Meet the Cast
Tommo
Melville, er We Mean TomTom, as he's called before the Typee give him his nickname, is Melville's narrator-avatar in this story of adventure-at-land. We don't know much about the young American sai...
Toby
What We KnowThe way Toby—Tommo's fellow sailor and escapee—functions in Typee is a little hard to pin down. We know even less about him than Tommo. What do we know? He's stronger and faster tha...
Mehevi
Mehevi, head-chief of the Typee Valley ("king" if you wanna be monarchy-centric about it), is an exceptionally welcoming sort, so graceful and unassuming that it takes Tommo quite some time before...
Fayaway
Fayaway is a "beauteous nymph" (11.38), a member of Marheyo, Tinor, and Kory-Kory's household. Tommo never tires of reminding us how beautiful Fayaway is. She's more beautiful than any woman he has...
The French
The French, or "Franee" as the islanders call them, are current invading forces at the Bay of Nukuheva. Having planted their flags and installed their army, they are making controlling in-roads on...
The Happar
Though it first seems as though we're prepping to meet the Happar, we never quite do, at least until we get Toby's story in the final pages of the book. "Happar motarkee," (10.16) we're told: Happa...
Jimmy
Salty, mercenary, gone-native Jimmy is an old sailor who has made his home on the Marquesas, saying, "we taboo men have wives in all the bays" (Toby.46). He's a lusty white man taking advantage of...
Kory-Kory
Local Servant GuideWhile Toby is introduced as the BFF in this adventure tale, Kory-Kory is the one who's there for all of the action once Tommo descends into the Valley. The king chief, Mehevi, be...
Marheyo
Marheyo, patriarch of Tommo's Typee household, seems at all turns generous—a kind of father type for our hero in the way that Kory-Kory is a brother-servant surrogate, or Fayaway his camp GF. Tom...
Mow-Mow
A minor chief, known for his possession of a single eye, Mow-Mow seems to be more aggressive and warlike than those around him. We first see him as he has returned from an off-screen skirmish with...
Marnoo
Like Jimmy, the warrior Marnoo is "taboo," able to travel peaceably throughout the island. Unlike Jimmy, though, Marnoo is a native islander notable for his chiseled good-looks. We're told that thi...
Tinor
Tinor, the matriarch of Marheyo's household, is a flat character like Fayaway, only even more minor. She is notable for her industriousness, rare for the Typee, as far as Tommo is concerned. He cal...