Characters / The Scarlet Pimpernel

Lady Marguerite Blakeney

• Ascended Fangirl: Fangirl-ing over The Scarlet Pimpernel, later realises she married him and joins his adventures.
• The Atoner: The second half of the book is all about how she feels she must atone for betraying her husband.

• Determinator: Follows Chauvelin's cart, barefoot, for miles.

• High-Heel–Face Turn: see Ascended Fangirl. Blackmailed to find and expose the Scarlet Pimpernel, ends up as one of his sidekicks.

• Loves My Alter Ego: To her husband. Loves the Alter Ego while belittling his Upper-Class Twit persona. Played with a bit, since it's suggested that deep down she genuinely does love her husband and is deeply hurt by the fact that he doesn't appear to reciprocate after she confessed her role in the deaths of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family, causing her to lash out.

• Ojou: A very classy and fashionable young lady of great repute.

• Sadistic Choice: Her brother will be executed or she will find her idol and put him in her brother's place in the hangman's noose.

• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: She can be rather blunt concerning Sir Percy.
• What Does She See in Him?: The fashionable world can't see why, of all her suitors, she married an idiot like Sir Percy.

Sir Percy Blakeney (The Scarlet Pimpernel)

• Agent Peacock: He dresses to outshine the girls, appears late at balls because he lost his time trying to tie his cravat just right, and generally dismissed as a fop. Has snagged the hottest redhead in Europe as his wife, and all the ladies fawn over him, his Camp posturing, and his slender white hands that are dainty enough to pass as a woman's. Also happens to be the ultra-badass secret vigilante who pulls off daring rescues of French aristocrats on a regular, if not daily, basis.
• Batman Gambit: Pulls these on Chauvelin at least once a book.

• Clark Kenting: How he disguises himself while abroad.
• Color Character: The Scarlet Pimpernel

• Dating Catwoman: Essentially married Selina Kyle before she revealed she was Catwoman.
• Deadpan Snarker: Usually at Chauvelin's expense.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Towards his wife, more so in their Back Story.
• Famed In-Story: Scarlet Pimpernel is a legendary figure in contemporary France and Britain. Sir Percy is rather famous as well — as a member of British aristocracy.
• The Gadfly: Has his moments, such as when he pulls a pepper prank on Chauvelin, or a Stealth Hi/Bye. Also the time when he wrote and recited his own theme poem.
• Genius Bruiser: It's often commented on that he's a very tall, well-built man, and the intelligence goes without saying.
• Hidden Depths: He acts foppish, but he's skilled in combats and he's extremely fit.

• Master Actor: Percy is able to pass as a soldier, (female) merchant, Gentle Giant, or just about anything else.
• Master of Disguise: It's how he is able to save everyone.
• Nerves of Steel: He can hold his nerves and he stays calm even when he's in danger of being discovered.
• Non-Idle Rich: He plays Idle Rich, but he's actually an aristocrat who does important and heroic things.

• Obfuscating Stupidity: He plays The Ditz to maintain his secret identity, but he's extremely intelligent.

• Secret Identity: He's the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Probably the inspiration for Batman-certainly, he can pull these off nearly as well when he has to.

• Super Hero: Trope Codifier if not the Trope Maker. Certainly, while he hasn't got actual superpowers the Badass Normal style of superhero such as Batman owes the Pimpernel a great debt.
• Upper-Class Twit: In order to cast off suspicion, he presents himself as an unintelligent man interested only in fashion. Though in this case there is some Unbuilt Trope in play; Lord Percy's foppishness isn't a mask, he actually is that vain and obsessed with fashion, and he isn't fighting for some higher cause, but only to satisfy his own need for excitement and stimulation.
• Warrior Poet: Wrote his own theme song (well, poem).

Sir Andrew Ffoulkes

• Beta Couple: With Suzanne de Tournay.
• The Lancer: Pimpernel's second in command and Percy's best friend.

• Number Two: In the League.
• Rescue Romance: With Suzanne de Tournay.
• Secret-Keeper: Along with the rest of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
• Sidekick: Sir Percy's sidekick.

Chauvelin

• Arch-Enemy: For Pimpernel and his League.

• Blackmail: How he forces Marguerite to act against her idol, Scarlet Pimpernel.
• Defector from Decadence: As he would see it, having renounced his title of Marquis and joined the revolutionaries.

• Evil Laugh: Does this a lot in Book 1.
• Genre Blind: Where do we start — his insistence on capturing the Scarlet Pimpernel alive for a grand spectacle of an execution at the guillotine? Why not Just Shoot Him?
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The historical Marquis de Chauvelin was the deputy French ambassador to Britain in 1792. Chauvelin the character has almost nothing else in common with him.

• It's Personal: His repeated failures to capture the Pimpernel mean that his power and influence steadily decrease through the series. This leads him to become increasingly obsessed with getting revenge on the Pimpernel.

• Morality Pet: His daughter Fleurette in Sir Percy Hits Back

• Promoted to Love Interest: For Marguerite in several adaptations.

• Sadistic Choice: His specialty — "either...or"
• Smug Snake: He's not without cunning, but he's frequently described as a rather weaselly, sneering sort with an almost permanent sarcastic expression and manner.

• Villainous Breakdown: In The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel

• You Have Failed Me For The Last Time: The Elusive Pimpernel

Collot d'Herbois

• Death Trap: Designed a particularly gruesome Drowning Pit called the "Noyades."

Robespierre

Leader of post-Revolution French government which is self-dubbed as Reign of Terror.

• Historical Domain Character: It is the only safe thing to be said about him.

Theresia Cabarrus

• Evil Counterpart: To Marguerite

• Historical Domain Character: Though the name of the historical figure is usually spelt 'Theresa', with no 'i'.

• Sweet Polly Oliver: When posing as a refugee, she arrives in Dover disguised as a soldier.

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