He is a court Jester, he was used throughout the play to both provide comic relief through sometimes vulgar humor and contrarily share wisdom,[1] fitting the archetype of the Shakespearean fool.

William, an oafish country boy, makes clumsy attempts to woo her as well, but is driven off by Touchstone, who threatens to kill him "a hundred and fifty ways".

Touchstone is not a self-centered and selfish man, as is shown when he is willing to follow Celia into the forest of Arden for the simple reason as to be a comfort on the journey and as a security too.

[5] The word "touchstone" appears in Book II of the second 1575 edition of Arthur Golding's translation of this work,[6] in which Mercury tricks Battus into revealing the whereabouts of the cattle of Apollo which Mercury himself has stolen and punishes Battus by turning him into a touchstone.

David Wiles suggests that Robert Armin played the part of Touchstone in the first productions of As You Like It.