Francis DuPont is the overarching antagonist of Season 4 in the CW series Riverdale. He was the author of the Baxter Brother books, the substitute teacher at Stonewall Prep, and a secret member of Quill and Skulls. It turns out that DuPont is in fact an impostor, thief and murderer who not only plagiarized the first work of the Baxters Brothers written by Forsythe Jones I, but who also killed the first members of the Secret Society to cover up his crime.
He was portrayed by Malcolm Stewart who later played Fredreich Werthers in the same series.
Biography[]
Francis DuPont first appears when Mr. Chipping introduces him to his students, which enthuses Jughead who is very honored to meet the first Baxter Brothers author. DuPont is also delighted to meet Jughead, third in the Jones line, and he praises the teenager's grandfather, describing him as a terrific writer. The next day, DuPont witnesses a game called "Murder" in which Jughead wins against Bret Weston Wallis. Afterwards, DuPont and Mr. Chipping decide on the theme for the contest and they ask the students to design the perfect crime to become the next ghostwriter. Another day, Jughead confronts DuPont about the fact that he didn't actually write the first Baxter Brothers book but his grandfather actually did. This causes DuPont to brag about everything he achieved at Stonewall Prep and to belittle and despise Jughead's grandfather whom he insults as well as FP Jones whom he calls a thief.
When Mr. Chipping dies after apparently committing suicide by jumping out of a window, DuPont announces to the students that he will be their new teacher. When all the students read their story that they wrote up, Mr. DuPont declares Jughead the winner and hands him the contract, to Bret's shock and protests. Later, DuPont informs that the Baxter Brothers board rejected Jughead's story and the teacher urges the student to come up with a new, more interesting story. Next, Mr. DuPont referees the duels between Jughead and Bret and finally, Jughead lets Bret win before leaving with Betty and Alice Cooper.
On Monday, Mr. DuPont summons Jughead to tell him that he was expelled from Quill and Skulls after Betty broke into the sanctum sanctorum. He adds that Jughead's contract is ending since he didn't write a story and Jughead says he will manage to write a story in a week. In another episode, Jughead learns from Betty that his story about Jason Blossom's murder was actually withheld and he confronts Mr. DuPont about it. The teacher explains that the Brotherhood only kept the parts they liked and that all of Jughead's classmates are the ghostwriters of the story. Upon Jughead's presumed death, DuPont, Donna Sweett, Bret, and Joan Berkeley attend his funeral despite being kicked out of the house by Betty and her friends.
In the next episode, Mr. DuPont's class is interrupted by Jughead and Betty who lock the room to establish the truth about the group. After a while, the two reveal the murders committed by Mr. DuPont and bring in Forsythe Jones I to testify. He is followed by FP and Charles Smith who come to arrest him but instead of surrendering, Mr. DuPont throws himself out the window, being killed in his fall under the shock of the others. It's later revealed that he killed Donna's grandmother, Jane Dallas Brown, and stole the Tracey True stories from her the same way he stole the Baxter Brothers from Forscythe, and that he blackmailed Donna into lying about having had an affair with Mr. Chipping so his death would be ruled as a suicide.
Personality[]
On the surface, DuPont is caring, honest, and determined to see his students succeed. He also showed affection for Jughead and expected prowess in his writing. However, this was a facade to conceal his criminal background and his dark, murderous and calculating personality. He was very smart and strategic about how to kill Secret Society members and make them look like accidents. He is also hypocritical because he calls FP, Jughead's father, a thief and a criminal while he himself stole the original work of Forsythe Pendleton Jones I and killed those who could reveal his crime. DuPont is a rather cowardly man because when his crimes are exposed, instead of facing up and letting himself be arrested, he kills himself by throwing himself out of a window much like Mr. Chipping.
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 verse Villains
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