| “ | A legend. One of the oldest legends of the Temple District. The Alchemist is a killer and a scientist. The residents believe all the unsolved murders are his doing. Some say he has no face, others say he has many. Still others say, whoever looks into his mask, loses their soul. | „ |
| ~ Tauzet reading about The Alchemist. |
| “ | Alchemist: What good will that do to you? A little time in this world? A touch of magic powder, and then your youth will be restored...? I've got a deal for you. Ernest: What are you selling? Alchemist: What you're looking for... Eternal youth. A potion of eternal youth. Ernest: Nonsense, no one has that power. Alchemist: No one, but me! Veraldi: What do you want in exchange? Alchemist: I need an item. If you provide it, you'll get the potion of eternal youth. Belmont: What item...? Alchemist: Virgins. Young virginal girls. Pure souls. |
„ |
| ~ The Alchemist deceiving Lafitte, Belmont and Veraldi into working for him. |
Étienne Boisset, also known as The Alchemist (French: l' Alchimiste) is the protagonist/antagonist of the 2001 fantasy-mistery film Vidocq (also known as Dark Portals: The Chronicles of Vidocq), based in the memoirs of the actual historical figure.
He is a centennial being that found the key of eternal youth by collecting the souls of the innocent people he killed, using a glass mask developed from the blood of virgin girls. He managed to maintain this lifestyle until the reign of Charles X of France, where his recent killings are being investigated by Eugène Vidocq, who is determined to hunt down the urban legend at all costs.
He was portrayed by Guillaume Canet.
Biography
Early life
Étienne was a young alchemist who, many centuries ago, discovered a way to develop eternal youth: Étienne paid glass makers to create a mirrored mask made from the blood of young virginal girls. This mask was actually a catalyst, in which he could imprison the souls of the people he killed, by reflecting their faces at the moment of death. Using a hooded costume, and armed with a knife and his mask, Étienne used the dark of the night to hunt down his prey. He created a name for himself as an urban legend within the places he attacked. He quickly understood that if he wanted to work in secrecy, he couldn't go for victims himself. He instead changed his MO to treachery tactics: He oftenly deceived desperate people with a ''potion of eternal youth''. In exchange, they must give him many virgin girls, oftenly bought from poor districts. In order to cover his tracks, Étienne killed his associates in different ways, some of them involving the usage of lightning. This tactic proved succesfull until the year of 1830, where he made the fatal mistake of killing Belmont and Veraldi, two important men involved in the creation of weapons for the French army. The government tasked Vidocq and Nimier, two incredibly succesfull private detectives, in order to investigate the mysterious ''lightning'' murders and bring the culprit to justice. Little did they know that they were chasing ghosts, trapped in a conspiracy where the mysterious Alchemist is lurking in the shadows waiting to strike.
Personality
The Alchemist is a being that is purely out for himself and his own selfish goals. He is only interested in never growing old, and as its usual for characters of his kind, he will do anything in his command to accomplish his goals. He has full understanding of the harm he is causing, but has zero empathy for other human lives, whom he views as mere cattle. He is a master deceiver who takes advantage in the misery and despair of the less fortunate in order to manipulate and use them to accomplish his means, but also lacks any sense of honor and never returns anything in favor, killing his associates as a form of self-preservation but also as part of his purely egotist nature. Although sadism is not his main motivation, it is shown that he at least has been taking some form of pride and enjoyment in his own dire work, oftenly laughing and taunting Vidocq, his arch-enemy.