Othello is the Moor of Venice, a truly heroic officer and adventurer who has won the love of the fair Desdemona by his personal attractiveness, intelligence and fine reputation. Othello is black - but this is not seen as an issue by most of those around him. Only Iago and Desdemona's father, Brabantio, have a problem with his race. Both of these have other reasons to dislike the General - Brabantio resents Othello's relationship with his daughter, and Iago is angry that Othello has promoted Michael Cassio to Lieutenant - a position Iago sees as rightly his own.

Laurence Fishburne has played the Moor to excellent effect on film.

Shakespeare demonstrates his love of long words in this play: Othello is reputed to have escaped from the anthropophagi.