Porthos

Also known as: Du Vallon / Gaspard / M. du Vallon / M. le Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds / Seigneur de Bracieux / Seigneur de Pierrefonds / du Vallon / the Baron Porthos / the worthy baron · Family: Musketeers · Role: baron · First appears: Chapter 2

In chapter 2, Porthos is the baron of the Musketeers and a friend of D’Artagnan, greeting him with an embrace whose affection “seemed to increase with every day.” He employs Mousqueton, whose growth and monthly coats leave Porthos unable to fit into his wardrobe before the fête at Vaux. With Aramis’s invitation and D’Artagnan’s help, he is measured by Percerin and Moliere for a court dress, while Fouquet is counted among his friends. At Vaux, Porthos serves Louis XIV while holding a musket on him, but after Aramis’s plot is exposed, the king regards them as enemies; Porthos flees with Aramis and later says, “The king has made me a duke.”

At Belle-Isle, Porthos remains with Aramis despite D’Artagnan’s warning that the king wants them captured, refusing the offer to return and submit to mercy. He helps defend the island, captures a royal officer, and later fights beside Aramis and Yves at the grotto of Locmaria. When escape is abandoned, Porthos kills Biscarrat and attacking soldiers with an iron bar, then throws a powder barrel among the troops. The explosion brings down the cavern, trapping him beneath the rocks; he dies there while Aramis listens helplessly.

Before his death, Porthos speaks of the friends he loves—D’Artagnan, Athos, Raoul, and Aramis—and recounts his family connection to Antoine, Henry III., and Henry IV. At Pierrefonds, he declares Raoul his son and leaves him all his property, while bequeathing Mousqueton and his clothing to him. Athos learns of Porthos’s death through Aramis’s letter, and D’Artagnan arrives to report it after finding him already dead.