Arlechino
Servant masks such as Arlechino were often the main attraction of the troupe. Fun loving, mischievous, constantly moving animal like beings with an attention span of about 30 seconds. Zannis as a group of characters are not malicious. They are poor crude folk from the hills, curious to the ways of the world and inevitably they create havoc.


Pulcinella
Pulcinella has been best described as the "runt of the litter". Ugly and hunchbacked, he is a scrappy servant who is also a complete egotist. He can be played stupid pretending to be clever, or clever pretending to be stupid.


Brighella
This valet is big, crafty, bold and unscrupulous, a cynical liar who looks out only for himself. An animal of prey is his appropriate identification. Brighella has flair; he steals, but is not an ordinary snatch-grab, for he will execute theft ingeniously. He never has any of the money that he diddles out of others, since he drinks it up, then sleeps it off.


Tartaglia
The 'Stammerer'. He is the old friend to Pantelone. A  Zanni and can be a servant or a small tradesman.


Pantalone
is a Zanni who has collected money; a self-made man. He is afraid of death, losing his money and his sexual desire. He refuses to die because he cannot take his money with him. Historically the comics decided to make him a Venetian because the business centre of the world was Venice.


il Doctore
Is said to be from Bologna, the city famous for gastronomy and the University.  He claims to be an expert but he is not.  He hopes the audience is ignorant, so no one will know that he doesn't know what he is talking about.  The nose is wide and the brow is heavy to make the eyes look close together and assist the actor in creating a look of doubt.


il Capitaino
Is a soldier without a particular rank, the image of a brave hero. He is apoor man who wants to be rich and famous, but when there is real danger he runs like a coward. This mask is usually grotesque, comic, obscene and has a fixed function of always complicating the story.



Character description sources: Commedia dell'Arte by John Rudlin & A Scene Study Book by Bari Rolfe.