Origin
The Frenchman is one of the two powerhouses assembled in The Boys team, with his best and closest friend The Female being the other heavy hitter. The Frenchman is very proud of his French heritage, often discussing French subjects in-depth and severely beating people who mock himself and France. One of his trademarks is his goggles, which he pulls over his eyes almost ritualistically before pursuing any especially aggressive action. Despite his frequent brutality, he is a kind man and a loyal friend and has spent much time trying to help The Female, who is his best friend, to deal with her mental problems. He appears somewhat calm and shy in nature until provoked, and once provoked his anger can be hard to reign in, giving way to ruthless aggression and ferocious brutality against his enemies or any who might seek to mock or insult him. Or alternatively someone he cares about. Aside from his closeness and kinship with the Female, he also appears to get on very well with Butcher. Butcher despite knowing that the Frenchman and the Female are a bit off the rails, never the less considers both an invaluable part of the Boys. Their strength and ferocity almost unmatched, their loyalty to each other and Butcher as durable. Adding to his value to Butcher and the Boys is the Frenchman’s empathy for the Female and the ability to reign her in. The Frenchman’s past is somewhat mysterious and vague however not for lack of his openness regarding his past, more so the Frenchman’s fantastical stories concerning his past history is so dramatic it almost seems like a made-up story. Still, as The Frenchman himself relayed to Wee Hughie, he was a young man who went to war, leaving behind his sweetheart Marie, to patiently wait for his return.
The war would change the Frenchman, and he would return with a new outlook on life, he would return as a pacifist. He returns to his parents and as he had hoped to his darling Marie, however in an almost Shakespearean twist, Marie was now romantically attached to the Frenchman’s bitter enemy, Black Pierre! The Frenchman would be distraught at this betrayal and sink into a depression. His father egging the Frenchman to stand up and fight is only met with his son’s newfound pacifism. Since the Frenchman won’t challenge Black Pierre to a duel, the Frenchman’s father decides to. Before the Frenchman can prevent his father from competing against Black Pierre in a dual tragedy strikes, as the Frenchman’s father is lethally wounded and now the Frenchman is dealt another harsh card. Renouncing his pacifism the Frenchman becomes a wanderer frequently getting into bar room brawls before catching the attention of one Billy Butcher.
Creation
The Frenchman is a Dynamite Entertainment comics character created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson. He first appears and is a leading character in the series The Boys #2 released in 2006. Despite his name, the Frenchman may not actually be French, but rather extremely proud of his French linage. His actual use of the French language is often flawed and dresses as Napoleon and other cultural French costumes. In The Boys Definitive Edition Volume 1, artist Darick Robertson details some of the creation process with the Frenchman “The earliest character I played with when sketching, I imagined him in action from the beginning. Rolling off of Transmetropolitan, it was important not to make him too much like Spider Jerusalem, since he’s skinny bald and smokes and has goggles on all the time. Garth wanted Frenchman’s genial nature to be a strong contrast to the psychopath he is when pissed off. Where I saw him as aloof, Garth sees him shy, friendly and unassuming”
Character Evolution
One of the first characters fleshed out in the early development of the Boys series, the Frenchman bares some slight superficial resemblance to Darick Robertson’s rendition of Spider Jerusalem, a character from the Transmetropolitan a project he also worked on. The Frenchman otherwise has many of his own endearing personality traits and idiosyncrasies starting with his transitions from quiet unassuming mellowness to overly energetic ferocity. The Frenchman is considerably kind to those he considers friends and to any who appear kind themselves, but rude or particularly aggressive and mean people can tend to earn his ire the character undergoing somewhat of a transformation in attitude and demeanor typically signaled by the repositioning of his goggles. The Frenchman is essentially considered insane and this is also a likely factor behind some of his tall tales or exaggerations, although all appear in good nature.
Major Story Arcs
The Boys Assemble
The Frenchman is eating at a cafe talking to himself as usual when he finds himself in a vicious fight. At the climax of Billy Butcher arrives and the two friends reunite with smiles and cheer. Butcher is reassembling an anti-superhero squad under CIA backing and is there to recruit the Frenchman who also served on the former Boys squad. The Frenchman already knows all the other members of the Boys, except for the new Scottish member Wee Hughie whom Butcher introduces him to. Butcher has decided that Teenage Kix be the very first mission for the Boys and as such the Frenchman helps in surveillance of the teenage superhero group, observing and recording embarrassing and illegal behavior undertaken by the Teenage Kix members. Butcher uses this acquired information to anonymously blackmail the Teenage Kix. One of their members must fall on their sword so to speak and make public their indiscretions least the whole teak be outed. Shout Out is the member who decides to make a public announcement announcing that he is homosexual, however, this news announcement catches the attention of the Homelander who suspects Butcher and the Boys of this situation, and he sends the Kix an email revealing to them the identities of their blackmailers.
Glorious Five Year Plan
The Frenchman and the Boys are heading to Russia, heading to Moscow to me with an old acquaintance of Butcher’s Vasili Vorishikin also known as Vas, and a former superhero known as Love Sausage. The group is run afoul of Nina Kamenko, also known as Little Nina.
Powers and Abilities
Considered the muscle of the Boys team, alongside his best friend The Female, the Frenchman is superhumanly strong and extremely durable, which aids his brutal ferocity and nature. The Frenchman possesses military training and experience and has a heightened sense of smell. Like many of his peers and enemies, the Frenchman’s powers are derived from the use of the chemical Compound V.
Other Media
TV
The Boys
Frenchman appears in the 2019 Amazon show, The Boys, portrayed by Tomer Capon.
In the live-action series, he is called Frenchie and is a jack-of-all-trades type. He is a skilled marksman, locksmith, chemist and fighter. His “real” name in the show is Serge.
He reveals that he came from a broken family, and was eventually inspired to make a better family.
Butcher asks him for his help in killing Translucent which he agrees to and discovers the method of killing the seemingly invulnerable supe. He then joins The Boys in their efforts to expose Vought and bring an end to their corruption.
He later saves Kimiko, a woman who Vought has experimented on and injected with Compound V. At first she attempts to kill him and The Boys in a fit of rage but after time, she learns that Frenchie genuinely cares for her and she joins him on the team, against Butcher and M.M.s concerns.