The Comte de Rochefort is a secondary fictional character in
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright.
His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
' ''
d'Artagnan Romances''. He is described as approximately 40 to 45 years old in 1625 and "fair with a scar across his cheek".
In ''The Three Musketeers''
Known throughout the novel as "The Man from
Meung", his first appearance is in the opening chapter of ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1844). He insults
d'Artagnan and steals his letter of recommendation to
Monsieur de Tréville, causing d'Artagnan to swear revenge.
He reappears from time to time as the story progresses. D'Artagnan regularly sees Rochefort and tries to catch him, but each time Rochefort skillfully vanishes into the street crowds of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. D'Artagnan does not meet him again or learn his name until the end of the novel. It is Rochefort who kidnaps Constance Bonacieux and it is eventually revealed that he is the other main agent, in addition to
Milady de Winter, of
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
. He is sent by Richelieu to escort Milady de Winter in some of her missions. At the end of the novel, Rochefort tries to arrest d'Artagnan for the cardinal; Richelieu eventually orders the men to become friends. In the epilogue, it is revealed that Rochefort and an older and wiser d'Artagnan fought on three occasions, all duels being won by d'Artagnan, settling their differences and becoming friends.
In ''Twenty Years After''
Rochefort reappears in the 1845 sequel, ''
Twenty Years After''. He falls out of favor with Richelieu's successor
Mazarin and spends five years in the
Bastille
The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...
. When Mazarin dismisses him from service for being too old, he joins the side of the
Frondeurs. He aids
Athos in freeing the Duke of Beaufort and reappears in the end at the riot against Mazarin's return. Unable to recognize his friend in the chaos, d'Artagnan kills Rochefort, as he had predicted he would if they fought a fourth time.
In other fiction
The Comte de Rochefort was the subject of an earlier novel, ''Mémoires de M.L.C.D.R.'' (''Memoirs of Monsieur Le Comte de Rochefort'') written in 1678 by
Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras
Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras (1644, Montargis – 8 May 1712, Paris) was a French novelist, journalist, pamphleteer and memorialist.
His abundant output includes short stories, gallant letters, tales of historical love affairs (''Les Intrigu ...
. Courtilz de Sandras also wrote ''Mémoires de M. d'Artagnan'' (1700). Dumas combined the two, replacing an aristocrat named Rosnay from the d'Artagnan story with the Comte de Rochefort.
*A thug nicknamed Rochefort plays the role in the 1993 book ''
The Club Dumas'' by
Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
*Rochefort is the narrator and protagonist of
Mary Gentle's 2003 novel ''1610: A Sundial in a Grave''.
*Rochefort appears in
Jason Sæterøy's 2008 graphic novel ''The Last Musketeer'' in which he colludes with the Emperor of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
to invade Earth.
*Rochefort is an important character in ''The Cardinal's Blades'', a historical fantasy trilogy by
Pierre Pevel set in the early 17th century.
*Rochefort appears in
Tansy Rayner Roberts' science fiction retelling ''
Musketeer Space'', renamed Rosnay Cho. She is an agent in the service of the Cardinal, and the love interest of protagonist Dana Dartagnan.
*Rochefort's son appears as a hero in Louis XIV's court in Count Rochefort in the Seven Circles of Satan by Frank Schildiner.
In film and television
In film Rochefort has been played by:
*
Boyd Irwin in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1921)
*
Ullrich Haupt in ''
The Iron Mask'' (1929)
*
Ian Keith in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1935) and ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1948)
*
Lionel Atwill in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1939)
*
Guy Delorme in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1961)
*
Christopher Lee in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1973), ''
The Four Musketeers'' (1974) and ''
The Return of the Musketeers'' (1989).
*
Boris Klyuyev
Boris Vladimirovich Klyuyev (; 13 July 1944 — 1 September 2020) was a Soviet and Russian actor and theatre teacher. He served as one of the lead actors of the Maly Theatre from 1969 to 2020 and taught acting technique in Shchepkin Higher Thea ...
in ''
D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers
''D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers'' (, ''D'Artanyan i tri mushketyora'') is a three-part swashbuckler musical miniseries produced in the Soviet Union and first aired in 1978. It is based on the 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' by Alexandre Dum ...
'' (1978)
*
Michael Wincott in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1993)
*
David Schofield in ''
The Musketeer'' (2001)
*
Mads Mikkelsen
Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. He rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the Pusher (film series), ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Detective Sergea ...
in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (2011)
*
Marc Warren in the BBC TV series ''
The Musketeers'' (2015), replacing
Peter Capaldi's
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
.
Film incarnations tend to depict Rochefort as a far darker character than in the novel and often extend his role. D'Artagnan kills Rochefort in a duel in ''The Four Musketeers'', though he turns up alive in ''The Return of the Musketeers'', only to die for real in a gunpowder explosion intended for and partially triggered by the musketeers; the character suffers the same fate in the 1993 film. In his three appearances as Rochefort,
Christopher Lee wore an
eyepatch, intended to make the character look more sinister. The eyepatch, a departure from Rochefort's appearance in Dumas' novel, was deemed striking enough to be retained in several other film adaptations: Wincott, Mikkelsen, and, eventually, Warren retained it in their portrayals as did the
anime version.
Tim Roth's Febre, the main villain of ''
The Musketeer'', also wears an eyepatch, though Rochefort does not.
In the cartoon series ''
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds'', Rochefort has a scar on his forehead rather than his cheek. Throughout the series, the title character often calls him "Black Moustache".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochefort, Comte de
Characters in The Three Musketeers
Fictional counts and countesses
Fictional French spies
Fictional spies in literature
Male film villains
Male literary villains