Character guide

Tarzan

major

Also known as Tarzan of the Apes, Monsieur Tarzan, Jean C. Tarzan, John Clayton, Lord Greystoke

Tarzan moves through Parisian society as Monsieur Tarzan, a man whose instincts belong to the jungle even as his heart clings to Jane Porter, now promised to another. He craves companionship and the warmth of human speech, yet civilization fits him like an ill-cut coat, and his honest loyalty makes him an easy mark for schemers. His divided nature drives the novel's central question: can a man of two worlds ever belong to either?

Nikolas Rokoff

major

Also known as Rokoff, Monsieur Rokoff

Rokoff moves through first-class decks and Parisian salons with the polish of a man who knows how to use other people's secrets. When Tarzan wrenches him from a veiled woman's wrist and hurls his revolver into the Atlantic, Rokoff does not rage for long — he calculates, and his threats are promises. His vendetta supplies the engine of the plot, turning Tarzan's chivalry into a liability and drawing everyone near him into danger.

Jane Porter

major

Also known as Jane, Miss Porter

Jane has convinced herself that marrying Lord Greystoke is the only honorable course, and nothing short of death or Greystoke himself will change her mind. She speaks of the ape-man who saved her with a wonder she cannot quite hide, and her loyalty is both her finest quality and her heaviest chain. Her promise becomes the quiet ache beneath Tarzan's adventures, the reason his return to the jungle feels less like escape than exile.

William Cecil Clayton

supporting

Also known as Clayton, William

Clayton is a decent man and a friend to D'Arnot, which makes him a far more painful rival than a villain would be. He possesses by law and accident what Tarzan possesses by blood, and he has no idea the ape-man exists as anything but a curiosity from Jane's African adventure. His engagement to Jane forces Tarzan into the hardest choice of his life — to take what is rightfully his or to let a good man keep what he has.

Monsieur Thuran

supporting

Also known as Thuran

Thuran is all affability and easy conversation, the sort of man Miss Strong finds delightful and Tarzan finds unremarkable. When Mr. Caldwell vanishes from the Lady Alice, Thuran is the first to offer reasonable explanations and the last to seem troubled. His pleasant surface and convenient timing mark him as something other than what he appears, and his presence turns a quiet voyage into a trap.

Countess Olga de Coude

supporting

Also known as Olga, The Countess de Coude

Olga de Coude owes Tarzan her husband's life and her own safety, and she knows Rokoff well enough to fear what he will do next. When she invites Tarzan to tea to warn him, she does not know that a bearded caller has already bribed her footman and hidden himself in an alcove. Her genuine warmth and Tarzan's untamed instincts collide in a moment of madness that nearly destroys a marriage and forces Tarzan to flee Paris.

Hazel Strong

supporting

Also known as Miss Strong, Hazel

Jane Porter's sharp-eyed American friend, whose loyalty and quick judgment make her both a steadying presence and an unexpected complication aboard ship.

Lieutenant Gernois

minor

Also known as Gernois

A French officer who duels with Tarzan over a misunderstanding.

Lieutenant D'Arnot

supporting

Also known as D'Arnot, Paul D'Arnot

The French naval officer who taught Tarzan to speak, think, and move through civilization — and now watches helplessly as his friend suffers its cruelties.

Lord Tennington

supporting

Also known as Tennington, Tenny

A genial English lord whose bottomless good humor and irrepressible schemes of romance turn a grim island exile into something almost like a house party.

Alexis Paulvitch

supporting

Also known as Paulvitch, Monsieur Paulvitch

Rokoff's soft-spoken accomplice, a Russian schemer who works the telephone and the servants' entrance while his master takes the credit.

Count Raoul de Coude

minor

Also known as De Coude, Raoul

Olga's husband, a French count who challenges Tarzan to a duel.

Kadour ben Saden

minor

Also known as Sheik Kadour ben Saden

A noble Arab sheik who befriends Tarzan in the desert.

Abdul

minor

An Arab servant or guide loyal to Kadour ben Saden.

Mr. Caldwell

minor

Also known as John Caldwell

An American traveler who befriends Tarzan on the ship.

Professor Archimedes Q. Porter

minor

Also known as Professor Porter

Jane's eccentric father, an absent-minded archaeologist.

Busuli

minor

A Waziri warrior loyal to Tarzan in the African jungle.

Spider

minor

Also known as Spider 'ere

A sailor among the castaways on the island.

Captain Gerard

minor

Also known as Gerard

A French captain involved in the desert campaign.

Wilson

minor

A sailor among the castaways on the island.

Mr. Samuel T. Philander

minor

Also known as Mr. Philander

Professor Porter's nervous assistant and companion.

Monsieur Flaubert

minor

A polite Frenchman encountered in Paris society.

Kala

minor

Tarzan's ape mother, remembered in flashback.

Jacques

minor

Also known as the faithful Jacques

A faithful servant to Tarzan in Paris.

François

minor

Also known as poor François

A French servant or minor character in Paris.

Captain Dufranne

minor

A French naval captain encountered during the story.

Mr. Brently

minor

A minor character among the ship's passengers.

Chowambi

minor

A Waziri warrior serving under Tarzan.

Mrs. Strong

minor

Hazel Strong's mother, traveling with her daughter.

Joubon

minor

A minor French character in Paris.

Magor

minor

A minor character mentioned in the narrative.