# The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle — Character guide

> Key figures in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting.

- [Doctor Dolittle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/doctor_dolittle.md): In Puddleby-on-the-Marsh he keeps a chaotic household of parrots, dogs, ducks and monkeys, and the town has half-forgotten him as a doctor of people. What drives him is curiosity and kindness rather than fame, so he will
- [Tommy Stubbins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/tommy_stubbins.md): Tommy grows up watching sails leave Kingsbridge and dreaming of Africa, India, China and Peru, so when he finally meets the Doctor he seizes the chance to escape a small-town future. His hunger for adventure is matched b
- [Polynesia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/polynesia.md): She perches on the desk while Tommy writes, correcting his recollections and humming sailor songs, and she is the one who first taught the Doctor to speak to animals. Cunning and unsentimental, she arranges departures in
- [Chee-Chee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/chee_chee.md): After a miserable journey from Bristol, tripping over borrowed women's clothes and sleeping in ditches, Chee-Chee climbs back to his old bed on the plate-rack and is welcomed like family. He is homesick, funny and a litt
- [Jip](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/jip.md): Jip has told the Doctor everything for eleven years, so when the Hermit's hut stands empty and he refuses to explain what he smelled on the floor, the silence is startling. He slips away alone, then returns demanding a l
- [Dab-Dab](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/dab_dab.md): Dab-Dab is the one who notices when Jip is late, keeps Chee-Chee's bed ready and reminds the Doctor to wash his hands before lunch. Her fussing is affection: she worries about the household while the Doctor worries about
- [Bumpo Kahbooboo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/bumpo_kahbooboo.md): Bumpo is royalty who would rather chase a storybook Sleeping Beauty than sit on a throne, and he attaches himself to the Doctor's expedition with a cheerful, tearful persistence. His comic obsession with transforming his
- [Long Arrow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/long_arrow.md): Long Arrow is the naturalist the Doctor measures himself against — a man whose discoveries in the field rival any European scientist's, yet whose work may never reach the wider world. His vanishing becomes one of the voy
- [Luke the Hermit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/luke_the_hermit.md): Luke lives apart from the world until a trial and a reunion drag him back into it — his wife's arrival after fifteen years ends any hope the Doctor had of recruiting him for the voyage. The Doctor's quiet refusal to take
- [Miranda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/miranda.md): Miranda is the Doctor's long-range messenger, arriving exhausted from Brazil with word of Long Arrow and the wider world beyond Puddleby. Her sensitivity — one insult from Cheapside nearly sends her straight home — makes
- [Matthew Mugg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/matthew_mugg.md): Matthew is the bridge between Tommy's ordinary life and the Doctor's strange household, a working man whose gossip and generosity set the whole story in motion. He measures the Doctor with plain-spoken awe — 'a great man
- [Don Enrique Cardenas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/don_enrique_cardenas.md): A Spanish gentleman who assists the Doctor during their travels in Spain.
- [Mendoza](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/mendoza.md): A Spanish bullfighter who becomes involved with the Doctor's party.
- [Pepito de Malaga](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/pepito_de_malaga.md): A young Spanish boy who helps the Doctor and his friends.
- [Ben Butcher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/ben_butcher.md): A sailor who joins the crew of the Curlew for the voyage.
- [Mr. Percy Jenkyns](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/mr_percy_jenkyns.md): A lawyer involved in the mystery of Luke the Hermit.
- [Bluebeard Bill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/bluebeard_bill.md): A pirate encountered during the Doctor's sea adventures.
- [The Fidgit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/the_fidgit.md): A strange sea creature who teaches the Doctor shellfish language.
- [Cheapside](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/cheapside.md): A cockney sparrow from London who brings news to the Doctor.
- [Clippa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/clippa.md): A young shellfish who helps the Doctor understand shellfish language.
- [Minnie Dooley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/minnie_dooley.md): A woman from Puddleby who appears in the early chapters.
- [Jacob Stubbins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/jacob_stubbins.md): Tommy Stubbins' father, a cobbler in Puddleby.
- [Mrs. Luke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/mrs_luke.md): Luke the Hermit's wife, mentioned in his backstory.
- [Mrs. Stubbins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/mrs_stubbins.md): Tommy Stubbins' mother, who appears at home.
- [Eustace Beauchamp Conckley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyages_of_doctor_dolittle_se/characters/eustace_beauchamp_conckley.md): A pompous naturalist who doubts the Doctor's abilities.

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