Armitage Shanks

Armitage Shanks is the father of Katrina Shanks and a member of the board of Andromeda. He is married, and he watches over his daughter's affairs with a sharp and demanding eye. When Katrina's suitor, Eugene Meltsner, first joins him for lunch, Armitage batters the young man with insults. The rudeness is deliberate - a test of Eugene's character at a moment when the couple's courtship has stalled. Armitage also prizes family tradition. He presses Katrina to accept her great-grandmother's heirloom ring in place of Eugene's engagement gift, and her refusal angers him. Yet he is not immovable. When the treasured heirloom proves to be a worthless imitation, he drops the tradition on the spot and makes way for the couple.