# Short Fiction — Character guide

> Key figures in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe.

- [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/unknown_narrator.md): The unnamed first-person narrator in several Poe stories, often a focal character.
- [C. Auguste Dupin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/c_auguste_dupin.md): Brilliant amateur detective who solves mysteries using ratiocination.
- [William Legrand](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/william_legrand.md): Eccentric naturalist who deciphers a cryptogram to find buried treasure.
- [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/jupiter.md): Loyal freedman and companion to William Legrand, speaks in dialect.
- [Edgar Allan Poe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/edgar_allan_poe.md): Authorial persona appearing as a character in some stories.
- [Roderick Usher](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/roderick_usher.md): Hypersensitive aristocrat suffering from a mysterious malady in his decaying house.
- [Marie Rogêt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/marie_roget.md): Young woman whose mysterious murder is investigated by Dupin.
- [Madame Lalande](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/madame_lalande.md): Witty French widow who tricks a vain suitor in 'The Spectacles'.
- [Ligeia](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/ligia.md): Beautiful and learned woman who returns from the dead through willpower.
- [William Wilson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/william_wilson.md): Narrator haunted by his exact double who thwarts his misdeeds.
- [Fortunato](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/fortunato.md): Proud wine connoisseur lured into a catacomb and walled up alive.
- [Hop-Frog](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/hop_frog.md): Dwarf jester who exacts a fiery revenge on a cruel king and his ministers.
- [Morella](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/morella.md): Wise and mysterious woman whose death leads to her reincarnation in her daughter.
- [Eleonora](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/eleonora.md): Ethereal cousin and lover of the narrator, dies but returns as a spirit.
- [Berenice](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/berenice.md): Woman whose cousin obsessively fixates on her teeth after her illness.
- [Monsieur Maillard](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/monsieur_maillard.md): Director of a madhouse who participates in a bizarre patient revolt.
- [M. Valdemar](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/m_valdemar.md): Man mesmerized at the moment of death, speaking from a suspended state.
- [Prince Prospero](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/prince_prospero.md): Wealthy prince who holds a masquerade while plague ravages the land.
- [Thingum Bob](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/thingum_bob.md): Ambitious literary hack who rises to fame through plagiarism and puffery.
- [Pierre Bon-Bon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/pierre_bon_bon.md): Philosopher and restaurateur who debates with the Devil.
- [Toby Dammit](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/toby_dammit.md): Reckless man who bets his head and loses it to the Devil.
- [Mr. Shuttleworthy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_shuttleworthy.md): Wealthy merchant who is murdered, leading to a comic investigation.
- [Charles Goodfellow](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/charles_goodfellow.md): Eccentric friend of Shuttleworthy who helps solve the murder.
- [Cornelius Wyatt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/cornelius_wyatt.md): Artist traveling with a mysterious oblong box containing a secret.
- [Doctor Ponnonner](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/doctor_ponnonner.md): Scientist who unwraps a mummy that comes back to life.
- [Allamistakeo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/allamistakeo.md): Ancient Egyptian mummy revived by scientists, who criticizes modern civilization.
- [Scheherazade](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/scheherazade.md): Legendary storyteller who tells tales to the Sultan for a thousand nights.
- [Von Kempelen](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/von_kempelen.md): Inventor who allegedly discovers the secret of transmuting lead into gold.
- [Monsieur Bon-Bon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/monsieur_bon_bon.md): Restaurateur and philosopher who encounters the Devil in his kitchen.
- [Mr. Crab](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_crab.md): Eccentric businessman who appears in 'The Business Man'.
- [Pompey](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/pompey.md): Servant who assists his master in a comedic misunderstanding.
- [Madame L'Espanaye](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/madame_lespanaye.md): Victim of a brutal murder in the Rue Morgue, along with her daughter.
- [Mademoiselle L'Espanaye](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mademoiselle_lespanaye.md): Daughter of Madame L'Espanaye, also murdered in the Rue Morgue.
- [Beauvais](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/beauvais.md): Friend of Marie Rogêt who assists in the investigation of her death.
- [St. Eustache](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/st_eustache.md): Fiancé of Marie Rogêt, suspected in her murder.
- [Adolphe Le Bon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/adolphe_le_bon.md): Bank clerk briefly suspected in the Rue Morgue murders.
- [Monsieur G——](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/monsieur_g.md): Prefect of the Parisian police, often consulting Dupin.
- [Mr. Talbot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_talbot.md): Friend of the narrator in 'The Spectacles', advises against the marriage.
- [Mr. Bullet-head](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_bullet_head.md): Editor of a newspaper who engages in a typographical feud.
- [Mr. Oppodeldoc](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_oppodeldoc.md): Apothecary who appears in 'The Business Man'.
- [Thomas Bob](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/thomas_bob.md): Literary figure and rival of Thingum Bob.
- [Dr. Templeton](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/dr_templeton.md): Physician who treats the narrator in 'A Tale of the Ragged Mountains'.
- [Mr. Augustus Bedloe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_augustus_bedloe.md): Man who experiences a strange mesmeric journey into the past.
- [Mr. Silk Buckingham](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_silk_buckingham.md): Traveler and companion in 'Some Words with a Mummy'.
- [Mr. Gliddon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_gliddon.md): Egyptologist who assists in unwrapping the mummy.
- [Pundit](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/pundit.md): Scholar in the futuristic tale 'Mellonta Tauta'.
- [Hans Pfaall](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/hans_pfaall.md): Man who claims to have traveled to the moon in a balloon.
- [Hugh Tarpaulin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/hugh_tarpaulin.md): Companion of Hans Pfaall on his lunar voyage.
- [Agathos](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/agathos.md): Spiritual being who discusses the power of words with a companion.
- [Eiros](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/eiros.md): Spirit who recounts the destruction of Earth by fire.
- [Charmion](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/charmion.md): Spirit who converses with Eiros about the apocalypse.
- [Monos](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/monos.md): Deceased narrator who describes the experience of death and decay.
- [Una](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/una.md): Spirit who converses with Monos about life after death.
- [Mr. John Smith](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_john_smith.md): Narrator of 'The Angel of the Odd', a victim of absurd mishaps.
- [Mr. Blackwood](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_blackwood.md): Editor who advises on writing sensational articles.
- [Miss Psyche Zenobia](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/miss_psyche_zenobia.md): Ambitious writer who follows Blackwood's advice with disastrous results.
- [Madame Joyeuse](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/madame_joyeuse.md): Friend of Psyche Zenobia in 'A Predicament'.
- [Pompey](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/pompey_the_servant.md): Servant who accompanies Psyche Zenobia on her misadventure.
- [Diana](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/diana.md): Newfoundland dog who saves his master from a maelstrom.
- [Mr. Thomas Hawk](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_thomas_hawk.md): Editor of the Lollipop newspaper in 'X-ing a Paragrab'.
- [John A. B. C. Smith](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/john_a_b_c_smith.md): War hero revealed to be entirely composed of prosthetics.
- [Pluto](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/pluto.md): Black cat beloved by the narrator, later killed and avenged.
- [The Orangutan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/the_orangutan.md): Feral beast that commits the murders in the Rue Morgue.
- [Madame Deluc](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/madame_deluc.md): Innkeeper who provides testimony in the Marie Rogêt case.
- [Madame Rogêt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/madame_roget.md): Mother of Marie Rogêt, grieving her daughter's death.
- [Mademoiselle Rogêt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mademoiselle_roget.md): Sister of Marie Rogêt, mentioned in the investigation.
- [Mr. Kissam](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_kissam.md): Man who testifies about seeing Marie Rogêt after her disappearance.
- [Captain Hardy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/captain_hardy.md): Ship captain who assists in the voyage in 'MS. Found in a Bottle'.
- [Professor Rubadub](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/professor_rubadub.md): Eccentric scientist in 'The Angel of the Odd'.
- [Trippetta](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/trippetta.md): Dwarf dancer and friend of Hop-Frog, abused by the king.
- [Annabel Lee](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/annabel_lee.md): Beloved of the narrator, whose death is mourned in a poem.
- [Ethelred](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/etheldred.md): Hero of a romance novel read aloud in 'The Fall of the House of Usher'.
- [Mentoni](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mentoni.md): Husband of the Marchesa Aphrodite in 'The Assignation'.
- [The Marchesa Aphrodite](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/the_marchesa_aphrodite.md): Beautiful woman who dies in a tragic love affair in Venice.
- [Lady Rowena](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/lady_rowena.md): Second wife of the narrator in 'Ligeia', who dies and is possessed.
- [Madeline Usher](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/madeline_usher.md): Twin sister of Roderick Usher, buried alive and returning from the tomb.
- [Virginia Clemm](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/virginia_clemm.md): Wife of Poe, appears as a character in biographical sections.
- [Mr. Allan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/mr_allan.md): Foster father of Edgar Allan Poe, mentioned in biographical sections.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters