Minor characters from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

There are many minor characters in the various versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. In fact, defining a major character is rather difficult. If the major characters are those the plot focuses on, they are Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Marvin and Trillian, with the possible inclusion of Slartibartfast, Prostentic Vogon Jeltz, Random Dent and Fenchurch. If they are defined as characters appearing in all the books, they are only Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent. In this case, the definition of major characters will be those in the series with major plot significance not appearing on this list.

Fenchurch

Fenchurch is Arthur Dent's soulmate and a character found in the fourth book of the Hitchhiker "trilogy", So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish. She was named after Fenchurch Street railway station, not because it was where she was born, but because, according to her parents, she was conceived in the ticket queue there. Although the reader does not realise it if the five books are read in order, we are introduced to the character of Fenchurch at the very beginning of the first book as the girl in the café who realises how to change the world for the better.

Related Topics:
Arthur Dent - Soulmate - So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish - Fenchurch Street railway station - First book

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(She is then obliterated along with the rest of Earth before she has the chance to tell anyone.)

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By the time of the fourth book, the dolphins have intervened and restored the Earth and everyone on it – including Fenchurch – allowing a romantic relationship to bloom between her and Arthur Dent, which includes him teaching her how to fly, and a subsequent implied aerial sexual encounter.

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At the beginning of the fifth book, she vanishes abruptly during a hyperspace jump on their first intergalactic holiday. Douglas Adams later claimed that he wanted rid of the character as she was getting in the way of the story. Much of this is evident from the self-referential prose surrounding Arthur and Fenchurch's relationship.

Related Topics:
Douglas Adams - Self-referential

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In the Quintessential Phase, she is revealed to have been working as a waitress at Milliways since she vanished, and is reunited with Arthur Dent.

Related Topics:
Milliways - Arthur Dent

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In the radio adaption of So Long and Thanks For All the Fish Fenchurch is played by actress Jane Horrocks.

Related Topics:
Radio adaption of So Long and Thanks For All the Fish - Jane Horrocks

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Appears in:

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• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (unnamed cameo)
• So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
• Mostly Harmless (only mentioned in passing)