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Clovis a.k.a. The Duke of Crassac is the main antagonist of the 1994 French swashbuckler adventure film, Revenge of the Musketeers (French: La Fille de d'Artagnan). He is a French slave trader, smuggler, and Eglantine de Rochefort's former lover who is secretly conspiring to murder the future King of France, King Louis XIV.
He was portrayed by the late Claude Rich.
Personality[]
The Duke of Crassac is shown to be rather selfish, vain, sarcastic, remorseless, careless, mean, deceptive, cowardly, hypocritical, arrogant, cruel, and temperamental. Although he abhors swearing and cursing, he has been known to curse in the name of God whenever under stress and pressure in anger. Nevertheless, he doesn't take kindly to insults from anyone, rejections to his romantic advances from Eloise, failure from his own men, or even betrayal from his own former mistress, Eglantine de Rochefort.
His hypocritical nature is further intensified when he is shown to be a bit of a pervert as he tries to grab a reluctant yet disgusted Eloise's cleavage out of sexual lust while attempting to rape and later, marry her despite his current relationship with Eglantine whom he later considers as nothing more than just his "favorite" and Eloise's engagement to Quentin la Misère whereas his cowardice is proven a fact when he runs away after his plan is foiled by his enemies having arrived to Eloise's rescue and later, when he fights Eloise in a duel despite previously claiming that he doesn't fight children.
Biography[]
The Duke of Crassac is secretly plotting with another group of dukes against the future King of France, King Louis XIV while resuming both his slave trading business involving Negroes shipped to the Americas and his gun smuggling business. One night, after his men including his mistress, Eglantine de Rochefort alias the Woman in Red have recaptured an escaped yet wounded African Negro hiding at a convent, but at the cost of the life of a Mother Superior despite d'Artagnan's daughter, Eloise's best efforts to fight them off, Crassac is talking with one of his men until he is upset to find someone having accidentally dropped and broken one of his crates of unsurpassable St. Etienne muskets with Swedish triggers and then, proceeds to threaten to whip the culprit responsible as punishment.
A few days later, at his castle, the Duke waits with great impatience for his doctor to concoct a special, pitiless, unremediable poison ointment that can kill anyone once in contact with the skin. Later, the Duke is sleeping with Eglantine while worrying about Cardinal Mazarin's snooping around, inquiries, and interrogations. The Duke is convinced by Eglantine to revisit the convent and make a "clean sweep" out of fear of exposure due to the late Mother Superior having recognized Eglantine during her last visit there; given their past history together, thus, leaving no witnesses involved in the convent incident.
One night, accompanied by Eglantine, the Duke explains his plan to his fellow dukes/conspirators, revealing that he plans to poison King Louis XIV at the upcoming coronation on a Sunday in the cathedral of Reims with the poison concocted by his doctor known as "l'acgua misteriosa", have Mazarin blamed for the murder, and when the King's younger brother is installed, step in as the powerful King's protector. However, due to the doctor having known too much, the Duke has him murdered with his own poison after applying it on his face while promising to find him a more suitable man for his now-widowed wife.
Later on, the Duke is conversing with a mysterious one-eyed agent of Mazarin (Athos in disguise and undercover actually) over a supposed coded message (actually, a love poem written by Eloise's fiance, Quentin la Misère to her when they first met) involving his conspiracy in exchange for the latter's silence while training in the arms room. Then, the Duke invites the agent for dinner with Eglantine at his castle where they later play a little game and share a few drinks together despite Athos suspecting the Duke trying to poison him in the process before Eglantine leaves for her special mission at the convent.
After Eglantine returns with a group of nuns and Eloise as well to be sold as slaves, the Duke is suddenly smitten and romantically infatuated with Eloise whom Eglantine had originally intended to sell for 300 pistoles and decides to buy her for himself despite the latter's resistance; much to Eloise's disgust and Eglantine's chagrin and jealousy. During a carriage ride to his cloister at Chazeilles, the Duke reveals he plans to marry Eloise, which he claims to be just a jest so as to throw a jealous Eglantine off suspicion. Later, when Eloise is thrown into a dungeon, the Duke deliberately takes away Eglantine's necklace and bestows it upon Eloise who tries to attack him before leaving to further execute his other plan.
The next day upon which the coronation is about to take place, the Duke is present with his fellow conspirators with whom he begins to renegotiate about which lands to take and own once the King is dead before revealing his other plan to marry Eloise at the Louvre in Paris until suddenly, the Duke finds himself confronted by Eloise herself, having been freed by Eglantine out of pure jealousy and possible redemption whom he then confronts for her betrayal, who further challenges him to a duel. The Duke and Eglantine seem rather impressed as they watch Eloise dueling with some of his men before her father, d'Artagnan and his old friends: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and Quentin arrive to the rescue. During the fight, the Duke tries to escape and later, kill a pursuing Eloise in vain before the two begin dueling all the way to the top of the cathedral as the latter continues to insult him. After faking an injury, the Duke finally manages to disarm Eloise and hold her at sword point. However, just as he is about to kill Eloise, the Duke is suddenly run through from behind with a sword by none other than d'Artagnan himself and dies in his arms.
With the Duke of Crassac and his men dead, the conspiracy is foiled, King Louis XIV is finally crowned King of France, Mazarin resumes his position as the King's chief minister despite his deceitful diplomacy, a redeemed Eglantine is pardoned for her crimes, both Eloise and Quentin are free to marry after d'Artagnan bestows them his blessing, and d'Artagnan is reinstated as the King's Captain of the Guard after he and his daughter embrace while telling her how proud he is of her before riding off to discuss the latter's future plans.
During the end credits giving out each movie character's actor's name, the Duke of Crassac is hilariously seen breaking the fourth wall when he suddenly "comes back to life" and introduces himself to the audience as some musketeers carry his corpse away.