Sergeant Guy Challon is the secondary antagonist of the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Revenge and its television adaptation, and one of the two main antagonists of the short story "Sharpe's Ransom".
He was portrayed by Phil Smeeton, who also played Link in Judge Dredd.
Biography[]
Novels[]
Sergeant Challon was one of a group of French soldiers under Colonel Maillot in charge of guarding Napoleon's treasure in the last days of the Peninsular War. He became Maillot's second-in-command after his lieutenant was killed by bandits. After Major Pierre Ducos killed Maillot in order to steal the treasure, Challon and his men were happy to go along with it. As part of Ducos' plan to place the blame on Major Richard Sharpe, Challon killed Henri Lassan, the former commandant of the Teste de Buch fort from which the treasure had supposedly been taken, with one of his men killing Lassan's mother.
Challon agreed to Ducos' plan to take refuge in Naples until the search for the treasure had died down. He agreed that anyone who left early would not get a share of the treasure and killed one of his men who tried to demand his share now. He kept the men loyal while Ducos indulged in his eccentricities, agreeing to stay until the end of the year before claiming their share and arranging women to keep the men company, further guards and a grasshopper gun.
When Sharpe and his men attacked the villa with the help of General Calvet, Challon organised a defence on the balcony but was taken by surprise by Sharpe and his friends, and knocked unconscious by Patrick Harper.
Some months later, Challon and his men were recruited by Henri Lorcet, a lawyer and old associate of Ducos'. Ducos had left Challon and Lorcet equal shares of the treasure and they mistakenly assumed Sharpe had at least some of it. Tracking him to his farm in Normandy, they took his partner Lucille and son Patrick hostage, together with the servant Marie. Sharpe claimed the treasure was in a strong box at a bank who would only release it to him. Challon's men went with Sharpe, leaving Challon and Lorcet with the hostages. Challon attempted to rape Lucille but was stopped by Sharpe and the former French soldier Jacques Malan, who gave him a beating and locked him and the others up.
Television[]
Challon was one of the soldiers guarding the emperor's treasure, who went along with Ducos when he dismissed Colonel Maillot and took the treasure for himself. Challon spied on Major Sharpe's trial for the theft and reported back to Ducos that Captain Frederickson had successfully insisted that Maillot appear in court to give evidence. Challon noted he knew a little Latin since he had been an altar boy. He and his men killed Maillot, making it look as though Sharpe was to blame.
Challon joined Ducos in Naples and, when Sharpe and Calvet arrived, was left to defend the treasure while Ducos went to get more troops. Challon fired a grasshopper gun on Sharpe and his friends but only managed to kill one of his own men, who they had forced to guide them. In the fist fight that followed, Challon was beaten unconscious by Sharpe.
