Aksel Bang is a major antagonist in the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Prey. He is an inhabitant of Copenhagen in 1807.
Biography[]
Bang was a Danish clerk working for Ole Skovgaard. He had possession of Skovgaard's house in Copenhagen while Skovgaard was at his home outside the city. He also had designs on Skovgaard's daughter, Astrid. He first met Lieutenant Richard Sharpe when the British officer turned up looking for Skovgaard. Since John Lavisser, a French agent, had been spreading false reports that Sharpe was there to assassinate the Danish Crown Prince, Skovgaard sent Bang to get Lavisser, but this resulted in Lavisser finding out that Skovgaard was part of the British spy network.
After Sharpe had rescued Skovgaard from Lavisser's men, Skovgaard and Astrid returned to their house in Copenhagen, with Bang moving out to the family warehouse. Bang was jealous of Sharpe's closeness with Astrid and, joining the Danish militia, insisted that he would protect the family now and, since Britain and Denmark were now at war, Sharpe should leave or be arrested, which Skovgaard backed up.
Bang was convinced by Lavisser that Skovgaard was a traitor to Denmark and agreed to lure his employer into a trap. He pretended to be taking Skovgaard to church, then delivered him to Lavisser's men, who pretended to be the Danish authorities but were actually French agents. They gave Bang gin to calm his nerves, which instantly made him drunk since he had never touched alcohol before. Sharpe returned and quickly realised what Bang had done, forcing a confession out of him by threatening to poke his eye out and then locking him in the stable.
Bang was freed by Lavisser's men. Still pretending to be working for the Danes, Lavisser told Bang that Sharpe and the British were hiding Skovgaard. Bang was quick to think the rest of Skovgaard but hastened to defend Astrid, saying she had been misled by Sharpe and her father. He realised the group would head for an orphanage where Astrid was working and went there with Lavisser and his men, taking Astrid hostage. They tracked Sharpe and the British seamen helping him to a nearby church. Bang personally held Astrid prisoner, which proved to be his undoing since Sharpe chose him as his first target, shooting him in the head from a distance and killing him.
