# Nicholas Martin — Short Fiction character guide

> Nicholas Martin in Short Fiction by Henry Kuttner.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Martin, Nick, the infuriated Martin, II Nicholas Martin, the old Nicholas Martin, Nick Martin

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

## Snapshot

A schemer wearing Disraeli's borrowed charisma, Martin decides the only way to bluff a medievalist bully is to have Ivan the Terrible impressed on his own brain.

## Who they are

Martin is a negotiator who has been coasting on an impressed character-matrix and now wants an upgrade—something less civilized, more terrifying. He talks a semantically adjusted robot into the swap by weaponizing Disraeli's golden tongue, then waits for the Ivan-effect to hit. His gamble on character over size is the hinge of the story's central confrontation with St. Cyr.

## Relationships

### [Erika Ashby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/erika_ashby)

_romantic_

Erika and Nicholas share a deeply passionate and tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by intense emotional highs and lows.

### [Tolliver Watt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/tolliver_watt)

_friendship_

Nicholas and Tolliver are close allies and companions, often working together on shared goals.

### [Raoul St. Cyr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/raoul_st_cyr)

_rivalry_

Nicholas and Raoul are bitter enemies, constantly competing and clashing over power and ideology.

### [DeeDee Fleming](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/deedee_fleming)

_psychological_

DeeDee Fleming is obsessively fixated on Nicholas Martin, manipulating situations to control him.

### [ENIAC](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/eniac)

_professional_

ENIAC, a sentient computer, serves as Nicholas Martin's powerful but unpredictable technological partner.

### [Erika Ashby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/erika_ashby)

_romantic_

Erika and Nicholas share a deeply passionate and tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by intense emotional highs and lows.

### [Tolliver Watt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/tolliver_watt)

_friendship_

Nicholas and Tolliver are close allies and companions, often working together on shared goals.

### [Tolliver Watt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/tolliver_watt)

_friendship_

Nicholas and Tolliver are close allies and companions, often working together on shared goals.

### [Raoul St. Cyr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/raoul_st_cyr)

_rivalry_

Nicholas and Raoul are bitter enemies, constantly competing and clashing over power and ideology.

### [Erika Ashby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/erika_ashby)

_romantic_

Erika and Nicholas share a deeply passionate and tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by intense emotional highs and lows.

### [Raoul St. Cyr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/raoul_st_cyr)

_rivalry_

Nicholas and Raoul are bitter enemies, constantly competing and clashing over power and ideology.

### [DeeDee Fleming](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/characters/deedee_fleming)

_psychological_

DeeDee Fleming is obsessively fixated on Nicholas Martin, manipulating situations to control him.

## In the story

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

A cowardly playwright and screenwriter under contract to Raoul St. Cyr, struggling with his career and personal fears.

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

Undergoes a psychological transformation after treatment, adopting the persona of Disraeli and challenging St. Cyr's authority.

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

Under the Ivan the Terrible matrix, Martin is cowardly and paranoid, proposing to Erika but fearing to kiss her, fleeing from St. Cyr, and hiding in a broom-closet.

## Links

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