Assane Diop's family.
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In General
- Action Survivor: Over the course of the series, both Raoul and Mariama get kidnapped and held hostage as bait for Assane, and multiple attempts are made on Claire and Raoul's lives for the purpose of Revenge by Proxy. They all manage to survive, however, due to quick thinking (on the part of Claire and Mariama) and a bit of good luck (for Raoul).
- Amateur Sleuth: Claire and Raoul get to try their hand at this in Part 3, when they are attempting to figure out that Assane is still alive. They both turn out to be rather good at it.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: Being the wife and son of Assane Diop means that Claire and Raoul have been faced with all kinds of stressful and emotionally draining situations over the years. They typically bounce back with ease.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Downplayed for Claire, who knows that Assane is a thief; however, Assane has never told her the full story of his father's demise, and until Raoul's kidnapping she's not aware of just how serious things have gotten for him, although she is suspicious and spends quite a lot of time pleading with him to be honest with her. Played entirely straight for Raoul, who is truly shocked when Hubert reveals what Assane does on his own. Apparently his parents decided it would be best if he didn't know.
- Played straight for both Claire and Raoul in Part 3, in which Assane fakes his death and has Benjamin lie to them about it. They manage to figure the truth out eventually.
- Morality Chain: Assane's family functions as this for him, since many of his motivations revolve around protecting them or getting revenge for past wrongs done to them. They're also the ones who get to see the most of Assane's genuinely gallant side, as opposed to the gentleman act he uses when trying to manipulate people.
- Non-Action Girl & Guy: Claire and Raoul aren't involved in the more action-packed aspects of Assane's life, Claire by choice and Raoul because he's just a kid (and because the mere idea of his aiding in Assane's activities would probably give his mother a heart attack).
Babakar Diop
Babakar Diop
Played by: Fargass Assandé
Assane's father, an immigrant from Senegal who worked as a driver for the Pellegrini family. Framed by his employers for the theft of a diamond necklace that once belonged to queen Marie-Antoinette, he died in prison, and Assane became determined to avenge him and prove his innocence.
- Allegorical Character: Babakar can be interpreted as a personification of the treatment of Africans under European colonial rule: his resourceful, hardworking nature is exploited by an opportunistic and manipulative white French entrepreneur who throws him to the wolves the moment he's outlived his usefulness. Two decades later, said entrepreneur gets his comeuppance at the hands of Babakar's vengeance-obsessed son.
- Death Is the Only Option: Apparently was Driven to Suicide by the notion of a life in prison. Ultimately averted when it's revealed that Léonard was responsible for his death.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: The flashbacks show that he was a somewhat demanding but very loving father who wanted to do his best to give Assane a good future in France.
- Defiant to the End: His Fatal Flaw and the reason why Hubert ordered Léonard to kill him under the guise of suicide.
- The Driver: His job in service of the Pellegrini family, seemingly in addition to performing other household tasks.
- Fall Guy: According to Anne Pellegrini, Hubert hired Babakar with the explicit intention of framing him for insurance fraud.
- Grammar Nazi: Spelling Nazi, in this case. In flashbacks, he can be seen instructing Assane to spell complicated words out loud, and pointing out spelling errors in his homework assignments. Decades later, Assane discovers several spelling mistakes in the confession letter Babakar wrote, which were intended as an intentional Out-of-Character Alert in order to tip his son off about his innocence.
- Hidden Depths: He devised a complicated secret code in order to explain to Assane that he was framed. So complicated, in fact, that Assane only figured it out twenty-five years after Babakar's death.
- Immigrant Parent: He left Senegal and moved to Paris with his son when the latter was a child.
- Immigrant Patriotism: He was very insistent on Assane being able to spell the name of Charles de Gaulle properly (although this could just be a facet of his broader obsession with spelling). In general, though, he seems to have been something of a Europhile, with his favorite piece of music being Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria."
- Inspirational Martyr: Becomes this for Assane.
- Like Father, Like Son: He passed his love of reading down to Assane (who in turn passes it on to his own son Raoul). However, unlike Assane, he appears to have never done anything illegal in his life.
- Moral Guardians: Assane describes Babakar as a proud, stubborn and extremely upright man. He's also depicted as having had strong views on what constituted proper behavior.
- Never Suicide: It turns out that Assane was right that he never would have killed himself. Léonard did it.
- Nice Guy: An archetypal gentleman who was always ready to help. Too bad his boss was the opposite.
- Posthumous Character: He's long dead by the series present-day, only ever being seen in flashback sequences.
- Rage Breaking Point: Babakar tried his best to be an exemplary chauffeur and remained stoic in the face of Hubert's dismissive and often racist treatment. However, when Hubert accused him of having stolen the Queen's necklace, he finally lost it completely, and wound up being physically restrained and dragged off by two of Dumont's officers.
- Rightly Self-Righteous: His high standards weren't all talk—Babakar was widely praised for the strength of his character by just about everyone who knew him (well, aside from Hubert Pellegrini). Even Dumont was quick to realize that he didn't fit the profile of a criminal at all.
- Schedule Fanatic: He invokes this when, during his employment interview with Hubert, he claims that he's "always suspicious of those who arrive late—as well as those who are too early." One wonders what Babakar would have made of Assane consistently failing to show up on time, or at all, for his visits with Raoul...
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Despite being unfailingly polite and kind, his life was destroyed once he was framed for a theft that he didn't commit.
Mariama Diop
Mariama Diop
Click here to see her in 1998
Played by: Naky Sy Savané (present day), Seyna Kane (1998)
Assane's mother, who had initially planned to join him and Babakar in France, but ended up serving a lengthy prison sentence after being arrested for aggravated robbery.
- Age-Gap Romance: According to the birth dates listed on their police files, Mariama is twelve years younger than Babakar, and gave birth to Assane when she was only twenty.
- The Bait: Her role for most of Part 3. She's held captive by Keller, Manon and Ferdinand, who use her to get Assane to do whatever they want him to do.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: The Ambiguous Ending to Part 3 throws Mariama's entire characterization into doubt, resulting in a truckload of wild mass guessing on the part of the viewership. One commont theory is that the woman we have come to know as Mariama is actually not Assane's mother at all, and was planted by Hubert Pellegrini in order to manipulate him; another is that she is Assane's mother, but that Hubert Pellegrini somehow got his hands on her and is blackmailing her.
- In-Series Nickname: She invariably calls Assane "Sanni", a nickname she had used for him when he was a small boy, with this being the reason he's convinced that the woman he's interacting with is really his mother and not an impostor.
- Parental Abandonment: Assane tried to get in contact with her in 1998, but as she was serving a prison sentence in Senegal, she told him that she couldn't help him any more, and urged him not to contact her again (it's unclear whether she was aware of Babakar's death at the time). After this Assane almost never spoke about her, to the point where even Benjamin, one of his closest friends, just assumed she was dead.
- Parents as People: She initially broke off her relationship with Assane because, being a penniless convict, she genuinely felt that she had nothing to offer him.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's a very small woman—even shorter than her daughter-in-law—but nonetheless manages to be nearly as skilled a thief as Assane. Perhaps Babakar was onto something when he said Assane reminded him of his mother...
Claire Laurent
Claire Laurent
Click here to see her as a teenager
Played by: Ludivine Sagnier (adult), Ludmilla Makowski (teenager)
Assane's ex-wife, and the mother of his child, whom she is raising alone. Claire is often caught between her longstanding love for Assane and her fears that his activities may be endangering their son.
- Actual Pacifist: When Claire was a teenager, she negatively characterized aggressive boys as "knights and barbarians", and discouraged Assane from getting involved in physical confrontations, even when it was in attempt to defend her (instead she urged him to "play dead"). She also took a very dim view of Keller's boxing club, openly disdaining the idea of young boys beating each other up for sport.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's a compassionate and tolerant woman who adores her son and maintains a strong affection for Assane even though he routinely manages to find new ways to let her down. But when Assane's actions lead to Raoul being placed in life-threatening danger, Claire is willing to sell him out to Hubert Pellegrini after being told that this will guarantee Raoul's safety.
- Characterization Marches On: In Parts 1 and 2, Claire was depicted as a mousy Wet Blanket Wife who spent most of her screen time being horrified by Assane's dangerous antics, begging him in vain not to do anything too outlandish, or reproaching him for not taking his responsibilities to Raoul seriously enough. While these traits are still present to an extent in Part 3, she also demonstrates a more playful, quirky and adventurous side to her personality, as well as some borderline Covert Pervert tendencies.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: Stops just short of this in 1995 when she tells Assane that she likes the idea that they'll always be there for one another.
- The Conscience: She often acts as a surrogate moral center for Assane, particularly in the flashback scenes.
- Corrupt the Cutie: In Part 3, her desire to investigate whether Assane is still alive leads to her stealing an Arsène Lupin book from a pair of young women at the library, manipulating a journalist into giving her information under the guise of giving him an interview, and ultimately coaxing the truth out of an incarcerated Benjamin by claiming that Assane had contacted her and confessed everything.
- Deadpan Snarker: Regularly uses lighthearted sarcasm to cope with difficulties in her life, particularly with regards to her and Assane's relationship.
- Don't Look At Me: Understandably enough, she really doesn't like the media attention she gets hit with as a result of being the ex-partner of the most infamous man in France, although she ultimately finds ways to use it to her advantage.
- Establishing Character Moment: Claire's first scene, in which she meets with Assane at a cafe and gently reprimands him for missing multiple scheduled visits with Raoul, while also offering to let him skip an alimony payment and giving him an affectionate goodbye kiss on the cheek, shows her to be a Nice Gal who truly loves Assane despite the fact that he often exasperates her, and whose main priority is raising their son.
- Excellent Judge of Character: Unlike Assane and Bruno, Claire understood right from the beginning that Keller was a bad egg, and tried to prevent them from falling into his thrall, albeit without much success.
- Girl Next Door: Her warm sincerity contrasts with the flashier and more overtly seductive qualities of her romantic rival Juliette.
- The Glomp: After spending a day and a half in agonized worry for Raoul after he becomes a Missing Child, Claire pounces on him and covers him with joyful kisses when he is returned home unharmed.
- Has a Type: Despite claiming as a teenager not to have any interest in "knights", Claire is consistently attracted to men she deems brave, protective and chivalrous. Borders on an unwitting Single-Target Sexuality since the guy she falls for after Assane fakes his death, Raoul's basketball coach Alex, is actually just Assane in a heavy prosthetic disguise.
- The Heart: She's open about her feelings, is willing to act as emotional support for those she's close with, and is invariably at the center of the show's more sentimental moments.
- Hidden Depths: In Part 2, it's revealed that Claire was a skilled violinist in her teen years. In the tie-in novel she's also depicted as having a talent for codebreaking.
- Lethal Chef: Gained a reputation for this after offering to make "pasta with ketchup" in Part 3. Italian viewers were particularly horrified.
- Living Lie Detector: She sees through many of Assane's lies and is thus well aware that he's getting himself into all kinds of (potentially serious) trouble, but to her distress she's rarely able to get him to come clean about what he's actually doing, or why.
- Love Hurts: No matter how many times she's been burned by Assane, she can never truly let him go.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: When Assane indirectly gets Raoul kidnapped, Claire is desperate enough to agree to betray him to Hubert Pellegrini in exchange for her son's safe return. Luckily, My God, What Have I Done? kicks in when Claire actually sees Assane arrive at her apartment with Raoul in tow, and she manages to tell him to flee before he can get caught by Pascal and his men, who are hiding inside.
- Nervous Wreck: Owns up to being a worrier, particularly when it comes to Raoul's safety and well-being, and leans heavily on Assane when he's in his "Alex" get-up as a kind of sturdy, reassuring protector figure. To be fair, her fears are basically always justified.
- Older and Wiser: It's not clear whether Claire is actually supposed to be older than Assane, but she comes across as being a lot more sensible and mature than him in the 1990s flashbacks.
- One-Hour Work Week: The show establishes that she works at a hospital, but the exact nature of her job is unclear, and she evidently has a great deal of free time on her hands.
- Only Sane Woman: Disagreements between Assane and Claire consistently end up with Assane admitting that Claire was right all along.
- Prone to Tears: Expect to see her break down crying at least Once a Season, whether it's Broken Tears (for instance after Raoul gets kidnapped), Cathartic Crying (when he's brought back to her unharmed) or Tears of Joy (when she discovers that Assane is still alive).
- Silk Hiding Steel: Claire is a petite, unassuming, doe-eyed woman who hardly seems like an intimidating opponent on the surface, but she's usually able to use her emotional intelligence and creativity to compensate for her more obvious weaknesses. In particular, she has a strong track record of tricking baddies into leaving her and Raoul alone, sometimes even playing up her gentle and non-threatening nature to throw them off. She also won't hesitate to give Assane a What the Hell, Hero? dressing-down if she feels he's earned it, although she always forgives him in the end.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Was moved to kiss Assane for the first time when he identified himself as a "gentleman". Decades later her attraction to Assane's basketball coach persona seems to be mainly based on the fact that he takes Raoul under his wing and prevents him from being bullied by his classmates.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: A disillusioned optimist. Claire gave Assane chance after chance to clean up his act, but more than two decades' worth of broken promises and crushing disappointments have taken their toll on her patience. Even so, she becomes hopeful each time he gives any indication that he'll finally bring himself to ditch his life of crime and commit to her and Raoul.
- The Tease: Whenever she's in a mischievous mood.
- In a 1998 flashback, Assane asks if he can stay with her for a couple of days. Claire responds that she has only one bed, meaning that she and Assane would have to share it. Assane is rather disappointed when Claire reveals that she was joking.
- After she discovers that Assane has been pretending to be Raoul's coach Alex, Claire receives a phone call from him in character while she's shopping for basketball shoes for Raoul. She decides to toy with him by coming on to "Alex" in a comically over-the-top manner:Claire: Anyway, I've been thinking...The fact that Assane may still be alive doesn't mean I'm not allowed to move on. With someone else.Assane, as Alex: (flustered) Uh, right.
- True Blue Femininity: In the 1990s, Claire wore a lot of denim. In the present day, she's something of a connoisseur of mom jeans.
Raoul Diop
Raoul Diop
Played by: Etan Simon
The son of Assane and Claire. Raoul is a quiet boy who enjoys reading and playing video games.
- Appearance Angst: A mild example, but Raoul is only willing to put on his Arsène Lupin top hat at the beach in Étretat. Anywhere else, according to him, "it would look ridiculous."
- The Bait: The reason Léonard kidnaps him—and, later, why Hubert holds him hostage at the Hyatt—is to turn him into this for Assane.
- Bound and Gagged: For basically all of episode 2.01.
- Brutal Honesty: He's a very blunt kid. When Assane laments that Raoul spends so much time on his phone and playing violent video games, Raoul responds that the only reason Assane didn't is because they weren't around when he was a child. He also has no trouble calling out Assane's obvious jealousy over Claire dating other men.
- Bully Magnet: Becomes this in Part 3, as a result of his father being the most wanted man in the country.
- Cloudcuckoolander: A socially withdrawn, somewhat spaced-out teenager who, much like Guédira, is willing to entertain seemingly unrealistic ideas and tends to become intractable when he thinks he's right.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Raoul has inherited his dad's penchant for Nike gear.
- Converted Fanboy: Assane converts him to the Arsène Lupin fandom.
- Disobeyed Orders, Not Punished: At the end of Part 2, Raoul wants to go to the rendezvous that Assane has set up, but Claire rules it out. However, when Raoul makes it clear that he'll go whether she likes it or not, Claire not only doesn't try to stop him, but she winds up accompanying him.
- Identical Grandson: His mop of dark curls is extremely similar to Mariama's.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Downplayed. Purely based on appearances, Assane is the jock dad to Raoul's nerd son, but ultimately Assane is just as much of a Lupin geek as Raoul is (not to mention that Raoul's rangy build seems to make him at least a serviceable basketball player).
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Despite the fact that Raoul is being raised entirely by Claire, he has Assane's surname.
- Missing Child: In episodes 2.01 and 2.02.
- A Mistake Is Born: Downplayed. Raoul was not a planned child, but both Claire and Assane love him dearly.
- Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: Although he presumably has school, he's never shown in a classroom. His fourteenth birthday even canonically took place on a school day, and the fact that he didn't attend is not addressed.
- The Stoic: Mere minutes after undergoing a horrific near-death experience, he begins calmly chatting with a total stranger about his interest in the Arsène Lupin stories.
- The Quiet One: He's not exceedingly talkative, occasionally even coming across as something of a Silent Snarker. The few times he does speak, though, he proves to be quite perceptive, most notably when he remarks that his father reminds him of Arsène Lupin even before he's made aware of Assane's career as a thief. He's also wise to the fact that his parents still have strong feelings for one another, in spite of their separation.
- Downplayed for Part 3. Although he's still clearly introverted, he becomes more vocal and confident and even begins to adopt a leadership role on his basketball team.
- Trauma Conga Line: On the afternoon of his birthday, Raoul gets violently abducted while on a day trip with his parents, is held hostage in a creepy mansion by his kidnapper (who threatens to kill both him and his father), and nearly gets burned alive by said kidnapper. Then, after being rescued by a complete stranger, he's basically taken hostage again, this time being brought to a hotel where he gets interrogated by France's most powerful businessman before Assane manages to successfully get him out of captivity and bring him back home to his mother—who is so horrified by the whole thing that she decides to cut Assane out of their lives. The fact that Raoul seems to have suffered no real damage to his mental health as a result of all of this is truly astounding.
- Troubled Teen: By Part 3 Raoul starts showing the strain of having such a Notorious Parent. He gets into physical altercations with his peers, who tease him due to his parentage, and it's also mentioned that he's Plagued by Nightmares. By the time he starts to deny Assane's death (although he ultimately turns out to be right), Claire has grown very concerned about his emotional state.
- Vocal Evolution: Due to his actor Etan Simon ageing, Raoul's voice deepens across the episodes, and he gets substantially taller as well.
- You're Not My Father: In conversation with Guédira, Raoul asserts that Assane is his favorite person; as a result he has little interest in attempting to bond with Claire's new boyfriend Marc, particularly not after the guy suggests that he's too old for Arsène Lupin. (Luckily for Raoul, Marc undergoes Chuck Cunningham Syndrome at the end of Part 2.)
