# Captain Gerilleau — Short Fiction character guide

> Captain Gerilleau in Short Fiction by H. G. Wells.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gerilleau

**First appearance:** 0090-the-empire-of-the-ants

## Snapshot

A captain whose ordinary patrol becomes a slow, unnerving encounter with an enemy that does not negotiate, retreat, or even acknowledge him as a man.

## Who they are

Captain Gerilleau commands a vessel in waters where something stranger than weather is moving, and his professional composure is tested by reports he cannot quite dismiss. He is a man of routine and rank, used to dealing with human adversaries, and the story's tension lies in watching that competence meet a force it was never designed for. His cautious, methodical approach matters because it grounds the tale's encroaching horror in the sober language of a naval officer doing his duty.

## In the story

### [The Empire of the Ants](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/the-empire-of-the-ants)

The Brazilian captain who leads a mission to investigate the ant threat.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/i)

Commander of the gunboat Benjamin Constant, assigned to assist against a plague of ants; initially skeptical but becomes increasingly concerned.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/ii)

The captain of the gunboat who orders Lieutenant da Cunha to board the cuberta despite the ant infestation.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/iii)

Indecisive and paranoid, Gerilleau fires the cannon, burns the Santa Rosa, and repeatedly questions what action to take against the ants.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters/captain-gerilleau
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters