# Charpantier — Short Fiction character guide

> Charpantier in Short Fiction by Algis Budrys.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0000-riya-s-foundling

## Snapshot

A handsome hunchback who commands the West wing of the Foundation, forever asking why nothing — including himself — is perfect.

## Who they are

Charpantier is one of two beings the Veld made, a hunchback missing a finger who governs the western half of an emptied Foundation while his counterpart governs the east. Where his fellow asks where perfection hides in a thing, Charpantier demands why it isn't perfect — an asymmetry that leaves him safe from judgment and his counterpart exposed. His rivalry with the narrator, conducted in glances and unspoken comparisons, frames the story's meditation on what the Veld's creations owe their maker.

## In the story

### [The Rag and Bone Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/chapters/the-rag-and-bone-men)

Charpantier is a creation of the Veld, skeptical of Maurer's fears about the transporter. He mocks Maurer's efforts to heal the Veld and questions the purpose of restoring him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/characters/charpantier
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_2_se/characters