Male Shakespearean characters

Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. After the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed legislation that severed England and Ireland from the Roman Catholic Church and established the monarch as Supreme Head of the Church of England, initiating the English Reformation. He subsequently married five more times; two marriages were annulled, and two wives were executed.

thumb|Theseus after having slain the Minotaur, freeing captive Athenian boys; Cretans approaching to marvel the scene, Antique fresco from [[Pompeii]] Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages.

King of France, and the first to be called by that title (1165–1223)

King of France from 1364 to 1380 (1338–1380)

King of France 1223-1226 (1187–1226)

English magnate of the House of Plantagenet (1340-1399)

English political figure, archbishop of York and cardinal-priest of Santa Cecilia (1473-1530)

Duke of Burgundy (1342-1404)

Duke of York (1341–1402)

Romeo Montague ( ) is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest named Friar Laurence.

Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman (1146-1219)

Shakespeare character

alt=A helmeted figure emerges from behind a fountain, topped with two lions. That is being approached from the other side by an unarmoured rider. Below the horse is a setting sun. Painted underneath this scene are trees shown in different seasons of the year.|thumb|300px|right|Achilles (left) ambushing Troilus (on horseback, right). Etruscan art|Etruscan [[fresco, Tomb of the Bulls, Tarquinia, 530–520 BC.]]

thumb|Pandarus, centre, with Cressida, illustration to Troilus and Cressida by Thomas Kirk. Pandarus or Pandar (Ancient Greek: Πάνδαρος Pándaros), son of Lycaon, is a skilled Lycian archer who lived in the Troad city of Zeleia. In the Iliad, he is allied with Troy and appears in stories about the Trojan War. He is infamous for breaking the truce between the Trojans and the Achaeans in Homer's Iliad, Book 4.

Lord Chancellor of England; Bishop of Lincoln; Bishop of Winchester

English Earl

thumb|The Reconciliation of Titania and Oberon by Joseph Noel Paton Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairies.

Duke of Brittany

Shylock ( ; spelled Shylocke in the First Folio) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice ( 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and forced conversion to Christianity form the climax of the story.

Mythical King of the Britons

French noble

character in Shakespeare's play Hamlet

English noble

English noble and admiral

English peer (1366-1399)

Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates Othello and devises a pernicious scheme to destroy him by making him believe that Desdemona is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio. With 1,097 lines, Iago has more lines in the play than Othello himself.

legendary character; ghost

Lord Banquo ( ), the Thane of Lochaber, is a semi-historical character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally of Macbeth (both are generals in the King's army) and they meet the Three Witches together. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his descendants will be. Later, Macbeth in his lust for power sees Banquo as a threat and has him murdered by three hired assassins; Banquo's son, Fleance, escapes. Banquo's ghost returns in a later scene, causing Macbeth to react with alarm

Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of the play, Polonius is described by William Hazlitt as a "sincere" father, but also "a busy-body, [who] is accordingly officious, garrulous, and impertinent". In Act II, Hamlet refers to Polonius as a "tedious old fool" and taunts him as a latter day "Jephtha".

English nobleman and soldier

English military commander during the English Wars of the Roses

Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

character in Shakespeare's Othello; a Moorish soldier in the service of the Venetian Republic, who elopes with Desdemona, murders her, and kills himself

Caliban ( ), the subhuman son of the sea witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

character from Shakespeare's play

Mercutio ( ; ) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a close friend to Romeo and a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, Mercutio is one of the few characters in the play who can mingle with people from both of the feuding Montague and Capulet families. The invitation to Lord Capulet's party states that he has a brother named Valentine.

character in Shakespeare's The Tempest

thumb|The Young Lord Hamlet (Philip Hermogenes Calderon, 1868), depicting a living Yorick bearing the young prince on his back. Yorick is an unseen character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the dead court jester whose skull is exhumed by the First Gravedigger in Act 5, Scene 1, of the play. The sight of Yorick's skull evokes a reminiscence by Prince Hamlet of the man, who apparently played a role during Hamlet's upbringing: Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorre

English Earl

character in Shakespeare's Hamlet

English nobleman

11th Earl of Warwick

characters in Hamlet

military commander

Fortinbras , also called Young Fortinbras to distinguish him from his father, is a minor fictional character from William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. A Norwegian crown prince with a few brief scenes in the play, he delivers the final lines that represent a hopeful future for the monarchy of Denmark and its subjects. His father, the fictional former king of Norway, is also named Fortinbras and was slain in the play's antecedent action in a duel with King Hamlet. The duel between the two is described by Horatio in Act One, Scene One (I,i) of the play.

ghost in Shakespeare's play Hamlet

character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet

Earl of Worcester

British Baron

Benvolio Montague () is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. He is Lord Montague's nephew and Romeo's cousin. Benvolio serves as an unsuccessful peacemaker in the play, attempting to prevent violence between the Capulet and Montague families.

character from Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" play

Tybalt ( ; ) is a fictional character and the principal antagonist in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The son of Lady Capulet's brother, he is Juliet's short-tempered first cousin, and Romeo's rival. Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert / Tybalt "the prince of cats" in the popular story Reynard the Fox, a point of mockery in the play. Mercutio repeatedly calls Tybalt "prince of cats", in reference to his sleek, yet violent manner.

character in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet

English rebel with Welsh leader Owain Glyndŵr

English Earl

fictional character in the play Macbeth by Shakespeare

English Duke

character in A Midsummer Night's Dream

English magnate

English nobleman