DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon
Don John, his bastard brother
Claudio, a young lord of Florence
Benedick, a Young lord of Padua
Leonato, Governor of Messina
Antonio, an old man, his brother
Balthasar, attendant on Don Pedro
Borachio, follower of Don John
Conrade, follower of Don John
Friar Francis, a priest
Dogberry, a Constable
Verges, a Headborough
A Sexton, the judge of the trial of Boorachio
A Boy, serving Benedick
Dogberry is the comedically incompetent chief of the citizen’s police in the town the play’s set in, Messina. The role would have been Will Kempe’s, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men’s top clown and a huge individual draw. 
 Dogberry’s speech is peppered with  malapropisms,  (sometimes they’re even called Dogberryisms), leading to a number of humorous confusions. 
 
 
 Dogberry examining Conrade and Borachio, by Henry Stacy Marks (1853), via  Wikimedia Commons.
Much Ado About Nothing Characters of the Play