# Vautrin — Father Goriot character guide

> Vautrin in Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** M. Vautrin, Jacques Collin, Trompe-la-Mort

**First appearance:** 0001-father-goriot

## Snapshot

A burly, jovial boarder at the Maison Vauquer whose knowing talk and generous purse conceal a career far darker than his manners suggest.

## Who they are

Vautrin dominates the boarding-house table with wit, appetite, and unsettling insight into how Paris really works, singling out Rastignac as a young man worth teaching. He preaches a doctrine of ruthless self-interest and offers a devil's bargain that would make his protégé rich overnight. His presence turns the shabby pension into a stage where the novel's questions about law, crime, and social hypocrisy become dangerously concrete.

## Relationships

### [Eugène de Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/eugene_de_rastignac)

_psychological_

Vautrin manipulates and tempts Eugène with cynical schemes for wealth, acting as a dark mentor and psychological puppeteer.

### [Victorine Taillefer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/victorine_taillefer)

_psychological_

Vautrin coldly plots to use Victorine as a pawn in his scheme to have Eugène marry her for her father's fortune.

### [Delphine de Nucingen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/delphine_de_nucingen)

_psychological_

Vautrin observes and manipulates Delphine from afar as part of his larger schemes, viewing her as a tool to control Eugène.

### [Eugène de Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/eugene_de_rastignac)

_psychological_

Vautrin manipulates and tempts Eugène with cynical schemes for wealth, acting as a dark mentor and psychological puppeteer.

### [Eugène de Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/eugene_de_rastignac)

_psychological_

Vautrin manipulates and tempts Eugène with cynical schemes for wealth, acting as a dark mentor and psychological puppeteer.

### [Delphine de Nucingen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/delphine_de_nucingen)

_psychological_

Vautrin observes and manipulates Delphine from afar as part of his larger schemes, viewing her as a tool to control Eugène.

### [Victorine Taillefer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/victorine_taillefer)

_psychological_

Vautrin coldly plots to use Victorine as a pawn in his scheme to have Eugène marry her for her father's fortune.

### [Victorine Taillefer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/victorine_taillefer)

_psychological_

Vautrin coldly plots to use Victorine as a pawn in his scheme to have Eugène marry her for her father's fortune.

### [Delphine de Nucingen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/delphine_de_nucingen)

_psychological_

Vautrin observes and manipulates Delphine from afar as part of his larger schemes, viewing her as a tool to control Eugène.

## In the story

### [Father Goriot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/chapters/father-goriot)

Reveals Goriot's actions to Rastignac and cynically explains the corrupt nature of Parisian society.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/vautrin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters