Character guide

Jim Hawkins

major

Also known as Hawkins, James Hawkins, Young Hawkins

The innkeeper's son who finds Flint's map and narrates the voyage, learning fast that treasure and trust are rarely the same thing.

Long John Silver

major

Also known as Silver, John Silver, old John, Cap'n Silver, Mr. Silver, Barbecue, Captain Silver

The one-legged ship's cook whose charm, competence, and shifting loyalties make him the most dangerous man aboard the Hispaniola.

Doctor Livesey

major

Also known as Livesey, the doctor, doctor

The clear-eyed physician who trades his wig for a cutlass, the one man aboard whose judgment the squire actually trusts.

Captain Smollett

major

Also known as Smollett, Mr. Smollett, Cap'n Smollett

The blunt, dutiful captain who smells mutiny before the anchor lifts and refuses to sail without precautions nobody wants to hear.

Squire Trelawney

major

Also known as Mr. Trelawney, Trelawney, Squire

The wealthy, excitable squire whose open purse and looser tongue bankroll the voyage and broadcast its secret to every tavern on the coast.

Ben Gunn

supporting

Also known as Ben, Benjamin Gunn, Gunn

A marooned ex-pirate, half-starved and half-cunning, who trades his secrets only for a gentleman's word of honor.

Israel Hands

supporting

Also known as Israel, Hands, Mr. Hands

Israel Hands serves as coxswain aboard the Hispaniola, one of the pirates Silver keeps on a short leash while the treasure is still being hunted. He chafes openly at Silver's caution, demanding pickles, wine, and action while the more calculating men wait — a tension that shows how fragile the conspiracy really is. His readiness to hurry toward violence makes him a quiet threat long before the plot on the island fully breaks open.

Billy Bones

supporting

Also known as Bill, Billy, Master Billy Bones

Billy Bones arrives at the Admiral Benbow inn as a paying lodger with a sea-chest, a saber cut, and a habit of watching the cove for ships. He drinks slowly, sings the dead man's chest song, and rules the taproom with a commander's glare — yet something is clearly hunting him. His fear, his gold, and the map he guards set the whole story in motion and make the inn a place no reader can leave quietly.

Pew

supporting

Also known as Old Pew, Master Pew

Old Pew moves through the early chapters as a figure of eerie authority, finding his way by sound and delivering messages that terrify hardened sailors. His blindness makes him seem helpless, yet he commands fear and obedience from men who could break him with one hand. He represents the long reach of the pirate past into Jim's quiet inn life, and his arrival signals that Billy Bones's hiding place has finally been found.

Black Dog

minor

Also known as II Black Dog, that Black Dog, Dog

A menacing pirate who visits Billy Bones at the inn.

Tom Redruth

minor

Also known as old Redruth, Redruth, old Tom Redruth, Tom, poor Tom, Thomas Redruth, old Tom

The loyal gamekeeper who accompanies the squire to the island.

George Merry

minor

Also known as George, Merry, the struggling Merry

A fierce mutineer who challenges Silver's authority.

Dick Johnson

minor

Also known as Dick

A young mutineer who becomes the keeper of the black spot.

Tom Morgan

minor

Also known as Morgan, old Morgan

An old pirate among the mutineers on the island.

Abraham Gray

minor

Also known as Gray

A loyal sailor who defects from the mutineers to join the captain.

Mr. Arrow

minor

Also known as Arrow

The first mate of the Hispaniola who disappears at sea.

Mr. Dance

minor

Also known as Dance

The chief officer of the revenue service who helps Jim.

Job Anderson

minor

Also known as Anderson, Job

The boatswain of the Hispaniola who joins the mutiny.

O'Brien

minor

A mutineer who is killed during the attack on the stockade.

Captain Flint

minor

Also known as old Flint, Flint, this Flint, Cap'n Flint

The infamous dead pirate who buried the treasure on the island.

John Hunter

minor

Also known as Hunter

A loyal crewman who helps defend the stockade.

Richard Joyce

minor

Also known as Joyce

A loyal servant of the squire who stays in the stockade.

Dogger

minor

A servant of the squire who helps guard the inn.

Blandly

minor

The squire's friend who helps outfit the Hispaniola.

Alan

minor

A loyal sailor who is killed by the mutineers.

Allardyce

minor

A pirate killed by Flint and left as a warning on the island.

Dirk

minor

A mutineer who is killed during the treasure hunt.

Johnny

minor

Also known as Jack

A mutineer who helps Silver guard the stockade.

Darby M'Graw

minor

Also known as Darby

A pirate mentioned in Flint's dying song.