 The player character is Michel Ardan , an eccentric and intrepid French scientist who is enthusiastic , daring and cheerful . President Barbicane , the President of the Gun Club , and Captain Nicholl , an engineer , are both found dead at the start of the game , not having survived the flight to the moon . A woman called Diana features in the game 's backstory , as a woman whose ancestors made contact with the Selenites . Apart from these human characters , there are also several Selenite characters such as the Supreme Moon Ruler , the High <unk> , <unk> , <unk> , and the three exiles . 
