Character guide

Arsène Lupin

major

Also known as Lupin, Monsieur Lupin, the famous Arsène Lupin

Lupin moves through Paris as an apprentice thief with a master's appetite, staging a rescue so he can breakfast inside the Imbert mansion and study its millions at close range. He works for six months on a single household, questioning servants and moneylenders, because the pleasure is in the preparation as much as the prize. His charm is the weapon, his patience the plan, and the reader's delight is watching a man who robs you and leaves you grateful.

Ganimard

major

Also known as Detective Ganimard, old Ganimard, the celebrated Ganimard

Ganimard receives Baron Cahorn's panic with the calm of a man who has heard it before, insisting no thief warns his victim and no prisoner escapes the Santé. He refuses the case, then names a price, then warns the baron he is throwing money out the window — because pride and curiosity always pull him back toward Lupin. His skepticism is both his discipline and his blind spot, and it sets the rhythm of pursuit that drives the early stories.

Miss Nelly Underdown

supporting

Also known as Nelly, Miss Nelly, Miss Underdown

Nelly commands the deck-chair circle with beauty, money, and a French education that makes her a natural center of attention, pursued by d'Andrézy and quietly drawn to the taciturn Rozaine. When she asks who among the passengers could be Lupin, her teasing question lands on the one man whose silence suddenly looks like guilt. Her presence turns the voyage into a social stage where disguise and desire are indistinguishable, and where a young woman's curiosity becomes the story's engine.

Jean Daspry

supporting

Also known as Daspry

Daspry circulates among Devanne's circle with the comfort of long acquaintance, close enough to know the collection, the routines, and the weaknesses of the house. That closeness is precisely what makes him dangerous in the eyes of anyone trying to explain how Lupin's schemes keep succeeding. He matters because he embodies the story's central unease: the thief may be the stranger at the door, or the friend already seated at the table.

Devanne

supporting

Also known as Mon Devanne

Devanne belongs to the comfortable class of provincial connoisseurs whose homes are museums and whose generosity is assumed. He surrounds himself with friends, servants, and treasures, never quite believing that any of them could be turned against him. His value to the story is as a stage: the collector's house becomes the arena where Lupin's methods — patience, charm, and inside knowledge — are tested and displayed.

Herlock Sholmes

supporting

Also known as Sholmes

Sholmes arrives as the answer to every Frenchman's prayer: a foreign genius whose deductions are supposed to end Lupin's career. Where Ganimard blusters and doubts, Sholmes observes, measures, and waits, treating the case as a problem of pure reasoning. His presence raises the stakes of the middle arc, forcing Lupin to match wits not against the police but against a mind as disciplined and as vain as his own.

Madame Andermatt

supporting

Also known as Andermatt

She moves through her husband's opulent world as its elegant, watchful mistress, the kind of woman whose composure makes a stranger's shabby frock-coat feel like an accusation. Lupin studies her for six months before ever crossing her threshold, certain that her fortune — however it was acquired — is real and worth the wait. Her breakfast invitation, extended in gratitude for a staged rescue, becomes the doorway through which the apprentice thief walks toward mastery.

Georges Andermatt

supporting

Also known as Mon Andermatt, Andermatt

Rescued from a staged assault on the avenue de la Grande-Armée, he offers his savior gratitude, his card, and access to his home — never suspecting the attack was choreographed for exactly that purpose. His millions, whether inherited from old Brawford or conjured from shadier sources, are the prize Lupin has spent half a year investigating. His trust, generously given, becomes the hinge on which the young burglar's first great scheme turns.

Victor Danègre

minor

Also known as Danègre

Criminal involved in the theft of the queen's necklace.

Étienne Varin

minor

Also known as Varin, the Varin brothers

One of the Varin brothers, accomplices in Lupin's plots.

Henriette

minor

Young woman connected to the Imbert family and Lupin's schemes.

Baudru

minor

Also known as Baudru Désiré

Alias used by Lupin in one of his disguises.

Louis Lacombe

minor

Also known as Lacombe

Engineer who becomes involved in Lupin's affairs.

Georges Devanne

minor

Also known as Monsieur Devanne, Monsieur Georges Devanne

Nephew of Devanne and a suspect in the thefts.

Dudouis

minor

Also known as Mon Dudouis, chief detective Dudouis

Chief detective who coordinates efforts to capture Lupin.

Madame Gervaise Imbert

minor

Also known as Gervaise, Madame Imbert, Madame d'Androl

Woman whose safe is targeted by Lupin.

Ludovic Imbert

minor

Also known as Imbert, Mon Imbert

Husband of Madame Imbert, involved in the safe affair.

Rozaine

minor

Also known as Monsieur Rozaine, Louis Rozaine

Passenger on the transatlantic liner who is a suspect.

Horace Velmont

minor

Also known as Velmont

Alias used by Lupin in the Devanne affair.

Alfred Varin

minor

Brother of Étienne Varin and accomplice in crimes.

Valorbe

minor

Character involved in the events at the Château de Maupertuis.

Baron Nathan Cahorn

minor

Also known as Baron Cahorn, Cahorn

Wealthy baron whose castle is targeted by Lupin.

Inspector Dieuzy

minor

Also known as Dieuzy

Police inspector who assists Ganimard.

Lady Jerland

minor

Passenger on the transatlantic liner.

Madame Renaud

minor

Woman involved in the black pearl story.

Guillaume Berlat

minor

Also known as Mon Berlat, Berlat

Friend of Devanne who is a suspect in the thefts.

Honoré Massol

minor

Also known as Massol

Lawyer involved in the Imbert safe affair.

Gaston Delivet

minor

Also known as Delivet

Friend of Devanne who reports the theft.

Countess de Dreux-Soubise

minor

Also known as de Dreux, Countess d'Andillot

Noblewoman whose necklace is stolen.

Leontine Zalti

minor

Also known as Zalti

Woman famous for her diamonds and pearls.

Chevalier Floriani

minor

Also known as Floriani

Italian nobleman who assists Lupin in a scheme.

Salvator

minor

Mysterious figure connected to the black pearl story.

Grimaudan

minor

Friend of Lupin who aids in his adventures.

André Brawford

minor

Also known as old Brawford, Brawford

Aged gentleman who appears in the story.

Pierre Onfrey

minor

Criminal mentioned in connection with Lupin's exploits.

Father Gélis

minor

Priest who appears in the story.

Bernard d'Andrézy

minor

Young man involved in the queen's necklace affair.

Antoine

minor

Servant or minor character in the story.