The Hound in The Hound of the Baskervilles

Who is The Hound?

The Hound appears first as the monstrous figure from the Baskerville family manuscript and then as a real presence on the Devon moor: its distant, mournful cry unnerves residents, and fresh, enormous footprints near Sir Charles’s death link the legend to a contemporary threat. Throughout the investigation the hound functions as the instrument of terror and violence: its howl spooks Sir Henry and others, it pursues a man wearing Sir Henry’s clothes and causes the convict Selden’s death, and it later bursts from fog to attack and wound Sir Henry. The discovery of the hound painted to look supernatural and its eventual shooting by Holmes and company expose it as a deliberate tool in Stapleton’s murderous scheme. The hound therefore operates both as a literal animal and as the focal point of the story’s mystery—what was once a family ghost becomes a manufactured weapon used to exploit ancestral fears and attempt to secure the Baskerville inheritance.

In the book: You first meet the Hound as a terrifying presence in a family legend and in fresh tracks on the bleak Devon moor. It’s the shape in the fog that turns courage to ice and gives every creak and distant howl a new edge. The case circles around the fear it spreads and the question of what, exactly, is stalking Baskerville territory.

Personality

Terrifying

Its distant cry terrifies Sir Henry and is described as the mournful 'Hound’s call' heard across the moor (Chapters 7 and 9).

Instrumental

The hound is used to pursue a figure wearing Sir Henry’s clothes, leading to Selden’s death on the moor (Chapter 12).

Staged appearance

When it bursts from the fog its eyes and muzzle are smeared with a luminous substance to appear hellish, showing deliberate manipulation (Chapter 14).

Deadly

It wounds Sir Henry in the ambush and subsequently is shot dead by Holmes and the others (Chapter 14).

Character arc

From the first mentions in the Baskerville manuscript to its final death, the hound’s role shifts from legendary omen to exposed instrument. Initially it exists as folklore—the grotesque figure in Hugo Baskerville’s tale that converts local superstition into palpable dread. Fresh prints after Sir Charles’s death and the moor’s recurring howls transform that folklore into a present menace, driving the investigation and shaping others’ behavior. The hound’s agency is revealed incrementally: it causes real death when Selden is chased and collapses on the moor, and it directly attacks Sir Henry in the staged fog ambush. The climactic confrontation converts the hound from fearsome myth to tangible evidence of human conspiracy when Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade shoot it and later find its skeleton and its kennel near the Grimpen Mire. By the end the creature itself no longer haunts the story—the terror it embodied is shown to be a crafted tool of murder, and its destruction dissolves the immediate supernatural threat while exposing the human villainy behind the legend.

Relationships

• Jack Stapleton Stapleton keeps, trains, and deploys the hound as the murderous instrument of his plot to terrorize and eliminate rivals for the Baskerville estate.
• Sir Charles Baskerville The hound’s tracks and the legend surrounding it are directly tied to the mysterious circumstances of Sir Charles’s death and the fear that overwhelmed him.
• Sir Henry Baskerville The hound physically attacks and wounds Sir Henry in a staged ambush intended to frighten or kill him and secure Stapleton’s designs.
• Selden Selden is chased while wearing Sir Henry’s clothes and is found dead after being pursued by the hound, clarifying the animal’s lethal role.
• Mrs. Stapleton She reveals the hound’s existence and its refuge when captured, indicating her knowledge of Stapleton’s use of the dog.
• Hugo Baskerville The hound is the contemporary manifestation of the demonic creature that figures in Hugo Baskerville’s 1742 family legend.

Why The Hound matters

The hound embodies the novel’s tension between supernatural dread and rational detection: it channels ancestral superstition and the moor’s primeval atmosphere while ultimately proving to be a piece of calculated human cruelty. As a physical threat it forces characters to confront fear, to reveal loyalties, and to act—Selden’s death, Sir Henry’s wounding, and Mrs. Stapleton’s testimony all pivot around its presence. Its manufactured appearance—painted features and a hidden kennel—underscores themes of deception and how legend can be weaponized to mask motive. Destroying the hound dissolves the immediate myth, allowing Holmes’s reasoning to replace terror with truth and exposing the moral corruption that exploited belief for murder.

Chapters with The Hound

• Chapter 2
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15

More The Hound of the Baskervilles characters

• Dr. John WatsonNarrator
• SSherlock HolmesProtagonist
• Sir Henry BaskervilleProtagonist
• Dr. James MortimerMajor character
• Sir Charles BaskervilleMinor character
• Jack StapletonAntagonist
• Mr. BarrymoreMajor character
• Mrs. BarrymoreMajor character