# The Shaving of Shagpat — Character guide

> Key figures in The Shaving of Shagpat by George Meredith.

- [Shibli Bagarag](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/shibli_bagarag.md): Shibli Bagarag is a young barber whose vanity and hunger for greatness make him easy prey for an old woman's prophecy that he alone will shave Shagpat. He oscillates between resolve and doubt, wondering whether his myste
- [Noorna bin Noorka](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/noorna_bin_noorka.md): Noorna bin Noorka rides beside Shibli on an enchanted ass, her magic so precise that a single sunrise could thaw her spells and lose them their mount. She teases the beast, mocks its sullenness, and keeps Shibli's spirit
- [Bhanavar the Beautiful](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/bhanavar_the_beautiful.md): Bhanavar the Beautiful binds her hair beside a deep blue lake near a nest of wise, ancient serpents, laughing at her own reflection while her prince rides to meet her. Their betrothal is a consuming passion, sanctioned b
- [Shagpat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/shagpat.md): Shagpat is the man whose shaving will make Shibli Bagarag Master of the Event, and his name carries enough weight that a king's eyebrows lift at the mention of Shiraz holding out against him. He is described as dense of 
- [Baba Mustapha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/baba_mustapha.md): Baba Mustapha belongs to the world of razors and shop-talk that Shibli Bagarag leaves behind when he sets out for Shagpat's city. As a father figure in the barbering craft, he represents the ordinary, honorable life that
- [Abarak](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/abarak.md): Abarak of the Bar is the kind of companion a quest needs when its hero is busy being dazzled by queens and buffalo-headed porters. He is loyal and resourceful, the steady presence who keeps things moving while Shibli wre
- [Feshnavat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/feshnavat.md): Feshnavat moves through the court of Shiraz as a man of statecraft and secret ambition, the father of Noorna bin Noorka and the patron who first sets Shibli Bagarag toward the impossible task of shaving Shagpat. His tens
- [Kadza](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/kadza.md): Kadza belongs to the enemy camp by marriage and by devotion, the spouse of Shagpat and the instrument of the genie Karaz, who slings her through the air and sets her to test the omens around her husband. Her tension is a
- [Khipil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/khipil.md): A builder punished by Shahpesh for his poor workmanship.
- [Genie Karaz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/genie_karaz.md): Karaz is the hidden hand behind Shagpat's protection, a genie who commands Kadza, reads the air for conspiracy, and moves unseen above the roofs of the city. His distinctive flaw is desire: catching sight of Noorna in fl
- [Ruark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/ruark.md): A character encountered during Shibli's adventures.
- [Goorelka of Oolb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/goorelka_of_oolb.md): Goorelka of Oolb moves in the world of princesses and sorceries that border the central quest, her name bound up with Noorna's history and the trials that surround her. The tension she carries is one of hidden purpose — 
- [Koorookh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/koorookh.md): Koorookh belongs to the enchanted machinery of the quest, a steed of supernatural speed and intelligence placed at Shibli Bagarag's service as he moves between cities, seas, and palaces. The tension he embodies is that o
- [Mashalleed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/mashalleed.md): A king who appears in the story.
- [Rabesqurat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/rabesqurat.md): Rabesqurat rules a realm of beguilement, a queen whose arts exhaust the mines of her wealth to fascinate the wandering Shibli Bagarag, calling him lord and king and offering him the lap of abundance. Her tension is the s
- [Shahpesh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/shahpesh.md): A Persian king who punishes Khipil the builder.
- [Horse Garraveen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/horse_garraveen.md): A magical horse that plays a role in the story.
- [Aklis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/aklis.md): Aklis is a place of legend, a palace whose radiance can single out one man from a whole city, making even a sunlit capital seem like darkness beside it. Its sons serve as its guardians, and the name carries the weight of
- [Ravaloke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/ravaloke.md): A character who appears in the story.
- [Princess Gulrevaz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/princess_gulrevaz.md): A princess who appears in the story.
- [King Shahpushan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/king_shahpushan.md): The great King of Shiraz who appears in the story.
- [Kresnuk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_shaving_of_shagpat_se/characters/kresnuk.md): A character mentioned in the narrative.

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