The Tale of Despereaux Characters

A Mouse Unlike Any Other Despite what you might think, all mice are not the same. At least not in fiction, that is. Our fearless protagonist, Despereaux Tilling, is pretty different from everyone e...

A Peculiar Rat Rats-ugh. Shmoop's not a fan, and we doubt you are either. But just like with mice, fictional rats aren't all the same. Some are wise. When we're first introduced to the rat Roscuro,...

Lonely Little Girl Next time you're angry with your parents, think of this: at least you weren't sold into slavery for nothing more than a tablecloth, a hen, and some cigarettes. That's what happen...

DreamgirlYou know what they say about people like Princess Pea: All the boys love her and all the girls want to be her. Pea is adored by both her family and the people of the Kingdom of Dor. When s...

Nobody's PerfectAlthough King Phillip is the leader of the Kingdom of Dor, he can be pretty silly. He's a bit prone to overreacting. The king, as I have already mentioned, had several faults. He wa...

Lester, Antoinette, Furlough, and Merlot Like most mice, Despereaux has a huge family. But he still feels very isolated because his siblings and parents make him feel as though he's different. Beca...

Cooks are classic fairy tale characters. They're usually unsentimental, no-nonsense types who run their kitchen like drill sergeants. And they definitely do not like mice in their kitchens. At firs...

We guess "dying of fright" isn't just a metaphor. At least, not for the Queen of Dor. Although we don't get to meet Queen Rosemary during the course of the book—because she's already dead by the...

It's a miserable existence. Gregory the Jailer is the big hulking man who stays in the dungeons and oversees all the prisoners. He doesn't even have light and has to find his way around the maze of...

When we first meet Mig's father, he's a prisoner sent to the dungeons for stealing cows. He doesn't regret stealing the cows as much as he regrets something else that he did long ago: trading his d...

Botticelli is another rat who lives in the dungeons and behaves more like a "normal" rat is supposed to. He despises the light and takes all his pleasure from torturing prisoners and eating mice. T...