# The Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh — Candide character guide

> The Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh in Candide by Voltaire.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The Baron, Baron, the Jesuit Baron de Thunder-ten-tronckh, Westphalian Baron

**First appearance:** 0001-candide

## Snapshot

A Westphalian lord whose castle gate and windows pass for grandeur, he rules his household as proof that this is the best of all possible worlds.

## Who they are

The Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh presides over the small, self-satisfied universe of Candide's childhood, where his tapestry-hung hall and pack of farmyard hounds are treated as evidence of cosmic order. His vanity is structural, not incidental: he laughs at his own stories, tolerates no rival to his rank, and expels Candide for kissing Cunégonde, an act that shatters the boy's paradise. That banishment launches the entire picaresque, making the Baron the first agent of the disillusionment the book will spend its length examining.

## In the story

### [How Candide Was Brought Up in a Magnificent Castle, and How He Was Expelled Thence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/i-how-candide-was-brought-up-in-a-magnificent-castle-and-how-he-was-expelled-thence)

A powerful Westphalian lord who discovers Candide kissing his daughter and expels Candide from the castle with kicks.

### [IV: How Candide Found His Old Master Pangloss, and What Happened to Them](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/iv-how-candide-found-his-old-master-pangloss-and-what-happened-to-them)

Reported killed by Bulgarian soldiers while trying to defend his daughter.

### [XIV: How Candide and Cacambo Were Received by the Jesuits of Paraguay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/xiv-how-candide-and-cacambo-were-received-by-the-jesuits-of-paraguay)

Revealed as the Jesuit Commandant in Paraguay, alive and well.

### [XV: How Candide Killed the Brother of His Dear Cunégonde](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/xv-how-candide-killed-the-brother-of-his-dear-cun-gonde)

Reveals himself as a Jesuit colonel in Paraguay; insults Candide and is killed by him.

### [XVI: Adventures of the Two Travellers, with Two Girls, Two Monkeys, and the Savages Called Oreillons](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/xvi-adventures-of-the-two-travellers-with-two-girls-two-monkeys-and-the-savages-called-oreillons)

Referenced as the Jesuit officer Candide killed, whose spoils Candide wears, leading to the Oreillons' initial mistake.

### [XVIII: What They Saw in the Country of El Dorado](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/xviii-what-they-saw-in-the-country-of-el-dorado)

Referenced by Candide when comparing El Dorado to the Baron's castle.

### [Chapter XXVII: Candide's Voyage to Constantinople](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/xxvii-candide-s-voyage-to-constantinople)

Found as a galley slave, ransomed by Candide, and acknowledges his debt with a nod.

### [Chapter XXVIII: What Happened to Candide, Cunégonde, Pangloss, Martin, etc.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/xxviii-what-happened-to-candide-cun-gonde-pangloss-martin-etc)

Recounts his capture by Spanish troops, imprisonment, and condemnation to the galleys for bathing naked with a young Mussulman.

### [Chapter XXIX: How Candide Found Cunégonde and the Old Woman Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/chapters/xxix-how-candide-found-cun-gonde-and-the-old-woman-again)

Pales at seeing Cunégonde; refuses to allow her marriage to Candide, insisting on a baron.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/characters/baron_thunder_ten_tronckh
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/candide_se/characters