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Royal Family
Louis
King Louis XIV
- Played by George Blagden
- Arranged Marriage: To Marie-Thérèse
- Boom, Headshot!: Louis blows a Dutch infantry drummer's head off, from hundreds of meters away, in a single shot, with a 17th century flintlock rifle.
- The Casanova: He has a wife and an official mistress but still has sex with as many ladies of the court he wants, including his sister-in-law.
- Crisis of Faith: When he suffers setbacks in his campaign against the Dutch, he starts to question himself, and if his lifestyle is somehow angering God.
- Divine Right of Kings: Keeps reminding everyone that he was chosen by God to be King of France. Truth in Television, he practically invented the concept of Divine Right of Kings.
- Failed a Spot Check: Louis, and his royal guards, failed to see William of Orange standing in an open and well lit hallway less than 10 meters away.
- Expy: Possibly of King Henry VIII from The Tudors. Both are extravagant, larger than life monarchs with a Hair-Trigger Temper. Although it's arguably not as bad with Louis XIV, who is more reasonable and not as Hot-Blooded.
- Louis XIV is also more of an Anti-Hero than a Villain Protagonist the way king Henry VIII was in The Tudors. He also is undeniably Catholic, even banishing the Protestants of France who don't convert, unlike Henry VIII, who became a figurehead of the Protestant Reformation and broke with the Catholic Church.
- The Good King: He certainly sees himself this way. The show is more ambiguous about this, however.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: During a particularly bad episode during his Crisis of Faith, he imagines a former mistress, his sister in-law Henriette, as his good angel, and current mistress Madame de Montespan as his bad angel.
- Hallucinations: In moments of stress or intense emotion, he might hallucinate dreams he had before or see his mother lecture him. Also happens when seriously ill.
- Historical Domain Character
- It's All About Me: Louis is egotistical and power-hungry. He spends considerable time convincing others (and maybe even himself) that every action he takes is for the good of France. While that is true in the overall scheme, his own selfishness and vanity heavily influence those actions. Whenever he sees others happier than himself, including his own brother, Louis becomes jealous such a thing could be possible and seeks to tear them down... again, including his own brother.
- Keeping the Enemy Close: Louis knows Cassel conspired against him and tried to stop the construction of Versailles but still names him Minister of Justice.
- King Bob the Nth: King Louis the 14th
- Kissing Cousins: He and his wife are double first cousins. His mother Anne of Austria was sister of Marie-Thérèse's father, Philip IV of Spain. His father Louis XIII and her mother Elisabeth were also siblings. His sister-in-law and mistress, Henriette, was also his cousin by virtue of her mother Henrietta Maria of France being sister of Louis XIII.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy
- The Magnificent: The Sun King.
- Manipulative Bastard: Louis has no problem manipulating and abusing the emotions and motivations of his family, mistresses and subjects.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Adherent to the idea of absolute monarchical rule and centralized power, Louis enlarges the Palace of Versailles to control his court and rule the country with absolute power. We see him command armies, receive diplomats, and discuss matters of State with his ministers.
- Sleepwalking: Quite often.
- Your Door Was Open: Louis walks into other people's bedrooms all the time, when they are asleep or naked, sometimes even multiple times in a single episode. The doors in Versailles have locks, but it looks like nobody uses then, or the King has a copy of all the keys.
Philippe
Philippe d'Orléans
- Played by Alexander Vlahos
- Agent Peacock: Unabashedly flamboyant, but a more than competent swordsman and dreams of going to war by his own admission.
- Are We There Yet?: Philippe jumps from his horse into Louis's carriage to ask this.
- Arranged Marriage: First to Henriette, and after she was poisoned, to Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess of the Palatinate.
- Camp Gay: Although it's hard to tell how much of the campiness is just him by his nature, and how much of it is a result of him being emasculated all his life so he doesn't threaten his kingly brother.
- Drama Queen: Every fight with the Chevalier end with screaming, tears, bouncing hair, and the occasional sword versus candlestick duel. Louis said it best:Louis: Must you live your entire life in a melodrama?
- Drag Queen: When he is particularly angry with Louis, he puts on a dress, full make-up and hair.
- Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Philippe begs his brother to pardon the Chevalier after he is charged with treason.
- Frontline General: Episode 4 ends with him leading his men straight into a line of cannons, musketeers and smoke. He seems to do quite well.
- Historical Domain Character
- Honey Trap: Louis has him seduce a potential spy in Court to send false information to William of Orange. This creates tension between him and the Chevalier.
- Impersonation Gambit: When a Indian ruler visits Versailles to sign a trade deal with France, he demands that he negotiate with Louis directly, refusing to speak with either Colbert or the Queen. Since the King is currently at the front, the Queen, Colbert, and Liselotte convince Philippe to impersonate Louis, and he manages to get a favourable deal on the silks on offer.
- Kissing Cousins: His wife is also his first cousin. Her mother, Henrietta Maria of France, was sister of Louis XIII.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: As is damn near every other man in the series.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: As was common in the 17th century, Philippe takes commands of the royal army in a battle against the Spanish.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Episode 5's opening scene has Philippe with a blank expression, holding his dead horse's head in his lap, surrounded by dead soldiers. By the end of the episode, he is experiencing flashbacks triggered by fireworks during a party in Versailles.
- Spare to the Throne: This being the 17th century, there was always a possibility that Louis and his son could die of many causes, making Philippe the potential king.
- The Dandy: Philippe spend 50,000 livres on shoes. His answer to his brother when questioned?Philippe: You haven't seen the shoes.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards his brother. Several times he is offered an opportunity to seize the throne for himself. Though under the thumb of a psychologically abusive brother, he does not seriously pursue them and demonstrates anger towards those who pressure him otherwise.
Marie-Thérèse
Queen Marie-Thérèse
- Played by Elisa Lasowski
- Arranged Marriage: To Louis.
- Blue Blood: She takes this concept to a whole other level. She does not trust the French merchants one bit and the whole concept of the self-made man is completely foreign to her.
- Dry Crusader: While the King is at war, she locks the wine under key, closes the gambling tables, and makes everyone sober up.
- Expy: She is possibly an expy of Katherine of Aragon from the Tudors. Both are of Spanish and Portuguese descent, both are devout Catholics and both end up dying before their husbands.
- Historical Domain Character
- Historical Villain Upgrade / Historical Badass Upgrade: In the series, the Queen is shown to be rather defiant towards Louis in many regards, such as having an affair with her dwarf, as well as politically astute and scheming, especially against Montespan. The real Marie-Thérèse never had a hope of influencing Louis about religion or his mistresses in spite of occasional complaints, her regencies were in name only, her court circle was largely isolated as her French was subpar, and she was considered plain and dull.
- Holier Than Thou: Her being a pious Spanish and Portuguese infanta grates on the libertine courtiers of Versailles. When Louis leaves for the front and puts her in charge of the court, Athénaïs complains that she has turned the palace into a convent.
- Kissing Cousins: She and her husband are double first cousins. Her father, Philip IV of Spain, was brother to Louis's mother, Anne of Austria. Her mother Elisabeth was the sister of his father Louis XIII.
- In the third season, she carries out a brief fling with Emperor Leopold I, who is also a double first cousin, and her brother-in-law, when he visits Versailles.
- Pet the Dog: She gets some moments, despite her serious flaws. She still treats her maids with kindness, and she's more of an anti-heroine than a bad guy. When compared to most of the people in Versailles, she is one of the more likeable characters. She still loves her husband, and her death is greeted with sadness.
- Tough Leader Façade: No matter what she goes through, she stands on her dignity as a Spanish infanta and Queen of France.
- Upper-Class Twit: It's strongly hinted at. She does look down on the poor and middle-class as being "beneath her". She is very much both a monarchist and an aristocrat in her values — probably even more than king Louis XIV.
- Her policies largely benefit the first two estates (the French Catholic nobility and clergy), but the third estate does not get much out of her policies apart from a strong moral fiber.
Henriette
Henriette d'Angleterre
- Played by Noémie Schmidt
- Arranged Marriage: To Philippe
- Blood from the Mouth: She is poisoned and vomits copious amounts of blood.
- Convenient Miscarriage: She believes that her miscarriage might be for the best.
- Childhood Friends: Henriette to Louis and Philippe
- Forgets to Eat: Athénaïs and Philippe tell Henriette that she needs to eat; she seems to keep avoiding the consumption of solids.
- Historical Domain Character
- Kissing Cousins: Both her husband and her lover are cousins to her. Her mother was Henrietta Maria of France, sister of Louis XIII, Louis and Philippe's father.
- Establishing Character Moment: Going swimming in the lake, then coming in and having sex with Louis.
- The Mistress: To Louis.
- Who's Your Daddy?: The father of her child could be either Louis or Philippe.
Liselotte
Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess of the Palatinate
- Played by Jessica Clark
- Affectionate Nickname: Her friends know her as Liselotte, from Elizabeth Charlotte.
- Arranged Marriage: To Philippe.
- Deadpan Snarker: Upon being told of Henriette's virtues her only response is "How depressing."
- Historical Beauty Upgrade: Though Liselotte's portraits owe something to artistic flattery, Jessica Clark's
Hollywood Homely-induced appearance for the show is nowhere near the solid and mannish-looking description of the real Liselotte, who once said that with her cold, she looked like a "shat-on carrot". - Historical Domain Character: Her correspondence is one of our best sources on life at Versailles.
- Only Sane Man: When having to deal with Philippe and Chevalier's lovers' spats.
- Morning Sickness: The Doctor suspected she was poisoned, but thankfully, she was only pregnant.
- Tomboy Princess: Compared to Henriette, Liselotte is much more active and sporty in her interests, being an avid hunter and rider.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Against Louis via Philippe when news reaches Versailles that French forces have sacked a city in the Palatinate, her home and initially a French ally.
Courtiers
Athénaïs
Madame de Montespan
- Played by Anna Brewster
- False Friend: To Louise. When asked to help her boost the Louis's spirits, Athénaïs seduces him and usurps Louise's place as the King's Mistress.
- Foil: Unlike Louise, Athénaïs is irreverent, opinionated, and proud.
- Hand on Womb: Did this all the time to remind people that she was carrying the King's child.
- Historical Domain Character
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Athenais is a complicated historical figure, but historically, whilst she was implicated in the Affair of the Poisons under dubious circumstances, most historians consider her guilt limited to buying aphrodisiacs at worst. There is no real belief that she went to the lengths of poison, let alone assassination and a Black Mass. Furthermore, whilst she did have complicated relationships with Louise, the Queen and Maintenon, she was hardly extremely cruel or even improper. She also loved her children, both legitimate and illegitimate, eventually accepted her reign was over as favourite (with perhaps some annoyance), and ended her life giving her time and money to charity.
- If I Can't Have You…: Convinced she has lost the King's love, she dabbles in magic to keep his love, is later roped into an assassination attempt against Louis when it has no effect, and risks implicating her in the ongoing investigation of the palace poisonings.
- Parental Neglect: She has little to no interest in her daughter, even when she is ill and dying of smallpox.
- The Mistress
- The Rival: To Queen Marie-Thérèse, not so much for Louis's affection, but for influence and power in court.
- Toxic Friend Influence: During the second season, courtiers, ministers, and members of his own family fear the influence Monstespan holds over Louis is putting the kingdom at risk. Louis certainly seems to be acting more irrationally and selfishly whenever she is involved.
Louise
Louise de La Vallière
- Played by Sarah Winter
- A Taste of the Lash: She is a devout Catholic, so she self-flagellates as expiation for the sin of having unmarried sex with the King.
- Foil: To Athénaïs, as she is pious, quiet, and deferential.
- Gilded Cage: Louise wishes to leave the palace and enter a convent to expiate her sins, but the King will not allow it.
- Historical Domain Character
- The Mistress: Which, because of her piety, weighs heavily on her conscience.
Françoise
Françoise, Madame Scarron/Madame de Maintenon
- Played by Catherine Walker
- False Friend: At least, that's what Athénaïs thinks when she starts spending more time in the Queen's company and is given the title of Madame de Maintenon by the King.
- Historical Domain Character: Governess to Louis's bastard children, eventual third mistress and second, albeit morganatic, wife of the King.
- The Mole: Athénaïs originally lets her spend time with the Queen in order to get information on what she is planning but comes to think that Françoise is instead giving information to the Queen on her to plot her downfall.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Gentle, quiet and pious — is that Madame Scarron or Louise de La Vallière?
Chevalier
The Chevalier de Lorraine
- Played by Evan Williams
- Drama Queen: Every time Philippe is not paying attention to him, the maximum amount of drama must be employed to get him back, including excessive spending, other lovers, tears, insults and slaps.
- Hellhole Prison: He is send to Bastille for conspiring against the King. The cell itself is horrible, but he also spends his time there listening to the screams of other prisoners being executed by dismemberment.
- Historical Domain Character
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy
- One-Steve Limit: His actual name was Philippe of Lorraine, but the show never uses his name, referring to him only as his title of Chevalier, probably to avoid confusion with his lover, Philippe d'Orléans.
- The Dandy: Purchases 15 pairs of breeches in a month, with Philippe's money.
- The Exile: Season 2 starts with the Chevalier exiled to Rome.
Béatrice
Béatrice de Clermont
- Played by Amira Casar
- Dead Person Impersonation: The real Madame de Clermont died in a fire ten years ago.
- Fake Aristocrat: Pretends to be a member of the House of Lorraine, is really a Protestant Huguenot.
- Impoverished Patrician: She is member of a cadet branch of the ancient House of Lorraine, but her husband's death left her a penniless widow. Averted. She is not really a member of House Lorraine, she is faking her noble credentials to hide her real identity as a Protestant Huguenot.
- Off with His Head!: When her part in the conspiracy is discovered by Marchal, he has Jacques behead her.
- Social Climber: Her main objective in life is to make her daughter Sophie into one of the king's mistresses.
Sophie
Sophie
- Played by Maddison Jaizani
- Deep Cover Agent: Afer her mother's death, she keeps her position in the palace by becoming an agent to Marchal.
- Fake Aristocrat: In the beginning, she believes herself to be a member of the House of Lorraine but is really a Protestant Hugenot. When she realizes the truth, keep pretending to avoid religious persecution.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Pretty much defines her relationship with her husband, the Duc de Cassel.
- Lady-In-Waiting: She becomes this, first to Henriette, and later to Liselotte.
- Marital Rape License: In the second season, she is married to the much older Duc de Cassel, who rapes her on their first night.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: Got rid of her abusive new husband.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Not the clearest example, but she's not exactly thrilled to learn that not only is she not a noble, she's a Protestant Hugenot.
Rohan
Rohan
- Played by Alexis Michalik
- Eye Scream: After he is captured Louis has his betrayal punished by having Marchal burn out his eyes.
- False Friend: Louis call him an old friend.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: Nobody even suspects that he is an agent of William of Orange, until he kidnaps the Dauphin.
- Historical Domain Character
- Hollywood History: The real life Rohan was part of the Latréaumont Conspiracy, but he was a bitter enemy of Louis XIV, not a friend.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: He gives no indication of being different to every other petty noble of the Court.
- Off with His Head!: He is finally executed by beheading.
- One-Steve Limit: His real name is Louis, Chevalier de Rohan. But we already have a Louis and a Chevalier.
Cassel
Duc de Cassel
- Played by Pip Torrens.
- The Chessmaster: Uses his influence to manipulates the nobles into subtle rebellion to prevent them from moving to Versailles and letting the King centralize his power.
- Dirty Old Man: Always perving on the female characters, especially the young ones.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Became angered at Montcourt for his killing of fellow nobles.
- House Fire: How Louis made sure he moved into Versailles and stayed there.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: The King made him marry Sophie. She is not happy about it.
- Marital Rape License: Sophie will have sex with her husband, whether she wants to or not.
- Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: His hair always looks greasy.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: Sophie poisoned him.
- Impoverished Patrician: Called this by Athénaïs when she noticed the rundown state of his château.
Montcourt
Montcourt
- Played by Anatole Taubman.
- Fake Aristocrat: Louis reveals in front of the entire Court that Moncourt isn't a real noble, and then expels him from the palace.
- The Highwayman: Sabotages the construction of Versailles by attacking the road and stealing the materials as they are transported.
- Mook: Becomes one for Cassel.
- In the Back: Shot Charlotte Parthenay in the back while she was trying to escape.
- Kill the Cutie: He and his men killed the entire Parthenay family, but he personally killed the King's goddaughter, Charlotte.
- Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: After being exiled from Court he starts to look unwashed.
Staff
Bontemps
Alexandre Bontemps
- Played by Stuart Bowman
- Historical Domain Character
- The Jeeves
- Only Sane Man: Constantly has to mediate between the fights and tantrums of the royal family.
- Parental Substitute: He gives quiet emotional support to the King whenever he is in distress, while still maintaining the proper distance between ruler and servant.
- The Reliable One: Bontemps is always behind the King, making sure the palace and the court are in order.
- Undying Loyalty: His every waking (and sleeping) moment is dedicated to serving and protecting Louis. Not even his son's death kept him away for long.
Fabien
Fabien Marchal
- Played by Tygh Runyan
- Butt-Monkey: An odd case, as despite being quite unquestionably badass, very few episodes seem to go by without him either fucking up quite badly in front of the king or getting poisoned, shot, stabbed or otherwise injured in some humiliating fashion.
- Chessmaster Sidekick: Spymaster, chief of security, torture, interrogation, covert assassination, executions — Marchal does anything the King needs of him.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Béatrice uses sex to distract him and poison him. He only survives because of Claudine.
- The Dreaded: Every suspect loses confidence when he walks into a room, and even mentioning his name is enough to make people nervous.
- Establishing Character Moment: When we first meet Marchal, he and his guards have surrounded a groups of assassins sent to kill Louis. Marchal stabs one of then in the stomach and holds face against the mud with his boot.Fabien: My name is Fabien Marchal. My work protects the King. Welcome to Versailles.
- Good Is Not Nice: He is unquestionably loyal to the king, but his methods — torture, mutilation, secret executions and more — leave one hell of a bad taste in the mouth.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Just look at him.
- Would Hit a Girl: Not even women are safe from his tortures if it's for the protection of the King.
Claudine
Claudine
- Played by Lizzie Brocheré
- Born in the Wrong Century: She was taught medicine by her father, a profession that could get her burned as a witch. Disapproves of the usual treatment of blood-letting for every condition and has very modern techniques compared to other physicians in the Court.
- Establishing Character Moment: Doing an autopsy.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Claudine has to choose between saving her father, who is dying in her arms, or saving her King, who is very ill. She chooses her King.
- He Knows Too Much: The moment she identifies the poisoner of the latest murder spree, she is killed.
- Nice Girl: She is a good-natured doctor who just wants what is best for France and its people.
- The Medic: Learned the basics from her father, but her more modern ideas are self-taught
- The Paragon: She is one of the most good-natured and wholesome characters in the show. By far.
- Only Sane Man: Her medical suggestions have her come off as this, as everyone else suggests nothing but useless, pseudo-medical quackery.
Jacques
Jacques
- Played by Gilly Gilchrist
- Artificial Limbs: Lost his left hand and replaced it with a mechanical one.
- Caring Gardener: The man in charge of creating and giving maintenance to the gardens of the palace.
- Retired Badass: Former soldier in the King's armies, left behind the battles to dedicated himself to gardening.
- Swiss-Army Appendage: His left hand is a prosthetic that has a convenient shortened sword hidden in the sleeve.
- Zen Survivor: He lost his sons and his hand because of war. Now, besides gardening, he gives proper cryptic counselings and gardening metaphors to the King of France.
Others
William of Orange
William of Orange
- Played by George Webster
- Arranged Marriage: Recently engaged to his cousin Mary of York.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Before he was made official Stadtholder, Louis would only negotiate with William because he saw him as the most skilled Dutch official and field commander.
- The Chessmaster: Louis is convinced that everything bad that happens in his kingdom is because William planned it, and he might not be mistaken.
- Historical Domain Character
- Just the First Citizen: Some people might call him King, but his actual title is Stadtholder, the chief magistrate of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
- Noble Bigot: Like many 16th-17th century Protestant monarchs, he is very anti-Catholic.
- Out-Gambitted: By Charles II of England when confronting him about his meeting with Henriette, defusing his anger over the Secret Treaty of Dover by arranging his marriage to Mary of York.
- The Rival: The absolutist Catholic King of France versus the "republican" Calvinist Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and future constitutional Protestant King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
- Villain with Good Publicity: In England and the Netherlands, he has mass support. He is hated in France, however.
- Young Conqueror: Johan de Witt tried to abolish the position of Stadtholder. William outmaneuvered him and lets his followers kill and eat De Witt.
- Young Future Famous People: Don't tell Louis this, but William and his wife Mary will become joint monarchs of England, Scotland and Ireland in the Glorious Revolution of 1688
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Agathe
Madame Agathe
- Played by Suzanne Clément
- Burn the Witch!: The King has her burnt at the stake.
- Composite Character: Inspired by the real Marquise of Brinvilliers and the fortune-teller and poisoner La Voisin.
- Evil Mentor: Athénaïs just wants to keep the love and attention of the King, but she takes advantage of her insecurities to turn her against him.
- Hollywood Satanism: Averted in this particular case, as the Affair of the Poisons did entail black masses and child sacrifices in the charges and allegations.
- Fortune Teller: Reads the Tarot to Athénaïs.
- Poison Is Evil: The mastermind behind all the poisonings in the palace.
