What name does C.S. Lewis give the central character of his Space Trilogy?

C.S. Lewis names the central character of his Space Trilogy Elwin Ransom. Ransom is the protagonist of Out of the Silent Planet and returns in altered roles in Perelandra and That Hideous Strength.

Lewis modeled Ransom partly on his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, who encouraged him to write science fiction. The trilogy combines planetary adventure with Christian theological ideas, presenting Earth as a spiritually damaged world and exploring humanity’s relationship with other planets.

In Out of the Silent Planet, Ransom is a philologist who is kidnapped and taken to Mars, called Malacandra by its inhabitants. Perelandra moves him to Venus, while That Hideous Strength shifts the action back to Earth and expands the story into a conflict involving science, power, and spiritual forces.

Mark Studdock is a major character in That Hideous Strength, but he is not the trilogy’s central recurring figure. Orual belongs to Till We Have Faces, and Digory Kirke belongs to the Narnia stories.