# Buck Mulligan — Ulysses character guide

> Buck Mulligan in Ulysses by James Joyce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mulligan, Malachi Mulligan, Malachi, Mercurial Malachi, Mr Mulligan, Mr Malachi Mulligan, Dr Malachi Mulligan, Dr Mulligan

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

A plump, blaspheming medical student with gold teeth and a gift for performance, Mulligan mocks Stephen's guilt while borrowing his wit, his rent, and his thunder.

## Who they are

Mulligan holds court in the Martello tower, shaving, whistling, and turning the Mass into a joke, with Stephen as his favorite audience and target. He is charming, generous, and casually cruel—calling Stephen 'Kinch, the knifeblade' while angling for the credit of his ideas. His easy blasphemy and easy betrayals define the friendship Stephen must outgrow, and his presence sharpens the novel's first movement.

## Relationships

### [Stephen Dedalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/stephen_dedalus)

_friendship_

Buck Mulligan is Stephen's irreverent, mocking friend and housemate who both entertains and antagonizes him with his cynical wit.

### [Stephen Dedalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/stephen_dedalus)

_friendship_

Buck Mulligan is Stephen's irreverent, mocking friend and housemate who both entertains and antagonizes him with his cynical wit.

### [Stephen Dedalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/stephen_dedalus)

_friendship_

Buck Mulligan is Stephen's irreverent, mocking friend and housemate who both entertains and antagonizes him with his cynical wit.

## In the story

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

Performs a mock Mass while shaving, taunts Stephen about his mother's death, and displays a boisterous, irreverent personality.

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

Shaving on the tower, mocking Stephen, and displaying a boisterous, irreverent attitude toward death and religion.

### [Proteus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/iii)

Mentioned in Stephen's memory as one of the 'oval equine faces' and a figure from his past.

### [Scylla and Charybdis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/ix)

Arrives late to the library discussion, mocking Stephen's theories with his characteristic wit.

### [Oxen of the Sun](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/xiv)

Whispers to Lenehan to preserve a druid silence, pointing to the stranger and the scarlet label.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters/buck_mulligan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ulysses_se/characters