Mash characters

Also known as Hawkeye

Appears from the start

A highly capable surgeon from Maine assigned to the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Hawkeye resists military formality, uses irreverence to manage the pressure of mass-casualty surgery, and helps turn the Swamp tent into the social center of the unit.

Also known as Duke

Appears from the start

A Southern surgeon who arrives at the 4077th with Hawkeye. Duke is confident, blunt, and as resistant to Army ceremony as his new tentmate. In the operating room he is disciplined and skilled; outside it he joins Hawkeye in challenging officers they consider pompous or incompetent.

Also known as Trapper John

First appears in chapter 2

A chest surgeon whose talent and temperament make him a natural partner for Hawkeye and Duke. After joining their tent, he becomes the third central member of the Swamp and shares their mixture of surgical seriousness and off-duty defiance.

Appears from the start

The commanding officer of the 4077th. Henry Blake is an experienced doctor who understands that the hospital functions best when he overlooks minor breaches of discipline and concentrates on keeping the surgical work moving.

Also known as Radar

Appears from the start

The young company clerk whose alertness and anticipation keep the hospital's administration functioning. Radar often knows what Colonel Blake needs before Blake asks and quietly translates the commander's informal decisions into Army procedure.

Also known as Hot Lips

First appears in chapter 3

The 4077th's chief nurse, a major who values military discipline and initially disapproves of the surgeons' conduct. Margaret Houlihan is professionally serious and closely aligned with Major Burns when Hawkeye, Duke, and Trapper arrive.

First appears in chapter 3

A major and surgeon whose rigid manner and claims to moral authority make him an immediate opponent of the Swampmen. His confidence exceeds his medical ability, a dangerous imbalance in a hospital receiving badly wounded soldiers.

Also known as Dago Red

First appears in chapter 2

The unit's Roman Catholic chaplain. Father Mulcahy offers practical and spiritual help without demanding the outward respect for rank that the Swampmen reject, and he is trusted across the hospital.

Also known as Painless Pole

First appears in chapter 4

The unit's well-liked dentist, known for his imposing height and calm professional skill. A private crisis leads his friends to organize an elaborate intervention in the hope of restoring his confidence.

First appears in chapter 2

A Korean boy who works for the surgeons and becomes part of their improvised household. The doctors take a protective interest in his education and future rather than treating him as merely a servant around the Swamp.

Also known as Spearchucker

First appears in chapter 8

A neurosurgeon and former professional football player recruited to the 4077th when the unit needs both his medical specialty and his athletic experience. He joins the Swamp and becomes part of its core group.

First appears in chapter 8

A senior Army medical commander whose authority reaches beyond the 4077th. He supports inter-unit competition and becomes involved when the hospital's surgeons assemble a football team capable of challenging a favored opponent.