Character guide

Sir Henry Curtis

major

Also known as Harry, Henry, Curtis, Henry Curtis

Sir Henry Curtis is a gentleman of enormous physical strength and equally enormous loyalty, bankrolling the journey because his younger brother George rode off after the mines and never came back. Where Quatermain counts risks and Good cracks jokes, Curtis carries a quiet, almost grim determination that steadies the party when the trail goes cold. His search gives the expedition its emotional spine, and his willingness to trust a mysterious stranger named Umbopa sets the whole Kukuana adventure in motion.

Captain John Good

major

Also known as Captain Good, Good, Bougwan, John Good

Captain Good brings naval discipline, a sextant, and a monocle to a journey that has no business needing any of them, and his running jokes about "Unlimited Loo" keep the party's spirits afloat. His vanity about his appearance—especially his false teeth and eyeglass—becomes a running source of comedy and, later, an unexpected diplomatic asset. He is the practical navigator of the trio, the one who turns Quatermain's instincts and Curtis's resolve into an actual route across the desert and mountains.

Allan Quatermain

major

Also known as Quatermain, Mr. Quatermain, Hunter Quatermain, Macumazahn

Quatermain has spent his life trading, hunting, and fighting in southern Africa, and he opens the book laid up in Durban with a lion-mauled leg and a pile of money he barely trusts. He agrees to lead Curtis and Good into the interior partly for the money and partly because he cannot resist a map, even though he insists he is too old for this sort of thing. His voice—practical, superstitious, self-deprecating, and deeply knowledgeable about the land—is the lens through which the whole adventure is filtered, and his judgment about people and terrain repeatedly saves the party.

Ignosi

major

Also known as Umbopa, Mr. Umbopa

Umbopa attaches himself to the white men before they even cross the desert, and his quiet confidence and occasional cryptic remarks unsettle Quatermain from the start. He knows more about the mountains and the Kukuana people than a wandering servant should, and he keeps pressing the party forward toward Loo with a purpose of his own. When he finally reveals the sacred snake tattooed around his waist, the expedition stops being a treasure hunt and becomes a war of succession, with Ignosi at its center.

Twala

major

Also known as Twala the One

Twala rules Kukuanaland through fear, staging mass executions and relying on the ancient witch-finder Gagool to keep the people cowed. He is the twin brother of the rightful king Imotu, whom he stabbed through the heart while the people cheered, and he has spent years hunting down any trace of Imotu's surviving son. His cruelty and his grip on the throne are the political engine of the middle of the book, and his confrontation with the returning heir forces every Kukuana to choose a side.

Gagool

supporting

Also known as Gagool the old, the Isanusi, the Isanusi Gagool, old Gagool, Gagaoola

Gagool is the Isanusi, the wise and terrible woman who does not die, and she is the one who plucked Twala from hiding and proclaimed him king when famine made the people desperate. She moves through the Kukuana court like a spider, dispensing death sentences and cryptic warnings, and she alone seems to know what lies inside the mountains. Her knowledge of the Place of Death and the mines makes her indispensable to the expedition's final destination, even as her malice makes her the most dangerous figure the party encounters.

Infadoos

supporting

Also known as old Infadoos

Infadoos moves through Kukuanaland as a man who has survived many kings and knows exactly how much a promise is worth. When he warns the witch-finder Gagool that he will require the strangers' safety at her hands, he reveals both his courage and the dangerous line he walks between duty and betrayal. His protection and local knowledge carry the expedition from the mountains toward Loo, making him the hinge on which the travelers' fortunes in Kukuanaland turn.

Foulata

supporting

Also known as Miss Foulata, poor Foulata

Foulata attaches herself to the white men's party with a loyalty that surprises even Good, refusing to be left behind when the descent into the caves begins. Her timid answer that wherever her lord goes she goes too signals a devotion that will place her at odds with the customs and dangers of her own people. She becomes both a companion in the expedition's most perilous moments and a quiet measure of what the strangers stand to lose.

Scragga

minor

Twala's cruel and cowardly son who accompanies his father.

Khiva

minor

Also known as poor Khiva, the Zulu Khiva

A Zulu servant who sacrifices himself to save Captain Good.

Ventvögel

minor

Also known as the Hottentot, the Hottentot Ventvögel

A Hottentot tracker who guides the expedition through the desert.

Jim

minor

Also known as Presently Jim

Quatermain's loyal Zulu servant who accompanies the expedition.

George Curtis

minor

Also known as George, Curtis

Sir Henry's lost younger brother who disappeared seeking the mines.

Neville

minor

Also known as Mr. Neville

The alias used by George Curtis while traveling in Africa.

José da Silvestra

minor

Also known as Silvestra, da Silvestra, José Silvestre, Silvestre

A 16th-century Portuguese explorer who left a map to the mines.

Imotu

minor

The former king of the Kukuanas and father of Ignosi.

Evans

minor

Also known as poor Evans

A sailor who dies during the voyage to Africa.

Old Dom da Silvestra

minor

Also known as the old Dom da Silvestra, the Dom, Dom Silvestra, old Da Silvestra

The aged Portuguese explorer who died in the mountains near the mines.