Astrid]]. Astrid won an apprenticeship early in the journey. Zarah accepted an opening in the night car.

On rare occasions, Tailies had been known to be moved up train for special reasons: [[Old Ivan]] often recounted stories of a time when he was briefly brought forward to tune a piano, though he was later returned to the Tail. Andre Layton was offered a deal to become a Third Class passenger in exchange for his skills as a homicide detective, something that was lacking in the train's staff or other passengers.