Moby Dick characters

Ishmael

The wandering, meditative sailor who narrates the voyage; he ships aboard the Pequod out of restlessness and becomes the tale's sole survivor.

As drawn: A lean, weathered young American seaman with an observant, contemplative face, dressed in a rough shore coat and sailor's woolens, later in the tarred canvas and oilskins of a whaleman.

Bonds:QueequegTraveling companionsMobySworn enemiesPelegHiring master

Queequeg

Also known as Quohog

A dignified, warmhearted harpooneer and former South Sea island prince who becomes Ishmael's devoted bosom friend and Starbuck's boat-steerer.

As drawn: A tall, powerfully built islander with dark purplish-yellow skin covered head to foot in intricate blue-black tribal tattoos, a nearly bald shaved head crowned with a small scalp-knot of hair, and filed teeth; carries a razor-sharp harpoon and a little black idol named Yojo.

Bonds:StarbuckMate and squireTashtegoBoat crewmatesStubbShipmatesPelegRecruiter and recruit

Captain Ahab

Also known as old man, Old Thunder

The Pequod's grim, monomaniacal commander, consumed by vengeance against the white whale that tore off his leg.

As drawn: A tall, broad, bronzed old man of commanding bearing, his stern face and neck seared by a livid whitish scar running down like a lightning-riven tree; stands on a prosthetic leg carved from polished sperm-whale ivory, grey-haired and iron-browed.

Bonds:MobyHunted adversariesStarbuckCaptain and mateFlaskCaptain and officerFedallahCaptain and agent

Starbuck

The Pequod's earnest, prudent Quaker first mate from Nantucket, the one officer who dares question Ahab's mad pursuit.

As drawn: A tall, earnest, spare Nantucketer of about thirty, lean and firm-fleshed with a steadfast weathered face and careful eyes, dressed in a plain mate's coat.

Bonds:AhabCaptain and mateQueequegMate and squirePelegCaptain and mateBildadCaptain and mate

Stubb

The Pequod's happy-go-lucky, fearless second mate from Cape Cod, who faces danger with a joke and a pipe.

As drawn: A middling-sized, easygoing man with a good-humored, sun-browned face, forever clenching a short pipe between his teeth so it seems part of his features.

Bonds:QueequegShipmatesTashtegoMate and squirePipMentor and pupil

Flask

Also known as King-Post

The Pequod's short, pugnacious third mate from Martha's Vineyard, who hunts whales with blunt bravado.

As drawn: A short, stout, ruddy young man, thick-set and sturdy as a stumpy post, with a combative set to his jaw.

Bonds:AhabCaptain and officerDaggooMate and squirePelegCaptain and officerBildadCaptain and officer

Tashtego

Also known as Tash, Gay-Header

An unmixed Gay Head Indian harpooneer of the Pequod, boat-steerer to Stubb, descended from proud warrior hunters.

As drawn: A lithe, snaky-limbed man with tawny copper skin, long lean sable-black hair, high cheekbones, and large glittering black eyes; carries a keen harpoon like the arrow of his hunter forefathers.

Bonds:QueequegBoat crewmatesStubbMate and squireDaggooBoat crewmatesAhabCaptain and harpooner

Daggoo

Also known as Ahasuerus Daggoo

A towering African harpooneer of the Pequod, boat-steerer to little Flask, retaining all his barbaric dignity.

As drawn: A gigantic, coal-black African standing six feet five, erect as a giraffe with a lion-like tread, wearing two enormous golden hoop earrings the sailors call ring-bolts.

Bonds:TashtegoBoat crewmatesMobyWhale hunterFlaskMate and squire

Fedallah

Also known as the Parsee

Ahab's mysterious, prophetic Parsee harpooneer, a fire-worshipping figure who leads Ahab's secret boat-crew and foretells his doom.

As drawn: A tall, gaunt, swart old man of Asiatic aspect, with a single white tooth protruding from steel-like lips, and long dead-black hair coiled and braided into a white turban upon his head; robed in a black Chinese jacket and trousers.

Bonds:AhabCaptain and agent

Pip

Also known as Pippin

The small, gentle African American cabin boy from Connecticut who, abandoned in the vast ocean, loses his wits and becomes a touching companion to Ahab.

As drawn: A small, slight young Black boy with a bright, tender face, often carrying his tambourine; after his ordeal his eyes hold a vacant, otherworldly gleam.

Bonds:StubbMentor and pupilStarbuckMate and bell-boy

Moby Dick

Also known as the White Whale

The legendary great white sperm whale, uncannily intelligent and savage, that maimed Ahab and becomes the object of his fatal obsession.

As drawn: A colossal sperm whale of unnatural snow-white color, with a wrinkled, high pyramidal white brow, a deformed crooked lower jaw, and a distinctive hump like a snow-hill; his pale hide scarred and bristling with old broken harpoons and lances from past encounters.

Bonds:AhabHunted adversariesTashtegoWhale hunterDaggooWhale hunterQueequegWhale hunter

Father Mapple

The revered former harpooneer turned chaplain of the New Bedford Whaleman's Chapel, who preaches the storm-tossed sermon of Jonah.

As drawn: A hale, robust old preacher with a weathered seaman's face, ascending a rope-ladder to a ship's-prow pulpit; dressed in plain clerical black over a frame still hardy from his whaling youth.

Peleg

A retired Quaker whaling captain and principal owner of the Pequod who signs Ishmael and Queequeg aboard and blusters over the ship's outfitting.

As drawn: A gnarled, weather-beaten old Nantucket Quaker, brown and brawny with a boisterous manner, dressed in plain drab garb.

Bonds:BildadCo-ownersAhabShip officersQueequegRecruiter and recruitStarbuckCaptain and mate

Bildad

A pious, thrifty retired Quaker captain and co-owner of the Pequod, forever reading his Bible while driving a hard bargain.

As drawn: A lean, staid, elderly Nantucket Quaker in a broad-brimmed hat and plain drab coat, spare of frame and severe of expression.

Bonds:PelegCo-ownersAhabShip officersStarbuckCaptain and mateFlaskCaptain and officer

Elijah

A ragged, half-mad stranger on the New Bedford docks who cryptically warns Ishmael and Queequeg about the fate awaiting Ahab's ship.

As drawn: A shabby, beggar-like man with a pockmarked, weather-worn face and tattered clothing, his eyes fixed in a troubled, prophetic stare.