History UsefulNotes / CardinalRichelieu

Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), chief minister to [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCEstMoi King]] UsefulNotes/LouisXIII of UsefulNotes/{{France}}, was a French clergyman who rose to the rank of Cardinal, brilliant politician, effective war leader, [[TheSpymaster spymaster]], writer, and patron of the arts. He is also a popular HistoricalDomainCharacter and more or less the TropeCodifier for UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}an versions of the EvilChancellor and SinisterMinister -- largely because of his appearance in Creator/AlexandreDumas's ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' and its [[DerivativeWorks/TheThreeMusketeers many adaptations and derivative works]]. This is despite the fact that in the novel, he's more of an AntiVillain who generally has France's interests in mind, if only because making France great means making himself great. Nonetheless, Richelieu's reputation as the deadliest of political manipulators of his time started in his own lifetime, for very, very good reasons.

* Then there is a [[AdaptationOverdosed long list]] of [[DerivativeWorks/TheThreeMusketeers works]] based on or inspired by ''The Three Musketeers'' and sometimes its sequels (though Richelieu doesn't show up in most plots involving the ManInTheIronMask because those tend to take place during UsefulNotes/LouisXIV's teen years per ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne'', as he was long dead by then). Among them are:

** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|1921}}'' (1921 film), portrayed by Nigel de Brulier, and its 1929 sequel, ''Film/TheIronMask''.
** ''The Three Musketeers'' (1932 films), portrayed by Samson Fainsilber.
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|1948}}'' (1948 film), portrayed by Creator/VincentPrice.
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|1953}}'' (1953 film), portrayed by Renaud Mary.
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|1961}}'' (1961 films), portrayed by Daniel Sorano.
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|1973}}'' (1973-1974 films), portrayed by Creator/CharltonHeston.
** ''Film/DArtagnanAndThreeMusketeers'' (1978 mini-series), portrayed by Aleksandr Trofimov.
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|1993}}'' (1993 film), portrayed by Creator/TimCurry.
** ''Film/TheMusketeer'' (2001 film), portrayed by Creator/StephenRea.
** ''Film/{{Milady}}'' (2004 TV film), portrayed by Martin Lamotte.
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|2011}}'' (2011 film), portrayed by Creator/ChristophWaltz.
** ''Series/TheMusketeers'' (2014-2016 series), portrayed by Creator/PeterCapaldi.
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|2023 UK}}'' (2023 British film), portrayed by Creator/JamesCosmo. Possibly the biggest case of AgeLift yet (Richelieu was in his 40s in the 1620s, Cosmo was in his 70s).
** ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|2023}}'' (2023 French films), portrayed by Éric Ruf.
** As for animation:

*** ''WesternAnimation/AlbertTheFifthMusketeer'' (which is loosely based on ''The Three Musketeers'') depicts him as a LeanAndMean [[DastardlyWhiplash mustache-twirling]] EvilChancellor who always concocts [[EvilPlan diabolical plans]] to humiliate and usurp King Louis XIII, summons and dispatches Milady de Winter with {{trap door}}s in the middle of the Louvre, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and wears pink rabbit slippers]]. He was voiced by Creator/BernardDheran in French.

* Then there is a [[AdaptationOverdose long list]] of [[DerivativeWorks/TheThreeMusketeers works]] based on or inspired by ''The Three Musketeers'' and sometimes its sequels (though Richelieu doesn't show up in most plots involving the ManInTheIronMask because those tend to take place during UsefulNotes/LouisXIV's teen years per ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne'', as he was long dead by then). Among them are:

* Then there is [[DerivativeWorks/TheThreeMusketeers a long list of works]] based on or inspired by ''The Three Musketeers'' and sometimes its sequels (though Richelieu doesn't show up in most plots involving the ManInTheIronMask because those tend to take place during UsefulNotes/LouisXIV's teen years per ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne'', as he was long dead by then). Among them are:

On the the negative side in art history, Richelieu put a stop to plans to commission a biographic gallery for Henry IV similar to the ''Art/MarieDeMediciCycle''. Oh, and he may have been the TropeMaker for RightHandCat; he had 14 cats at the time of his death, and fictional depictions sometimes reflect this.