Jack Aubrey is the fictional character in the Patrick O'Brian novels and the movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Aubrey rose through the naval ranks until becoming captain of his own ship in the British navy. Although a fictional character, many of his exploits are based on actual people and events during the Napoleonic Wars, including Thomas Cochrane.

Aubrey shows great courage in the face of adversity when fighting the French. Many times he finds himself against larger and more powerful ships. However, tactically, like Lord Nelson, Aubrey was superior in naval battles and used his wit to outsmart his opponents. In the movie Master and Commander, Aubrey set off a small raft behind the ship so that in the fog the French thought they were firing cannon balls at the ship but this was not the case. This allowed Aubrey and his crew to evade the French.

As well as being a tremendous military mind, Aubrey was also a great leader of men. Despite many obstacles being placed in his path, Aubrey successfully led his men through these trials. The sailors' confidence in him to go into these situations speaks volumes of his personality. One of his greatest attributes was the compassion he showed to his fellow sailors. Aubrey showed care and concern about each of them, even midst battle. One scene in particular in the movie demonstrated this - Aubrey had been chasing the French but after his shipmate Stephen Maturin becomes ill, Aubrey makes a stop of 3 weeks in order to find the medicine Maturin needs to survive. He does this despite meaning he will lose his chase of the French. It is characteristics like these that particularly make him stand out amongst other military leaders.

Submitted by: James Renton