Characters of El Capitan Alatriste: main and secondary

Captain Alatriste is the first of the books in the collection of The Adventures of Captain Alatriste, written by the Spanish novelist Arturo Perez-Reverte. It is a story that is torn between reality and fiction, as many events took place in reality.

This book is widely recognized and is still essential today to understand the history of Spanish literature. In this lesson from a Teacher we will show you Captain Alatriste: main and secondary characters with a brief description of each of them.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte's book narrates one of The Adventures of Captain Alatriste, specifically, when one of his friends offers him a job with which he could earn a lot of money.

Meanwhile, the protagonist is in charge of taking care of the son of a deceased battle partner, a 13-year-old boy named Íñigo.

We begin by analyzing the main characters of Captain Alatriste, the well-known novel by Pérez-Reverte.

Captain Alatriste

Captain Alatriste is the protagonist of this story. It is about an old soldier who, after fighting in Flanders, returns to Spain. Once here he dedicates himself to earning money thanks to his profession as a paid swordsman. He is not known as "Captain" because of his military position, but because in a battle in which the real captain died, he had to lead his companions.

He introduces himself as a brave man, something that is already described at the beginning of the book where it is explained that he fights with the sword with anyone who disrespects him. He is also not a character who is very used to showing his feelings, although he does show loyalty in his willingness to help his classmates whenever necessary, in fact, we see how he is willing to get into some trouble for they. Captain Alatriste had a mistress, Caridad la Lebrijana, the owner of the Turk's tavern where both he and Íñigo Balboa stayed.

Inigo Balboa

Íñigo plays the role of narrator of the story. It is about a thirteen-year-old boy who goes to live with Captain Alatriste because his father had fought with him in Flanders. This boy also has a very brave character, something that is shown when he saves the life of the captain in the Portillo de las Ánimas. In addition, his sensitivity can be seen thanks to the fact that he is in love with a girl named Angélica de Alquézar, although she betrays him and has Captain Alatriste captured.

Francisco de Quevedo

The writer Francisco de Quevedo is another of the characters Captain Alatriste. He is a great friend of Captain Alatriste and an inseparable companion in battles, since he is very given to solving problems with his sword just as our protagonist does. These reactions are fueled because he is a heavy drinker and has a strong character. He is lame, but his bravery makes him a very proficient swordsman. He is a excellent writer and his ingenuity to compose verses is normally used to satire the king or to mock his enemies, as is the case of Luis de Góngora.

Friar Emilio Bocanegra

This is the president of the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition. As he cannot be otherwise, he defines himself as a very rigid person, who instills terror just by looking at him. He is famous for his persecution against heretics. And furthermore, he is the enemy par excellence of Diego Alatriste since he does not carry out the work that he entrusts him to do with the two English heretics.

We continue to meet the characters of Captain Alatriste attending to those that are secondary, a lesser role than the previous ones, but equally significant.

Luis de Alquezar

He is the king's secretary and he presents himself as a very arrogant man who, however, behaves very differently in front of the king, the Count of Olivares. He is one of The masked who sends the captain the order of the English. Therefore, he has a tremendous hatred for Alatriste, whom he tries to kill through Gualterio Malatesta.

Walter Malatesta

Walter Malatesta is the italian swordsman that he must carry out the work with the English together with Diego Alatriste. He is a paid employee of Luis de Alquézar and she uses the technique of always killing from behind. He has a pending account with Diego Alatriste since he prevented him from assassinating Prince Carlos Estuardo.

Charity the Lebrijana

She is one of the characters in Captain Alatriste. It is the owner of the Turkish Tavern, it is the place where Alatriste and his companions meet. She practiced prostitution for some years, but she still does some services to the captain, since she was in love with him.

Angelica de Alquezar

She is the niece of Luis de Alquézar. he is also queen's girl and Íñigo Balboa falls in love with her, but later betrays him and has Captain Alatriste captured.

Martin Saldana

He is the lieutenant of bailiffs. He knows the captain of the thirds of Flanders because they coincided there. He became a bailiff after returning from Flanders thanks to a brother in law butler in the Palace and according to gossip, to the liberties he took with his wife.

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Captain Alatriste, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, 1996.