Gender Male Title Baron | Occupation Musketeer Nationality French Created by Alexandre Dumas | |
Movies The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask Played by Similar | ||
Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, Athos and Aramis, are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan.
In The Three Musketeers his family name is du Vallon. In Twenty Years After, having made a financially advantageous marriage, he is first known as du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds, before he earns the title of Baron.
Porthos, honest and slightly gullible, is the extrovert of the group, enjoying wine, women and song. Though he is often seen as the comic relief, he is also extremely dedicated and loyal toward his friends and fellow Musketeers. His eating abilities even impress King Louis XIV during a banquet at Versailles. As the story advances, he looks more and more like a giant, and his death is that of a titan.
At the time of The Three Musketeers (ca. 1627) he apparently has few lands or other resources to draw from. He was finally able to extract sufficient funds from an elderly lawyer's somewhat younger wife (whom he was romancing and later married) to equip himself for the Siege of La Rochelle.
The fictional Porthos is very loosely based on the historical musketeer Isaac de Porthau.
Film and television
Actors who have played Porthos on screen include:
