# Toby Dammit — Short Fiction character guide

> Toby Dammit in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Toby, Dammit

**First appearance:** 0035-never-bet-the-devil-your-head

## Snapshot

A man whose precocious vice and compulsive betting formula — 'I'll bet the Devil my head' — turn a harmless verbal tic into a literal transaction.

## Who they are

Toby Dammit was a terror from the cradle, gnawing cards at six months and cursing at twelve, his wickedness only sharpened by every corrective thrashing. As an adult he never actually wagered money, but his favorite expletive — betting the Devil his head — became a formula he could not abandon. His parsimony and his small head make the phrase seem safe, which is precisely why it matters: the story's tension lies in watching a figure of speech edge toward becoming a contract.

## In the story

### [Never Bet the Devil Your Head](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_14_se/chapters/never-bet-the-devil-your-head)

A reckless man who bets the Devil his head, attempts a dangerous leap over a turnstile, and loses his head to an iron bar.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters/toby_dammit
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_14_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_14_se/characters