Bastille De Villepin

King Bastille De Villepin is the protagonist of the novel The Gentleman. He is the son of Baptiste De Villepin and Agathe Figuier. He became the dauphin after Rever VI died with no heir, passing the throne to his father.

Physical Appearance
Bastille was said to look a great deal like his father and his grandfather, only featuring his mother's scowling brow and blue eyes. He bore the same aquiline nose as the kings of old; a point he often stressed in great pride, much like his own father. In one instance, the validity of his claim to the throne was brought to question. The courts attributed his large nose to the close familial ties with the throne.

Like his both his parents, Bastille was noted for being very tall. He shared many of his father's handsome features and frequently neglected to wear a peruke, letting his long hair flow free inspired by a similar fashion his mother wore in her youth. After he became king, his rejection of powdered wigs quickly became the popular trend and powdered wigs soon fell out of fashion.

Personality
Bastille was described by contemporaries as "[having] his father's witty repartee with his mother's reckless temperament [...] a man of passionate debate."

Indeed, Bastille loved nothing greater than to argue but to debate. Incredibly stubborn, too smart for his own good, and with a tongue sharper than any sword, Bastille quickly made many enemies in the royal court even as a youth. Quite free-spirited and fond of independence, he often clashed with many of the Reven cultural norms of propriety.

In his personal memoirs during his teenage years (c. 771R), Bastille often remarked, "Gentleman is but a title; mine is Bastille."

This came to be his most quoted line, even for which he is remembered today. Though written in his youth, it also accurately described his tenure as king.

Background
Bastille was born shortly a while after his parents married, in the 108th Year. He was born with the peerage title of a Marquis, intending to take the position of Duc of Brionac after his father. When Bastille was fifteen years old, Rever VI died suddenly without any children to inherited the throne, it fell to his next of kin; the king's cousin, Baptiste De Villepin. In the instant his father became the king, Bastille became the dauphin.

Rejecting The Throne
Bastille did not want the throne of Revès. In his own words, he had no desire to rule the kingdom. After his father stepped down due to his ailing health, Bastille's younger brother Toussaint took the throne, quickly becoming hated as an inept and ineffectual ruler. His reign only lasted for a year, the shortest in Reven history, due to Toussaint's sudden assassination.

This left Bastille holding the proverbial bag, as the last man of the Lugh bloodline and in 775R, he was forced to accept the throne at age 19.

Regal Validity
Bastille's paternal great-grandfather was King Rever IV, who had two sons, Rever V and Bastien. While Rever V went on to be king, Bastien was given the title of Duc of Brionac. Each had a respective son, Rever VI and Baptiste, meaning the king was Basile's father's first cousin. When Rever VI died having produced no heir of his own, Baptiste became king, later leaving the throne of Revès passed to his sons.

Prior to his ascent to the throne, his claim to the crown was called into question by rumors that Bastien De Villepin was an illegitimate son of the queen's lover, Alexandre Phillipon. The eventual ruling was ultimately based upon the size of Bastille's nose, which was aquiline and considered a sign of his royal blood.