1900. Each coming into the situation under different circumstances, George Leach, Ruth Brewster, both who are trying to evade capture by the authorities, and writer Humphrey Van Weyden, from a refined background, somewhat reluctantly are on their first of the latest sailing of the Ghost, a sealing schooner, out of its home port of San Francisco. The Ghost is skippered with an iron fist by "Wolf" Larsen, who will not tolerate any question of his authority, and whose cruelty has turned his crew into a hardened lot. In that cruelty, he will often turn his adversaries against each other to his own end of that total control. While all three would like to get off, George and Ruth someplace other than San Francisco, they are being held somewhat captive by Wolf both in not interacting with any other ships and not making land until its ultimate return to San Francisco. Humphrey can see and discovers that Wolf is a mass of contradictions as the Ghost's true nature, which has to do with Wolf's similarly seafaring brother, remains hidden from most. Meanwhile, George does whatever he can to get off board safely with Ruth, especially as they have fallen in love partly in their fugitive status, and even if it requires trying to organize a mutiny under the condition of not knowing who to trust. Through the machinations of each trying to achieve their goal, Wolf may display to who it matters the most his working under the ultimate creed of preferring to "reign in hell than serve in heaven".