The characters of
The Good Soldier Švejk are generally either used as the butt of Hašek's absurdist humour or represent fairly broad social and ethnic stereotypes found in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. People are often distinguished by the dialect and
register of Czech or German they speak, a quality that does not translate easily. Many German- and Polish-speaking characters, for example, are shown as speaking comedically broken or heavily accented Czech, while many Czechs speak broken German; much use is also made of
slang expressions. Some characters are to varying degrees based on real people who served with the
Imperial and Royal 91st Infantry Regiment, in which Hašek served as a one-year volunteer. (Much research has been conducted into this issue and the results are part of the catalog of all 585 people, both real and fictitious, that appear in the novel.) ; Josef Švejk: The novel's hero: in civilian life a
fence specializing in stolen dogs. Based partly on František Strašlipka, the young batman to Oberleutnant Rudolf Lukas, Hašek's company commander. ; Palivec: The foul-mouthed landlord of Švejk's local pub – the "U Kalicha" ("At the Chalice") on Na Bojišti street, Prague. Despite refusal to discuss any politics ("it smells of
Pankrác") Palivec is eventually arrested by Bretschneider (see below) after commenting that flies shit on the portrait of
Franz Joseph in the pub. ; Police Agent Bretschneider: A secret policeman who repeatedly tries to catch Švejk and others out on their anti-monarchist views. He is eventually eaten by his own dogs, after buying a succession of animals from Švejk in an attempt to incriminate him. ; Staff Warder Slavík: A cruel and corrupt prison official (revealed to have himself ended up in prison under the
Republic of Czechoslovakia). ;
Military chaplain Otto Katz: Has a fondness for drinking, especially
communion wine, and gambling. Švejk seems fond of Katz, but the latter loses the services of Švejk to Lieutenant Lukáš in a game of cards. ;
Oberleutnant Lukáš: Švejk's long-suffering
company commander. A Czech from South Bohemia, Lukáš is something of a womanizer but is depicted in a broadly sympathetic manner by Hašek (the records of the real-life 91st Regiment show an Oberleutnant Rudolf Lukas – the same rank as the character – at the time of Hašek's service; Hašek admired Lukas and even wrote him a number of poems. Lukas was Hašek's company commander.) Though Švejk's actions eventually lead to Lukáš' being labelled as a notorious philanderer in the Hungarian national press, he starts to miss Švejk after the latter is promoted to company orderly. ; Colonel Friedrich Kraus von Zillergut: An idiotic Austrian officer with a penchant for giving his colleagues long-winded, moronic explanations of everyday objects (such as thermometers and postage stamps) and situations; run over by a cart while attempting to demonstrate what a
pavement is. Kraus's dog is stolen by Švejk as a gift for Lukáš; the enraged colonel subsequently arranges Lukáš's transfer to the front. ; Captain Ságner: One of the regiment's professional officers and commander of Švejk's
march battalion; an ambitious careerist, he is later revealed to have been a closet Czech patriot in his youth. A Captain Vinzenz Sagner served in the 91st Regiment, where he was Hašek's battalion commander. ; Colonel Schröder: The bad-tempered
colonel of Švejk's regiment, and a caricature of typical German-speaking senior officers of the Austrian army. ; Jurajda: The battalion's
spiritualist cook; before military service he had edited an "occultist" journal. Spends time attempting to avoid frontline service through letters he is writing to his wife, in which he details meals he is intending to cook for senior officers. ; 2nd Lieutenant Dub: Dub is a Czech schoolmaster, reserve officer, and commander of the battalion's 3rd company: he has strongly monarchist views. As a conservative, pro-
Habsburg Czech, Dub is the subject of some of Hašek's most vicious satire. Repeatedly placed in humiliating situations, such as being found drunk in a
brothel or falling off a horse. (In all
Slavonic languages the word
dub ("oak") itself is a common synonym for a dull, idiotic person.) He is said to have been based on a lieutenant of the reserve, Mechálek, who served in Hašek's regiment. The novel is ended by words of Lieutenant Dub: "With the district governor, we always said: Patriotism, loyalty to duty, self-overcoming, these are the real weapons in war! I remember this especially today, when our troops will cross the border in the foreseeable future." ; Quartermaster Sergeant-Major Vaněk: Another recurring character, Vaněk (a chemist from
Kralupy nad Vltavou in civilian life) is an example of an easy-going but self-serving senior
NCO, whose main concern is to make his own existence as comfortable as possible. A Jan Vaněk served in Hašek's regiment, and has some traits in common with the figure from the novel (domicile and occupation). ; Volunteer Marek: The character of one-year volunteer Marek is to some degree a self-portrait by the author, who was himself a one-year volunteer in the 91st. For example, Marek – like Hašek – was editor of a natural history magazine. Marek is appointed the battalion historian by Ságner and occupies himself with devising memorable and heroic deaths in advance for his colleagues. ;
First-Class Private Vodička: A
sapper friend of Švejk noted mainly for his extreme hatred of
Hungarians, which leads to an unfortunate incident in
Bruck an der Leitha. ; Lieutenant Biegler (Cadet Biegler): Biegler is a young junior officer with pretensions to nobility, despite being the middle-class son of a
furrier. Biegler takes his military duties so seriously that he is ridiculed even by his senior officers, and is mistakenly hospitalised as a "carrier of
cholera germs" after medical staff misdiagnose (for army PR reasons) a cognac-induced hangover. Cadet Biegler also had a real-life model in the 91st regiment (Cadet Johann Biegler, later lieutenant). ; Captain Tayrle: The brigade
adjutant and a particularly disgusting example of a headquarters officer, whose interests appear to lie mainly in crude jokes and sampling of local prostitutes. ; General
Fink von Finkenstein: An aristocratic, vicious and near-insane senior Austrian officer and commander of the garrison fort of
Przemyśl, Fink treats his men with extreme brutality. He almost succeeds in having Švejk executed after the latter is taken prisoner by his own side. His name and look in 1958 film is based on Prussian general
Karl Fink von Finkenstein. ; Chaplain Martinec: A chaplain plagued by drink-induced spiritual doubts, whose attempt to provide spiritual consolation to Švejk ends in disaster. ; "Sergeant Teveles": A man in possession of a silver
Military Merit Medal, purchased from a
Bosnian, and claiming to be a Sergeant Teveles, who had previously disappeared along with the entire 6 March Company during fighting in
Belgrade. ;
Private Baloun: A miller from
Český Krumlov in civilian life, and Švejk's successor as Lukáš's
batman, Baloun is a glutton and is regularly punished for stealing Lukáš's food. He eats raw dough, sausage skins, etc., when nothing else is available. == Reception ==