# Short Fiction — Character guide

> Key figures in Short Fiction by Manly Wade Wellman.

- [Kane Lanark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/lieutenant_kane_lanark.md): Lanark enlisted only after Quantrill's men robbed him on the Kansas border, and he rose from elected sergeant to lieutenant by rallying a panicked patrol his commander abandoned. He carries Confederate sympathies into a 
- [David Planter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/david_planter.md): Planter shares a gravityless cabin with Disbro, chewing ration bars and rationing water while the Foundation watches through telescopes, expecting a crash and a triumphant flare. He has killed a husband and been sworn aw
- [Keith Pursuivant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/judge_keith_pursuivant.md): Pursuivant sits by the fire with Constable O'Bryant, Dr. Zoberg, and a young woman convinced her own sleeping body murdered her father, and he refuses to let her carry that guilt. He cites John Silence and the Arabic-spe
- [Varduk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/varduk.md): Varduk leases a defunct sporting lodge at Lake Jozgid, knocks out its partitions, and gathers Sigrid Holgar and a small company around a script whose last speech is mysteriously missing from every copy. He is superstitio
- [Fitzhugh Parr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/fitzhugh_parr.md): Parr is booted onto the asteroid ten minutes before a mob of hairy, snarling exiles makes him their chief simply because he is newest and therefore healthiest. Sadau, a convicted thief, explains the catch: living creatur
- [Jake Switz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/jake_switz.md): Jake travels with Sigrid as her constant companion, helping Davidson buy the car that lets them slip out of New York ahead of her souvenir-demanding public. At the lodge he cooks the company's first meal, eating heartily
- [Sergeant Jager](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/sergeant_jager.md): A graybeard scout who moves through moonlit weeds toward Fearful Rock, remembering old blue flames and the young couple he sent off together.
- [Ben Gascon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/ben_gascon.md): A ventriloquist whose wooden alter ego Tom-Tom does all the courting, until the man behind the dummy finally speaks for himself.
- [Otto Zoberg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/doctor_otto_zoberg.md): A bearded, genial champion of spiritism who spars with a professional debunker and insists the proof of the supernatural rests with the skeptic.
- [Susan Gird](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/susan_gird.md): A teacher's-college dropout keeping house for her lonely father, descended from a mother whose quiet prophecies hinted at inherited psychic gifts.
- [Disbro](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/disbro.md): A character involved in the occult investigations.
- [Gib](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/gib.md): A minor character, possibly a servant or local.
- [Lieutenant Wofforth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/lieutenant_wofforth.md): A military officer in the asteroid conflict.
- [Enid Mandifer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/enid_mandifer.md): An adopted orphan told she is the bride of a Nameless One, drawn toward Fearful Rock by a swinging charm she cannot resist.
- [Joseph Paradine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/joseph_paradine.md): A chivalric Confederate cavalryman who rides into a silent village and finds its streets littered with stony blue dead.
- [Mr. Gender](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/mr_gender.md): A minor character, possibly a local or official.
- [Neil Andresson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/neil_andresson.md): A captain involved in the asteroid mission.
- [Jael Bettiss](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/jael_bettiss.md): A minor character, possibly a female associate.
- [Max](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/max.md): A minor character, possibly a soldier or local.
- [Gederr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/gederr.md): A tyrannical alien or otherworldly ruler.
- [Doriza](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/doriza.md): A female character, possibly alien or supernatural.
- [Sergeant Jaeger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/sergeant_jaeger.md): A soldier, possibly a duplicate of Sergeant Jager.
- [Mara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/mara.md): A female character, possibly supernatural.
- [Helen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/helen.md): A minor character, possibly a historical allusion with narrative role.
- [Lord Byron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/lord_byron.md): The poet appears as a character in a story about a lost play.
- [Constable O'Bryant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/constable_obryant.md): A police constable involved in investigations.
- [Elmo Davidson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/elmo_davidson.md): A character who gives a warning about supernatural dangers.
- [Elonie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/elonie.md): A female character, possibly alien or supernatural.
- [Yandro](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/yandro.md): A powerful, possibly alien or god-like being.
- [Ivy Hill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/ivy_hill.md): A minor character, possibly a victim or local.
- [Persil Mandifer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/persil_mandifer.md): A member of the Mandifer family involved in dark rituals.
- [Rohbar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/rohbar.md): A minor character, possibly an alien or official.
- [Reverend Mr. Jaeger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/reverend_mr_jaeger.md): A clergyman, possibly related to Sergeant Jager.
- [Talbot Wills](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/talbot_wills.md): A minor character, possibly a local or official.
- [Provvorr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/provvorr.md): A minor character, possibly an alien or creature.
- [Bull Mike Tishinev](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/bull_mike_tishinev.md): A minor character, possibly a soldier or strongman.
- [Sporr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/sporr.md): A minor character, possibly an alien or elder.
- [Yaxa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/yaxa.md): A deserter in the asteroid conflict.
- [Varina Pemberton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/varina_pemberton.md): A minor female character.
- [Shannon Cole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/shannon_cole.md): A minor character, possibly a soldier.
- [Barak](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/barak.md): A minor character, possibly a warrior.
- [Sukune](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/sukune.md): A minor character, possibly an alien or warrior.
- [Teague](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/teague.md): A minor character, possibly a local or soldier.
- [Sadau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/sadau.md): A minor character, possibly an alien or native.
- [Miss Holgar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/miss_holgar.md): A minor female character, possibly related to Sigrid Holgar.
- [John Frey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/john_frey.md): A minor character, possibly a soldier or local.
- [Mr. Connatt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/mr_connatt.md): A minor character, possibly a local or actor.
- [Trooper Newton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/trooper_newton.md): A minor soldier character.
- [Martha Vining](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/martha_vining.md): A minor female character.
- [Alvin Scrope](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/alvin_scrope.md): A minor character, possibly related to Mr. Scrope.
- [Quantrill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/quantrill.md): A minor character, possibly a historical reference with role.
- [Mr. Gird](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/mr_gird.md): A minor character, possibly related to Susan Gird.
- [Klob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/klob.md): A minor character, possibly an alien or creature.
- [Corporal Gray](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/corporal_gray.md): A minor soldier character.
- [Cole Wickett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/cole_wickett.md): A minor soldier character.
- [Peter Dole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters/peter_dole.md): A minor character, possibly a local.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_37_se/characters