Alphabetical Characters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anne of Lantern Hill

Anne starred in "Anne of Green Gables", "Anne of Avonlea", "Anne of Windy Willows" (aka "Anne of Windy Poplars"), "Anne of the Island", "Anne's House of Dreams" and "Anne of Ingleside". She also appeared in "Rainbow Valley", "Rilla of Ingleside" and some collections of short stories. Montgomery did write about someone from Lantern Hill, but her name was Jane.

Answer: Bill Melbury

Bill Melbury appears in the five "Bannermere" titles. The other names are also in the books - they belong to Bill's friends Penny Morchard, Tim Darren and to Johnny Nelson, who eventually marries Bill's sister, Sue.

Answer: James

Her real name is James. Carla derives from the second name, Carlisle. Having a male first name causes Carla some problems when she gets draft papers!

"The Mark of Merlin" is one of Anne McCaffrey's romances, rather different from her usual fantasy and sci-fi titles. Others include "Ring of Fear", "A Stitch in Snow" and "The Kilternan Legacy".

Answer: Diana Barry

Diana Barry was the black-haired epitome of beauty to Anne. Blythe was Anne's married name, Emily Starr was another Montgomery heroine, and so was Pat Gardiner.

Answer: Eustace Clarence Scrubb

His name was Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and "he almost deserved it". Eustace was a bad lot in his first book, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", but in "The Silver Chair" and "The Last Battle" he was actually a hero.

Answer: Arthur Ransome

Arthur Ransome is said to have based the character of Jim Blackett/Captain Flint on himself. Captain Flint was a grumpy but usually benign presence in some of the "Swallows and Amazon" books.

Answer: Merlin Ambrosius and Howl (Howell) Jenkins

Merlin and Howl are both wizards. Merlin comes from the stories about King Arthur, and Howl, who has a number of aliases but whose real name is probably Howell Jenkins, comes from Diana Wynne Jones' "Howl's Moving Castle".

Dumbledore is a wizard from J.K. Rowlings' "Harry Potter" series, but Nan Pilgrim is a witch from "Witch Week" by Diana Wynne Jones.

Harry Potter is a wizard, but Christopher Chant, the Chrestomanci, is a nine-lifed enchanter. He is from "Charmed Life" and other books by Diana Wynne Jones.


Simon Silverson and Dulcinea Wilkes are both witches from "Witch Week".

Answer: Howard

Howard was the macho brother sensitive Ken had trouble living up to. He always felt his father, Rob, favoured Howard.

Answer: Chesterton

Ian Chesterton travelled in the Tardis with Barbara and Susan and, later, Vicky. The doctor once called him "Chatterton", probably by mistake.

Answer: James

James Ashley and his brother, Emory, try to murder Bryony and her new husband (by flood) to gain ownership of Ashley Court. Francis, the other brother, eventually gets ownership when Rob and Bryony move to New Zealand.

Answer: Alicia

Alicia Sutton was Kate's pretty, silly, younger sister. It was her naive letter to Queen Mary that led to Kate's exile.

Neither Vanessa nor Shirley would have been used as a female name in Tudor England, and Ngaire is a name from New Zealand.

Answer: Hilary, the baby brother.

The Lamb is the children's baby brother. The others are, Cyril, the eldest boy, known as "Squirrel", Anthea, the elder girl, known as "Panther", the middle boy, Robert, known as "Bobs", and the younger girl, Jane, known as "Pussy".

Answer: Prospero

Prospero and Miranda appear in "The Tempest". They are shipwrecked on an island, where they encounter characters such as Caliban and the sprite Ariel.

Answer: Naomi was Ruth's mother-in-law.

Naomi was Ruth's mother-in-law. Both her sons were dead, and her widowed daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, were meant to return to their original homes. Orpah went (although sadly), but Ruth refused. Naomi must have been quite a woman.

Answer: He refers to himself in the third person

Oswald never actually states that he is the narrator of these two books. He says "one of us" is telling the story, but refers to all the characters in the third person. It is obvious it is him, though, because "Oswald" always gets the narratorial compliments!

Answer: Mr Curry

Mr Curry was always having problems with Paddington. Mrs Brown belonged to the family with whom Paddington lived, while Aunt Lucy was Paddington's aunt in Lima. Darkest Peru was where Paddington came from.

Answer: William Shakespeare

Mistress Quickly appears in "The Merry Wives of Windsor", and "Henry IV". She runs the Boar's Head Tavern in Eastcheap, London, and acts as messenger to just about everyone.

Answer: Amelia

Radcliffe Emerson, almost always addressed by his surname, marries Amelia Peabody at the close of "Crocodile on a Sandbank" and remains with her through the next twenty-five books at least. Vicky Bliss, also created by Elizabeth Peters, is from another series, as is Jacqueline Kirby. Nefret becomes Emerson's and Amelia's daughter-in-law.

Answer: Septimus and the Spy Ring

"Septimus and the Spy Ring" takes place many years before the other three, when Septimus was in the army.

Answer: Tommy and Tuppence

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford starred in at least three books by Agatha Christie. These included "Postern of Fate", "Partners in Crime" and "By the Pricking of My Thumbs". They were a dashing and cheerful couple, and their stories were generally quite lighthearted - for murder mysteries.

Answer: By ash, oak and thorn

Puck uses oak, ash and thorn to give the children power ... "To see what they should see and hear what they should hear, Though it should have happened three thousand year." (Quote from Kipling's two books.) There is a Kipling poem using the same idea.

Answer: Ginty

Ginty Marlow is the elder sister of twins Nicola and Lawrie, and of Peter, and the younger sister of Ann, Karen, Rowan and Giles. She is almost always referred to in the narrative as "Ginty", although she is sometimes addressed as, or referred to in dialogue, as "Gin" or "Ginja". She is also addressed as "Ginnie" by one character of whom the author disapproves.

Answer: Jadis

Jadis the White Witch of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is either the same person, or perhaps a descendent of, Jadis, the Empress of Charn, who appears in "The Magician's Nephew".

Answer: James Howlett

Wolverine is often called "Logan", but his birth name was apparently James Howlett. His parents were John and Elizabeth Howlett, and he is the widower of Windsong. I don't think this is used in the movies, but it's canonical in the Marvel comics.

Answer: Yorick and Zeus

Yorick was a skull in Shakespear's "Hamlet". "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio."

Zeus was King of the Greek gods. His Roman counterpart was Jupiter.