The Confessions of Arsène Lupin · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Confessions of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Arsène Lupin
major
Also known as Lupin, Arsène Lupin, M. Arsène Lupin, Master Lupin, Horace Velmont, Lupin de Sarzeau-Vendôme
Lupin moves through Paris as a phantom son-in-law, mailing flowers, planting newspaper notices, and letting the Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme exhaust himself with rage. He claims he will sign the marriage settlement blind, without knowing the dowry — a gesture so disinterested it can only be a trap. His genius is psychological: he does not steal the duke's fortune so much as 'nurse' him toward a blunder, and the early stories hinge on watching respectable people lose their heads while Lupin keeps his.
Chief Inspector Ganimard
supporting
Also known as Ganimard, M. Ganimard, Chief-inspector Ganimard
Ganimard belongs to the police who are publicly humiliated whenever Lupin strikes, and his name becomes shorthand for honorable futility. In the Dugrival affair, a pickpocket impersonates him in broad daylight, robbing a man who then shoots himself — and the newspapers blame the police, not the impostor. Ganimard's stubbornness is his virtue and his curse: he keeps returning, keeps accusing, and keeps giving Lupin the foil he needs to look brilliant.
Yvonne d'Origny
supporting
Also known as Yvonne
Yvonne is the prize in a war of nerves she did not choose, her wedding announcements printed before any wedding exists. She answers her father gently, urging him to forget 'this silly business,' but the business is her whole future, and Lupin's campaign makes her a spectacle. Her quiet reasonableness against the duke's apoplectic pride gives the early arc its emotional center: the question is not whether Lupin wins, but what it costs the woman whose name he borrows.
Angélique de Sarzeau-Vendôme
supporting
Also known as Mademoiselle Angélique de Sarzeau-Vendôme, Angélique, de Sarzeau-Vendôme
Angélique grew up reading old romances in the ancestral presses, imagining life as a fairytale where the right bridegroom eventually arrives. When Lupin's invitations and newspaper stunts scandalize her father, she smiles and calls it a hoax, even as the duke rages that her name has been bandied about Paris. Her detachment is both armor and appetite: she refuses her cousins because they want her millions, and she may be the only person in the house who finds the gentleman burglar more interesting than appalling.
Gabriel
supporting
Also known as M. Gabriel, Angel Gabriel
Gabriel stands beside his widowed aunt at the moment she raises her hand and vows to avenge her husband's death, hatred already written on his face. He whispers his own oath to pursue the murderer, and the newspapers make him part of the tragedy's iconography. Then the flat is broken into, the fifty thousand francs vanish, and Gabriel is found bound and gagged while his aunt bleeds out in the next room — a witness whose silence makes him either victim or something far more unsettling.
Farmer Goussot
minor
Also known as old Goussot, Goussot, the Goussot, the brothers Goussot, Mother Goussot
A farmer and his family caught up in Lupin's schemes.
Jeanne Darcieux
supporting
Also known as Jeanne, Darcieux
Jeanne belongs to the world of Lupin's smaller, crueler puzzles, where a scarf can be a clue, a threat, or a gift depending on who is holding it. She is young, watched, and vulnerable in a way that makes the reader want to know who is protecting her and who is circling. Her story matters because it shows the burglar's methods at close range: the same ingenuity that humiliates dukes can decide whether a girl is saved or sacrificed.
Maître Valandier
minor
Also known as Maître Valandier
A notary or legal figure involved in Lupin's affairs.
Colonel Sparmiento
minor
Also known as Colonel Sparmiento, Colonel, Sparmiento
A military man with a role in the shadow sign storyline.
Charles d'Ernemont
minor
Also known as Charles, Charles d'Ernemont
A member of the d'Ernemont family, connected to Lupin's marriage.
M. Prévailles
minor
Also known as A certain M. Prévailles, This M. Prévailles, M. Prévailles, Prévailles
A character involved in the wedding ring mystery.
Nicolas Dugrival
minor
Also known as Nicolas Dugrival, Dugrival
A member of the Dugrival family, involved in the infernal trap.
M. Dudouis
minor
Also known as M. Dudouis, Dudouis
A police official working with Ganimard.
Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme
minor
Also known as The Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme, Jean Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme, Duc Jean
The duke of the Sarzeau-Vendôme family, connected to Lupin's lineage.
Louise d'Ernemont
minor
Also known as Louise, Louise d'Ernemont
A member of the d'Ernemont family, involved in Lupin's marriage.
Edith Swan-Neck
supporting
Also known as X Edith Swan-Neck, Edith Swan, Poor Edith Swan-neck, Edith, Edith Swan-neck
Edith de Sarzeau-Vendôme is the wealthy heiress whose hand, fortune, and Bourbon-Condé lineage become the prize in Arsène Lupin's most audacious campaign. Courted by cousins she suspects of chasing her millions, she retreats into old romances where patient maidens are rewarded and everyone else waits for a bridegroom who never comes. Her father's escalating war with Lupin turns her quiet refusal to marry into the still center of a household being publicly dismantled.
Jenny Saphir
minor
Also known as Jenny Saphir
A woman connected to Lupin's criminal underworld.
Baron Repstein
minor
Also known as Baron Repstein
A baron involved in the red silk scarf mystery.
Baroness Repstein
minor
Also known as Baroness Repstein
The wife of Baron Repstein, involved in the red silk scarf.
Old Trainard
minor
Also known as Trainard, Old Trainard
An old man involved in the events at the forest of Morgues.
Mme. Dugrival
minor
Also known as Mme. Dugrival, Dugrival, Mme, the Widow Dugrival
A woman involved in the infernal trap and family secrets.
M. Lavernoux
minor
Also known as M. Lavernoux, Lavernoux, the unfortunate M. Lavernoux
A character who suffers in the infernal trap storyline.
Captain Jeanniot
minor
Also known as Captain Jeanniot, worthy Captain Jeanniot
A sea captain involved in Lupin's adventures.
George Morehead
minor
Also known as George, George Morehead
An American character involved in the two hundred thousand francs reward.
Hyacinthe
minor
Also known as Hyacinthe
A character appearing in the shadow sign storyline.
Citizen Broquet
minor
Also known as Citizen Broquet
A minor character in the forest of Morgues tragedy.
Mme. Bragoff
minor
Also known as Mme. Bragoff, Mme
A minor character in the wedding ring story.
Mussy
minor
Also known as Mussy, de Mussy
A character connected to the Sarzeau-Vendôme family.
Caorches
minor
Also known as Caorches, de Caorches
A minor character in the shadow sign plot.
Bernard
minor
Also known as Bernard
A minor character appearing in the book.
Inspector Delangle
minor
Also known as Inspector Delangle, the mysterious Delangle
A police inspector involved in Lupin's capture attempts.
d'Emboise
minor
Also known as d'Emboise, D'Emboise
A character in the invisible prisoner storyline.
Sonia Kritchnoff
minor
Also known as Sonia, Sonia Kritchnoff's
A character mentioned in Lupin's past.
Pauline d'Ernemont
minor
Also known as Pauline, Pauline d'Ernemont
A member of the d'Ernemont family.
Victoire
minor
Also known as Victoire
Lupin's former nurse and loyal accomplice.
