Characters

This page is mainly about questions of the form "In which book (or play) did ... (first) appear?"

See also Character Details – for questions (generally) where the answer is the name of a character.

Chaucer's Pilgrims

Modern editions of The Canterbury Tales invariably include 24 tales.  There are 30 pilgrims altogether (give or take ... ) and Chaucer is believed to have originally intended that each pilgrim would tell four tales – giving a total of 120 (ten dozen – a nice round number).  It is not known how many he actually got round to writing – but only these 24 have survived in any meaningful form.

The 24 tales are preceded by the General Prologue.

The table below lists the 24 tellers of the surviving tales, in the order in which they appear.  (Again, the exact order that Chaucer intended is not definitely known, but this is the order accepted by common consent.)  It's not unknown for question setters to give a selection of these and ask what connects them (answer: they all appear in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales).

A reeve was an estate manager; a summoner was a sort of usher in an ecclesiastical court; a franklin was a freeman as opposed to a serf; a pardoner was a member of the clergy who sold pardons and indulgences; a shipman was a sailor; Sir Thopas and Melibee are the names of characters; a manciple was the person in charge of catering, specifically the purchase of the food, at an institution such as a monastery or a law court.

Other

It's not normally necessary to include the name of the author in the question; but it may be useful as an extra clue, and it's included here for that reason.

If setting questions, you can obviously include as few or as many of the listed characters as you want.

Q: In which book (or play) did ... (first) appear?	Author		A:
Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Slartibartfast, Zaphod Beeblebrox	Douglas Adams		The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Bright Eyes, General Woundwort, Fiver, Hazel, Bigwig	Richard Adams		Watership Down
James Dixon, a lecturer in mediaeval history at an unnamed red–brick university in the English Midlands, is the title character in	Kingsley Amis		Lucky Jim
Harriet Smith is the unsophisticated 17–year–old girl whose romantic life is (largely unsuccsessfully) manipulated by the title character, in	Jane Austen		Emma
The orphan Jane Fairfax – a beautiful, bright, and elegant woman, with the best of manners; the only character whom the title character envies
Fanny Price is the heroine of; Sir Thomas Bertram, his wife Lady Bertram (Fanny's aunt Maria), and their children Tom, Edmund (beloved of Fanny), Maria and Julia; Mrs. Norris (Fanny's other aunt); Henry Crawford and his sister Mary			Mansfield Park
Catherine Morland (central character), and her brother James; Henry Tilney			Northanger Abbey
Anne Elliot, one of the cash–strapped Elliot family of Kellynch Hall, is the central character of			Persuasion
The Elliots, the Musgroves and the Wentworths are the three principal families in
Elizabeth Bennet (and her family, including her four sisters) is/are the central characters in			Pride and Prejudice
Sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, respectively, personify the two qualities mentioned in the title of			Sense and Sensibility
Ralph, Peterkin and Jack	R. M. Ballantyne		The Coral Island
Peter Pan first appeared in (1902 adult novel); the play Peter Pan first appeared 1904, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (children's novel) 1906, Peter and Wendy (novel based on the play) 1911	J. M. Barrie		The Little White Bird
Tramps – Vladimir and Estragon (play)	Samuel Beckett		Waiting for Godot
Joe Lampton	John Braine		Room at the Top
A mysterious young widow, calling herself Helen Graham, is the title character of	Anne Brontë		The Tenant of Wildfell Hall anne bronte
Caroline Helstone is the central character (said to be based on the author's sister) of	Charlotte Brontë charlotte bronte		Shirley
Lucy Snowe is the narrator and central character of	Charlotte Brontë charlotte bronte		Villette
Nellie Dean, Mr. Lockwood (narrators); Edgar Linton and his sister Isabella	Emily Brontë emily bronte		Wuthering Heights
Robert Langdon, Sophie Neveu (Langdon first appeared in Angels and Demons)	Dan Brown		The Da Vinci Code
Mr. Worldly Wiseman, Hopeful, Giant Despair	John Bunyan		Pilgrim's Progress
Holly Golightly is the central character in (novella)	Truman Capote		Breakfast at Tiffany's
Lady Dulcinea de Toboso	Miguel de Cervantes		Don Quixote
Philip Marlowe	Raymond Chandler		The Big Sleep
Father Brown	G. K. Chesterton		The Innocence of Father Brown
Miss Marple	Agatha Christie		Murder at the Vicarage
Jack Ryan	Tom Clancy		The Hunt for Red October
John Blackthorne, an English pilot serving on the Dutch warship Erasmus, is the central character in (1975 bestseller)	James Clavell		Shōgun shogun
Anne Catherick (the title character); Count Fosco (an eccentric, grossly obese Italian, with a mysterious past); Marian Halcombe (described by one critic as "[one] of the finest creations in all Victorian fiction")	Wilkie Collins		The Woman in White
Sergeant Cuff – sometimes, but controversially to say the least, described as the first detective in English fiction			The Moonstone
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle		A Study in Scarlet
Chingachgook and his son Uncas can both be described as the title character, since Chingachgook outlives Uncas; Nathaniel 'Natty' Bumppo is the protagonist	James Fenimore Cooper		Last of the Mohicans
Violet Beauregarde, Augustus Gloop	Roald Dahl		Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Sebastian Dangerfield (central character)	J. P. Donleavy		The Ginger Man
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikoff, an impoverished student, is the central character of; detective Porphyrius Petrovich	Fyodr Dostoevsky		Crime and Punishment
Dmitri, Alyosha and Ivan are the title characters of			The Brothers Karamazov
Athos, Porthos and Aramis are the title characters; d'Artagnan, the protagonist, is their friend and associate	Alexandre Dumas		The Three Musketeers
Edmond Dantès is the protagonist and title character of			The Count of Monte Cristo
Mrs. Danvers (sinister housekeeper)	Daphne du Maurier		Rebecca
Dorothea Brooke (heroine of); Tertius Lydgate (idealistic young doctor); Edward Casaubon (middle–aged clergyman who marries Dorothea)	George Eliot		Middlemarch
Brother and sister, Tom and Maggie Tulliver (central characters)			The Mill on the Floss
The wealthy, irreproachable and good–natured Squire Allworthy, and his daughter Bridget; the wealthy, rough–and–ready simpleton Squire Western, and his daughter Sophia; Captain Blifil, and his brother Dr. Blifil – both of whom meet unexpected deaths	Henry Fielding		Tom Jones
Nick Carraway (the narrator), Jordan Baker (Nick's girlfriend), Daisy Buchanan (Nick's cousin, once romantically involved with the title character), Tom Buchanan (Daisy's husband), George Wilson (a garage owner), Myrtle Wilson (George's wife, and Tom's mistress)	F. Scott Fitzgerald		The Great Gatsby
Mrs. Sigourney Howard – the inspiration for part of actress Sigourney Weaver's stage name – is a very minor character (mentioned only) in passing
Lucy Honeychurch is the heroine of	E. M. Forster		A Room with a View
Frederick Clegg, a lonely young office clerk who is obsessed with art student Miranda Grey, is the central character of	John Fowles		The Collector
Sara Woodruff is the eponymous central character of			The French Lieutenant's Woman
Captain Macheath, Polly Peachum	John Gay		The Beggar's Opera
Aunt Ada Doom; Flora Poste is the narrator of	Stella Gibbons		Cold Comfort Farm
Ralph, Piggy and Jack Merridew are the central characters; Simon, Roger; twins Sam and Eric (Samneric)	William Golding		Lord of the Flies
Vacuum cleaner salesman Jim Wormold is the title character of	Graham Greene		Our Man in Havana
CIA agent Alden Pyle is the title character of			The Quiet American
Sam Spade (private investigator)	Dashiell Hammett		The Maltese Falcon
Bathsheba Everdene, Gabriel Oak, Sergeant Troy, Farmer Bolding, Fanny Robin	Thomas Hardy		Far from the Madding Crowd
Sue Bridehead is the cousin, and the love interest, of the central character in			Jude the Obscure
Michael Henchard is the eponymous character, who sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas after arguing with his wife when drunk			The Mayor of Casterbridge
Angel Clare is an intending farmer who marries the title character, in			Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Dick Dewy and Fancy Day are central characters in			Under the Greenwood Tree
Hannibal Lecter	Thomas Harris		Red Dragon
Yossarian (central character); Milo Minderbinder; Major Major Major Major; Nately and his Whore	Joseph Heller		Catch–22
Story of a love affair between US Lieutenant Frederic Henry (the narrator) and English nurse Catherine Barkley	Ernest Hemingway		A Farewell to Arms
Ludi Magister Joseph Knecht	Hermann Hesse		The Glass Bead Game
Harry Halleris the central character of			Steppenwolf
Jean Valjean is the long–suffering central character of	Victor Hugo		Les Miserables
Quasimodo			Notre Dame de Paris
Nora Helmer is the heroine of (play)	Henrik Ibsen		A Doll's House
Anastasia Steel is the central (female) character of	E. L. James		Fifty Shades of Grey
Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker is the central character of	James Joyce		Finnegan's Wake
Leopold Bloom is the central character of			Ulysses
Gregor Samsa is the central character of	Franz Kafka		Metamorphosis
Joseph K is the central character of			The Trial
Dean Moriarty is the central character of	Jack Kerouac		On the Road
Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid	Charles Kingsley		The Water Babies
Amyas Leigh (an unruly child who follows Sir Francis Drake to sea): central character of			Westward Ho!
M'Turk and Beetle (they are the 'Co.' of the title)	Rudyard Kipling		Stalky & Co.
Ursula Brangwen (before Women in Love)	D. H. Lawrence		The Rainbow
Alec Leamas is the central character of	John le Carré		The Spy who Came In from the Cold
George Smiley first appeared in (the author's first novel)			Call for the Dead
Atticus Finch, his daughter Scout (the narrator), Tom Robinson, Boo Radley	Harper Lee		To Kill a Mockingbird
Gustav Aschenbach (a distinguished composer) is the central character of	Thomas Mann		Death in Venice
Piscine Patel is the central character, and Richard Parker another bizarrely named character but in a different way, in (2002 Booker winner, filmed in 2012)	Yann Martel		Life of Pi
Precious Ramotswe	Alexander McCall Smith		The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Bella Swan is the central character; Edward Cullen and Jacob Black are the other two main characters in (series)	Stephenie Meyer		Twilight
Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy	Margaret Mitchell		Gone with the Wind
Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton form a 'love triangle' with the central character, in
12–year–old Dolores Haze is the title character; Humbert Humbert (played in the 1962 film by James Mason) is the central male character (classic 20th century novel)	Vladimir Nabokov		Lolita
Clare Quilty is a doppelgänger to the narrator, by whom he is eventually shot dead
Count Ladislaus de Almásy – based on the real–life explorer László Almásy – is the title character of	Michael Ondaatje		The English Patient
Boxer (shire horse), Napoleon, Snowball (pigs)	George Orwell		Animal Farm
Winston Smith is the central character of			Nineteen Eighty–Four
Jimmy Porter	John Osborne		Look Back in Anger
Lara Antipova	Boris Pasternak		Doctor Zhivago
Paul Baumer is the central character of	Erich Maria Remarque		All Quiet on the Western Front
Holden Caulfield is the central character of	J. D. Salinger		The Catcher in the Rye
Dandy Dinmont	Sir Walter Scott		Guy Mannering
Lady Sneerwell, Sir Peter Teazle	Richard B. Sheridan		The School for Scandal
Mrs. Malaprop, Sir Anthony Absolute and his son Jack, Lydia Languish (play)			The Rivals
German–American brothers Rudy and Tom Jordache are the title characters of	Irwin Shaw		Rich Man, Poor Man
17–year–old Cassandra Mortmain is the narrator and protagonist of	Dodie Smith		I Capture the Castle
Oleg Filimonovich Kostoglotov is the central character of	Alexander Solzhenitsyn		Cancer Ward
Migrant workers George Milton and Lenny Small are the central characters in	John Steinbeck		Of Mice and Men
Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, Captain Smollett	Robert Louis Stevenson		Treasure Island
17–year–old David Balfour is the central character and narrator of			Kidnapped
Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, is the central character in	Bram Stoker		Dracula
Becky Sharp is the central character of	W. M. Thackeray		Vanity Fair
Charley Wykeham, Jack Chesney, Amy Spettigue, Kitty Verdun, Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez (the title character), Lord Fancourt Babberley (play)	Brandon Thomas		Charley's Aunt
Willy Nilly, Polly Garter, Captain Cat, Organ Morgan, Bessie Bighead, Mrs Ogmore–Pritchard (play)	Dylan Thomas		Under Milk Wood
Count Kyrill (Peter) Bezukhov, Prince Andrey Bolkonsky and his sister Princess Maria, and the Rostov family (Count Ilya, Countess Natalya, and their children Vera, Nikolai, Petya and Natasha)	Leo Tolstoy		War and Peace
Harry Angstrom (the title includes his nickname) is the title character of	John Updike		Rabbit, Run (and sequels)
Phineas Fogg, Passepartout, Mr. Fix, Aouda	Jules Verne		Around the World in 80 Days
Cunégonde is the aristocratic cousin and 'love interest' of the title character, in	Voltaire		Candide
Charles Ryder (narrator), Sebastian Flyte	Evelyn Waugh		Brideshead Revisited
Guy Crouchback is the central character in (trilogy, published 1952–61)			Sword of Honour
Homer Simpson	Nathaniel West		Day of the Locust
Lady Bracknell, Miss Prism	Oscar Wilde		The Importance of being Earnest
Basil Hallward is a portrait painter (eventually stabbed to death by his eponymous subject), in			The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Pollitt family: Brick and Maggie, Big Daddy, Big Mama, Mae and Gooper (play)	Tennessee Williams		Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Blanche Dubois (play)			A Streetcar Named Desire

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24