# Aph-Lin — The Coming Race character guide > Aph-Lin in The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Aph, Aph - Lin **First appearance:** 0003-iv ## Snapshot A wealthy, prudent Vril-ya merchant who hosts the narrator and weighs hospitality against the danger his guest represents. ## Who they are Aph-Lin is a man of property and standing whose household becomes the narrator's refuge, but his protection comes with conditions — the stranger is never to wander alone or speak freely of the upper world. He is courteous, calculating, and quietly aware that his daughter Zee's attachment to a Tish could end in a flash of vril. His caution shapes the narrator's confinement and, eventually, the deliberations over his fate. ## Relationships ### [Zee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/zee) _family_ Aph-Lin is Zee's father, and their relationship is one of mutual respect and affection, with Zee being his favored child. ### [Gy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/gy) _family_ Aph-Lin is Gy's father, and their relationship is caring but somewhat formal due to Aph-Lin's scholarly demeanor. ### [Tur](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/tur) _social_ Aph-Lin and Tur have a cordial but distant relationship, as Tur is a younger member of the community whom Aph-Lin advises occasionally. ### [Taë](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/tae) _friendship_ Aph-Lin and Taë share a mentor-student friendship, with Aph-Lin guiding Taë's intellectual growth. ### [Bra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/bra) _professional_ Aph-Lin and Bra are colleagues in the Vril-ya scholarly community, collaborating on matters of science and governance. ### [Zee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/zee) _family_ Aph-Lin is Zee's father, and their relationship is one of mutual respect and affection, with Zee being his favored child. ### [Tur](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/tur) _social_ Aph-Lin and Tur have a cordial but distant relationship, as Tur is a younger member of the community whom Aph-Lin advises occasionally. ### [Taë](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/tae) _friendship_ Aph-Lin and Taë share a mentor-student friendship, with Aph-Lin guiding Taë's intellectual growth. ### [Taë](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/tae) _friendship_ Aph-Lin and Taë share a mentor-student friendship, with Aph-Lin guiding Taë's intellectual growth. ### [Gy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/gy) _family_ Aph-Lin is Gy's father, and their relationship is caring but somewhat formal due to Aph-Lin's scholarly demeanor. ## In the story ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/iv) Implied as the Vril-ya figure who emerges from the building and approaches the narrator. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/v) The guide who first encountered the narrator and leads him to his home. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/vi) The host, who smiles and explains that Zee has been the narrator's instructress. ### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/vii) Requests the narrator's silence about the upper world; questions him about surface life and expresses skepticism. ### [Chapter IX: The History and Government of the Vril-ya](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/ix) Aph-Lin, the narrator's host, recounts the early history of the Ana with contempt for their primitive practices. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xiii) Quoted as the narrator's host, explaining the Vril-ya's views on theological speculation. ### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xv) Hosts the narrator; shares Zee's views on the upper world's inferiority and the Vril-ya's ideal of tranquility. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xvi) Accompanies the narrator and Zee to the museum; speaks approvingly of Zee's philosophical discourse on the origin of the An. ### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xvii) Explains Vril-ya time divisions, the absence of seasons, the decline of literature, and the barbaric nature of Koom-Posh societies. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xxi) Mentioned as the narrator's host and Zee's father, to whom the narrator plans to confide about Zee's preference. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xxii) Explains dangers of travel, warns narrator against Zee, and shows his country-seat. ### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xxiii) Hosts the narrator at his country-seat, explains Vril-ya governance and customs, and advises against directly opposing Zee. ### [Chapter XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xxiv) Hosts the narrator and attends the funeral of a relation, explaining the ceremony. ### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xxv) Explains burial customs and hosts the festival; warns narrator of the danger of marrying Zee. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xxviii) Decrees the narrator's death after Zee's confession and orders the chasm closed. ### [The Escape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/chapters/xxix) Referenced as Taë's father, who consulted with three sages and decreed the narrator's death. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters/aph_lin - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_race_se/characters