‘The Three Musketeers’ is a novel of the swashbuckler genre.This adventure novel which is also historical in nature was written by Alexandre Dumas. The story of ‘The Three Musketeers’ is set in the time period of 1625 - 1628.The story follows the journey of the main character D’Artagnan, a young man who travels to Paris to join the elite ‘Musketeers of the Guard’ but gets rejected. There he befriends the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. In a battle with the Cardinal’s guards, these four musketeers win comprehensively and after knowing the same, the King Louis XIII appoints D’Artagnan as one of the king’s musketeers. After discovering a plan that will cause a war between England and France the four musketeers foil the plan and ultimately save the day. In the end, our protagonist gets his much-deserved promotion.For more collections of character names, check out the Animal Crossing Names and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stand Names.The MusketeersThere were four musketeers. The musketeers three were called Athos, Porthos and Aramis. The fourth musketeer is the central character D’Artagnan. The three musketeers did actually exist and historically speaking D’Artagnan was Charles de Batz - Castelmore.1. Aramis (French origin) meaning “from Aramits”. Aramis, one of the three musketeers, is shown as a young musketeer. This quite handsome man is often seen suffering from a dilemma. Aramis is often seen complaining about his post in the Musketeers and believes that he is temporary in the great three. Aramis is also seen torn between the calling of the Church and his mistress who is kept mysterious. Later on, his mistress is revealed to be Madame de Chevreuse, a friend of the queen. In the end, it was revealed that Aramis has decided to become a priest.2. Athos (Greek origin) meaning “children of Gaia” is also one of the three musketeers is depicted as a calm and composed gentleman who is great at analyzing situations. He becomes a father figure to D’Artagnan. Athos often retrospects his past life which was lavish. Athos had abandoned his aristocracy and lavishness to become a musketeer. A man who usually keeps quiet and prefers staying in a dark and sombre mood, he hides his past pain. It was revealed that he had hanged his bride after Athos discovered she had the mark of a felon. Later in the novel, it was revealed that the bride survived and is the antagonist of the Nobel, Milady de Winter. Athos, however, starts his hunt for Milady and brings her to execution. After the hunt, he retires to a quiet and lonely life.3. D’Artagnan (French origin) meaning “from Artagnan” is depicted as a young headstrong man from the impoverished Gascon aristocracy. He travels to Paris, France with hopes of joining the prestigious Musketeers. He befriends the three musketeers who start mentoring him along with Treville who is their captain. Despite joining the guards, D’Artagnan had to prove his calibre to fulfill his ultimate dream of becoming a musketeer. D’Artagnan rescues his landlord’s wife Bonacieux who was kidnapped and immediately falls in love with her. He and his friends in the king’s court discover the rivalry between the king and the Cardinal. After displaying great valor, D’Artagnan was given the task of receiving Queen Anne of France’s diamonds from the Duke of Buckingham. After a valiant journey, D’Artagnan retrieves the diamonds and saves the honor of the queen just at the nick of time. With the passage of time, D’Artagnan gains popularity and prestige and ultimately foils the treacherous plans of Milady de Winter. In the end, D’Artagnan becomes a lieutenant of Musketeer.4. Porthos (French origin) meaning “a little gullible”. Porthos is depicted as a tall, large, strong and good looking young man who has successfully wooed Coquenard, a wealthy mistress. He feeds at the house of his mistress and he is often seen to be worrying about the wealth of the husband of Coquenard. Porthos is also shown to be extremely loyal and brave however he often fails to grasp the meaning of conversations. Porthos is often seen to keep Coquenard close to him by hinting at other noblewomen who are charmed at the handsome musketeer. In the end, it is seen that Porthos leaves the Musketeers to marry Coquenard who was now a widow and thereby inheriting a huge fortune.Other Important CharactersApart from the three musketeers, there were other characters who were equally important in the play.5. Cardinal Richelieu - Cardinal Richelieu is shown as a man of huge power and someone who is highly ambitious. He is the chief minister to the King who plans on revenge by controlling the king as his romantic advances on the Queen were turned down. He has a wide and an elaborate network of spies and his own guards. It is shown that he and the king are both friends and enemies at the same time. Both the king’s guards and cardinal’s guards are at constant war with one another, each wanting to make a better hand than the other. Apart from his jealousy Cardinal Richelieu also had ulterior political motives when he found out that the Queen was having an affair with the Duke of Buckingham. This hatred for the Duke makes him scheme a plan for the Duke’s assassination. At the end of the story, the Cardinal reluctantly offers the promotion to D’Artagnan to be an officer of the Musketeers.6. Milady de Winter - Milady de Winter is shown as a very powerful character in this novel. Milady is a spy for the Cardinal Richelieu and she uses her beauty and ways in espionage to infiltrate the noble families of Europe. In many instances, Milady has spoken fluent English and French thereby portraying an image of her being a native of both the lands. At the advice of the Cardinal, Milady cuts the diamonds from the queen’s necklace which was gifted to the Duke. It was during this time when D’Artagnan discovers her deepest secret. She has a fleur-de-lis Mark on her left shoulder which is a mark given to the worst criminals. D’Artagnan also realised that Milady was the wife of Athos who was presumed dead. It is also suspected that Milady killed her husband for wealth inheritance and was also willing to kill her brother-in-law. However, she escapes from the castle after seducing John Felton and poisons Bonacieux to take revenge on D’Artagnan. Finally, she is captured and executed.Love InterestsAlexandre Dumas’s ‘The Three Musketeers’ shows a wide number of love interests. Here are some:7. KittyKitty was the maid of Milady. She fell in love with d’Artagnan.8. Madame BonacieuxShe is the wife of Monsieur Bonacieux and the lady-in-waiting for Queen. D’Artagnan madly falls in love with her after saving her. She appreciates his protection but the relationship was not consummated.9. Madame de ChevreuseShe was the secret mistress of Aramis. Chevreuse was a close friend of the Queen but she was banished from Paris by the King after the Cardinal suspected her of helping the queen in political schemes.10. Madame de CoquenardCoquenard was the mistress of Porthos. She was a wealthy woman. Porthos, however, kept her identity a secret by telling his mistress was a Duchess. In the end, after the death of her old husband, she married Porthos.Other CharactersWe take a look at some of the other character names of the historic novel by Alexandre Dumas.11. Comte de RochefortComte de Rochefort is a very dangerous man. He is also the private and trustworthy spy of the Cardinal and also becomes a fierce enemy of D’Artagnan.12. Comte de WardesComte de Wardes is a spy of the Cardinal. He is also the lover of Milady. Once D’Artagnan impersonated Wardes and spent the night with Milady which bred hatred and vengeance in the heart of Milady.13. Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers is the Duke of Buckingham. He is described as a very handsome man who is wealthy and powerful. He was also the most trusted friend of King Charles I of England, along with being the Minister of War. He is shown to be in a secret affair with Queen Anne who reciprocates his love. The Duke is constantly seen trying to please his beloved.14. John FeltonA British Naval Officer who let Milady escape after being seduced by her.15. King Louis XIIIKing Louis XIII was the King and the ruler of France. However, he is portrayed as not a strong ruler. He was constantly dominated by other ministers and his trusted advisers, specifically the Cardinal. Owing to his simple and petty nature he was occasionally influenced and manipulated by others.16. Lord de WinterLord de Winter is the brother-in-law of Milady. He is shown as a man who prefers staying away from action. When he discovers his murder plot by Milady, he locked her in his castle.17. Monsieur BonacieuxMonsieur Bonacieux is the landlord of D’Artagnan and the husband of Madame Bonacieux. He approached D’Artagnan for help when his wife was kidnapped. However later after a meeting with the Cardinal, he decided to change his loyalties. He became a spy for the Cardinal resulting in turning on his wife.18. Monsieur de TrevilleMonsieur de Treville is the role model for D’Artagnan whom the latter also admires the most. Similar to D’Artagnan, Treville as a young man also hailed from Gascony and traveled to Paris, and with his sheer will, loyalty and determination rose to the rank of the captain of the king’s Elite Guard. Despite having a minor role in the novel, Treville helps D’Artagnan get a role in the regiment of the king’s guards so that he can become a musketeer.19. Queen AnneAnne of Austria or Queen Anne was the queen of France and the wife of King Louis XIII. She is shown constantly torn between the nations of Spain and France, owing to her Spanish heritage. The queen was disliked by the King who didn’t love her. She was also disliked by the Cardinal as she rebuffed his romantic approaches. However, she ran a secret affair with George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham.ServantsEnlisted below are the names of the servants of the three musketeers as depicted in the novel.20. BazinBazin was a pious religious man and the servant of Aramis. He wanted his master to become a priest.21. GrimaudHe communicated with sign language to his master Athos.22. MousquetonLike his master Porthos, he had eyes for the finest things in life.23. PlanchetHe was the brave and loyal servant of D’Artagnan.Kidadl has lots of great names articles to inspire you. If you liked our list of Three Musketeer Names then why not take a look at French Boys Names, or for something different take a look at Names Meaning Immortal.
‘The Three Musketeers’ is a novel of the swashbuckler genre.
