John Claggart: The Master-at-arms aboard the Indomitable, charged with maintaining order among the men of the lower gundeck. About thirty-five, he is spare and tall with shapely hands unaccustomed to toil. Because of a slight accent which marks him as other than English, and manners which mark him as a man of some education, it is rumored that prior to his enlistment in the navy he had been involved in some shady practices, rumors which account for his holding a position obviously beneath him. He had achieved his present rank rapidly after entering the have through "constitutional sobriety, ingratiating deference to his superiors," and a genius for securing information. He now maintains discipline among his subordinates with the help of his corporals through harassment and deception. Although he appears perfectly normal, he is actually a madman, depraved "according to nature." Careful in his dress, with a protuberant forehead and a pallid complexion, he appears to all a calm, self-controlled man. He is, however, the embodiment of all evil, capable of coolly directing his evil talents against any object of his hatred.