AKA (ALSO KNOWN AS) FLASHMAN
Flashman, by any other name is ... still Flashman!
During his adventures,
Flashy has been known by a multitude of other names. Sometimes he was
trying to conceal his true identity.
Sometimes he was pretending to be someone
else to gain some property. Sometimes he was given nicknames
based on abilities such as breaking wind. Sometimes people were insulting him. Sometimes people just couldn't get his
name straight.
Regardless of the reason, here are his aliases:
- Soor kabaj (1841 - Mogala, Afghanistan): Hindi for son of a swine.
Bestowed by Muhammed Iqbal as he lay dying in the dust after Flashman deserted him during
an attack.
- Bloody Lance (1841 - Mogala, Afghanistan): Bestowed by
Sher Afzul after seeing Flashman standing among 5 dead bodies (one of which was
Muhammed Iqbal), holding a bloody lance.
- Iflass-man (1841 - Mogala, Afghanistan): Hindi for Flashman.
- Prince of Messengers (1842 - Kabul, Afghanistan): Bestowed by
Akbar Khan during the retreat from Kabul.
- Defender of Piper's Fort (1842 - England):
Bestowed by the British
press and public for his exploits in Afghanistan.
- Hector of Afghanistan (1842 - England):
Bestowed by the British
press and public for his exploits in Afghanistan.
- Hero of Julloolabad (1842 - England): Bestowed by the British
press and public for his exploits in Afghanistan.
- The Afghan Killer (1845 - Lahore, India): In reference to his exploits several years earlier in the 1st Afghan War.
- Katte Khan, Captain and aide to the Sirdar Heera Sing Topi, of Court's Division
(1846 - near Sobaron, India):
Captured while in
native dress by a troop of Khasla cavalry, the cavalry mistook him for a deserter and
was ready to hang him next to six or seven others already swinging from the trees.
Flashman uses this name to buff his way out.
- Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark (1847, Duchy of Strackenz): Bestowed by
Otto Bismarck as part of the plot to embarass the British Empire.
- Obadiah Snooks (1848 - England): One of the four signatures Flashy used on a
petition sent to the House of Commons.
- John Morrison (1848 - England): One of the four signatures Flashy used on a
petition sent to the House of Commons. Also happened to be the name of Flashman's
father-in-law.
- Arthur Wellesley (1848 - England): One of the four signatures Flashy used on a
petition sent to the House of Commons.
- Henry John Temple Palmerston (1848 - England): One of the four signatures Flashy used on a
petition sent to the House of Commons. Name of a British politican.
- Beauchamp Millward Comber (1848 - USA): Assumed the identity of a dead
British Royal Navy Lieutenant in order to avoid arrest for slavery.
Used in subsequent adventures in the US.
- Count Rudi von Starnberg (1848 - New Orleans, Lousiana): Impersonated an Austrian
Count looking for his sister in order to meet and talk with owners of
whorehouses.
- James K. Prescott (1848 - Louisana): Impersonated a slave owner
to smuggle the slave, George Randolph, north to freedom.
- Tom Arnold from Texas (1848 - Mississippi): Worked as
a slave driver on the Mandeville Plantation until he was caught bulling
Mrs. Mandeville.
- Fitzroy Howard of San Antonio de Bexar (1849 - Mississippi): Impersonated the a previous
owner of the slave Cassiopeia (Cassy) in order to sell her to obtain travelling money.
- Mr. Flash-er-Brown (1849 - Mississippi): Name he told Cassy. Flashman
had started to tell her his real name, but changed in the middle to Brown.
Cassy not catching on, assumed that was his name.
- James B. Montague of Baton Rouge (1849 - Tennessee): Name he used
while travelling with Mrs. Montague (Cassy) on the riverboat Missouri.
- J. C. Stubbs (1849 - Kentucky): Name Flashy gave to slave-catchers
at Fischer's Landing. Of course, the slave-catchers had already figured out
who he was (Fitzroy Howard).
- Fitzhoward (1849 - Ohio): Name Flashman mistakenly gave to Lincoln after
his mad dash across the frozen surface of the Ohio River.
- Arnold Fitzroy Prescott (1849 - Ohio): Namely mistakenly used by
Lincoln while referring to James K. Prescott, Fitzroy Howard, and Tom Arnold of Texas.
- Arnold FitzPrescott (1849 - Ohio): Namely mistakenly used by
Lincoln while referring to James K. Prescott, Fitzroy Howard, and Tom Arnold of Texas.
- Prescott FitzArnold (1849 - Ohio): Namely mistakenly used by
Lincoln while referring to James K. Prescott, Fitzroy Howard, and Tom Arnold of Texas.
- Perro (1849 - New Mexico): Spanish for dog.
- Pinda-lickoyee (1849 - New Mexico): Apache for white-eye (for white man).
- White-Rider-Goes-So-Fast-He-Destroys-the-Wind-with-His-Speed
(1849 - New Mexico): Apache name for Flashman, based on his lancing of the pegs.
- He-Who-Breaks-the-Wind (1849 - New Mexico): Apache nickname for Flashman.
- Wind Breaker (1849 - New Mexico): Apache nickname for Flashman.
- Man-Who-Rings-Her-Bells-Makes-Her-Heart-Melt (1849 - New Mexico):
Name Sonsee-array proposed for Flashman.
- Comba (1850 - New Mexico): Brule (Souix) pronouncation of Comber.
- Makarram Khan (1857 - Jhansi, India): Flashman goes native as a Hasanzai of the Black Mountain,
late of the Peshawar police in order to hide from the thugee.
- The Pall Mall Pathan (1857 - Bombay, India):
Flashy's nickname after dressing in native garb and bringing Kavanaugh out of Lucknow.
- Sambo (1857 - Jhansi, India): British soldiers
talking to Flashman while tied cross the barrel of a cannon (awaiting execution).
- Baldwin (unknown): Psuedoname given to Flashman in the Countess
of Cardigan's Recollections.
- MacNab, surgeon, 92nd (1858 - Calcutta, India): Flashman was caught fondling
Lady Plunkett by her husband. He talks is way out
by pretending to be a doctor.
- Bully Waterman (1859 - Baltimore, MD): Name given to loungers in the
lobby of the Knitting Swede's hostelry to avoid being shanghaied again.
- Grattan Nugent-Hare (1859 - Baltimore, MD): Name given to Father Rafferty while attempting to
obtain money for transport to Washington, DC. Also the name of a scalp hunter that Flashman killed in anger during 1849.
- Mr. Standfast (1859 - Washington, DC): Name bestowed by Crixus
on Flashman while referring to him helping the slave George Randolph escape to Canada.
- Joshua (1859 - Washington, DC): Name bestowed by Crixus on
Flashman and later used by John Brown. They believed that Flashman
will be a clear thinking military lieutenant for Brown (like Joshua was for
Moses).
- Josh (1859 - Concord, MA): Nickname bestowed by Osborn Anderson
during a dinner with John Brown.
- Mr. Popplewell (1859 - Harper's Ferry, Virginia): Name used for
Flashman by Mrs. Hannah Popplewell to obtain breakfast for two.
- Halli' (1860 - On the banks of the Yangtse, China): The way Szu-Zhan
pronounced Harry.
- Mr. Fleming of the London Missionary Society (1860 - Nanking, China): Alias used
to conceal his mission to the Taiping leader (to determine if and when they
planned to attack Shanghai).
- Harry the Hun (1860 - Pekin, China): The name Flashman gave to himself
while discussing the destruction of the Summer Palace with Lord Elgin.
Original Material © 1997 by Darrell Ambro