Henry V · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Henry V by William Shakespeare.
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King Henry V
major
Also known as Harry, King Harry, Henry le Roy, Harry of England, Harry Monmouth, Henry Plantagenet
Once Prince Hal of Eastcheap taverns, he now sits at the center of a court where churchmen quietly calculate how a French war might save their lands from taxation. Canterbury marvels that his reformation came 'in a flood,' but the play keeps testing whether that change is sincere or strategic. Walking the camp at night in disguise, he argues with common soldiers about whether a king answers for the souls of those who die in his quarrel.
Princess Katherine
major
Also known as Katharine, Kate, Katherine De, Katherine De hand
Daughter to the French king, she watches the English invasion from the gilded distance of court, practicing the language of the men marching toward her. Her scenes trade on the gap between what she is told and what she understands, and on a sharp humor that refuses to be merely ornamental. When a victorious English king comes courting, she becomes the human hinge on which peace between the two kingdoms must turn.
Captain Fluellen
supporting
Also known as Fluellen, Captain Fluellen
He serves in Henry's army as a professional soldier among amateurs, forever comparing the campaign to classical precedent and correcting his fellows on points of honor. His pedantry is genuine, but so is his courage, and the king notes there is 'much care and valour in this Welshman.' He matters because he embodies the unglamorous discipline that holds an outnumbered army together when the odds look hopeless.
Pistol
supporting
Also known as Ancient Pistol, Pistol, Aunchient Pistol
He arrives in France trailing debts, grudges, and a vocabulary of inflated nonsense, quarreling with Nym and chasing whatever profit the campaign offers. His bluster is funny until it isn't, and the play uses him to measure the distance between the old tavern life and the king's new seriousness. He matters because he shows what happens to the hangers-on of a prince who has decided to become a monarch.
Corporal Nym
supporting
Also known as Nym, Corporal Nym
He moves through the army's lower ranks with Falstaff's old crew, trading threats with Pistol over a woman and a debt. His flat, repetitive speech hides a genuine grievance: the world has moved on, and men like him have been left behind. He matters because he represents the ordinary, unheroic soldier whose fate the play keeps insisting we notice.
Bardolph
supporting
Also known as Bardolph, Lieutenant Bardolph, Good Bardolph
He follows the army to France as a lieutenant, still recognizable by the flaming nose that made him a joke in Eastcheap. His loyalty to Falstaff's circle and his casual looting place him on a collision course with the king's new discipline. He matters because his fate forces Henry to choose between old friendship and the law he has sworn to uphold.
Captain Gower
supporting
Also known as Gower, Captain Gower
Gower serves as a level-headed officer in Henry's army, often paired with the excitable Welsh captain Fluellen, whose tangents he patiently endures and occasionally translates for the audience. Where Fluellen erupts over discipline and honor, Gower supplies the dry, practical counterweight, giving the common soldier's world its texture. He matters because the play's middle hinges on the camp's mood — the doubts, oaths, and grudges of ordinary men — and Gower is our reliable guide through it.
The Dauphin
supporting
Also known as Dauphin, Prince Dauphin
The Dauphin is the French crown prince, eager for war with England and contemptuous of Henry as a wastrel who cannot 'revel into dukedoms.' His insulting gift of tennis balls is meant to mock, but it hands Henry the perfect provocation to rally England and press his claim. Arrogant, impatient, and hungry for 'nothing but odds with England,' the Dauphin embodies the overconfidence that will define France's posture in the war's opening arc.
Constable of France
supporting
Also known as Constable, Constable Marry, Constable Just
The Constable leads France's army and speaks with the authority of a man who assumes his side's superiority, but his counsel carries an undercurrent of unease about the English king's 'native mightiness and fate.' He stands at the center of the French court's debate over how seriously to take Henry's claim, caught between the Dauphin's bluster and the king's caution. His presence gives the French war effort a face — confident, calculating, and increasingly aware that this campaign will not be won by reputation alone.
Montjoy
supporting
Also known as Montjoy
Montjoy is France's official messenger, the voice through which demands, defiances, and — eventually — admissions of defeat travel between the two sides. His role places him at the charged boundary between enemies, where words carry as much weight as swords, and where courtesy and contempt must coexist. He matters because the play measures the shifting fortunes of the war through his errands: the same herald who once delivered France's scorn returns to ask Henry's leave to bury the French dead.
Duke of Exeter
supporting
Also known as Exeter, Uncle of Exeter, uncle Exeter
Exeter is both family and functionary — Henry's uncle, his ambassador to the French court, and a commander in the field. His embassy scene is a masterclass in controlled menace: he lays out the genealogical claim, then warns of 'bloody constraint' and the widows' tears that will follow if France refuses. He matters because he translates Henry's royal will into action, embodying the disciplined, loyal nobility on which the king's campaign depends.
Duke of Gloucester
supporting
Also known as Gloucester, brother Gloucester
Gloucester belongs to the small band of Henry's brothers and uncles who surround him as he transforms from prodigal prince to warrior king. He appears at court when the French embassy arrives and stands among the English leadership as the campaign unfolds, part of the familial scaffolding that supports Henry's authority. His importance lies less in individual deeds than in what he represents: the Plantagenet house closing ranks, blood and duty fused into the machinery of war.
Duke of Bedford
minor
Also known as Bedford, brother Bedford
Henry's brother, an English nobleman present at the French campaign.
Earl of Westmoreland
minor
Also known as Westmoreland
An English nobleman who wishes for more men before Agincourt.
Earl of Warwick
minor
Also known as Warwick
An English nobleman and companion to Henry V.
Duke of York
minor
Also known as Edward, Edward the Duke of York
An English nobleman who dies heroically at Agincourt.
Richard Earl of Cambridge
minor
Also known as Cambridge, Richard
A conspirator against Henry V, executed before the French campaign.
Lord Scroop of Masham
minor
Also known as Scroop, Lord Scroop, Henry Lord Scroop of Masham
A trusted nobleman who betrays Henry and is executed.
Sir Thomas Grey
minor
Also known as Grey, Thomas Grey
A conspirator executed for plotting against Henry V.
Archbishop of Canterbury
minor
Also known as Canterbury, my gracious Lord of Canterbury
The Archbishop who justifies Henry's claim to the French throne.
Bishop of Ely
minor
Also known as Ely
A bishop who supports the Archbishop of Canterbury's arguments.
Alice
minor
Also known as Alice, Alice De arm, Alice De elbow, Alice De neck, Alice De chin, Alice De nails, Alice De foot, Alice Oui, Alice Dat
Katherine's lady-in-waiting who helps her learn English.
King Charles VI of France
minor
Also known as the French King, French King, The French
The French king who reluctantly negotiates peace with Henry.
Duke of Burgundy
minor
Also known as Burgundy, Duke of Burgundy
The Duke who mediates the peace treaty between England and France.
Lord Rambures
minor
Also known as Rambures, the Lord Rambures, Lord Rambures
A French nobleman who fights at Agincourt.
Michael Williams
minor
Also known as Williams, Michael Williams, Williams Sir
A common English soldier who argues with the disguised King Henry.
The Boy
minor
Also known as Boy, Boy Écoutez, Boy Mine host Pistol
A young servant to Pistol, Nym, and Bardolph who is killed in the campaign.
Mistress Quickly
minor
Also known as Hostess, Nell Quickly, Nell
The tavern hostess who reports Falstaff's death and later marries Pistol.
Captain Macmorris
minor
Also known as MacMorris, Captain Macmorris, Macmorris
An Irish captain in Henry's army who argues with Fluellen about military tactics.
Duke of Orleans
minor
Also known as Orleans
A French nobleman captured at Agincourt.
Duke of Bourbon
minor
Also known as Bourbon
A French nobleman who fights at Agincourt.
Earl of Huntingdon
minor
Also known as Huntington
An English nobleman mentioned among Henry's retinue.
Earl of Salisbury
minor
Also known as good Salisbury
An English nobleman who dies at the siege of Harfleur.
Earl of Suffolk
minor
Also known as Suffolk
An English nobleman who dies at Agincourt.
Queen Isabel
minor
Also known as Isabel, Queen Isabel
The French queen who attends the peace negotiations.
Lord Grandpré
minor
Also known as Grandpré, Messenger The Lord Grandpré
A French nobleman who describes the English army before battle.
John Bates
minor
Also known as Bates, John Bates, Bates Ay
An English soldier who speaks with the disguised king before Agincourt.
Alexander Court
minor
Also known as Court, Court Brother John Bates
An English soldier in Henry's army before Agincourt.
Captain Jamy
minor
Also known as Jamy, Captain Jamy
A Scottish captain in Henry's army who debates with Fluellen.
Sir Thomas Erpingham
minor
Also known as old Sir Thomas Erpingham, Sir Thomas, Sir Thomas Erpingham
An elderly English knight who lends Henry his cloak for disguise.
English Herald
minor
Also known as Herald
An English herald who announces the French casualties after Agincourt.
Duke of Alençon
minor
Also known as Alençon
A French nobleman who fights and dies at Agincourt.
Chrish
minor
Also known as Chrish
A French soldier captured by Pistol during the battle.
Monsieur Le Fer
minor
Also known as Master Fer
A French prisoner taken by Pistol at Agincourt.
Saint George
minor
Also known as Saint George
The patron saint of England, invoked by Henry and his soldiers.
Saint Crispin
minor
Also known as Crispin, Crispian, Saint Crispian, Crispin Crispian
The saint whose feast day is celebrated at the Battle of Agincourt.
