Character guide

Hudibras

major

Also known as Sir Hudibras, Knight, Sir Knight, The Knight, the Knight, Thither the Knight, The subtle Knight

A Presbyterian knight who rides out to reform the world by force and returns, repeatedly, as his own punchline.

Ralpho

major

Also known as Ralph, plain Ralph, Squire, Good Squire, wrathful Squire, The Squire

Hudibras's squire, an Independent sectary whose plain sense and quick disguises keep rescuing his master from the consequences of his own heroics.

Sidrophel

supporting

Also known as This Sidrophel, Sidrophello, Sir Agrippa, Cornelius Agrippa, Sir Cornelius Agrippa

A fraudulent astrologer and conjurer who sells Hudibras the supernatural answers he is too vain to doubt.

Whachum

supporting

Sidrophel's cunning assistant, a petty schemer who helps turn the astrologer's sham magic into working fraud.

Talgol

supporting

A fierce butcher who fights as a champion in the bear-baiting riot and gives the Knight more than he bargained for.

Crowdero

supporting

A fiddler swept into the bear-baiting fray, whose capture and release become a comic siege in miniature.

Orsin

supporting

Also known as furious Orsin, Noble Orsin

Orsin belongs to the tavern-and-market world of tradesmen and showmen whose bear-baiting Hudibras disrupts, and his bear is the creature at the brawl's center. Grief for Bruin curdles into blazing wrath: he vows the authors of his woe shall pay with flesh and bone, and his speech to Cerdon, Talgol, and the rest turns a scattered rout into a marching vendetta. His pursuit keeps the comic chase alive through the early cantos, giving the knight a pursuer as stubborn as he is pompous.

Bruin

supporting

Also known as The gallant Bruin, stout Bruin, the Bear, Bear, The worsted Bear

Bruin is the tethered prize of the bear-baiting that Hudibras rides in to break up, and the brawl's fortunes turn on his hide. Wounded and ringed by mastiffs, he refuses to yield, using every trick of a stout and politic warrior to gain ground and sell his carcase dear. His doomed stand gives the poem its first great mock-heroic set piece, making a lumbering beast the unlikely mirror of the knight's own pretensions to honour.

Trulla

supporting

Also known as gentle Trulla

Trulla moves among the butchers, tinkers, and bear-ward's allies who make up the anti-Hudibras faction, and Cerdon credits her with saving Bruin from the dogs. Her name means something like a wench or trull, yet she fights with a man's stoutness, mocking the poem's assumptions about who belongs in combat. Her presence sharpens the satire's gender comedy and keeps the crowd of low-born combatants vivid as the chase for the knight unfolds.

Cerdon

supporting

Also known as The upright Cerdon next advanc't, Cerdon the Great, valiant Cerdon, Last Colon, Colon

Cerdon is one of the resolute tradesmen Orsin rallies after the bear-baiting rout, a fighter as ready with a cobbler's pun as with a cudgel. He answers Orsin's fury with practical news, reporting that he and Trulla dragged Bruin off to safety, and swears vengeance on the knight and his squire. His blunt pledge of violence embodies the poem's delight in low characters who talk like epic champions, and his loyalty keeps the vengeful crew moving in pursuit.

Magnano

supporting

Also known as Mong these the fierce Magnano

Magnano numbers among the warriors stout whom Hudibras lately subdued and who now regroup under Orsin's call for vengeance. A tinker by trade, he carries the same combustible mix of injured pride and appetite for payback that drives the whole crew, and his name's metallic ring suits a man who fights with pots and kettles as readily as swords. His presence swells the comic army that dogs the knight through the middle cantos, turning a petty scuffle into a running war.

Cerberus

minor

Also known as Proud Cerberus

The three-headed dog of myth, referenced as a character in the narrative.

Oliver Cromwell

minor

Also known as the usurper Oliver Cromwell, Cromwell, Oliver

The Lord Protector, frequently alluded to as a political figure.

Muhammad

minor

Also known as Mahomet

Prophet of Islam, mentioned in religious satire.

Joan of Arc

minor

Also known as Joan of, Pope Joan, Joan, Jo

French heroine and legendary female pope, used in satirical comparisons.

Montaigne

minor

French essayist, cited in philosophical digressions.

King Charles II

minor

Also known as King Charles I

The restored monarch, referenced in political satire.

Adam

minor

First man in the Bible, mentioned in theological jokes.

Cupid

minor

God of love, referenced in romantic satire.

Lob

minor

A rustic or clownish character, possibly a servant.

Eve

minor

First woman in the Bible, mentioned in theological satire.

Sarah Jimmers

minor

Also known as sally

A woman mentioned in passing, possibly a local figure.

Romulus

minor

Mythical founder of Rome, mentioned in passing comparisons.

Aeneas

minor

Trojan hero, referenced in classical allusions.

John Duns Scotus

minor

Also known as Johannes Dunscotas, Dunscotas

Medieval scholastic philosopher, mocked for obscure reasoning.

Thomas Aquinas

minor

Also known as Thomas

Scholastic theologian, cited in Hudibras's pedantic arguments.

Chiron

minor

Centaur tutor of Achilles, referenced in classical allusions.

Taliacotius

minor

Renaissance surgeon known for nose grafts, mentioned in mockery.

Roger Bacon

minor

Also known as Friar Bacon, Bacon

Medieval philosopher and scientist, referenced as a magician.

Satan

minor

The devil, invoked in religious satire and oaths.

Raymund Lully

minor

Also known as Mr. Ray

Medieval alchemist and philosopher, mentioned in occult contexts.

Ignatius Loyola

minor

Founder of the Jesuits, satirized as a schemer.

Julius Caesar

minor

Also known as Caesar

Roman dictator, used in historical comparisons.

Pygmalion

minor

Mythical sculptor, referenced in classical allusions.

Hercules

minor

Mythological hero, used in epic comparisons.

Martin Luther

minor

Also known as Martin

Protestant reformer, referenced in religious satire.

Pyrrho

minor

Greek skeptic philosopher, mentioned in philosophical jokes.

Prometheus

minor

Titan who gave fire to humans, referenced in classical allusions.

Paracelsus

minor

Renaissance physician and alchemist, mentioned in occult contexts.

Philip Nye

minor

Also known as Philip, Phil

Puritan clergyman, satirized as a religious hypocrite.

Bongey

minor

A minor character, possibly a servant or local figure.

Caligula

minor

Roman emperor, used as a byword for tyranny.

Virgil

minor

Roman poet, referenced in classical allusions.

Pliny

minor

Roman naturalist, cited in mock-scholarly notes.

William Pryn

minor

Also known as Pryn

Puritan pamphleteer, satirized for his zeal.

Alexander Ross

minor

Also known as Alexander

Scottish writer and controversialist, mocked in the poem.

Apollo

minor

Also known as quoth Apollo

God of poetry, invoked in mock-epic conventions.

Homer

minor

Also known as old Homer

Ancient Greek poet, referenced as epic source.

Echo

minor

Also known as Quoth Echo

Nymph from myth, used in a punning exchange.

Madam Bennet

minor

Also known as Madam

A procuress or bawd, mentioned in satirical context.

Plato

minor

Greek philosopher, cited in philosophical satire.

Copernicus

minor

Astronomer, referenced in Sidrophel's pseudo-science.

Lord Napier

minor

Also known as Napier, The famous Lord Napier

Scottish mathematician, inventor of logarithms, referenced.

Demosthenes

minor

Greek orator, used in rhetorical comparisons.

Sir William Davenant

minor

Also known as Sir William d'Avenant, Sir William

Poet laureate, mentioned in literary satire.

Doomsday Sedgwick

minor

Also known as This Sedgwick

A Puritan preacher, satirized for his apocalyptic sermons.

Anaxagoras

minor

Also known as Anaxogaras

Pre-Socratic philosopher, mentioned in philosophical jokes.