History Characters / LesMiserables

For an index of the actors and actresses who have played in adaptations of ''Les Misérables'' and have their own page on this wiki, see [[UsefulNotes/VictorHugoMediaActors here]].

* LackOfEmpathy: To those deemed criminals by the justice system. In Javert's mind, if you broke the law, regardless of circumstances or your remorse or even serving your time in prison fair and square, you deserve every bit of punishment reigned down upon you, no ifs, ands or buts.

* PimpingTheOffspring: Implied in the book -- after the family goes bankrupt, it's noted that the now teenage Eponine is disturbingly comfortable entering Marius' room (suggesting that entering men's bedrooms is a common occurrence for her) and, when she gives him a letter asking for money, Thenardier is noted as having written that she'll "await Marius' orders", implying that he intended for her to exchange sexual favors with him for it.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the lawful character who is uncompromising in both his values and the system he enforces. Javert's moral principles would have made him an admirable hero in another story. But here, he is enforcing a flawed and corrupt system that ruthlessly clamps down on those like Valjean and Fantine who suffered under it. His uncompromising values also give him a BlackAndWhiteInsanity that is so rigid that he chooses to commit suicide when upon realising that the world isn't so black and white as he grew up to believe.

* GoodIsNotNice: He is law-abiding, justice-seeking, and is as harsh on himself as he is on criminals. But he is not kind.

* ImportantHaircut: Her hair is the first thing, in the book, that Fantine sells for Cosette's sake. Symbolizes her loss of innocence.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Her {{yandere}} qualities are removed from the musical.

* {{Yandere}}: In the book. She's in love with Marius, but he hardly knows she exists and is in love with Cosette. So, she decides to drive him to the barricades so they could both die and be TogetherInDeath.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Hugo gives few subtle hints in his description of Javert's past which suggest he might be mixed-race, including possibly part UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}, but since the subject of his parentage is never mentioned again, it's debatable whether it is {{canon}} or a case of LostInTranslation. He's unambiguously black in the 2018 miniseries.

* AdaptationalWimp: While Monsieur is always an utterly villainous character, the musical (and all adaptations thereof) makes him a LaughablyEvil HenpeckedHusband, whereas his literary equivalent is a vicious thug played totally straight, whom [[TheDreaded even his wife is afraid of]]. However, his villainy as he robs the dead in "Dog eats Dog" is not played completely seriously with none of his usual humour.

* LovingAShadow: In the musical, the song "On My Own" makes it explicit that she's in love with the idea of Marius rather than the man himself. In a move that makes her ''even more tragic'', it's shown that she ''knows'' this, but keeps pursuing him anyway, because he's the only ray of hope left in her miserable life.

* VocalDissonance: In the book, she was a teenage girl whose voice was frequently compared to a middle aged ''man's'', presumably due to years of drowning her sorrows in alcohol. This was changed in the musical for ''very'' obvious reasons.

A listing of characters from Victor Hugo's ''Literature/LesMiserables'' and their associated tropes. Note that the novel was published in 1862 and thus qualifies for Administrivia/SpoilersOff.

* AdaptationalRelationshipOverhal: In the novel, Marius doesn't become a fully-fledged member of the Friends of the ABC due to his newfound Bonapartist ideas clashing with their Republicanism, and only becomes affiliated with them thanks to his friendship with one of its members Courfeyrac. In the musical, because of his sub-plot regarding his estranged Bonapartist father was AdaptedOut, Marius is instead reimagined as one of their key members.

* AdaptedOut: There are adaptations where he does not appear and is not even mentioned.

* AdaptationalWimp: While Monsieur is always an utterly villainous character, the musical (and all adaptations thereof) makes him a LaughablyEvil HenpeckedHusband, whereas his literary equivalent is a vicious thug played totally straight, whom [[TheDreaded even his wife is afraid of]].

** In the book; the mister does spend several years in jail for his crimes after being arrested by Javert. So he didn't get off ''completely'' scot-free.
** [[AdaptationalKarma Averted]] for Thénardier in the 2007 anime, but still played straight with his wife, though--she survives prison and gets released, with her worst punishment being losing a whole lot of weight.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Thenardier orders a thug to shoot Javert when the inspector comes at the head of a group of lawmen to arrest them. The thug refuses, causing Thenardier to attempt to do so himself. It doesn't end well for him; Javert accurately predicts his gun will misfire, casually tosses a stone tossed at his head by Thenardier's wife, and then casually arrests them both. Thénardier gets the death sentence for attempted murder of an officer (or would've, if he hadn't broken out).

* VillainousRescue: When Javert becomes suspicious that Valjean may have been the man who took Cosette, they lie to him that it was her grandfather. This is purely self-serving, since they want to get rid of Javert as quickly as possible before he starts investigating ''them.''

* AdaptationalHeroism: In the book, he rather cruelly cuts Valjean out of Cosette's life after learning from Valjean that he is an ex-con. This is at least partially fuelled by the fact he mistakenly believes that Valjean murdered Javert, someone Marius respected, in cold blood. In the musical, he is more just going along with Valjean's plan to distance himself from Cossette to avoid causing her any trouble with his ex-con status. Marius is struck with heavily guilt in both versions however after learning Valjean saved his life the day the rebellion failed.

* RelationshipCompression: With both Cosette and Éponine in the musical. Éponine becomes his best friend rather than a mere associate.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the novel, he's a Type II AntiVillain, a good person at heart, but too morally inflexible to truly be a hero. In the various adaptations, he's more of a straight villain.

InspectorJavert is a guard in the prison Jean Valjean is released from, who later joins the Paris police force. In the musical, he infamously makes it his life goal to track down Valjean, but in the original novel he is really no more dedicated to catching Valjean than to dealing out justice to any other criminal. In fact, [[ContrivedCoincidence he runs into Valjean several times through pure coincidence and fails to recognize him.]]

--> 'Javert had been born in prison, of a fortune-teller, whose husband was in the galleys. As he grew up, he thought that he was outside the pale of society, and he despaired of ever re-entering it. He observed that society unpardoningly excludes two classes of men,—those who attack it and those who guard it; he had no choice except between these two classes; at the same time, he was conscious of an indescribable foundation of rigidity, regularity, and probity, complicated with an inexpressible hatred for the race of bohemians whence he was sprung.'

* AntiVillain: [[InspectorJavert Like all those after him,]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist he is the well-intentioned variety.]] He believes in the infallibility of the law and works to uphold this at all costs.

** From the book: Thénardier points a gun at him and then Javert says: "Shoot! Your gun will misfire!" Naturally, it does.
*** In one of the Russian radioplays he also adds: "I told you so. A gun aimed at Javert never fires."

* PaperThinDisguise: His disguise as a revolutionary was easily seen through by a child. This was exaggerated in adaptations such as the comic series, which has him wearing a cap - and suddenly nobody recognizes him, except for said kid.

* OverprotectiveDad: He's very protective of Cosette, as he considers her to be the only joy in his life and is afraid of losing her. He was even tempted to stay at the convent and have Cosette become a nun but realised that he was being selfish and decided to leave. Even after moving out of the convent they live a very isolated life. His overprotectiveness is sometimes justified, as in the case of Marius, who is a stranger apparently bent on wooing her.

A group of gentlemen led by Enjolras who participate in the June Rebellion against the French monarchy. Other members include Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Jean Prouvaire, Feuilly, Bahorel, Laigle (nicknamed Bossuet), Joly and the resident drunk Grantaire (with his own section below).

Head of the Society of the Friends of the ABC, Enjolras and his friends seek radical change in France, and participate in the June Rebellion, a revolution against the July Monarchy in France.

* PatrioticFervor: In direct contrast to Marius, whose politics are reducible to hero worship, Enjolras is an enthusiastic and passionate lover of the idea of France itself.

* RebelLeader: Of Les Amis.

* WideEyedIdealist: His faith in the people of Paris to rise with them is misplaced.

* VillainProtagonist: The story is just about him as it is about Valjean, particularly their conflicting views on redemption and empathy.

* FreudianExcuse: The reason for Javert's extremely harsh black and white worldview and his complete inability to relate to other people. The trope is very interestingly used in Javert's situation, as he was born in prison the child of a prostitute and a thief, but completely rejects the idea that circumstances rather than evil nature can explain crimes, possibly because, since he raised himself from the gutter with his integrity and dedication, he can't see why any good person in dire straits wouldn't be able to do the same.

* BadassBaritone: Quite literally, since his role in the musical is played by either a baritone or a bass-baritone.

* SpellMyNameWithAThe: The original text frequently refers to monsieur and madame as "le Thénardier" or "la Thénardier". In English translations, "the Thénardier" is usually reserved for monsieur to better distinguish them.

* NoNameGiven: Due to it being [[NoPronunciationGuide difficult to pronounce]], Enjolras's name is actually never spoken in libretto during the entire musical, though beginning the ABC Cafe scene with an exclaimed "Enjolras!" has become a pretty regular ad-lib, nowadays.

* AbusiveParents: Mainly Thénardier, who goes so far as to force Eponine into prostitution and mutilate Alzema to make her a better beggar. Madame Thénardier seems to genuinely care for her daughters, and continued to be so when they were in poverty. However, she is the most clearly abusive of Cosette, abandoned all three of her sons, and in the musical, she clearly doesn't care a bit about Éponine post-bankruptcy.

* FatalFlaw: Thénardier's greed and need for instant gratification makes him act irrationally. He scams his inn's customers and racks up a string of petty debts due to his greed, and despite Fantine being his main source of income, he ends up getting her killed as a result of demanding more and more money. Later, when he falls into poverty, Valjean promises him regular financial support, but instead Thénardier stages a robbery in order to wring a large sum of money from him at once.

* BigBrotherInstinct: He shows it by taking in to distressed street children younger than himself, comforting them and starting to show them the ropes of living on the streets. Little does he know that they're actually his biological younger brothers.

* DefiantToTheEnd: In the 2012 film.

* MouthyKid: Whether it's Inspector Javert, Enjolras, his father's criminal associates, corrupt or hypocritical rich people, or an entire army with muskets pointed at him, Gavroche brings the snark and will mock or mouth off to any and all of them.

* StepfordSmiler: He plays the role of a CheerfulChild very convincingly, but we're told that he feels "dark and empty" benath the surface.