White Fang

the grey cub

Also known as White Fang

White Fang is the only surviving cub of Kiche and One Eye, later rescued by Weedon Scott and welcomed into the Scott family. At the end, he patiently lets Collie’s puppies climb and tumble over him while he rests in the sun.

Collie

A female sheep-dog at Sierra Vista who becomes White Fang’s companion and has a litter of puppies. She is displeased when her puppies sprawl toward White Fang, but he calmly allows them to clamber over him.

Collie’s puppies

Also known as the puppies

Collie’s litter of about six puppies. They clamber and tumble over White Fang as he patiently lies in the sun.

Weedon Scott

Also known as Scott · Mr. Scott · the tall young newcomer · the love-master · the master

A young mining expert who buys White Fang from Beauty Smith and earns his trust through patience and kindness. He takes White Fang to California, where the dog becomes devoted to him and protects his family. Scott is the son of Judge Scott and his wife, and the husband of Alice.

Matt

Also known as the dog-musher

Weedon Scott’s dog-musher and companion. He cares for White Fang while Scott is away and witnesses the dog’s devotion; he accompanies Scott to the steamer but remains behind when Scott decides to take White Fang to California.

Beauty Smith

Also known as Beauty · Pinhead

A cowardly, cruel cook who bought White Fang from Grey Beaver and exploited him as a fighting dog. After White Fang is rescued, Beauty Smith attempts to steal him back with a chain and club, but White Fang attacks and drives him off.

the team dogs

Also known as the sled-dogs

Scott’s sled dogs, whom White Fang quickly dominates and leads. They attack him when he emerges from illness, but he defeats them and they submit to him again.

the man who tries to steal White Fang

Also known as Beauty Smith

Beauty Smith, White Fang’s former owner, who comes to Scott’s cabin armed with a dog-chain and club in an attempt to take White Fang back. White Fang savagely wounds him, and Matt sends him away.

the squat baggage-car worker

Also known as the god of the car

An unnamed, brawny worker who handles luggage in the baggage car carrying White Fang. He complains that White Fang guards Scott’s bags and will not let him touch them.

the woman who embraces Scott at San Francisco

Also known as Scott’s mother · Weedon’s mother

Weedon Scott’s mother, whom White Fang initially mistakes for a threat when she embraces Scott. She later worries that White Fang might harm the children and fears the warm climate may not suit him.

Judge Scott

Also known as Scott’s father · the Judge

Weedon Scott’s father and the judge who sentenced Jim Hall to fifty years in prison, unknowingly relying on a conspiracy and false evidence. He doubts White Fang can be trusted, but later helps secure medical care after White Fang saves the household from Jim Hall.

the deer-hound

Also known as Dick

A male deer-hound at Sierra Vista who attacks White Fang when he arrives. Collie helps prevent White Fang from killing him, and Dick eventually accepts White Fang’s presence.

the two women who embrace Scott

Two unnamed women at Sierra Vista who welcome Weedon Scott by embracing him. White Fang initially warns them away but gradually tolerates the family’s affectionate greetings.

the household women

Also known as the women of Sierra Vista

The women of the Scott household, who help nurse White Fang after he is gravely injured. They call him the “Blessed Wolf” when he recovers.

Judge Scott’s wife

Also known as the Judge’s wife

Judge Scott’s wife and Weedon Scott’s mother. She is among the household women who nurse White Fang and names him the “Blessed Wolf.”

Beth

One of Weedon Scott’s sisters. She defends White Fang when Judge Scott calls him a wolf and recognizes that he is not entirely wolf.

Mary

One of Weedon Scott’s sisters, who lives at Sierra Vista and is part of the family White Fang learns to accept.

Alice

Also known as the master’s wife

Weedon Scott’s wife. She secretly lets White Fang into the house at night to sleep in the hall, and White Fang protects her household from Jim Hall.

Weedon Scott (son)

Also known as Weedon

One of Weedon and Alice Scott’s young children, about six years old. White Fang gradually learns to tolerate and care for him.

Maud

One of Weedon and Alice Scott’s young children, about four years old. White Fang gradually learns to tolerate and care for her.

the groom

An unnamed stable worker who tries to rescue chickens from White Fang and is badly bitten on the arm. Collie saves him from further injury, and he later acknowledges White Fang’s intelligence.

the cross-roads saloon dogs

Also known as the three dogs at the saloon

Three unnamed dogs that repeatedly rush at and harass White Fang near the cross-roads saloon. When Scott finally permits White Fang to fight, White Fang kills two and pursues and kills the third.

the saloon men

Also known as the men at the saloon

Unnamed men at the cross-roads saloon who urge their dogs to attack White Fang. Scott intervenes and allows White Fang to defend himself.

the rabbit-startled thoroughbred

Also known as the horse

An unnamed horse ridden by Weedon Scott. A jackrabbit startles it during a ride, causing it to stumble and break Scott’s leg; White Fang is checked before attacking it.

the jackrabbit

A jackrabbit that startles Scott’s horse during a ride, causing the fall that breaks Scott’s leg.

the doctor who treats White Fang

Also known as the surgeon

An unnamed surgeon who treats White Fang after the fight with Jim Hall. He considers White Fang’s chances of survival extremely low and advises careful nursing.

Doctor Nichols

A doctor in San Francisco whom Judge Scott asks Weedon to summon to give White Fang further medical care. The passage does not show him arriving.

Jim Hall

A violent escaped convict who was wrongly sentenced to fifty years by Judge Scott because of fabricated evidence and a police conspiracy. Believing the judge knowingly wronged him, he breaks into Sierra Vista to seek revenge, but White Fang kills him while protecting the family.

the prison guard who mistreats Jim Hall

An unnamed guard who unfairly persecutes Jim Hall and lies about him to the warden. Jim Hall attacks and bites his throat.

the warden

The unnamed head of San Quentin prison, to whom the guard falsely reports Jim Hall.

the two prison guards killed during Jim Hall’s escape

Two unnamed guards whose bodies mark Jim Hall’s path through the prison during his escape.

the dead guard in Jim Hall’s cell

An unnamed guard found dead partly inside Jim Hall’s cell after the escape.

the judge’s wife

Also known as the Judge’s wife

Weedon Scott’s mother and Judge Scott’s wife. She joins the household women in nursing White Fang and calls him the “Blessed Wolf.”

the Scott children

Also known as the children

Weedon and Alice Scott’s young children, Weedon and Maud. They welcome White Fang and become part of the family he protects.

Lip-lip

A camp puppy who persistently bullied White Fang. Mit-sah made him the sled team’s leader; the other dogs turned against him, and White Fang killed him during the famine. White Fang’s persecution by Lip-lip helped shape him into a fierce, solitary dog.

Grey Beaver

An Indigenous man and White Fang’s former master. He trades Kiche to Three Eagles, disciplines White Fang harshly, and later sells him to Beauty Smith for whisky; White Fang remains faithful to him despite the betrayal.

the Indian-dog gang

Also known as the disreputable gang of Indian dogs · the pack

A band of village dogs that joins White Fang in attacking dogs brought ashore by newcomers. The white men punish the gang for the attacks, while White Fang usually escapes their retaliation.

the white man with the setter

An unnamed newcomer whose setter is torn apart by the Indian-dog gang. He fires a revolver six times, killing or wounding six dogs.

the setter

An unnamed dog belonging to a white newcomer. The Indian-dog gang tears it apart in front of its owner.

the white men of Fort Yukon

Also known as the men in the fort

A small group of longtime white residents who call themselves Sour-doughs and look down on newcomers, or chechaquos. They gather to watch White Fang and the Indian-dog gang attack newcomers’ dogs.

the newcomers

Also known as chechaquos

White men arriving by steamer in the Yukon country, whom the Fort Yukon residents call chechaquos. Their dogs are targeted by White Fang and the Indian-dog gang.

the mastiff

A huge dog forced into White Fang’s pen to fight him. White Fang overwhelms him, and his owner has him dragged out.

the mastiff’s owner

An unnamed man who brings the mastiff to fight White Fang and has the injured dog dragged from the pen.

the wolf opponent

An unnamed wolf, freshly caught from the Wild, forced to fight White Fang in Beauty Smith’s pen.

the full-grown female lynx

Also known as the female lynx

A lynx captured and put into the pen to fight White Fang. Her speed and claws make the fight a struggle for his life.

Tim Keenan

A faro-dealer who arrives in the Klondike with Cherokee, the first bull-dog there. He arranges Cherokee’s fight with White Fang and protests when Weedon Scott intervenes.

Cherokee

Tim Keenan’s bull-dog, a squat, tenacious fighter who clamps onto White Fang’s throat and nearly kills him. Weedon Scott and Matt pry him loose.

Major

One of Scott’s sled dogs. He tries to take the meat Scott offers White Fang, who fatally attacks him.

the first night-visitor

An unnamed person who approaches Scott’s cabin at night and is driven off by White Fang. Scott comes to White Fang’s rescue.

Kiche

Also known as the she-wolf

White Fang’s mother, formerly a wolf who lived with people. Grey Beaver releases her, then trades her to Three Eagles to repay a debt; she later returns to the Wild, where she has a new litter and does not recognize White Fang.

Three Eagles

An Indigenous man who receives Kiche from Grey Beaver in repayment of a debt and carries her away by canoe.

Grey Beaver’s squaw

Also known as Kloo-kooch

Grey Beaver’s wife, who helps search for White Fang and travels with Grey Beaver and Mit-sah. She later welcomes White Fang back to camp and gives him a fish.

Mit-sah

Grey Beaver’s son, who travels with his father and Kloo-kooch and learns to drive and train sled dogs. He makes Lip-lip the sled team’s leader and protects White Fang when boys attack him.

the bitten boy

An unnamed boy at a village near the Great Slave Lake who tries to strike White Fang with a club; White Fang bites his hand. The boy later joins other boys in attacking Mit-sah.

Baseek

A grizzled, aging dog who once intimidated White Fang. When Baseek tries to take White Fang’s meat, White Fang defeats him, demonstrating how much stronger and more confident he has become.

the young wolf

A gaunt young wolf weakened by famine whom White Fang catches, kills, and eats.

the tree-squirrel

A cautious squirrel that White Fang stalks and catches during the famine.

One Eye

Also known as old One Eye · the one-eyed elder · the old leader

A scarred, one-eyed wolf, mate of the she-wolf and father of her five cubs. He brings food to the den and is later killed by the lynx while hunting; the she-wolf finds his remains.

the four surviving cubs

Also known as his brothers and sisters · his two brothers and two sisters

The grey cub’s four littermates, whose coats are reddish like their mother’s. They die during a famine, leaving him with one surviving sister.

the surviving sister

The grey cub’s only surviving littermate after the first famine. She dies of hunger before the she-wolf can bring enough food.

the porcupine

A porcupine One Eye encounters while hunting. A lynx wounds it, and One Eye waits until it dies before taking it as food.

the ptarmigan

Also known as the ptarmigan-mother

A mother ptarmigan whose chicks are eaten by the grey cub. A hawk later catches and carries her away.

the squirrel

A squirrel that first frightens the grey cub and later chatters to warn other animals of his approach. The cub wants to hunt it but cannot catch it.

the woodpecker

A woodpecker the grey cub encounters on his first exploration outside the cave.

the moose-bird

A bird that pecks the grey cub’s nose when he reaches toward it. The cub remembers the injury and reacts angrily to moose-birds afterward.

the seven ptarmigan chicks

A brood of seven young ptarmigans whose nest the grey cub stumbles upon and eats.

the mother ptarmigan

The mother of the seven chicks. She fights the grey cub to protect them, then is carried off by a hawk.

the hawk

A hawk that nearly strikes the grey cub and later catches the mother ptarmigan. Its shadow teaches the cub to fear aerial predators.

the mother weasel

A fierce weasel that attacks the grey cub while defending her young. The she-wolf kills her, and the cub and his mother eat her.

the young weasel

The mother weasel’s offspring, which the grey cub encounters on a later outing and kills.

the lynx kitten

A partly grown kitten from the female lynx’s litter, killed by the she-wolf and brought to the grey cub as food.

the wolverine

A wolverine that cautiously sniffs at the cave entrance while the grey cub is alone, frightening him.

Salmon Tongue

An Indigenous man who recognizes Kiche’s history and handles White Fang at camp, rolling him onto his back.

Grey Beaver’s brother

A deceased man whose dog was Kiche. Grey Beaver claims Kiche and her cub White Fang on the basis of this relationship.

the man who calls Kiche by name

One of the Indigenous men who recognizes Kiche and calls her to heel; the text then identifies him as Grey Beaver.

the man who is bitten

The Indigenous man who reaches to pick up White Fang and is bitten. He strikes the cub, then laughs with the others.

the squaw in the tepee

An unnamed woman inside a tepee who cries out when White Fang tugs at its canvas.

Bill

A sled traveler with Henry. He is killed by the starving wolf pack while trying to save One Ear.

Henry

Bill’s sled-traveling companion. He survives the wolf attack and is rescued near Fort McGurry.

Lord Alfred

The dead man carried in the sled’s coffin. Henry later says he is buried in the coffin on a scaffold at the last camp.

Fatty

A sled dog who is lured away and eaten by the wolves.

One Ear

A sled dog who is lured away by the she-wolf and killed by the pack while Bill tries to rescue him.

Frog

A strong sled dog who is taken by the wolves.

Spanker

A sled dog who is taken by the wolves after One Ear chews through the tether.

the young leader

Also known as the young leader on the she-wolf’s left

A large, vigorous wolf who runs beside the she-wolf and competes with One Eye for her. He is killed by One Eye in their fight over her.

the ambitious three-year-old

Also known as the young three-year-old

A young male wolf who repeatedly tries to edge between the she-wolf and her suitors. He is killed when the two leaders join forces against him.

Ol’ Villan

Also known as Old Villan

A person Bill mentions who once had a dog that ran away and lived with wolves for three years; Bill says he shot the dog from a pack.

the Factor

A person at Fort McGurry whom Henry dreams of playing cribbage with while the wolves besiege the fort.

the man who asks about Lord Alfred

One of the men who arrive by sled and help rouse Henry after the wolf pack leaves. He loudly asks where Lord Alfred is.