# The Coral Island — Character guide

> Key figures in The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne.

- [Ralph Rover](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/ralph_rover.md): Ralph is the tale's narrator and the middle presence between Jack's command and Peterkin's comedy, a boy whose shipmates nicknamed him Rover for the wanderlust that rules him. That same passion that drives him to sea als
- [Jack Martin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/jack_martin.md): Jack is Ralph's first friend aboard ship and the eldest of the three boys, a general favourite whose firm, good-humoured face and quiet disposition mask decisive action. He takes charge without fuss, whether showing a ne
- [Peterkin Gay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/peterkin_gay.md): Peterkin is the comic pulse of the trio, beloved for mischief that never quite turns cruel, and the first to shout a discovery from the rocks. His impudent wit—mocking the sailors' Cape Horn tales, cutting capers on the 
- [Bloody Bill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/bloody_bill.md): Bill is the bridge between the boys and the Fijian world, a man whose nickname admits what he once was and whose halting decency shows what he is trying to become. He translates Tararo's anger, explains the awful meaning
- [Tararo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/tararo.md): Tararo rules his island with the easy authority of a man who has never been refused, and his anger at Avatea's stubbornness is the anger of a chief whose word has been publicly thwarted. He is neither cartoon villain nor
- [Avatea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/avatea.md): Avatea is the still center of the novel's later tension: a young woman already engaged to a chief Tararo hates, stubborn enough to 'kick up a desperate shindy' rather than be handed to a rival. Her refusal to submit make
- [Romata](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/romata.md): A fierce and warlike native chief who threatens the boys.
- [The Captain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/the_captain.md): Captain of the pirate schooner who captures the boys.
- [The Pirate Captain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/the_pirate_captain.md): Leader of the pirates who briefly holds the boys captive.
- [Missionary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coral_island_se/characters/missionary.md): A Christian missionary who converts the natives on the island.

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