While David and Alan are the principal actors in the plot of Kidnapped, there are a number of secondary and tertiary characters who people the ship and the landscape of the story. In accord with Stevenson's penchant for double identity, Captain Hoseason is seen by David as "two men, and [he] left the better one behind as soon as he set foot on board his vessel."

In the Highlands, David encounters a number of colorful men who, despite being, many of them, outlaws, display a high sense of honor and courtesy.

Cluny Macpherson, the chief of a band of outlaws, is exceedingly polite and yet addicted to gambling. When a serious duel is about to take place in the home of Duncan Maclaren, the host manages to transform the contest into a competition to see who can play the bagpipes better, Alan or Robert Oig Macgregor — it...