# The Time Traveller — The Time Machine character guide

> The Time Traveller in The Time Machine by H. G. Wells.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** the Time Traveller, himself

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

A restless inventor who starves himself to finish a machine that moves through time, then returns ravenous and desperate to tell what he saw.

## Who they are

He is the host of a dinner party of skeptical professional men — Editor, Medical Man, Psychologist, Filby — who humor his paradoxes about a fourth dimension until he arrives at his own table late, coat dusty, appetite of a tramp, and insists on telling his story without interruption. His defining tension is between the need to be believed and the knowledge that most of what he has to say will sound like lying; he tells it anyway, wearily, because he cannot sleep until it is out. The early arc belongs to him entirely: his voice, his white sincere face in the lamplight, and the question of whether his hearers will credit him, carry the reader into the future he describes.

## Relationships

### [Weena](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/characters/weena)

_friendship_

Duplicate entry; the Time Traveller's protective friendship with Weena is central to his emotional experience in the future.

### [Filby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/characters/filby)

_friendship_

Filby is a skeptical but loyal friend who hosts the dinner parties where the Time Traveller recounts his adventures.

### [The Eloi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/characters/the_eloi)

_social_

The Eloi regard the Time Traveller with curiosity and mild indifference, treating him as an unusual but not threatening outsider.

### [Weena](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/characters/weena)

_friendship_

Duplicate entry; the Time Traveller's protective friendship with Weena is central to his emotional experience in the future.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/i)

Hosts the dinner and expounds on the geometry of four dimensions, then demonstrates the model time machine.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/ii)

Arrives late to dinner in a disheveled, exhausted state with a cut on his chin and tattered socks; he eats ravenously and then agrees to tell his story.

### [Chapter III: The Time Traveller's Journey Begins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/iii)

Narrates his first time travel experience, from the initial launch to landing in the future and meeting the Eloi.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/iv)

Narrates his observations and theories about the future society.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/v)

Narrates his observations and growing unease; rescues Weena; panics when the Time Machine is stolen.

### [Chapter VI: The Descent into the Underworld](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/vi)

Narrates his harrowing descent into the Morlock underworld, experiencing fear, physical pain, and a sense of isolation.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/vii)

The narrator and protagonist, who is planning his escape and defense against the Morlocks.

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/viii)

Explores the Palace of Green Porcelain, discovers matches and camphor, and plans to use them against the Morlocks.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/ix)

Narrates the harrowing journey through the forest, fights Morlocks, and mourns Weena's loss.

### [The Time Traveller's Realization and Escape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/x)

Reflects on his earlier conclusions and the fate of humanity, then retrieves the Time Machine and escapes the Morlocks.

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/xi)

Narrates his journey into the far future, experiencing the decay of the Earth and encountering monstrous creatures.

### [Chapter XII: The Return and the Aftermath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/xii)

Returns from his journey, tells his story, and later disappears permanently.

### [Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/chapters/epilogue)

The narrator speculates on his possible destinations in time and recalls his pessimistic views on civilization.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/characters/the_time_traveller
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_time_machine_se/characters