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[meloncholy]

( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME & AGE: Porthos du Vallon; Porthos’ age isn’t mentioned in the series and Howard Charles is aging remarkably well for someone who's two years short of forty. Let’s go with early to mid-thirties.

CANON & CANON POINT: The Musketeers (BBC), post-season 1.

CANON INFORMATION: The Musketeers Wiki, BBC Character Page.

PERSONALITY: During his first scene in the series, Porthos is seen riling up a Red Guard who accuses him of cheating at cards and duelling him using only a fork (while laughing!) Not long after, we learn that he had been cheating all along. It’s the perfect introduction – we get the immediate impression that he’s used to living a life packed with action and fraught with danger.

But while he treats the threat of a man coming at him with a sword as a joke, the story of how he was shaped into this rough-around-the-edges, larger than life personality is rooted in tragedy. In ‘Commodities’ we discover that his mother was a former slave who died when he was around five-years-old, and in ‘The Homecoming’ we’re told that his childhood was essentially fending for himself in the slums of Paris. To become a Musketeer, he essentially pulled himself from the ground up – he’s self-taught in most things, something which is apparent in his fighting style: Athos is the bladesman, no one equals Aramis with a musket, but Porthos uses his fists expertly in a more brawl-like style and later boasts about teaching d’Artagnan how to fight dirty. He also would have had to work his way up from another regiment to gain a place amongst the Musketeers (in real life, the Musketeers of the Guard among the most prestigious of the military companies of the Ancien Régime and membership was reserved for nobles - whether or not Dumas’ Musketeers or the BBC version follows this is left open, but to guard the King of France was a Big Deal.)

As a result, he’s used to people making a certain first impression of him, even if he doesn’t let it drag him down. He’s wary when the merchant Bonnaire mentions the colour of his skin and is quietly furious when a judge derides him while on trial for taking the name du Vallon (whether his mother took her former owner’s name or not is unclear, but it’s indicated in-show that this is a name belonging to a land-holding family.)

The truth is, he’s a lot more sensitive than people might realise. No one believes him when he remarks, in court, that he was admiring the beauty of Paris at night and he gets emotional when they have to fake Athos’ death, remarking that even the thought of Athos dying bothers him. During the exploration of his backstory, he remarks that he wanted something more and that becoming a soldier was more than a way out of the slums – he wanted brotherhood and a sense of belonging.

That’s why the Musketeers regiment is so important to him; it’s the only thing resembling a family that he’s ever known. The devotion Athos, Aramis and Porthos show to one another is remarked upon constantly in show, although the relationships he has with the two other men differ. As their leader and the most sombre of the three, Athos is something more akin to the older brother. Porthos has to be reminded that Athos’ fake funeral is fake, although apparently the thought of his friend dying is enough to make his emotions waver. Aramis, on the other hand, is more like his partner-in-crime given the equal status in rank. Their personalities are suited to one another and they’re able to joke and tease each other easily, but at the same time there’s a strong level of respect and mutual admiration. He does, however, trust both of them implicitly.

It’s a trust that’s gradually extended towards their newest member, d’Artagnan. As well as teaching him to stop following the ‘rules’ during a fight, Porthos teams up with Aramis to wrestle him in the mud in order to get his new leather uniform more worn looking and is shown worrying over Constance breaking d’Artagnan’s heart by the end of the series.

There is an idea that, some day, Porthos may want an actual family of his own – when he left the Court of Miracles, he asked his first love to come with him and later in the series he’s shown beginning to fall in love with a young widow. She stops their courtship after she realises he would never give up the life of a soldier and he agrees with the decision – he’s above and beyond loyal to his fellow Musketeers and he’s not ready to compromise that loyalty for anything.

Other than his friendship with Athos, Aramis and now d’Artagnan, the one thing that Porthos seems to feel most strongly about is injustice. He reacts strongly when he discovers Emile Bonnaire intends to profit as a slave trader –something perhaps made more galling by the way he’d spoken well about Porthos’ ancestry and his travels to Africa. For him, slavery isn’t something that happened one hundred years ago; it’s happening in his present day, to people who look like him, and he’s heard accounts of the slave ships presumably from escaped/freed slaves, or their children, or perhaps even his own mother when she was alive. The only thing that stops Pothos putting an end to Bonnaire’s plans permanently is that he’s under the King’s protection.

But when Athos tips off men searching for him on behalf of the King of Spain, he’s more than willing to go along with a plan to see him on a one-way trip to a Spanish prison despite the repercussions if they’re found out. It’s not the only time he’s seen bending rules or violating orders slightly in order to make sure there is a fair outcome, which is thankfully something all the Musketeers seem to be in agreement about. His fierce loyalty to his fellow Musketeers is most likely because they base respect on the character of a person, rather than their race or sex.

Despite his bold nature and temper, Porthos knows how to survive political games like the kind the Cardinal weaves. He may not have the sort of intelligence associated with educated noble men –his education may in fact have gaps due to being self-taught, although that wasn’t uncommon for the 17th century —but he’s definitely street smart and wouldn’t have been able to survive his childhood without knowing how to hustle people. Even when he’s separated from Athos and Aramis in the Court of Miracles with an order for his execution dangling over him, he manages to keep a mostly cool head. He’s driven by his emotions and feelings, but he's not necessarily controlled by them.

COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING: The division of the courts seems to be more about duty vs. passion and while I had originally planned for Porthos to be Seelie because he chose an honourable life as a way out of the slums, I think he’s a better fit in Unseelie. His end goal was finding a place to belong; honour and chivalry are the means of achieving and keeping what he wants, not the end itself. He’s more than willing to bend the rules and deceive others in order to defend his friends and those in need of help. And ‘right’ isn’t what the King says it is – it’s what he (and his friends) think it is, something that’s borne from his instincts and empathy at having been in dire straits himself.

He’s adaptable himself and certainly doesn’t believe you should limit your learning. He’s very much passion over duty and, while honour isn’t a lie, he’s long realised not everything is honourable based on majority or noble opinion.

ABILITIES: Porthos is a flatline human; there’s nothing supernatural about him, he doesn’t have any sort of mutation or extra-terrestrial ancestry, and he doesn’t own any items that grant him superpowers. However:

- He's a soldier and a good fighter, although his style is a bit more heavy-handed and punch-happy than someone who’s been classically trained with a sword.

- He’s also an excellent thief and a cheat at cards.

- Living in 17th century France in addition to military life, he’s used to a far more basic/practical way of living. Building fires, preparing his own food, riding a horse, etc.

INVENTORY: The clothes he was wearing, sword, hand pistol and some ammo.