Character guide

Señor Zorro

major

Also known as Zorro, the Señor Zorro, the unknown Señor Zorro

To the soldiers he is a taunting ghost who robs the rich and humiliates the proud; to the oppressed he is the only justice that answers. He fights with a blade in one hand and a pistol in the other, insisting on fairness even against men who would deny it to women and natives. His daring intrusions into the Pulido household set the whole plot in motion, forcing every powerful man in the pueblo to choose a side.

Don Diego Vega

major

Also known as Don Diego, Vega, Don Vega, Diego

Don Diego drifts through drawing rooms complaining of turbulent times and aching heads, courting Lolita with such listless courtesy that she can barely tolerate him. Yet his seeming apathy shields a secret life, and every dull remark he makes is a performance calibrated to throw off suspicion. His double existence forces the story's central question: which man is real, the fop or the fox?

Sergeant Pedro Gonzales

supporting

Also known as Pedro, Sergeant Gonzales, Gonzales, Pedro Gonzales

Gonzales holds court in the tavern, roaring about the reward and the cowardice of a highwayman who conveniently robs everywhere the sergeant is not. His vanity is matched only by his appetite for wine, and his tirades supply the pueblo's best gossip about Zorro's exploits. As the presidio's loudest loyalist, he embodies the comic impotence of the government Zorro humiliates.

Don Carlos Pulido

supporting

Also known as Don Carlos, Carlos, Pulido, A Pulido

Don Carlos is out of favor with the governor, and every kindness shown to his household is quietly punished by those in power. He hopes a marriage between Lolita and Don Diego will restore the Pulido name, even as he senses his daughter's reluctance. His precarious position makes him a pawn in the feud between Zorro and the authorities, and his choices ripple through the whole pueblo.

Captain Ramón

supporting

Also known as Ramón, Captain, Captain Ramón

Captain Ramón boasts that he would make short work of the highwayman, yet he is always conveniently absent when Zorro strikes. His wounded shoulder and wounded pride drive him to bully the Pulidos and force himself on Lolita, revealing the rot beneath his uniform. As the story's most immediate villain, he gives Zorro a personal enemy worth defying and gives Lolita a danger that makes her rescue matter.

Señorita Lolita Pulido

major

Also known as Lolita, Señorita Lolita, Señorita Lolita Pulido, the Señorita Pulido, Lolita Pulido

Lolita endures Don Diego's tepid courtship and the town's pity with equal grace, refusing to be bartered for the sake of her father's name. When Zorro steals a kiss from her palm in the moonlight, she is caught between the outlaw she should denounce and the thrill he awakens. Her struggle between duty and desire anchors the novel's romance and raises the stakes for every man who claims to love her.

Fray Felipe

supporting

Also known as Felipe, old Fray Felipe, Fray

Fray Felipe is a Franciscan whose hacienda becomes a quiet waystation for the persecuted, and whose tongue refuses to soften for any soldier. He rails against the politicians and men who rob honest colonists of their just dues, wishing aloud he were not a fray so he might ride and punish the wicked himself. That reckless honesty makes him both a moral anchor for Zorro's cause and a man constantly one search away from the carcel.

Doña Catalina Pulido

supporting

Also known as Doña Catalina, the Doña Catalina, Catalina

Doña Catalina belongs to the proud but declining Pulido household, whose loyalty to the old order has left them poor and out of favor with the new authorities. She watches her daughter's prospects and her husband's dignity erode under Captain Ramón's suspicion, caught between genteel pride and the humiliation of being treated as traitors. Her anxieties about the family's standing quietly raise the stakes each time Zorro's shadow falls across their hacienda.

Don Alejandro Vega

minor

Also known as Don Alejandro, Don Alejandro Vega

Wealthy father of Don Diego Vega who owns a hacienda.

Bernardo

minor

Loyal mute servant of Don Diego who assists Zorro's secret activities.

The Pulidos

minor

Also known as Pulidos

The noble but persecuted Pulido family, including Don Carlos and his household.