# Gustaf Johansen — Short Fiction character guide

> Gustaf Johansen in Short Fiction by H. P. Lovecraft.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Johansen, Second Mate Johansen, Mate Johansen

**First appearance:** 0045-the-call-of-cthulhu

## Snapshot

A sober second mate who survived the Emma's doomed voyage into waters no chart admits, and came back with secrets he refuses to tell straight.

## Who they are

Johansen commands the eight remaining sailors of the Emma after the Alert's hybrid crew orders them back from waters they should never have entered. He is described as a worthy man, yet he grows queerly reticent about the island where six of his men died and about the storm that took his last companion, Briden. His silence is the story's most tantalizing gap: a reliable witness who will not speak, holding back exactly what the inquiry most wants to hear.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_26_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_social_

Gustaf Johansen is a sailor whose account of a terrifying sea voyage is relayed to the narrator, forming a connection through shared knowledge of cosmic horror.

## In the story

### [III: The Madness from the Sea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_26_se/chapters/iii-the-madness-from-the-sea)

Second mate of the Emma, sole survivor of the Alert, who recounts the battle with the cult crew, the landing at R'lyeh, and the encounter with Cthulhu.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_26_se/characters/gustaf_johansen
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_26_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_26_se/characters