# Corporal Nym — Henry V character guide

> Corporal Nym in Henry V by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Nym, Corporal Nym

**First appearance:** 0007-act-ii-scene-i

## Snapshot

A laconic corporal whose favorite word is 'humours,' nursing old quarrels and grudges through a war he never asked to fight.

## Who they are

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.

## In the story

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_v_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-i)

Nym is aggrieved that Pistol married Nell Quickly, to whom he was troth-plight, and demands repayment of eight shillings won at betting. He speaks in cryptic, fatalistic terms ('that's the humour of it') and is reluctant to fight openly.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_v_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-iii)

Recalls Falstaff's complaints about sack and women, and urges the group to move on.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_v_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-ii)

Reluctant to fight, complains the knocks are too hot.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_v_se/characters/nym
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_v_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_v_se/characters