Recurring Characters in the Hercule Poirot stories

This page details the other fictional characters created by Agatha Christie in her stories about the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.

Captain Arthur Hastings

Hastings first meets Poirot during his years as a private detective in Europe and almost immediately after they both arrive in England, becomes his life-long partner and appears in many of the novels and stories. Poirot’s view of Hastings was of a man with plenty of imagination but not a great deal of brains. Fact|date=February 2007

It must also be said that Hastings was a man who was capable of great bravery and courage when the road got rough, facing death unflinchingly when confronted by "the Big Four" and possessing unwavering loyalty towards Poirot. When forced to choose between Poirot and his wife in that novel, he chose Poirot.

The two were an airtight team until Hastings met and married Dulcie Duveen, a beautiful music hall performer half his age, which was not objectionable in the late Victorian, Edwardian world. They later emigrated to Argentina leaving Poirot behind a "very unhappy old man."

Ariadne Oliver

The frequently recurring detective novelist Ariadne is Agatha Christie's humorous self-caricature. We never learn about her husband but we know that she hates alcohol and public appearances and has a great fondness for apples until she is put off them by the events of the Hallowe’en party. She has a maid called Milly who prevents the public adoration from becoming too much of a burden on her employer, but does nothing to prevent her aggravating employer from becoming too much of a burden on others. Fact|date=February 2007

She has authored over fifty six novels and she has a great dislike of people taking and modifying her story characters. She is also the only one in Poirot's universe to have noted that "It’s not natural for five or six people to be on the spot when B is murdered and all have a motive for killing B"." She first met Poirot when they put their "Cards on the Table" and has been bothering him ever since.

Miss Lemon

Poirot's secretary, Miss Lemon, has few human weaknesses and the only two mistakes she is ever recorded making is a typing error during the events of Hickory Dickory Dock and the mis-mailing of an electric bill. Poirot described her as being "Unbelievably ugly and incredibly efficient. Anything that she mentioned as worth consideration usually was worth consideration"." She is an expert on nearly everything and plans to create the perfect filing system. Interesting enough is the fact that she once worked for the government agent-turned-philanthropist, Parker Pyne. Whether this was during one of Poirot’s numerous retirements or before she entered his employ is unknown. Fact|date=February 2007

Chief Inspector Japp

Japp is an Inspector from Scotland Yard and appears in many of the stories, trying to solve the cases Poirot is working on. Japp is an outward going, loud and sometimes inconsiderate man by nature and his relationship with the bourgeois Belgian is one of the stranger aspects of Poirot’s world. He first met Poirot in Belgium, 1904, during the Abercrombie Forgery and later that year joined forces again to hunt down a criminal known as Baron Altara. They have also meet in England where Poirot often helps Japp solve a few cases and lets him take the credit in return for special favours. These favours usually entail being supplied with cases that would interest him. Fact|date=February 2007

George the Butler

In addition to these regular characters, it is noteworthy that all the gentlemen in the novels have butlers; Poirot's butler is the most incurable snob he could find. George (we are never told his last name) is a classic English valet and first entered Poirot’s employ in 1923 and didn’t leave his side until the 1970’s, shortly before Poirot’s death. A competent, matter-of-fact man, with an extensive knowledge of the English aristocracy and absolutely no imagination, George provides a steady contrast to Hastings. Fact|date=February 2007