What is the name of the captain obsessed with the white whale?

The captain obsessed with the white whale is Captain Ahab. In Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick, Ahab commands the whaling ship Pequod and turns its voyage into a personal hunt for Moby Dick, the enormous white sperm whale.

Ahab’s obsession began before the novel’s main events, when Moby Dick bit off one of his legs. He treats the whale not simply as an animal but as the embodiment of evil and an enemy deserving revenge. His fixation overwhelms his responsibilities as captain and endangers the entire crew.

A common mix-up is confusing Ahab with Ishmael, who narrates much of the novel, or Starbuck, the Pequod’s cautious first mate. Ahab is the driving force behind the pursuit, but Ishmael is the character who survives to recount it.