The Main Trio
The main protagonists and viewpoint characters. In the National Convention, they belong to the Mountain ("le Montagne"), the most far-left faction (unofficially affiliated with the Cordeliers and Jacobin clubs). They sit on the highest benches in the Convention and are known as "Montagnards". Eventually, the Mountain splits into the "Dantonists" (or the "Indulgents") and the "Robespierrists".
Georges-Jacques Danton
Georges-Jacques d'Anton, Maître d'Anton, Captain d'Anton, The Marius of the Paris Masses, L'homme de dix août, Citizen Danton
- "Reputation is a whore, and those who talk about posterity are hypocrites and fools."
A respectable if dangerously ambitious lawyer. Though he is regarded as a thug and a demogogue by both the Orléanists and smaller players like Brissot, Danton's personal magnetism and gift for oratory gathers a devoted following. He is congenial, talented, charmingly belligerent, and genuinely likes people. A hulking beast of a man with a fierce, scarred countenance, Danton also has a reputation for brutality which he never quite lives up to; his fondness for intimidation tactics is far outweighed by his personable nature and ability to make friends easily. Makes his fortune and niche in history when he near-single-handedly overthrows the French monarchy on August 10, 1792, and is elected Minister of Justice under the Provisional Government. He remains (with the exception of Robespierre) the most influential statesman in France until he is executed two years later, on charges of corruption and counter-revolution.
Silver-tongued, vainglorious and ugly as sin, Danton's keen understanding of politics, willingness to play the long game, and prestige in the Revolution help his career to withstand much scrutiny over his corrupt financial enterprises, but his luck will run out eventually. Formerly known under the professional name d'Anton.
- Achilles in His Tent: He's accused of doing this during the Terror.Hérault: Do tell Danton I think he's taking the time-biding to excess.
- Affably Evil: Even his detractors admit that Danton is highly likable and fun to be around, with a great sense of humor.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Loves to do this to Camille.
- Benevolent Boss: Danton is famous for his generosity and loves to been seen as a provider, though this trope is played rather darkly and is indicative of his tendency to see things in commodified terms.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Robespierre, in the view of the Gironde.
- Blatant Lies: When he meets Lafayette.Danton: And a great admirer of yours, Monsieur.
- Compelling Voice: A mundane example. His resonant, dynamic, authoritative voice is described as a "professional asset" and goes a very long way in commanding loyalty and respect.
- The Corruptible: To the point that the Gironde nominates him for the post of "Minister of Justice" because they like the irony.
- Evil Virtues: Playfully lampshades this during his interview with Father Kéravenen, when he says he's indulged in each of the Seven Deadly Sins "except Sloth," and that he has instead been "sinfully diligent".
- False Rape Accusation: Courtesy of Babette Duplay, who claims he sexually assaulted her while she was visiting Etienne Panis' wife in Sèvres, where Danton's secondary residence is. The accusation is never brought to public light, however, and Danton never even finds out about it.
- Farm Boy: Comes from a respectable, though not well-off family in obscure, pastoral Arcis-sur-Aube. Fabre explicitly calls him this when they first meet.
- Fat Bastard: His bulky manual-laborer's build degenerates into corpulence as he ages.
- Foreign Culture Fetish: A collector of English literature and poetry, who also speaks several foreign languages fluently. One of his main regrets is that his choice of path in life restricts him from indulging in his wanderlust, expect when overseeing military campaigns in Belgium. This naturally gets used against him once the French Republic is officially at war with England, and serves as a contrast with the mildly-xenophobic Robespierre.Danton: It seems Robespierre reads no modern language but his own, which is a shame. I wonder, if we go to war with England, shall I have to hide my books of Shakespeare, my Adam Smith?
- Going Native: Camille accuses him of wanting to do this when he emigrates to England after the Orléanist coup fails. And since Danton hates Paris and spends as much time as possible in the country, it remains a significant source of anxiety for him.
- He-Man Woman Hater: "I'd rather be dead than a woman."
- Kavorka Man: Has a whole bevy of mistresses, despite being hideously disfigured and overweight.
- May–December Romance: With Louise Gély, who he marries when he is thirty-three and she is sixteen.
- Nominal Hero: Few of his traits are (morally) admirable by most metrics, and at best he's a decent, rather than particularly good, person.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: A combination of this trope and the above-mentioned 100% Adoration Rating is how he takes over the government in '91.
- Pride: His Fatal Flaw. Mme. Gély calls him
"the most arrogant man on Earth".Danton: No. They wouldn't dare.Albertine Marat: (mockingly) Oh, they wouldn't dare, wouldn't they? Tell me, Citizen, when were we ever wrong? - Rousing Speech: His specialty. Danton is an extraordinarily compelling public speaker who can effortlessly persuade an audience of almost anything. It makes him an excellent lawyer and highly desirable political ally, but his manipulative rhetorical tactics also get him branded a demogogue.
- Sentimental Drunk: Displayed on a few occasions, though he's more of an Existential Drunk.
- Sleazy Politician: He is definitely this, though like most assumptions about him the truth proves to be rather more complicated than that. He’s at peak-corruption during his tenure as Minister of Justice, but mellows out and becomes more self-reflective once the Terror starts to set in.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While Gabrielle is only moderately good-looking, Danton is described by several characters as the ugliest man they've ever seen.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Among the common people. Danton boasts that if every citizen had a vote, he could be King of France, and it's not an exaggeration.
- What You Are in the Dark: In the scene where Dumouriez offers to help him reinstate a constitutional monarchy. Danton politely refuses and prompty denounces Dumouriez at the Convention, saving his career and the Republic—but he doesn’t arrest him, allowing Dumouriez to flee the country.
- Younger Than They Look: Due to his facial scarring, massive build, and girth.Danton: She's sixteen, I'm only thirty-three. Marriages like that are made every day.M. Gély: We had thought you were older.
Camille Desmoulins
Maître Desmoulins, The Lanterne Attorney, My Lord Prosecutor to the Lanterne, Citizen Camille, Little Camille
- "I loathe firm government."
The neurotic, mercurial, sharp-tongued Enfant Terrible of the Revolution. Camille is also a lawyer. Noted for his uncanny ability to turn his personal associations into seriously enviable political advantage: Camille is Robespierre's best friend since childhood and Danton's closest political confidante (and later his official secretary). After retiring early from a failed career as a barrister, Camille finds his true calling as a radical pamphleteer and controversialist. He is particularly favored by Danton, quickly inserting himself as the preeminent propogandist for his faction–a situation which doesn't please everyone, as Camille is an infamous reprobate who can be absolute hell to work with. However, he is also incredibly intelligent and charming, and his unique talent for inspiring in others the extremes of love and hate does not go unnoticed by those more powerful than him. He also has a stutter.
- Arranged Marriage: With his cousin, Rose-Fleur Godard, but her father calls it off when he finds out that Camille slept with his (older, male) law professor.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Camille is a creature of whim, to put it mildly.
- Byronic Hero: Camille is a genius with excellent political instincts, natural charisma, and beauty. Too bad he's also fickle, lazy, spiteful, thoughtless, tempermental, and narcissistic.
- Cassandra Truth: In Part Five, Camille is the only one of the Montagnards to publicly denounce the Terror. He almost gets away with it.
- Daddy Issues: Definitely. Robespierre even suggests that his falling out with Mirabeau was a twisted projection of Camille’s anger at his father.
- Desperately Craves Affection: He’s motivated largely by the constant pursuit of validation, both positive and negative. This is also why he succumbs to Mirabeau, even knowing he's a grifter: Mirabeau gives him lots of attention and feeds his ego.
- Enemy Mine: With Marat, who sees him as a disappointment but knows Camille is his best chance for mainstream representation.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Cherubic, likable Camille has led mob riots, threatened to commit Suicide by Police and gotten dozens of innocent people killed.
- Forgets to Eat: Habitually, though it's particularly extreme during his writing binges, when he's described as "living on alcohol".
- Homoerotic Subtext: The main purveyor of this; in "Blackmail," Gabrielle outright states that Camille is in love with Danton.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Has this in spades; it usually manifests as a tendency to act entitled to praise.
- Kick the Dog: As the story goes on, Camille develops the unattractive tendency to verbally bully women he views as a threat, specifically Eléonore Duplay and Louise Danton.
- Ladykiller in Love: With Lucile. Though this doesn't stop him from having casual affairs, he has no romantic interest towards anyone else.
- My God, What Have I Done?: About being the architect of the Gironde’s downfall. “My friends are dead, and my words have killed them.”
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His moniker "The Lanterne Attorney," in reference to his infamous (technically anonymous) second pamphlet which endorsed the lynching of aristocrats by hanging them from street lanterns.
- No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: A firm believer in this. Camille is overjoyed when he hears a printer's shop has been ransacked for selling his pamphlets, saying it guarrantees him a second edition.
- Older Than They Look: Looks like a teenager all throughout his twenties, and looks like a young twentysomething well into his thirties. A rather dark application of this trope, considering how young he is when he dies.(Upon meeting Camille, who is twenty-nine years old)Abbé de Bourville: You haven't changed a bit. You look about nineteen.
- Pretty Boy: Boyishly handsome and slightly effeminate, in contrast with the brutish, rugged-looking Danton, as well as more conventionally handsome types like Hérault and Dillon.
- Refuge in Audacity: Camille's entire M.O. is this. It’s main reason he flies under the radar in the beginning; Camille’s republicanism was so fringe as to be laughable.
- Sarcastic Devotee: To Danton, though it’s subverted in that Camille does harbor genuine doubts about his sincerity at various points.
- Survivor's Guilt: It's suggested that Camille is dealing with some repressed Survivor's Guilt after his failure to save Suleau, and this gets turned up during the Terror.
- Teen Genius: Of the Brilliant, But Lazy variety.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Jean-Pierre Brissot and Anne Théroigne in the ‘80s. He falls out with both of them, and Camille eventually works to frame Brissot for treason.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Every character who knew Camille as a child constantly says this about him.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He's this deep down, but it's usually overshadowed by his vindictive streak.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: A frequent tactic of his. Danton accuses him of playing up his stutter to make himself seem more pitiable.
Maximilien Robespierre (né de Robespierre)
Thing, M. de Robespierre, Deputy Robespierre, The Candle of Arras, The Rabid Lamb, The Incorruptible, Saint Maximilien, Citizen Robespierre, Max, Maxime
- "Perhaps he is keeping something from me. People do tend to keep things from me."
A shy, mild-mannered, and diligent pro bono lawyer from Arras. The exact opposite of Danton in every arena except politics, Robespierre has many loyal associates but few friends. He is deeply earnest, austere, strident, self-serious, pedantic, and almost pathetically honest, traits which inspire both derision and admiration bordering on religious awe. A staunch idealist, Robespierre is obsessed with the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the concept of vertu, or civic virtue (hence his moniker "The Incorruptible"), and struggles with the constant denial of his associates' moral failings. Unlike Danton, he is neither charismatic nor likable, but Robespierre's quiet dignity and dry rectitude prove to have their own attractions.
He is extremely sickly, and plagued by bouts of illness.
- Accidental Misnaming: Characters often remark that his name is odd or difficult to remember, and Mirabeau refers to him as "Robespère," "Robertpère," "Robertspierre," and "Robinspère" over the course of their first conversation to drive home his Beneath Notice status.
- The Anti-Nihilist: A major part of his character. He’s the most religiously-inclined of the revolutionaries.
- Bastard Angst: The reason he never, ever, mentions his parents. It's unlikely even Camille knows this about him, as Max had lived with the Duplays for almost two years before they even learned his parents were dead.
- Berserk Button: Danton pushes his hard when he gloats to Robespierre about Camille "dabbling in sodomy" and implies that Camille is attracted to him. It's particularly effective because it fuses all of Robespierre's most sensitive and deep-seated issues: his obsession with moral perfection, his fear of the erotic, his perception of Danton as a corruptive influence, and his own feelings of inadequacy. Danton basically forces him to confront the fact that the people he loves and considers good aren't necessarily able or willing to conform to his moral code, completely shattering his projected "innocent" image of Camille. Robespierre finds this revelation to unbearably painful to consider and represses it, and this interaction becomes further emotional fodder against Danton.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Though he's socially inept, he's very pleasant and often tender once you've earned his trust. At worst he's condescending and snappish. However, he is single-minded and pitiless in pursuing his objectives.
- Butt-Monkey: As a deputy to the National Assembly. He's given the cruel appellations "The Rabid Lamb" and "The Candle of Arras" (comparing him unfavorably to Mirabeau, "The Torch of Provence") and the galleries constantly boo and heckle him when he speaks.
- Celibate Hero: In-universe he is famous for it, which earns him mockery (Danton calls him ‘The Great Eunuch’ and spreads a rumor that he’s impotent) but also allows him to lay claim to a Christian moral high ground, and benefits his reputation in the eyes of the more moralistic characters. In this version, Robespierre has only one serious, long-term sex partner (Eléonore).
- Crying Wolf: It’s implied that Robespierre is actually correct when he says that Lucile was always faithful to Camille, but by this point has erroneously denied his friends’ bad behavior so many times that Saint-Just immediately disbelieves him.
- Dark Secret: His illegitimate birth, and his family history in general.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the coldly logical Principles Zealot. His character shows the "principles" and "logic" parts as being contradictory and in constant conflict. Far from an robotic rationalist, Robespierre is in fact highly emotional, and its the combination of his deeply emotion-driven personal code and his ability to delude himself into believing he is acting rationally that motivate his most unthinkable actions, the latter being a psychological alibi for actions which are clearly motivated by vanity, circumstantial grudges, and personal predjudices.
- Delicate and Sickly: Chronically–he has asthma, anemia, and is physically frail. His various health problems worsen as the story continues: he develops stomach ulcers and facial tics from stress, lacks appetite, is bedridden every few months, and looks prematurely aged.
- Divorce Requires Death: He feels trapped into a relationship with Eléonore, but he sense of debt towards the Duplays is such that he can't bring himself to reject her. Robespierre laments to himself that even thought divorce is now legal, the only way he would be able to leave Eléonore is if one of them dies.
- Empty Shell: On an emotional level, this is what he has become by the end of the novel.Fouquier: He is ruined, corrupted. A savior bled dry. They have broken his heart.
- Fanboy: Of Rousseau. He's known and mocked for carrying around a pocket copy of Le Contrat social (which he will quote at length in conversation) and thinks Rousseau's novel La Nouvelle Heloïse is the greatest novel of the century. Camille even does an impression of him where he imagines Robespierre's copy of Le Contrat social saving him from being pierced by a musket ball.
- The Fettered: His primary character trait.Robespierre: I am forever coming into rooms and saying, "no, don't tell me," and "sweep that under the rug before I come in."
- Hates Being Touched: Or touching other people. One of his most striking points of contrast with Danton.Danton: I'll be on my best behavior, and I promise not to slap [Robespierre] on the back in that hearty man-to-man fashion he finds so terrifying.
- Hey, You!: Characters deliberately or accidentally forgetting (or mispronouncing) his unusual name is a Running Gag. His fellow students at the Louis-le-Grand call him "Thing," and the royalist newspapers mispell his name on purpose to insult him.
- Impoverished Patrician: Comes from a family of these, on his father's side. His mother's family were in the brewing trade.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Invoked, obviously, but the trope itself is averted: Robespierre has been thoroughly corrupted by the end, just not in the way you'd expect.
- Purity Personified: Deconstructed. On paper, Robespierre is the ideal politician: steadfastly honest, genuinely altruistic, sensitive, responsible, intelligent, and conscientious. Once he gains power, each of these qualities only serve to make him a crushing failure, and transform his sterling virtues into destructive weaknesses: his natural honesty also makes him extremely indecisive, his altruism turns him into an ideologue, sensitivity gives way to crippling self-doubt, what used to be perspicacity becomes paranoia. Adding in his pathological aversion to conflict is... not a recipe for stable governance. Even his stalwart belief in self-government is turned against him, as he becomes overwhelmed with responsibility and comes to increasingly rely on those he delegates, who share his ideology but not his scruples.Lindet: Robespierre is a dreamer, he's a prophet... but what record have prophets, as heads of government?
- Jade-Colored Glasses: He literally wears these, though the trope itself is averted hard.
- Love Ruins the Realm: He becomes convinced this will happen if he insists upon sparing Camille. He almost does so anyway, until his colleauges threaten to depose him.
- Manly Tears: Breaks down in tears at the Jacobins in his attempt to convince them to maintain Camille’s membership. The rare public display of emotion humanizes him, and he gets his way.
- Messianic Archetype: Invoked both in- and out-of-universe. Robespierre's character is constantly surrounded by religious metaphors and imagery.Camille: Then I revert to my former conviction. Clearly [Robespierre] is Jesus Christ. He has even deigned to be adopted by a carpenter.
- Near-Death Experience: During the Champ-de-Mars massacre, when he is accosted and almost murdered by French Guards.
- Photo Op Withthe Dog: In '93, when Danton is facing increasing scrutiny over his financial corruption, Robespierre gives a big try-hard speech to the Jacobin Club about how patriotic Danton is. Danton then does the same for him.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: Much of the the story’s development is concerned with showing how Robespierre goes from a place of absolute pacifism to the point where he is able to sanction the murder of his only real friend.
- Questionable Consent: Downplayed, but Eléonore’s plan to seduce him amounts to her ambushing him in his office nude, knowing he’ll be too afraid of offending her to refuse.
- The Reliable One: He’s considered to be an absolute black hole of charisma and generally a bore, but also unfailingly professional, levelheaded, and competent. This is in contrast to Camille, who is effortlessly charming and often scarily effective, but erratic and unreliable.
- Selective Obliviousness: Raises this to an art form. Danton calls him out on it in "Ambivalence":Danton: I don't believe you're really this naive. I think it's a tactic; I think you're being deliberately obtuse.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Extremely verbose and prone to run-on sentences. It doesn't help that he's a frankly terrible communicator in general.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: His "only luxury". While post-Revolution fashion values deliberate slovenliness (even Danton stops powdering his hair and often goes sans-cravat) Robespierre is always perfectly coiffed and decked out in full Ancien Régime regalia. Truth in Television.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: He considers this to be his most deeply-held conviction. As a deputy to the Assembly, he campaigns four times for the abolition of the death penalty (needless to say, without success). Also needless to say, he gets over it.
- Tranquil Fury: When he finds out Fabre's been playing him like a fiddle on the East India Company affair, he is so angry he cannot speak for several minutes.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: The book ends with him effectively doing this, having eliminated his only serious rival, Danton.
- Virgin-Shaming: A frequent target of this, especially from Danton. However, while he is notably sexually inexperienced, he’s not a virgin.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: How he justifies the Terror, though its complicated in that Robespierre does realize deep down that the "Republic of Virtue" is a pipe dream, but this revelation comes too late and Robespierre concludes that he is In Too Deep to makes a hardline switch toward clemency.
Characters primarily associated with Danton
In Troyes
Fabre d'Églantine
Citizen Fabre, Philippe Fabre
- "Basically, I am a humble man."
An eccentric traveling actor, playwright, director, painter, choreographer, portraitist, and unemployable amateur who adopted the surname "d'Églantine" to commemorate receiving an wreath of eglantine in a literary competition. In reality, Fabre is a charlatan and small-time financial fraudster, and the eglantine wreath story was made up. He meets the teenaged Danton sketching portraits in the streets in Troyes, and they are later reunited in Paris, where Fabre becomes friendly with Camille and a member of Danton's inner circle. As a person, Fabre is theatrical, unrepentantly greedy, and prone to hysterics, which has both the advantage of making him easily underestimated, but also the disadvantage of making him difficult to take seriously. Fabre thinks of himself as a 'man who makes Men,' and not entirely mistakenly: he takes it upon himself to train Danton's voice (with great success) and tries to school Camille out of his stutter (with less success). His relationship with Danton is greatly textured: vaguely paternal and slavishly loyal, but also contingent on the continued receipt of wealth and glory. In the early '80s, he and Camille run in the same social milieu and briefly collaborate on a pornographic novel, and Camille meets many of his friends though Fabre. However, after '91, their relationship becomes much more superficial, as Camille never really respected him. Danton knows that Fabre is a criminal but keeps him around anyway because Fabre is loyal, a decision he will eventually come to regret. In fact, it is the revelation of Fabre's role in the East India Company Fraud that marks the beginning of the end for Danton, as Saint-Just correctly identifies him as the key to discrediting the Dantonists. Nothing Fabre says can be trusted (probably). His real name is Philippe.
- Brick Joke: Whenever a song is whistled or sung (no matter how old or well-known) Fabre will claim to have composed it.
- Skewed Priorities: Gets a few comedic moments to this effect.Fabre: My only regret is that I did not finish The Maltese Orange. It had some beautiful verses in it. Now that talentless Collot will pass it off as his own. It'll be at the Italiens under that bastard plagiarist's name!
At the Cour de Commerce
Antoinette-Gabrielle Danton (née Charpentier)
- "There was a lot of very bad language that day."
Danton's first wife. A good-natured but unsophisticated half-Italian girl, Gabrielle's promised domestic tranquility curdles with the affairs of the Revolution. She is burdened by deep spiritual and ethical objections to Georges' activities, which she suppresses due to an upbringing that taught her always to acquiesce to her husband, but which manifest in depressive behavior and occasional lashing-out. As a result, Gabrielle confines herself with increasing fervor to the domestic sphere (which suits Georges fine), though this has only marginal success in assuaging her guilt. Despite the creature comforts it brings, her husband's rise to the top of the political world takes an irreparable toll on her psyche, as she endures being married to a man she increasingly comes to regard as a monster. Dies giving birth to her fourth child in 1792.
- Simple-Minded Wisdom: Gets these moments very frequently. Take for instance her astute and uncharacteristically pragmatic take on women's equality:Gabrielle: I don't see why men would bother going about saying how women are equal to them. It seems against their interests.
Louise Danton (née Gély)
Louise Gély, Mademoiselle Gély, Little Louise, Citizeness Danton
- "Hero's your vocation, is it?"
Danton's second wife, a pious, precocious young girl whose family lives upstairs from the Dantons, and formerly Gabrielle's close friend. After Gabrielle's death, Louise marries her former husband with the full intent of reforming him (and saving his immortal soul). She is more ruthless in this objective than Gabrielle ever was, but is very, very naive, managing to incur Camille's wrath but achieving little else. Nonetheless, Danton regards her with real appreciation for how different her perspective is from his own: she's female, she's in a completely different stage of life, and her life experience is totally alien to him. Louise is ten years old when she is introduced and sixteen by the story's conclusion.
- Butt-Monkey: Louise is conservative and not overly bright, which makes her a perfect target for Camille.
M. and Mme. Gély
- "Take pity on us, Monsieur."
François Robert
- "We've forgotten what they're like. The People. How cruel they are."
An impoverished lecturer-in-law and partisan of Danton's. A generous, sweet-natured, Enlightened spirit sickeningly in love with his wife, Louise. After moving in on the rue des Cordeliers, the young couple opens a delicatessen which serves as a front for their seditious newspaper, the Mercure Nationale. Gets picked up by French Guards during the storming of the Bastille, leading to a brief but traumatizing stint in prison which he never truly recovers from. By the end of '92, the Roberts are convicted of black-market speculation in rum, and while François' immunity is maintained, this results in the Roberts retiring to the provinces to be forgotten.
Louise Robert (née de Kéralio)
- "I'll stick a knife in the pig myself."
A novelist, born into the real nobility. Ostracized by her aristocratic family after falling in love with and marrying the penniless François Robert and moving to Paris. In her youth, became friendly with fellow Academy of Arras member Maximilien de Robespierre, whose families were acquainted despite their class differences, and tried unsuccessfully to convince him to abscond to Paris in the early '80s. Louise doesn't exactly regret deserting the cause after '92, in no small part due to her severe personal difficulties with Danton (who doesn't quite know what do with her as a woman who is happily married, has political thoughts, and isn't sleeping with him).
At the Café de l'École
François-Jérôme Charpentier
Danton's father-in-law and Inspector of Taxes. Owner of the Café du Foy, (a.k.a. the Café de l'École) which Danton and Camille frequent. At some point during the early '80s. Danton borrows an unspecified (but very sizable) amount of money from him in order to pay his ex-mistress's fiancé for the purchase of his legal practice, and (clandestinely) paternity of his illegitimate child.
Angélique Charpentier (née Angelica Soldini)
- "Dear son Georges, who shall it be this time? Who suffers this time?"
Danton's Italian mother-in-law. A practical, earthy, hard-boiled type. Danton practices his Italian with her.
At the Cour d'Assises
Jean-Marie Hérault de Séchelles
Hérault, Citizen Hérault
- "Look, I can't help my birth. I try to atone for it, see?"
A handsome young nobleman and legal dignitary who allies himself with Danton. A liberal reformer and initiate of the Queen's gambling circle, Hérault is the archetype of the idle young aristocrat with a latent adrenaline-junkie habit (he describes July 4, 1789 as "the happiest day of my life"). Well-traveled and a collector, he initially sees Danton as yet another curiosity he's acquired; eventually, it becomes clear that Hérault is the one who's been acquired. Regards Danton with something akin to morbid fascination which evolves in genuine (if politically necessary) loyalty. Maintains, like many of Danton's associates, a tempestuous relationship with Camille, with whom he has more in common than he'd like to admit. He is also the author of the political essay "A Theory of Ambition," and one of Lucile's admirers. Implicated in a treasonous conspiracy by his Austrian secretary Proli, Hérault returns from Alsace to a chilly welcome, though his pride prevents him from fleeing to save his life.
- The Ace: Good-looking, wealthy, sophisticated, charming, and a public intellectual.
- Idle Rich: Which Camille never gets tired of mocking him for. After the revolution, he becomes a politician and spends all his time gambling and getting high.
- Nightmare Fetishist: There are hints that Hérault shares Camille's slight masochistic streak. During the last few months of his life, Hérualt becomes obsessed with public displays of violence during the Terror: he attends the executions at the Place de la Révolution religiously, and seeks out the most horrific denunciations (parents against children, children against parents). He's trying to desenstitize himself to what he sees as the "humiliation" of death.Hérault: I am learning how to die.
- Stepford Smiler
Others
Robert Lindet
Citizen Lindet
- "I believe I am here to feed patriots, not murder them."
General Charles Dumouriez
- "We have reached the core of you, Danton. You are an idealist!"
A general in the French army, briefly Foreign Minister under Danton's Ministry of Justice. Offers to help Danton stage a royalist coup in '93. Though they are friends, Danton is forced to denounce him to save his career, and Dumouriez flees the country.
Deputy Lacroix
- "Was it worth it? For the Belgian girls?"
A Montagnard deputy who goes 'on mission' with Danton in Belgium in '92 and '93. Initially takes the fall for most of Danton's illegal activities abroad.
Etienne Panis
Claude Dupin
- "But do one thing for me, my dear. Stay away from Georges Danton."
A good-looking young bureaucrat who proposes marriage to Louise Gély. She is at first highly infatuated with him, but ends up rejecting him after Dupin's humiliating supper interview with Danton.
Marie-Madeleine Recordain
Characters primarily associated with Camille
At the rue Condé
Anne-Lucile Philippa Desmoulins (née Duplessis)
Citizeness Desmoulins, Lolotte, Lotte, Loup-loup
- "We want to be free, but oh God, the cost of it."
A beautiful, clever young bourgeoise, Camille's wife. Also the daughter of his lover, Annette Duplessis. After being rejected by her mother, Camille proposes marriage to Lucile, who developed a serious crush on him while he tutored her in Latin. Her parents forbid the union and they carry on a secret correspondence for over a year before Annette finally relents. An insufferably well-educated, sheltered girl with a lot of time on her hands, Lucile grows magnificently into her intellectual and sexual power at the same time that she develops a taste for the kind of psychological mind games Camille loves, at the expense of her respectable parents and various eligible young suitors. Bold, witty, self-possessed, as capricious as Camille, politically astute yet an incurable romantic, Lucile has all the handsomest and most important men in Paris on her string, and is the longtime object of Danton's lust. She spends her time writing in her diary, throwing parties, practicing piano, reading novels, and cultivating a scandalous reputation flirting with eminent men. Despite the rumors of her impressive promiscuity being mostly unfounded, she is regarded by her women acquaintances as a temptress, and her supposed conquests are the subject of endless fascination in the tabloid press. However, Lucile's questionable fidelity has no effect on her infatuation with Camille, whom she regards as her soulmate. Despite his on-again, off-again sexual pursuit of her, Danton considers her a close friend and she is probably the only woman he really respects.
- Lust Object: For Danton. And Fréron, and Hérault, and Dillon...
- Meal Ticket: Camille doesn't marry her for her money, but it's definite benefit:Mirabeau: Are you married?Camille: No, but in a way I am engaged.Mirabeau: Has she money?Camille: Quite a lot.Mirabeau: Good, excellent. One should live well, and at other peoples' expense if possible.–Gabrielle: You know he is a pauper?Lucile: Oh, that doesn't matter, I have money.Gabrielle: Well, he can't just live off your money!Lucile: Why not? Lots of men live off their wives' money; it's quite respectable in some circles.
- Second Love: To Camille.
- Will They or Won't They?: With Danton. They (probably) don't.
Claude Duplessis
- "...Just as soon as the present crisis is over."
Camille's father-in-law, a stuffy, beleaguered civil servant. Camille thinks of him as the embodiment of everything he most fears becoming: ineffectual, close-minded but not strong-willed, intrinsically unhappy and leading a passive life–in short, his father. Despite this, Camille makes habitual, futile bids for his approval. Claude resigns himself to living with Camille (whom as far as he's concerned ruined his life) the same way he resigns himself to everything which happens around him, but this attitude softens over the years, and he begins to think of his son-in-law somewhat affectionately, if not quite paternally. After seeing what the Terror reveals about Camille, Claude decides that Camille really is brave. And, unlike Camille's real father, Claude manages to get up the nerve to tell him this before it's too late.
Annette Duplessis
- "I should have had you put away in a convent. Busy with your plainchant, you wouldn't've been spying on people and practicing the art of manipulation."
Lucile's mother, rich and bored and thoroughly available despite being married. Upon being introduced to her family, Camille becomes obsessed with Annette and they develop a painful, consuming, sexually frustrated relationship with each other. Though she wants him, Annette's bourgeois proprietary habits die hard and she rejects his advances. She regrets this decision at first: to get back at her, Camille proposes marriage to her daughter, and in the following year the nasty cocktail of Annette's self-loathing and Lucile's teenage rebellions almost tears their family apart. As the years pass, Annette eventually looks back with satisfaction at the restraint she showed when Camille first kissed her, and their relationship grows more placid and stable with Annette even taking on some aspects of a mentorship role towards the newlyweds, though she remains very much in love with Camille.
- Stepford Smiler: Type 2, which Camille takes advantage of.Annette: What made you think in the first place that I would give up the security of my happy marriage for a hole-in-corner affair with you?Camille: I just really think you would.
- Proper Lady: Annette calls this trope "Splendid Woman" and cultivates a similar façade in her social life.
Mlle. Adèle Duplessis
- "You're a selfish little bastard, aren't you, Camille?"
Claude's elder, widowed daughter. Vaguely romantically linked with Robespierre, for whom she has unreciprocated feelings. Contrary to expectations, they never marry, and Robespierre becomes distanced from the Duplessis household as a result.
Others
Jean-Nicolas Desmoulins
- "If it's my heart, I blame Camille."
Camille's stiff, emotionally-crippled father. A lawyer in Guise, Picardy.
Dr. Jean-Paul Marat
The People's Friend
- "I wonder if they realize how dangerous we are... You with your sweet smile, and me with my sharp knife."
Editor of "The People's Friend." Marat is a strange, larger-than-life, and vaguely prophetic character who resides on the fringes of society. Notably, he is about twenty years older than the principal characters, and his prior history is the stuff of mystery and scandal: he performed dangerous experiments with electricity in London, he may have been an army physician, or perhaps (as Hérault speculates with a shudder) he was a tradesman who abandoned his wife and children to live as a vagabond and produce rabble-rousing writings? Marat is quite literally the aristocracy's worst nightmare: his life holds a unique type of horror for them, and he is the special bête noir of the Girondin faction. As for the rest: he is by a large margin the most mysterious and divisive character in the story, and almost everyone is at least a little afraid of him. Danton won't touch him with a ten-foot-pole, and Robespierre describes him as "spiritually ill" and struggles to reconcile the repulsion he feels for Marat with Marat's good opinion of him. However, he is most often seen interacting with Camille, whom he is trying to groom as his successor. The only certain things that can be said about him are that he represents the anarchist wing of the Left, and that he is a withered old misanthrope who never has a good word to say about anyone. Camille becomes disillusioned with him very early on, but they maintain a symbiotic relationship in which Camille informs on him for Danton with his knowing consent. Famously, he is assassinated in his home by Charlotte Corday in 1793, after which the "rue des Cordeliers" is renamed the "rue Marat." However, the spectre of his influence continues to haunt those who survive him. After his murder, Marat is widely propoganized as a symbol of revolutionary martyrdom, and a few months after his death his life has already taken on the quality of myth.
- Brutal Honesty: With emphasis on "brutal". Marat will tell you to your face exactly what he thinks of you, and chances are, you won't like it.
- The Eeyore: It's difficult to find a line of his that isn't a criticism, insult, or complaint of some sort.
Louis Suleau
- "Ask Max Robespierre. Ask the man with the conscience what matters more, his old pals or his new principles."
Suleau is a beloved old school friend of Camille’s. A royalist and a reactionary, Suleau is Camille’s warmest admirer in private and his fiercest critic in public. Editor of the royalist newspaper “More Acts of the Apostles,” a rival to Camille’s “Révolutions de France”. Though Camille offers him no-questions-asked clemency during the August uprising, he refuses and is shot by Anne Théroigne at the Tuileries. Camille witnesses his murder, and never really gets over it.
Stanislàs Fréron
Rabbit
- "We who want to change things are nothing but second-rate writers, Madame."
Named after his great-grandfather the King of Poland, Fréron is another of Camille’s old school comrades, noted to be exceptionally well-connected. Editor of a literary periodical, and Camille's first 'patron,' their relationship is marred by Fréron's sexual obsession with Lucile and what he views as Camille's persistent ingratitude towards him. One of the original members of the Cordeliers Battalion with Danton, Hérualt, Fabre, and Camille. He survives the Dantonist purge, and subsequent to the end of the series, Fréron deserts the cause and becomes one of the most infamous figures of the Terror, leading roaming gangs of vandals through the streets of Paris, persecuting Jacobins.
- Dogged Nice Guy: To Lucile. At least, he sees himself as this.
General Arthur Dillon
- "Here's to liberty! So long as we may be, you know… at liberty to enjoy it."
An aristocratic general in the French army, and governor of Tobago. An Irishman by birth, Dillon is considered the handsomest man in Paris, though has the look and manners of a caricature aristocrat. He is close with the Desmoulins', both of whom he is believed to be sleeping with. Dillon is imprisoned on charges of conspiracy twice; the first time, Camille uses his influence to get him out, the second time he is not so lucky. He is ultimately tried and executed alongside Lucile Desmoulins, his supposed mistress, a few weeks after Camille himself.
Anne Théroigne de Méricourt
Théroigne is first introduced as an opera singer by trade and Fabre's mistress. Born in Liège (in present-day Belgium) under the name "Anne Terwagne," Anne styled herself "Théroigne de Méricourt" and spent her youth traveling and being kept by men of various rank and position. Meets Camille sometime before '89 and they have an instant connection, and after the July uprising she becomes an unofficial member of the staff of his newspaper, "Révolutions de France". Because she is a woman, Théroigne is relentlessly slandered and degraded in the royalist press, and thanks to "More Acts of the Apostles" she is believed to be a prostitute and Camille's doxy. On August 10th, Théroigne takes it upon herself to execute Suleau, the man who ruined her life. Sometime after, she is captured by the Austrian emperor's troopes, and during her imprisonment is gang-raped by his soldiers. When she returns to Paris in '91, Théroigne has lost her looks and develops severe mental issues. Distressed to find that Camille wants nothing to do with her after the Suleau incident, she ultimately decides to become a martyr and throws in her lot with Brissot at his trial. It fails, as she is considered too insignificant to be tried with the rest of the Brissotins. After Danton's fall, Théroigne is confined to the prison-asylum of La Salpêtrière by her brother, where she dies of illness in 1817.
Pierre Philippeaux
A journalist who writes a pamphlet against the government during the Terror. An analogue to Camille, though unlike the latter, his fate is fairly predictable.
Characters primarily associated with Robespierre
At the rue saint-Honoré
Maurice Duplay
Citizen Duplay
A humble middle-aged carpenter. Rescues and shelters Maximilien Robespierre in his home during the Champ-de-Mars massacre, and from then on devotes his life to him.
Mme. Françoise Duplay
Mlle. Eléonore "Cornélia" Duplay
Cornélia, Citizeness Robespierre, The Widow Robespierre
- "I don't play with dead things, Maximilien."
Duplay's eldest daughter, whom her father is grooming to marry Maximilien Robespierre. Meek, plain, and pretentious, Eléonore is the frequent object of mockery in Danton's circle (especially from Camille) who regard her an unsophisticated groupie ineptly chasing Robespierre, who is oblivious to her at first. Max doesn't love her and sleeps with her out of pity, but regards her as a valuable advisor. She is an art student, studying under their mutual friend, Jean-Louis David. Cold and polite to Camille, for whom she secretly harbors intense jealousy. Goes by the name "Cornélia," as she feels it is more classically beautiful.
Mlle. Victoire Duplay
Duplay's middle daughter, painfully shy.
Mlle. Elisabeth "Babette" Duplay
Duplay's youngest daughter, unassuming but pretty. Marries Philippe Lebas, a young left-wing deputy favored by Robespierre.
Souberbielle
Robespierre's doctor, and a juror for the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Brount
Robespierre's dog.
The Committee of Public Safety
Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just
Citizen Saint-Just, Archangel of the Revolution, Angel of Death, Sans-culotte Christ
- "Happiness is a new idea in Europe."
The Committee of Public Safety's notorious "Angel of Death". Saint-Just is unusally young and uncommonly handsome, and becomes exceptionally powerful. He is of the generation that came of age during the Revolution, a fact he hates being reminded of, and is contemptuous of everyone except Max, to whom he is utterly devoted. Robespierre regards him as a promising if somewhat rash youth, and though they are very different, he shares Robespierre's hatred of being laughed at. A fellow disciple of vertu, Saint-Just's "Spartan" ideal emphasizes austerity and logic. He is aloof, unpleasant and a little bit enigmatic, though his motivations betray a deep immaturity which Max trusts him too much to really acknowledge. Camille "knows" they're related but "can't think how" (Saint-Just vehemently denies this).
- Intergenerational Friendship: A downplayed example with Robespierre, who is more than a decade his senior.
- The Sociopath: Though it's strongly implied to be at least partially an act.
- Young and in Charge: The worst imaginable outcome of this trope. The real Saint-Just died at age 26.
Billaud-Varennes
- "Because I can't compromise."
Collot d'Herbois
Citizen Collot
Antoine Fouquier-Tinville
Hermann of Arras
Lazare Carnot
Organizer of Victory
The Committee of General Security
Vadier
The Inquisitor
Philippe Lebas
Others
Jacques-Louis David
A painter.
Grandfather Carraut
Mlle. Charlotte Robespierre
- "Do you want them to have a Revolution just to please you?"
- You Should Have Died Instead: A lot of her issues stem from the deep-seated anxiety that Max loved their dead sister Henriette more, and secretly wishes she had been the one to die.
Augustin Robespierre
- "I do feel sorry for my brother. Things are never what they seem to be with him."
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish to Maximilien's Responsible.
- Literal-Minded:Augustin: It's strange to think he could be sitting in a café in Vienna at this very moment, reading about Max in the papers.Duplay: If he's anywhere in the civilized world and he can read, I'm sure he has.Augustin: Oh, he can read.
Mlle. Henriette de Robespierre
Maximilien's youngest sister, who died of a hemorrhage at age nineteen.Politicians called "Brissotins" or "Girondins"
Jean-Pierre Brissot
Pierre Verignaud
- "I am not a Brissotin."
Verignaud is a long-suffering, set-in-his-ways, middle-aged diplomat. He is an distinguished orator, and the only member of the Gironde that Danton respects, as he recognizes they are very alike. They make several short-term alliances, with varying degrees of transparency within their respective factions.
- Surrounded by Idiots
- Worthy Opponent: To Danton.Camille: (on Verignaud) Mark that. That is the spark of self-regard.Danton: Oh, but I like seeing a man do what he is good at.
Jérôme Pétion
Jean-Marie Roland, Minister of the Interior
The Virtuous Roland
Manon's husband. A soft moderate, known as "The Virtuous Roland". He is elderly, and the Dantonists propagandize him as a senile, emasculated mediocrity who demurs to the every whim of his uppity wife.
- Butt-Monkey
- Driven to Suicide: Quietly slits his wrists at his country home when he learns Manon has been executed.
Mme. Marie-Jeanne "Manon" Roland
Our Roman Lady, Madame Roland, Roland's wife, The Beauteous Manon, Queen Coco
- "There shall be no gaming-houses in the Republic. No, it shall not be permitted."
A renowned author, and the young Trophy Wife of Jean-Marie Roland, with whom she has one child, a daughter. Born in Paris, Manon has spent most of her life in Lyon, carrying on a correspondence with Brissot, who calls her his "Roman Lady". Manon returns to Paris for her husband's political career in '89, when she forms a salon with the other future members of the Gironde (plus Robespierre). Good-looking but haughty and obnoxiously self-righteous, with an iron will. Falls in love with young Deputy Buzot and pursues a highly publicized emotional affair with him, though she refuses to be sexually unfaithful to her husband. The real voice of the Brissotin faction in the press, Manon is both a committed anti-monarchist and an open critic of Danton, whom she simultaneously fears and eroticizes.
- Female Misogynist
- Lust Object: She's regarded as a beauty, and Brissot and Pétion are both pretty blatantly attracted to her.
- Never Live It Down: Once published an article in Camille's journal, which is deeply embarrassing to her. He never lets her forget it.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Boy, is she ever! Schmoozes apathetic Robespierre and antagonizes Danton, though the latter is significantly more likely to spare her (being both more sympathetic to her views and ambivalent about killing women).
Jean-Baptiste Louvet
- "I accuse you."
Another Brissotin deputy, widely known and mocked for having previously authored a pornographic novel, Faublas. In October 1792, Louvet denounces Robespierre before the Convention; this backfires on him largely thanks to Danton and Marat, and Robespierre's sway in the Convention is entrenched further.
François-Léonard Buzot
The Marquis de Condorcet
The Orléanists
Philippe, Duke of Orléans, Prince of the Blood
The Duke, Good Duke Philippe, Philippe Égalité, Citizen Égalité
- "Oh God. Laclos is going to kill me."
Félicité de Genlis
Agnès de Buffon
Grace Elliot
The Duke's Scottish mistress, and later Danton's. A spy for the British Foreign Office.
Assorted Characters
The Court
Queen Marie-Antoinette of France
Madame Deficit, Madame Veto, Madame Capet, The Capet woman, The Capet whore, The King's wife
- "We must show character."
The famous profligate queen. Marie-Antoinette in this version is portrayed mainly through the lens of her antagonism with Lafayette, the two of whom are the competing strategists behind Versailles' response to the insurrection (and later the Constitution). Among the revolutionaries, she is only ever referred to as "Capet's wife" or "the Capet woman".
- Expecting Someone Taller: Camille has this reaction to seeing her at her trial.
- Ungrateful Bitch: To Lafayette, whom she despises despite the fact that he has saved her life several times and is one of the few important people who gives a damn about her.
