Character guide

Sublieutenant Romashov

major

Also known as Romashov, poor Romashov, V Romashov, little Romashov, Sublieutenant, Colonel Romashov

Romashov drifts through garrison life half-dreaming, mocked as 'little Romashov' and nagged by his own sensitivity in a world of drinking, cards, and casual cruelty. His affair with Shurochka, his superior's wife, gives him a taste of tenderness and torment at once, while his hatred of Nikoläiev hardens into something neither man can control. Watching him try to be honest in a society that rewards posturing is what makes the early chapters ache.

Shurochka

major

Also known as divine Shurochka, Romochka

Shurochka reigns over the regiment's social world with charm, wit, and an appetite for admiration she never quite satisfies. Her marriage to Nikoläiev is a career arrangement as much as a bond, and she plays Romashov's devotion against her husband's pride with unnerving composure. In the dark rooms and drunken picnics of the garrison, she is the force that makes private feeling and public honor impossible to separate.

Lieutenant Nikoläiev

major

Also known as Nikoläiev

Nikoläiev is the regiment's rising man, absorbed in examinations and advancement, and he wears his marriage to Shurochka like a decoration. When Romashov's attentions to her become visible, his jealousy curdles into a cold, procedural fury that the officers' code of honor is only too ready to serve. His quarrel with Romashov turns a private humiliation into the regiment's public business.

Nasanski

supporting

Also known as Lieutenant Nasanski, that wretched Nasanski, XXI Nasanski

Nasanski has read everything, lost everything, and now drinks to keep his hallucinations at bay, drifting through the regiment as a cautionary tale. He sees through the code of honor with painful clarity and urges Romashov to refuse the duel, arguing that killing a man is a wound time never closes. His tenderness toward Romashov, and his own disintegration, give the novel its sharpest counterweight to military bravado.

Colonel Shulgovich

supporting

Also known as Shulgovich, The Colonel, Colonel, Colonel Schulgovich, Schulgovich

Shulgovich rules his officers through rage, inspection, and the threat of disgrace, and Romashov overhears him reducing a drunken captain to a trembling wreck. Yet the same scene ends with the Colonel pressing three hundred rubles into the man's hand, a contradiction that defines him. His authority sets the terms of every quarrel in the garrison, including the one that will demand a duel.

Captain Osadchi

supporting

Also known as Osadchi, Osadchi—the

Osadchi usually keeps to himself, but at the officers' picnic he erupts into a vision of war as blood, fire, and hanged men, toasting the 'joyful, bloody cruelty of old times.' His coldness toward Romashov is personal and unexplained, and his presence makes the regiment's violence feel less like ritual and more like appetite. He is the garrison's darkest mirror, showing what the code of honor looks like when the mask comes off.

Lieutenant Viätkin

supporting

Also known as Viätkin

Viätkin is the regiment's boisterous good-time officer, forever pressing drinks, kisses, and dubious presents on Romashov, whom he treats as a beloved younger brother. His generosity is genuine but reckless: he wins a revolver off a fellow officer at cards and promptly fires it at a bust of Pushkin in Romashov's quarters, then sweeps him off to a night of drinking. He embodies the camaraderie that both sustains and corrodes Romashov, offering warmth and escape while pulling him deeper into the garrison's self-destructive rhythm.

Lieutenant Biek-Agamalov

supporting

Also known as Biek, Agamalov, Lieutenant Biek

Biek-Agamalov moves through the regiment with a volatile pride that flares at the slightest insult, and his mixed blood sets him slightly apart from his brother officers. Yet when Romashov needs seconds for his duel, Biek-Agamalov stands beside him without hesitation, his loyalty as sharp as his temper. He represents the code of officer honor at its most elemental: a man who would rather fight than calculate, and whose presence reminds Romashov of the brutal simplicity the regiment demands.

Raisa Alexandrovna Peterson

supporting

Also known as Raisa, Raisa Peterson, Raisa Alexandrovna, Madame Raisa Alexandrovna Peterson, Peterson

Raisa Alexandrovna presides over the drawing-room intrigues of the regiment, her coquetry and sharp tongue turning private weaknesses into public scandal. She takes a particular interest in Romashov, whose awkwardness and romantic entanglements supply her with endless material. In a world where reputation is everything and a whispered rumor can end a career, she is the quiet engine of social destruction, reminding the reader that the regiment's cruelty is not only martial but domestic.

Captain Sliva

supporting

Also known as Sliva

Captain Sliva has reduced his life to registers, accounts, and the mechanics of drill, despising books, society, and any sound—even a nightingale—that interrupts his work. He is merciless to his soldiers and to junior officers, especially Romashov, whom he greets with sarcastic inquiries about his sleep before unleashing a torrent of abuse. Yet he is scrupulously honest about his men's food and pay, a contradiction that makes him less a villain than a grim product of the army's dehumanizing discipline.

Colonel Rafalski

supporting

Also known as Rafalski, Lieutenant-Colonel Rafalski

Colonel Rafalski has withdrawn from regimental society into a world of animals, spending every spare rouble on his menagerie and wearing uniforms that date from another era. The officers' wives mock his dirt and his smell, but younger men like Romashov find in him a strange, gentle refuge—and occasionally a source of loans. His tender devotion to creatures stands in stark contrast to the casual brutality of the regiment, quietly suggesting that kindness in this world must hide in eccentricity.

Hainán

minor

A Tartar soldier in the regiment, often serving as an orderly.

Sub-Ensign Lbov

minor

Also known as Lbov, sharp-sighted Lbov, Ensign, Ensign Lbov, Sublieutenant Lbov

A young, ambitious junior officer eager to prove himself.

Khliabnikov

supporting

Also known as the wretched Khliabnikov

Khliabnikov is the regiment's most pitiable figure, a soldier whose spirit has been crushed so thoroughly that he can barely speak when ordered to recite his rank. Officers like Shapovalenko grind their teeth at his stupidity, and he is punished with extra drills and private instruction that only deepen his misery. Romashov's pity for him becomes one of the novel's sharpest moral indictments, a mirror of the human cost hidden beneath the parade ground's polished surface.

Lieutenant Bobetinski

minor

Also known as Bobetinski

A dandyish officer known for his affectations and social climbing.

Lieutenant-Colonel Liech

minor

Also known as Liech, Only Liech, Colonel Liech, Old Liech, Lieutenant-Colonel Liekh, Liekh

An eccentric, reclusive senior officer with a mysterious past.

Alexandra Petrovna

minor

Also known as Alexandra

A kind-hearted woman who shows sympathy toward Romashov.

Lieutenant Artschakovski

minor

Also known as Artschakovski

A junior officer involved in regimental social life.

Captain Stelikovski

minor

Also known as Stelikovski

A company commander with a minor appearance.

Volodya

minor

A young boy or servant, possibly a relative of an officer.

Staff-Captain Ditz

minor

Also known as Ditz

A staff officer with a minor role in regimental affairs.

Colonel Brehm

minor

Also known as Brehm, Lieutenant-Colonel Brehm

A colonel with a brief appearance in the narrative.

Staff-Captain Lieschtschenko

minor

Also known as Staff-Captain Lieschtschenko, the silent Lieschtschenko, Madame Lieschtschenko, the eternal Lieschtschenko

A melancholy, older staff officer who appears in social scenes.

Staff-Captain Doroshenko

minor

Also known as Doroshenko

A staff officer with a minor role.

Solotuchin

minor

A soldier or officer mentioned in passing.

Stepan

minor

A servant or soldier mentioned briefly.

Captain Plavski

minor

A captain with a minor mention in the story.

Ensign Michin

minor

Also known as Little Michin, Michin

A young ensign with a minor role.

General Aragonski

minor

Also known as Aragonski, General

A general who makes a brief appearance in the narrative.

Vasili Nilich

minor

A civilian acquaintance of the officers, often present at social gatherings.

Olisár

minor

A Polish officer in the regiment, occasionally mentioned in gatherings.

Lieutenant Federovski

minor

Also known as Federovski

A fellow officer who participates in regimental events.

Shapovalenko

minor

A soldier or junior officer mentioned in passing.

Yuri Alexievich

minor

Also known as Yuri 5 Alexievich, Yuri

A young relative or acquaintance of the officers, possibly a cadet.

Bondarenko

minor

A soldier in the regiment, occasionally named in roll calls.

Captain Peterson

minor

Also known as Peterson

Raisa's husband, a staff officer with a minor role.

Ivan Antonovich

minor

A civilian or servant mentioned briefly in the narrative.

Pavel Pavlich

minor

A civilian or officer mentioned in social contexts.

Vasili Vasilich Lipski

minor

Also known as Lipski

A civilian or officer appearing briefly in the story.

Lieutenant-Colonel Migunov

minor

Also known as Migunov

A senior officer mentioned in passing.

Siégerscht

minor

A soldier or officer with a minor mention.

Arkhipov

minor

Also known as The clumsy, pockmarked Arkhipov

A clumsy soldier often mocked by his comrades.

Katya Lykatschev

minor

Also known as Katya

A young woman briefly mentioned in the story.

Shevchuk

minor

A soldier with a minor mention.

Sub-Ensign Krause

minor

Also known as Krause

A junior officer with a minor appearance.

Bobyliev

minor

A soldier or officer with a minor role.

Moukhamedjinov

minor

A Tartar soldier mentioned in the narrative.

Captain Sviatovidov

minor

Also known as little Captain Sviatovidov, Sviatovidov

A small-statured captain with a minor appearance.

Captain Taliman

minor

Also known as Taliman

A captain whose wife is a social figure in the regiment.

Madame Taliman

minor

Also known as Sofia Pavlovna Taliman, Taliman

A powdered, painted regimental wife who hosts gatherings.

Corporal Syeroshtán

minor

Also known as Syeroshtán

A corporal in the regiment, mentioned in passing.

Georgi Alexievich

minor

Also known as little Georgi, Georgi

A young boy, possibly a relative of an officer.

Ovechkin

minor

A soldier mentioned in the narrative.

Vladimir Yefimovich

minor

Also known as Vladimir Yefimovitch

A civilian or officer with a brief appearance.

Volunteer Fokin

minor

Also known as Fokin

A volunteer soldier with a minor mention.

Captain Klodt

minor

Also known as Klodt

A captain with a minor appearance.

Sharafutdinov

minor

A Tartar soldier mentioned in passing.

Maria Viktorovna

minor

A woman briefly mentioned in the story.

Peter Taddeevich

minor

A civilian or officer with a minor mention.

Sublieutenant Epifanov

minor

Also known as Epifanov

A junior officer with a minor appearance.

Captain Duvernois

minor

Also known as Duvernois

A captain with a minor mention.

Soltuis

minor

A soldier or officer mentioned in passing.

Nikifor

minor

A servant or soldier with a minor mention.

Lieutenant Andrusevich

minor

Also known as Andrusevich

A lieutenant with a minor appearance.

Count Liedochovski

minor

Also known as Count

A count briefly mentioned in the story.

Captain Aleinikov

minor

A captain with a minor mention.

Madame Andrusevich

minor

Also known as little fat Madame Andrusevich, Andrusevich

A regimental wife mentioned in social contexts.

Misses Michin

minor

Also known as Michin

Female relatives of Ensign Michin, mentioned briefly.

Schleyfer

minor

A soldier or officer with a minor mention.