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Cassandra Crew
The crew of Hunters expedition, and his privateer, the Cassandra.
Charles Hunter:
The main protagonist of the book, Charles Hunter is regarded as one of the best privateers in Jamaica. In spite of his personality and attitude, he has a classical education, and is inheritantly badass.- Anti-Hero: Bordering on Villain Protagonist. His only really good attributes is that he has a sense of honor, is loyal to his men, and that his adversaries — Cazalla, and then later the likes of a Cannibal Clan and Hacklett—are ultimately even worse.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Actually educated at Harvard, but fails to see the use of knowing classical mathematics, in practical use.
- The Captain: He's the captain of the pirate vessel sent to raid the Spanish treasure trove.
- The Casanova: His habits as a womanizer are well-known.
- The Hero: He's the focus of the novel, which shows his efforts in fighting Cazalla and Hacklett.
- Privateer: He's a government sponsored pirate preying on Spain.
- You Killed My Father: Played with. Cazalla killed his brother, but for the most part, Hunter took this expedition because he's Mostly In It For The Money.
Enders:
The "sea artist", regarded as the best sailor in the Caribbean, he is hired by Hunter as the steersman to his ship, the Cassandra. Is also a Doctor in Port Royal, and his skills repeatedly saves the crew.
- Deadly Doctor: The only one in Port Royal who isn't one.
- [Dropped a Bridge on Him: A year after the book, he is killed in a storm.
Lazue:
A corruption of the name Les Yeux, Lazue is a woman, having lived most of her life disguised as a man, and despite the fact that most know her secret, keeps going on with her life as a man. Her breasts can be very distractive to her enemies.
- Action Girl: She's a skilled swordsman who takes a lot of risks.
- Character Death: She is hanged in Charleston port after being captured as a pirate some thirty-five years after Sanson's death.
- My Sibling Will Live Through Me: Started her male life, because she had to be disguised as her dead brother, lest her mother's philandering would be exposed.
- Show Some Leg: The distraction of the Spaniards, mentioned below.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: She spends most of her time disguised as a man.
- We Need a Distraction: She brutally distracts and murders several Spaniards at Matanceros, be exposing her breasts, then slicing their throats.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Lazue dresses as a man but in the context of the novel is a non-malicious and heroic character.
Don Diego de Ramano
Also known as Black Eye, or the Jew, Don Diego is an old, Spanish gunpowder expert, living in Port Royal. His skills in gunpowder make him useful for Hunters expedition.
- Almighty Janitor: On top of his gunpowder expertise, he is among the more learned of the cast, being the first to realize that the shipment of silver they have looted from Cazalla's galleons has been tainted with "worthless" platinum.
- Bad Ass Spaniard: He plays this a lot straighter than Cazalla, being a tough and calculating contribution to battles.
- Cool Old Guy: He's a bomb-making, one-eyed merchant who does a good job when briefly in command of the ship.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: He outlives most of the cast, including Hunter himself—but dies in the earthquake that razes Port Royal forever.
- Demolitions Expert: He specializes in powder bombs.
- Fingore: Lost all his fingers in the backstory.
- Handicapped Bad Ass: His right hand has lost all its fingers.
- Red Baron: Black Eye, and the Jew.
- The Smart Guy: A straighter example than Enders, due to his skills with gunpowder.
- You Killed My Father: Cazalla tortured and killed his son and sold his grandchildren into slavery.
Bassa
Also known as The Moor, Bassa is a former slave, from Nubia, whose wife was killed by a slave owner whom he killed. He is the brute force of the crew.
- The Big Guy: He's the most physically intimidating pirate in Hunter's crew. It takes getting trampled by a bull to kill him, and then only in the epilogue,
- Tongue Trauma: Inflicted on him in the backstory, by the slave owner that killed his wife.
- The Voiceless: Due to having no tongue, Bassa never says anything.
Andre Sanson
A large French, former priest, whom Hunter is suspicious of, but still lets join the crew due to his skills as an assassin. Betrays Hunter in the ending, and turns into the final villain of the book.
- Bad Ass Preacher: He is a priest, though not saintly at all.
- Exit, Pursued by a Bear: Getting eaten by sharks.
- French Jerk: He's French and the most abrasive of Hunter's lieutenants.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He ends up getting killed by Hunter, using his own crossbow. Rather, the crossbow doesn't kill him, but wounds him, and sends him to the death by the sharks.
- Just Desserts: The sharks, again.
- Sinister Minister: Though he is not a practicing priest anymore.
- Threatening Shark: Sharks are the only creatures on the planet he fears. Gives some karma, in that this is exactly what ends up killing him.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He fears nothing but sharks.
Trencher
A minor local pirate, and the first man Hunter selects for his crew.- Courier: He's the man Hunter sends to tell Diego, Enders, Lazue, Whisper, The Moor and Sanson that he'd like to see them to hire them or get information.
- Sacrificial Lamb: He's one of the first introduced pirates but suffers a brutal death before the halfway point when Cazalla has the crew as prisoners.
Port Royal
Sir James Almont
The British governor of Jamaica, hiring Hunter to attack Matanceros.
- Big Good: In the context of the novel, by bankrolling the privateers. That being said, if he isn't an outright Corrupt Politician, he's certainly close to being one—he's known as "James the Tenth" for taking an additional ten percent of any privateering profits for himself, on top of the ten percent that goes to the king.
- Cool Old Guy: In the context of the novel, he's a calculating guy whose supportive of Hunter.
- Dirty Old Man: He has, at age 55 mind you, a relationship with the 15 year old Anne Sharpe.
- Insistent Terminology: Similar to Hunter, he takes disgust in the word pirate, while finding no problem with privateers.
- Kill It with Fire: He dies a few years after the novel, form the Great London Fire, along with his niece.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He gives Hunter what he needs for the expedition and seems to understand the way things work in Port Royal.
- Surrounded by Idiots: His usual assistants, namely Hacklett and Commander Scott, though he has nothing but good things to think of his manservant Richards.
Robert Hacklett:
The bureaucratic assistant of Almont, he is very loyal to the British crown, and takes it upon him to extort piracy and privateering from Port Royal, and turn it into a more respectable British town. However, despite these somewhat noble intentions, after Hunter's departure, he takes control of the town, imprisons Almont, and starts hanging privateers, stealing their treasures, and finally loses it when letting his wife get raped.
- Big Bad: He turns into this for the last several chapters.
- Evil Is Sterile: A thoroughly unpleasant man who is sterile (or possibly even impotent) due to syphilis.
- Groin Attack: Dies by getting shot in the groin.
- The Purge: He conducts this after taking over Port Royal, setting out to exterminate all privateers and his political enemies. Eventually including Hunter.
- Smug Snake: The man is grossly overconfident about his judgment being right and is ability to squash the pirates.
Anne Sharpe:
A young girl, 15 or so, that is accused of petty crime in England, having stolen bread, and send to Almont in Jamaica. He starts a relationship with her, and she helps free Hunter, and distracts Sanson in the climax, allowing Hunter to kill him.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Hardly anyone knows her name at the start of the book. By the epilogue, she's become one of the most famous Caribbean courtesans in all of Europe—and her own words point to living a life of "delicious notoriety" before her death.
- The Immodest Orgasm: Used as a signal to Hunter, while she has sex with Sanson in the climax.
- We Need a Distraction: She distracts both prison guards and Sanson in the climax.
Emily Hacklett
The promiscuous wife of Robert Hacklett, subjected to the misfortune of an impotent husband. She becomes pregnant during and infraction with Hunter early on, and bears his only son.
- The Dog Bites Back: She shoots Hacklett in the groin, after he has allowed Commander Scott to rape her.
- Really Gets Around: Emily often cheats on her husband, and not just with a single lover. Sir James suspects King Charles has had his way with her enough that this is why her husband has been foisted on him in the first place.
Lady Sarah Almont
The niece of James Almont, taken prisoner by Cazalla at Matanceros, and subsequently rescued by Hunter.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: She and Hunter have some, but its also Unresolved Sexual Tension.
- Brainless Beauty: She's very pretty but not overly intelligent.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She calls her breasts her best feature and is upset that Cazalla brands them and she’ll have to keep them covered in the future.
- Damsel in Distress: Repeatedly. Was captured by Cazalla as a trophy of his conquest, gets kidnapped by the Caribs, and the kraken ambushes her cabin. Hunter saves her every single time.
- Dumb Blonde: A blonde-haired girl who does not know what a hurricane is, and does not understand the way Hunter governs the ship.
- Grande Dame: Sarah is younger and thinner than most examples of the trope but applies by carrying herself with exaggerated dignity in a situation where it isn't quite appropriate.
- The Heart: Sarah is aught off guard by her violent surroundings, showing a little more compassion than the pirates.
- Kill It with Fire: Along with her uncle, she's killed in the Great London Fire.
- The Load: She never really does anything useful to the expedition, and constantly getting herself in danger, both at the hands of the Caribs, and at the tentacles of the kraken.
- Stay in the Kitchen: In response to her Dumb Blonde, and The Load actions, Hunter tells her to stay in her cabin constantly. That is, until the kraken attacks her cabin...
- Took A Level In Bad Ass: It does give her some credit, that she helps her uncle kill the guards to his mansion in the climax.
Commander Scott
The sleazy commander of Port Royals military garrison, and The Dragon to Hacklett, after his takeover.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: He's constantly trying to please Almont, and changes this to Hacklett.
- Slimeball: He's an incompetent, corrupt, cruel man with some spooky predilections.
- Smug Snake: Scott is far too cocky for his own good after Hacklett's takeover, and killing him isn't much of an obstacle.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Although he seems, just like a Professional Butt-Kisser, when he rapes Emily, he shows to be more than that.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: After he's sentenced to hang for his failed coup d'état with Hacklett, he pens a full confession to try and get his sentence commuted. Instead, he's shot and killed in his cell.
Whisper
An old privateer, and the only survivor of the previous Edmunds expedition towards Matanceros, he has a minor role, to give Hunter the essentials of the island.
- Every Body Calls Him Barkeep: His real name is never revealed.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Is scared to death of Cazalla and Matanceros, understandably.
- Slashed Throat: Cazalla slashed his throat, though he survived, which is the reason he whispers.
Richards
The butler to Sir James Almont.
- Battle Butler: He helps fight Hacklett's cabal at the end.
- The Quiet One: Richards has very little dialogue.
Others
Cazalla
The Ax-Crazy commander of Matanceros, widely feared by the privateers, for his cruelty and intelligence. He is the main antagonist of most of the story.
- Ax-Crazy: Almost every mention of him involves torture and killing which he revels in.
- Bad Ass Spaniard: For all of his faults, the man doesn't go down easily when he fights the heroes.
- Beard of Evil: Cazalla far outsteps any other character in villainy and has a notable beard.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Does not remember the killing of The Jews son, and Hunters brother.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Is a wide practitioner of it.
- The Dreaded: He's widely feared by the privateers.
- Drugs Are Bad: He is a coca addict.
- General Ripper: A military commander who slaughters helpless opponents and shows little concern for his own people.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: How he is gloriously killed.
- Loves the Sound of Screaming: Said to take pleasure in the agony of his victims.
- Slashed Throat: He likes killing people, including a crewmember this way. He dies in a glorious variation of this.
- The Stoner: He chews coca leaves.
- Villainous Breakdown: After Hunters crew successfully invades Matanceros, he kinda loses it.
Bosquets
A renegade French soldier, and the gunnery master at Matanceros, Cazallas second-in-command.
- Dragon Ascendant: He takes charge of the warship after Cazallas death.
- The Ghost: He is seen, but always through telescopes, and the protagonists never really meets him.
- Lean and Mean: He's described as tall and somewhat thin.
- The Quiet One: He's never heard speaking.
The Kraken
A vast creature that attacks El Trinidad, the Spanish treasure galleon, under Hunters command, as his final obstacle before Port Royal. Is probably a giant squid.
- Attack of the Monster Appendage: In the beginning of the attack, the only thing the crew sees, are tentacles flinging soldiers into the sea, Hunter only sees the main body of the beast later.
- Animals Not to Scale: Is way larger than real giant squid and colossal squid as well, but being a colossal squid would make it Misplaced Wildlife.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Although, given the size differences, it is probably not the same individual spotted by Hunter earlier, the crew does see a Giant Squid, that is passive to their presence, even before encountering Bosquets' warship.
- Eye Scream: Hunter defeats it by plunging an ax into the creature's eye.
- Giant Squid: Implied, given its tentacles.
- Kraken and Leviathan: Its a mystrerious beast from the deep which attacks the crew.
- Sea Monster: Albiet one which seems to just be a squid.
