Billy Budd characters

Also known as Baby Budd

Appears from the start

A young merchant sailor whose striking appearance, good nature, and instinctive generosity make him popular with other seamen. He is taken by a naval press gang from the Rights-of-Man into service aboard HMS Bellipotent. Usually direct and cheerful, he has a speech impediment that becomes severe when emotion leaves him unable to answer in words.

Appears from the start

The master of the merchant ship Rights-of-Man. He values Billy as a peacemaker whose presence has improved relations among the crew and reluctantly surrenders him to the naval officer enforcing impressment.

Appears from the start

The naval lieutenant who boards the Rights-of-Man and selects Billy for compulsory service in the Royal Navy. He is amused by Billy's open farewell to the merchant ship but quickly establishes the authority behind the transfer.

First appears in chapter 7

Captain of the Bellipotent, an intelligent and disciplined officer devoted to naval duty. Known as a thoughtful reader as well as an effective commander, he leads during the unsettled period following major mutinies elsewhere in the fleet.

Also known as Jimmy Legs

First appears in chapter 11

The Bellipotent's master-at-arms, responsible for policing discipline below decks. Educated, controlled, and outwardly respectable, he watches Billy closely while concealing his private judgments behind the manner of a dutiful petty officer.

First appears in chapter 12

An old sailor with long naval experience who befriends Billy and gives him guarded advice. His habitual reserve makes his warning that Claggart is hostile especially troubling to the inexperienced young seaman.

First appears in chapter 13

A ship's corporal who serves Claggart and helps extend the master-at-arms's surveillance into the lower decks.

First appears in chapter 16

An unnamed sailor who approaches Billy secretly at night and offers money for cooperation in an unspecified scheme. Billy rejects him, but the encounter leaves Billy unsure how to respond within the ship's culture of suspicion.

First appears in chapter 19

Captain Vere's young personal attendant, sent to bring Billy to the captain's cabin for a private confrontation with Claggart.

First appears in chapter 21

The Bellipotent's medical officer, summoned after Billy strikes Claggart. He confirms that Claggart is dead and is unsettled by Captain Vere's intense response to the event.

First appears in chapter 22

The senior officer appointed with the captain of marines and the sailing master to the drumhead court that judges Billy. He and the other members recognize the moral complexity of the case but must answer Vere's argument about wartime military law.