# Hippolyte Fauville — The Teeth of the Tiger character guide

> Hippolyte Fauville in The Teeth of the Tiger by Maurice Leblanc.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Hippolyte, Fauville, M. Fauville

**First appearance:** 0000-i-d-artagnan-porthos-and-monte-cristo

## Snapshot

A murdered electrical engineer whose posthumous letters accuse his wife of infidelity and worse, revealing a hatred that outlives him.

## Who they are

Hippolyte Fauville was an electrical engineer whose death opens the novel, but his presence lingers through letters he wrote before dying—letters that paint him as a 'hater' determined to ruin his wife Marie and the cousin who loved her. The Prefect of Police concludes that Fauville wrote those letters specifically to destroy them, a revelation that reframes the entire investigation. His calculated malice from beyond the grave makes him the case's most disturbing figure, and his posthumous accusations shape the early arc's central question: who is truly the victim?

## Relationships

### [Don Luis Perenna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters/don_luis_perenna)

_rivalry_

Hippolyte Fauville is a murder victim whose death Don Luis investigates, making him a key figure in the mystery.

### [M. Desmalions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters/m_desmalions)

_professional_

Fauville was a scientist who had dealings with the police before his murder.

### [Don Luis Perenna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters/don_luis_perenna)

_rivalry_

Hippolyte Fauville is a murder victim whose death Don Luis investigates, making him a key figure in the mystery.

### [M. Desmalions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters/m_desmalions)

_professional_

Fauville was a scientist who had dealings with the police before his murder.

### [M. Desmalions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters/m_desmalions)

_professional_

Fauville was a scientist who had dealings with the police before his murder.

### [Don Luis Perenna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters/don_luis_perenna)

_rivalry_

Hippolyte Fauville is a murder victim whose death Don Luis investigates, making him a key figure in the mystery.

## In the story

### [A Man Dead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/chapters/ii-a-man-dead)

Civil engineer living on Boulevard Suchet; Perenna and Mazeroux plan to protect him and his son from an anticipated attack.

### [A Man Doomed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/chapters/iii-a-man-doomed)

Found dead, poisoned; had shown Perenna his diary detailing the plot against him.

### [IV: The Clouded Turquoise](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/chapters/iv-the-clouded-turquoise)

Found dead in the study alongside his son; victim of the double murder.

### [X: Gaston Sauverand Explains](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/chapters/x-gaston-sauverand-explains)

Mentioned as Marie's husband who quarreled with her and was enamored of a music-hall singer.

### [XI: Routed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/chapters/xi-routed)

Mentioned in Sauverand's account as having written letters revealing jealousy and suspicion.

### [XIV: The "Hater"](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/chapters/xiv-the-hater)

Revealed as the orchestrator of his own murder and that of his son, driven by hatred and terminal illness.

### [XV: The Heir to the Hundred Millions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/chapters/xv-the-heir-to-the-hundred-millions)

Referenced in Perenna's argument that Fauville acted out of revenge, not for the inheritance.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters/hippolyte_fauville
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_teeth_of_the_tiger_se/characters