# the master-thief — Household Tales character guide

> the master-thief in Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The master-thief, The Master-Thief

**First appearance:** 0200-the-master-thief

## Snapshot

Raised in a robbers' cave, a boy who clubs the captain at nine and grows into the thief who must prove his craft to a king.

## Who they are

Hans grows up among bandits with a mother who teaches him to read and a father he has never seen, and his first act of will is to demand the truth with a fir-tree club. His strength and cunning are inseparable from his longing for a real home, and the sack of stolen gold he hauls back to his father's cottage breaks the floor beneath its weight. He matters because his skill at taking things will soon be tested against a king's impossible demands.

## In the story

### [The Thief and His Master](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-thief-and-his-master)

The master-thief who teaches the son thieving and witchcraft, and later pursues him in a shape-shifting duel.

### [The Master-Thief](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-master-thief)

The protagonist, a clever and skilled thief who returns to his parents and accepts the count's challenges.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/characters/the_master_thief
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/characters