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| “ | Women are for seeding, not reading. | „ |
| ~ Peter III. |
Emperor Peter III of Russia was the main antagonist of season one of the 2020 series The Great, and served as an anti-villain in the later two seasons.
He is the husband of the show's protagonist, Catherine the Great, and the Emperor of Russia.
He was portrayed by Nicholas Hoult, who also portrayed Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road, Tony Stonem in Skins, Ace Remacho in the US version of Underdogs, R.M. Renfield in Renfield, Stefan Fredman in the UK version of Wallander and Tyler Ledford in The Menu.
Personality[]
King Peter is an arrogant and selfish man who struggles to see the needs and wants of his courtiers and family. He lives a debauched life of indulgence, mostly finding pleasure in shooting, having sex with the ladies of the court, or having his subjects perform depraved and humiliating acts. He appears to be highly immature, having never grown up due to trauma he experienced as a child.
Physical appearance[]
Peter has straight black hair. He dresses in regency-period European regalia. He has blue eyes and has white skin.
Biography[]
Background[]
Peter was the son of Peter the Great and and the Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, rulers of Russia. During his childhood, he, Lady Georgina Dymov and Grigor Dymov were routinely sexually assaulted by a noble named Simitz, often in front of Peter's father, who found it hilarious. Peter swore that he would have revenge on Simitz once he became emperor. Grand Duchess Anna was physically and emotionally abusive towards her son, leaving Peter with serious psychological issues.
After the death of his mother, Peter's Aunt Elizabeth became a maternal (and sexual) figure in his life.
The Great[]
Catherine, a German noblewoman, is sent to Peter to marry. An optimistic and educated Catherine is horrified to learn that Peter is not the man she assumed. Instead of being romantic, kind and tender, he is in fact a chauvinist with spiteful and childish traits. Catherine also learns that Peter has a mistress, and that her entire role for Russia is to bear it with an heir.
As an initiative to educate Russia, Catherine suggests to Peter she build a school. Peter agrees to this proposal, but burns it down on discovering that it is for women. During a party and in an attempt of buying her devotion, Peter gifts Catherine with a bear. Catherine begins to believe that maybe Peter just needs some adjustment. However, showing his true side, Peter shoots her bear in a meaningless shooting demonstration. A furious Catherine slaps Peter and leaves. Later, Peter punches Catherine and threatens her if she steps out of line.
After Catherine attempts to escape Russia by hiding in a suitcase, she believes she has succeeded until Peter intercepts her carriage. Peter brings Catherine's box to a lake and submerges her in it, almost drowning her. At this point, Catherine becomes suicidal, but is given the idea by her maid, Marial, to kill Peter, as the death of an emperor who has no heir will see the throne transfer to the emperor's spouse.
Peter tries to apologise for almost killing Catherine by offering her a lover, which she refuses as this is not her view of love. Peter shows Catherine his mummified mother, explaining he refuses to have her buried. Peter later forces Count Orlo to shave Count Rostov's beard, which hides his pustules from disease.
Peter continues to encourage Catherine to take a lover, and offers her an infertile man, Leo. Catherine is attracted to Leo and agrees to sleep with him for the night. The following day, she tells Peter she enjoyed her time with Leo and that he is free to leave the palace. Peter then attacks Leo, believing he failed to satisfy Catherine sufficiently. Later, Peter delivers a speech about his late father, Peter the Great, and begins to get emotional. After an officer mocks him, he stabs the officer almost to death.
Peter is poisoned by Grigor, who has finally buckled under the years of resentment he has for Peter for taking his wife as a mistress. Peter enters into a coma. Now presented with the opportunity to kill Peter, Catherine hesitates as she is reluctant to take a life herself. Just before she tries to smother him to death, Peter awakens from his coma.
After Peter's close encounter with death, he develops the view he should try and achieve the "greatness" akin to his father's legacy. Peter becomes seemingly less selfish which causes Catherine to encourage him to invest in arts and culture for the court. Here, Catherine believes she may not need to kill him and could instead be an advisor to him. As Peter begins to introduce art and culture to Russia, Archbishop Archie tries to dissuade him which confuses and angers Peter. It is then revealed by Peter why he had Marial made a servant, as her father committed necrophilia with Peter's mother's body, and refuses her request to have Marial reinstated as a lady of the court. However, he does let Marial have her dog back, which he immediately uses as a test-subject for a parachute experiment.
Despite the progress of science across the court, an outbreak of smallpox sees Peter reluctant about inoculation. When Catherine vaccinates herself in front of the entire court to prove its efficacy, he takes this as an affront and bans the practice. Believing that Catherine has now been exposed to smallpox, he locks her away. Peter continues with his plan of burning the servants who have been exposed to smallpox.
Acknowledging Catherine's anger over Peter burning the servants, he tries to win her favour back by presenting her with a diamond, which has little effect. After realising that someone at court is plotting against him, Peter has everybody tortured (except, ironically, Catherine) to discover the truth. Peter, Lady Dymov and Grigor later kill Count Rostov after he tries to kill Peter unsuccessfully. Catherine persuades him that Rostov was the person plotting against him, and Peter calls off the torture campaign, never discovering that Catherine is the one trying to overthrow him.
Peter plans to kill Leo to have Catherine's entire devotion. Catherine prepares to kill Peter, but is shocked when he reveals her birthday present to her, a conversation with Voltaire. Peter tells Catherine that Leo has abandoned her, which causes Catherine to suspect he is either dead or in danger and attack Peter. Peter subdues her and believes her attack to have been out of passion for him, and locks her away.
Peter then discovers the coup after Marial tells him of Catherine's plans as revenge for Catherine's ordering the death of her relative, Archie. Betrayed, Peter reveals to Catherine that Leo is his prisoner and to call off the coup. Four months into the coup, it is revealed Peter had Leo killed and presents Catherine with his decapitated head after Peter agrees to abdicate.
After a courtier insults Peter, he shows he has not changed much and stabs him to death. After a lengthy and emotional conversation with General Velementov, Peter begins to understand the neglect and abuse he received from his parents as a child, which starts his progression into changing. Catherine and Peter's relationship improves briefly. However, when Catherine's mother Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp arrives in Russia to visit, he succumbs to her advances and begins to have sex with her. As the two of them have sex, Joanna accidentally falls out of a window to her death.
Peter and Elizabeth try to hide the death of Catherine's mother from her. Catherine is furious after she discovers this, and they decide whether or not they should kill each other or try and forgive one another. Catherine decides to kill Peter, and walks into their apartments one evening and stabs him multiple times in the back. However, it is revealed this was in fact Pugachev, Peter's body-double. Catherine hugs Peter afterward, who looks concerned at the near attempts on his life. The two of them eventually reconcile.
Peter and Grigor are both enraged when Simitz, believing Peter dead, returns to the royal court. Peter asks Catherine for permission to kill him, but Catherine refuses. Peter beats Simitz up in front of the entire court and prepares to slit his throat only to be talked out of it by Catherine, telling Simitz to leave and never return. However, after Grigor reveals that Simitz had smirked as he left at the thought of having gotten away with it, Peter decides to kill him after all. Grigor attempts to do it for him so that he will not have to lie to Catherine, but Peter chooses to kill Simitz himself.
Later, Peter, King Hugo of Sweden and Velementov decide to invade Sweden to prove his worth, after Peter is tormented by visions of his father calling him a failure. He steals Catherine's army and takes them to the frontline. Furious, Catherine follows him with Grigor. The two argue on the ice, and Peter professes he must do this so that he can be "great". He tells her he may not agree with Catherine on everything, but he does love her. Before starting to renege on the agreement with Sweden, the ice cracks beneath him and he and his horse fall into the frozen lake. Peter drowns after his foot is caught on the stirrup.
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 villains
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Peter III of Russia | Lady Antonia Svenska | Lady Georgina Dymov | Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp | Simitz | The Sultan | ||