# Doc Willard — Short Fiction character guide

> Doc Willard in Short Fiction by Henry Kuttner.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Willard, Doc

**First appearance:** 0000-the-secret-of-kralitz

## Snapshot

A white-haired castaway who survived five years in an alien city by hiding inside a vibration-barrier, and who greets his old friend with a cigarette and a way out.

## Who they are

Willard has been living as a ghost in the Zarno caverns, dodging guards and hoarding the secret of a hidden hangar full of working Ancient flying-boats. He carries the wound of a fake sacrifice gone wrong—the ceremony he and Garth staged to escape, which ended with Willard recaptured and Garth amnesiac and guilt-ridden. His knowledge of the tunnel and the ships reframes the whole expedition from doomed trek to possible rescue, and his reunion with Garth begins to dissolve five years of misplaced guilt.

## Relationships

### [Ed Garth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/ed_garth)

_friendship_

Doc Willard is Ed Garth's loyal friend and confidant, offering medical aid and moral support.

### [Ed Garth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/ed_garth)

_friendship_

Doc Willard is Ed Garth's loyal friend and confidant, offering medical aid and moral support.

### [Ed Garth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/ed_garth)

_friendship_

Doc Willard is Ed Garth's loyal friend and confidant, offering medical aid and moral support.

## In the story

### [Crypt-City of the Deathless One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/crypt-city-of-the-deathless-one)

Accompanies Garth, provides scientific perspective.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as Garth's former mentor who disappeared in the Black Forest; his fate is a central mystery.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/ii)

Mentioned as possibly alive; Garth tormented by whether he killed him.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iii)

Mentioned as possibly still alive; his notebook containing theories about the Silver Plague is Garth's primary goal.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/vii)

Reunited with Garth in the hidden cavern; he is alive and emerges from a cavern-mouth to greet Garth.

### [The Lost City's Secret](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/viii)

Revealed to be alive, having spent five years in the Ancients' library; he has discovered the cure for the Silver Plague and the power-source secret, but is trapped by the Zarno.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/doc_willard
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters