# Robespierre — The Crowd character guide

> Robespierre in The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0002-the-crowd

## Snapshot

The revolutionary whose Jacobin fervor Le Bon reads as a religious passion, proving that crowds demand a god before anything else.

## Who they are

Robespierre and the Jacobins of the Reign of Terror are held up as proof that political conviction and religious faith share the same fierce, intolerant root. Le Bon argues that the Terror's cruelty sprang from the same source as the Inquisition's, and that crowds will worship a hero as a veritable god, whether the idol is Napoleon or an abstract creed. His example drives home the book's unsettling thesis that fanaticism is not a relic of the past but a permanent feature of collective belief.

## Relationships

### [Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/crowds)

_psychological_

Robespierre both manipulates and is consumed by the revolutionary crowds, embodying their fervor and terror.

## In the story

### [A Religious Shape Assumed by All the Convictions of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/iv-a-religious-shape-assumed-by-all-the-convictions-of-crowds)

Mentioned as a figure whose role in the Reign of Terror was an expression of the crowd's religious soul, not his individual power.

### [The Leaders of Crowds and Their Means of Persuasion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/iii-the-leaders-of-crowds-and-their-means-of-persuasion)

Cited as an example of a leader hypnotised by Rousseau's philosophical ideas, using Inquisition methods to propagate them.

### [The Leaders of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/1-the-leaders-of-crowds)

Cited as an example of a leader hypnotized by philosophical ideas, using Inquisition-like methods to propagate them.

### [Prestige](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/3-prestige)

Used as an example of how prestige is lost when success fails; the crowd turned on him after his fall from power.

### [The Changeable Opinions of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/2-the-changeable-opinions-of-crowds)

Referenced as a name that once evoked religious devotion among republicans.

### [Parliamentary Assemblies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/v-parliamentary-assemblies)

Cited as an example of a leader with narrow intellect and strong conviction who exercised great influence; his speeches are described as incoherent yet powerful due to his prestige.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in a footnote about committees; he wielded absolute power while speaking in their name but was lost when he separated from them.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/robespierre
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters