Peter Pan Peter Pan is one of the
protagonists of the play and the novel. He is described in the novel as a young boy who still has all his
first teeth; he wears clothes made of leaves (autumn leaves in the play, skeleton leaves in the novel) and plays the
pipes. He is the only boy able to fly without the help of Tinker Bell's fairy dust. He has refused to grow up and distrusts mothers as he felt betrayed by his own; in Barrie's original production, Peter describes how he attempted to return home only to find that the nursery window is closed and his mother had given birth to a new baby boy. He cares about Wendy, but can only see her as a motherly figure, not as a
sweetheart. Barrie attributes this to "the riddle of his very being". He is very cocky and forgetful; as he needs to forget what he's learned through his adventures in order to maintain his "childlike wonder".
Darling family According to Barrie's description of the Darlings' house, There is some evidence that the name
Wendy may be related to the Welsh name
Gwendolyn, and it is also used as a diminutive variant of the eastern European name "Wanda", but prior to its use in the
Peter Pan stories, the name was not used as an independent first name. •
John Darling – John is the middle child and eldest son. He gets along well with Wendy, but he often argues with Michael. He is fascinated with pirates, and he once thought of becoming "Redhanded Jack". He dreams of living in an inverted boat on the sands, where he has no friends and spends his time shooting flamingos. He looks up to Peter Pan, but at times they clash due to Peter's nature of showing off. He also looks up to his father and dreams of running his firm one day when he is grown up. When he is described as a grown-up it is said he is a "bearded man who doesn't know any story to tell his children". The character of John was named after
Jack Llewelyn Davies. •
Michael Darling – Michael is the youngest child. He is approximately five years old, as he still wears the
pinafores young Edwardian boys wear. He looks up to John and Wendy, dreaming of living in a wigwam where his friends visit at night. Michael is the first of the Darling children to forget their lives before the Neverland, as is the last of the boys (including the Lost Boys) to stop believing in Peter after their return. He grows up to be an engine-driver. He was named after
Michael Llewelyn Davies. •
Mr. and Mrs. Darling – George and Mary Darling are the children's loving parents. Mr. Darling is a pompous, blustering clerk in the
City but kind at heart. He feels extremely guilty over his children's disappearance and, as penance, spends all his time in Nana's kennel, even to and from work. Mary Darling is described as an intelligent, romantic lady. She is also said to have a kiss on the corner of her mouth that no one could reach, though Peter takes it with him at the end of the novel. It is hinted that she knew Peter Pan before her children were born. Mr. Darling was named after the eldest Llewelyn Davies boy,
George, and Mrs. Darling was named after Mary Ansell, Barrie's wife, although their personalities were based on
Arthur and
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In the stage version, the roles of Mr. Darling and Captain Hook are traditionally played by the same actor. •
Nana is a
Newfoundland dog who is employed as a nanny by the Darling family. Nana does not speak or do anything beyond the physical capabilities of a large dog, but acts with apparent understanding of her responsibilities. The character is played in stage productions by an actor in a dog costume. Barrie based the character of Nana on his dog Luath, a Newfoundland. •
Liza is the maidservant of the Darling family. She appears only in the first act, except in the 1954 musical in which she sees the Darling children fly off with Peter; when she tries stopping them, Michael sprinkles her with fairy dust and she ends up in Neverland. She returns with the children at the end. She is given two musical numbers in this adaptation.
Lost Boys The Lost Boys are a group of boys "who fall out of their prams when the nurse is looking the other way and if they are not claimed in seven days, they are sent far away to the Neverland". Peter Pan is their captain. There are no "lost girls" because, as Peter explains, girls are far too clever to fall out of their prams. In the novel (but not the original play), it is stated that Peter "thins them out" when they start to grow up. This is never fully explained, but it is implied that he either kills or banishes them. At the end of the story, the Darlings adopt them and they gradually lose their ability to fly and their memories of Peter and the Neverland. •
Tootles – Tootles is the humblest Lost Boy because he often misses out on their violent adventures. Although he is often stupid, he is always the first to defend Wendy. Ironically, he shoots her before meeting her for the first time because of Tinker Bell's trickery. He grows up to become a judge. •
Nibs – Nibs is described as "gay and
debonair", probably the bravest Lost Boy. He says the only thing he remembers about his mother is she always wanted a cheque-book; he says he "would love to give her one... if [he] knew what a cheque-book was". He's also the oldest and best-looking Lost Boy. •
Slightly – Slightly is the most conceited because he believes he remembers the days before he was "lost". He is the only Lost Boy who "knows" his last name – he says his
pinafore had the words "Slightly Soiled" written on the tag. He cuts whistles from the branches of trees, and dances to tunes he creates himself. Slightly is, apparently, a poor make-believer. He blows big breaths when he feels he is in trouble, and he eventually leads to Peter's almost-downfall. He grows up to marry a lady of title and becomes a lord. •
Curly – Curly is the most troublesome Lost Boy. In Disney's version of the story, he became "Cubby". •
The Twins – First and Second Twin know little about themselves – they are not allowed to, because Peter Pan does not know what twins are; he thinks that twins are two parts of the same person, which, while not correct, is right in the sense that the twins finish each other's sentences (at least, in the movie adaptation).
Inhabitants of Neverland •
Tiger Lily is the proud, beautiful
Native American princess of the Piccaninny tribe, who are portrayed in a way now regarded as stereotypical. Barrie portrayed them as primitive, warlike savages who spoke with guttural voice tones. She is apparently old enough to be married, but refuses any suitors because she has feelings towards Peter. She is jealous of Wendy and Tinker Bell. Tiger Lily is nearly killed by Captain Hook when she is seen boarding the
Jolly Roger with a knife in her mouth, but Peter saves her. •
Tinker Bell is Peter Pan's fairy. She is described as a common
fairy who mends pots and kettles and, though she is sometimes ill-behaved and vindictive, at other times she is helpful and kind to Peter (for whom she has romantic feelings). The extremes in her personality are explained by the fact that a fairy's size prevents her from holding more than one feeling at a time. In Barrie's book, by Peter's first annual return for Wendy, the boy has forgotten about Tinker Bell and suggests that she "is no more" for fairies do not live long. •
Captain James Hook, the main
antagonist; a vengeful pirate who lives to kill Peter Pan, not so much because Peter cut off his right hand, but because the boy is "cocky" and drives the genteel pirate to "madness". He is captain of the ship
Jolly Roger. He attended
Eton College before becoming a pirate and is obsessed with "good form". His real name isn't James Hook, but it is stated that revealing it would crumble the nation even now. Hook meets his demise when a
crocodile eats him. On the stage, the actor who plays Mr. Darling traditionally also plays Hook. •
Mr. Smee is an Irish
nonconformist pirate. He is the
boatswain of the
Jolly Roger. Smee is one of only two pirates to survive Peter Pan's massacre. He then makes his living saying he was the only man James Hook ever feared. •
Gentleman Starkey was once an usher at a public school. He is Captain Hook's first mate. Starkey is one of two pirates who escaped Peter Pan's massacre – he swims ashore and becomes baby-sitter to the Piccaninny Tribe. Peter Pan gives Starkey's hat to the Never Bird to use as a nest. •
Fairies – In the novel
Peter and Wendy, published in 1911, there are other fairies in Neverland besides Tinker Bell. In the part of the story where Peter Pan and the Lost Boys built a house for Wendy on Neverland, Peter Pan stays up late that night to guard her from the pirates, but then the story says: "After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy. Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter's nose and passed on." In the early 20th century, the word "orgy" generally referred to a large group of people consuming alcohol. Fairies are born when a baby laughs for the first time and live in nests on top of trees. Wendy claims the mauve fairies are boys, the white fairies are girls and the blue fairies are "not sure what they are". •
Mermaids who live in the waters near Neverland reside within the Mermaids' Lagoon. They are described as being very beautiful and mysterious creatures but equally just as vain and malevolent. Barrie states in the novel
Peter and Wendy that the mermaids are only friendly to Peter, and that they will intentionally splash or even attempt to drown anyone else if they come close enough. It is especially dangerous for mortals to go to Mermaids' Lagoon at night, because that's when the mermaids sing hauntingly in the moonlight and utter strange wailing cries to attract potential victims. •
The Crocodile is Captain Hook's nemesis. During a sword fight, Peter cut off Hook's right hand and fed it to a crocodile which followed Hook ever since, hungering for more. The crocodile also swallowed a clock, whose ticking warns Hook of its presence, though it eventually runs down. At the end of the story, Captain Hook falls into the crocodile's mouth and is swallowed whole. ==Major themes==