Francis Crozier

Francis Crozier, known to the Inuit as Aglooka, was an officer in the Royal Navy and captain of the HMS Terror during the failed Franklin expedition. An experienced sailor and arctic veteran, Crozier served under the command of Sir John Franklin despite Franklin's relative lack of naval experience, owing to Crozier's Irish heritage. Following Franklin's death in 1847, Crozier assumed command of the expedition and enacted plans to rescue the stranded crews. By 1850, Crozier was the presumed sole survivor of the expedition, choosing to live in exile with the Netsilik rather than return to England.

He is played by Jared Harris.

Background
Crozier was born to a "middle-bred" Irish family. After joining the Royal Navy, he participated in William Parry's attempt to reach the North Pole alongside Thomas Blanky and later served as second-in-command of James Ross's expedition to Antarctica. During his expeditions to the Arctic, Crozier learned to speak the Inuit language. Despite Crozier's successes, the Admiralty refused to grant him his own command, which he attributed to his Irish heritage.

At some point, Crozier began romantically pursuing Sophia Cracroft, the niece of Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin. Cracroft turned down his proposals for marriage on two occasions, citing his Irish background and frequent absences as a naval officer. These proposals were frowned upon by Sir John and Lady Jane, who viewed Crozier as unfit to marry into their family.

Franklin Expedition
Despite Crozier's expectation that he would be offered a command upon his return from Ross's Antarctica expedition, the Admiralty passed Crozier over for the command of its planned 1845 Northwest Passage expedition in favor of Franklin. However, Crozier elected to participate in the expedition at the request of Cracroft, who asked Crozier to "keep Sir John safe and ensure his judgment." Crozier was named captain of the HMS Terror and designated as Franklin's second-in-command.

One year into the voyage, both Franklin and Commander James Fitzjames noted Crozier's frequent sullen mood, as well as his excessive drinking. Fitzjames was dismissive of Crozier's presence with the expedition, while Franklin was more sympathetic and desired to build a stronger friendship with him. However, Franklin noted that he had hesitated to fully confide in Crozier.

In September 1846, the expedition suffered a significant setback when ice damaged Erebus' propeller, slowing her down. Crozier feared that the reduced speed of Erebus and the increasing amount of pack ice with the onset of winter left the ships at serious risk of becoming trapped. He recommended to Franklin that the best course of action would be to abandon Erebus and consolidate both crews on Terror, which would likely be able to circumnavigate King William Land and take shelter in a harbor before the ocean froze over for winter. However, Sir John was unwilling to abandon the Erebus or delay the expedition by turning back and, against Crozier's strong objections, ordered the expedition to proceed forward. Within one week, both ships became trapped in ice as Crozier predicted.

The crews of both ships wintered over on the ice, during which time Crozier rarely left Terror. In May 1847, the expedition sent several parties to search for signs of thawing ice. Crozier confided to Franklin his fear that the ice may not thaw during the year, which Franklin dismissed. The final party returned after having accidentally shot a Netsilik shaman, whose daughter Crozier tried to comfort while Harry Goodsir attempted to save her father's life. Upon the shaman's death, Franklin ordered that his daughter be removed from Erebus, but Crozier chose to bring her aboard Terror before she later departed.

As the search parties found evidence of thawing ice, Crozier suggested to Franklin that a sledge party be sent to the Hudson Bay Company outpost on Great Slave Lake to secure the rescue of the ships. Franklin angrily rejected the proposal and disparaged Crozier both professionally and personally. In response, Crozier planned to lead the sledge party himself, in contravention of Franklin's orders, and began drafting a resignation letter to Franklin. Before Crozier could complete it, Franklin was killed by a creature known as Tuunbaq, leaving Crozier in command of the expedition. After holding a funeral service for Franklin, Crozier ordered the sledge party, led by Lieutenant J. W. Fairholme, to depart for rescue.

With no thaw in 1847, both ships wintered over on the ice again, during which time they sustained multiple casualties from attacks by Tuunbaq. After one such attack, Crozier ordered groups of two out onto the ice to search for William Strong, who had gone missing during the attack. Crozier was accompanied by Thomas Evans, a ship's boy aboard Terror. When Crozier spotted what appeared to be Strong's body, he separated from Evans to investigate. However, Crozier found only a coat and patch of blood in an apparent distraction set by Tuunbaq, which proceeded to kill Evans. Crozier blamed Evan's death on his decision to separate from him.

Following another attack by Tuunbaq, Crozier agreed with Fitzjames's suggestion to bring the Netsilik woman, dubbed "Lady Silence," back aboard to interrogate her regarding Tuunbaq. He soon discovered that three crew members of Terror (Cornelius Hickey, Magnus Manson and Thomas Hartnell) had forcibly seized her on suspicion that she was controlling the creature. Crozier ordered Lady Silence to be relocated to Erebus and sentenced the three men to be lashed twelve times each. When Hickey began arguing with Crozier over his decision, Crozier became increasingly angry and added additional lashes to Hickey's sentence before finally ordering that Hickey be lashed thirty times "as a boy."

At the same time, Crozier's drinking habit worsened, leading him to further confine himself to Terror and skip several command meetings. Despite Fitzjames's protests, Crozier refused to curb his habit, arguing that he had little else to do. As his private store of whiskey dwindled, Crozier first ordered Lieutenant Edward Little to requisition sixteen bottles from Erebus and, upon being told that Erebus had no more remaining whiskey and that he only had two remaining bottles, he directed Little to steal whiskey from Fitzjames's private store. When confronted by Fitzjames regarding his conduct, Crozier physically attacked him before being restrained.

Crozier and Fitzjames's argument was interrupted by an attack by Tuunbaq, which chased Blanky up the mast of Terror and seriously wounded his leg before being shot by a cannon and retreating. Prior to Dr. Macdonald amputating Blanky's injured leg, Crozier gave one of his remaining whisky bottles to Blanky in order to numb the pain. Afterward, Crozier decided to quit drinking, ordering that his remaining whiskey be disposed of and giving his pistol to Little.

With Fitzjames in temporary command of the expedition, Crozier was nursed through several weeks of withdrawal by Dr. Macdonald and Thomas Jopson, his steward. Per Crozier's instructions, the crew was not informed of his true condition; he was officially suffering from gastritis. Jopson refused to permit visitors with limited exceptions.

Crozier finally left his cabin in order to attend Fitzjames's proposed carnival, which was timed to celebrate the first sunrise of 1848. Escorted by Jopson, Crozier inspected the celebration with increasing disapproval. Fitzjames apologized to Crozier for letting the carnival get out of hand, justifying it with his expectation that the crews would be forced to abandon the ships and walk to rescue. Crozier agreed with his assessment and announced the decision to the assembled men, before being interrupted by the arrival of a wounded Lady Silence and the outbreak of a fire started by a mentally unstable Dr. Stephen Stanley. Crozier helped coordinate an evacuation of the venue, being one of the last men to leave.

Personality
Despite Crozier's skills in sailing however he has found it difficult to advance in the Royal Navy due to his Irish heritage. This constant racial bias against him has led him to develop a deep insecurity and an uncaring demeanor, as he blames the world for many of his problems and feels he has been cheated in life. This demeanor makes it difficult for Crozier to make friends and as such he is widely disliked throughout the officers of the Royal Navy, with barely any friends in the officer corps. His life experiences have also caused him to turn to drink, with many in the navy aware of his alcoholism. Despite his dislike of many of the officers and not caring about navigating the Northwest Passage Crozier agrees to serve on the Franklin Expedition due to a promise he makes to Sir John Franklin's niece, whom he is romantically pursuing, to keep Sir John safe. During the expedition his repeated advice to halt or delay the expedition due to safety issues is rejected by Sir John, who feels the success of the expedition is his only way to regain respect and reputation amongst his peers.