Regimental Sergeant Major Patrick Harper is a fictional character created by Bernard Cornwell in the "Sharpe" series of novels. Harper is a large, fierce-seeming man from Donegal, Ireland. He joined the 95th Rifle Regiment as a rifleman. Harper and Richard Sharpe are enemies initially, but Harper becomes Sharpe's best friend and most reliable companion, rising in rank to sergeant and later to regimental sergeant-major. Along with Sharpe he is one of the principal protagonists of the series, and appears in most of the books.