FRANCOIS CHICAULT

Real Name: Francois Chicault

Identity/Class: Human vampire;

Occupation: 

Group Membership: Vampires of Earth;
    formerly the New Orleans Assassins Guild (Clan Boudreaux; notably including Bella Donna Boudreaux)

Affiliations: Unidentified vampire who transformed him, his canid;
    formerly controlled Jerome Mouchier and other members of the Velvet Ministry

Enemies: Antiquary's clan (Antiquary, Minister Hoard, Minister Tome), Blade (Eric Brooks), Gambit (Remy LeBeau), Jerome Mouchier and other members of the Velvet Ministry;
    seven members of the Antiquary's clan whom he fatally drained;
    formerly the unidentified vampire who transformed him

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New Orleans, Louisiana

First Appearance: Gambit III#4 (May, 1999)

Powers/Abilities: In life, Francois Chicault loved researching, and he kept a red book containing his lifetime of research.

    He loved the smell of old books in the evening, and he considered that it smelled like history.

    He had some experience as an assassin, and he could wield knives and automatic handguns as well as scale a building. However, his skills were considered mediocre.

    As a vampire, Francois presumably would have had superhuman strength (typically enhanced human) and required regular blood meals to survive. 

    Further, feeding on a human victim turned that victim into a vampire, depending on the extent of the feeding and other circumstances.

    When fully fed, she may have been able to heal rapidly from non-fatal wounds.

    He presumably had the standard vampire vulnerabilities, to sunlight and religious icons, as well as presumably garlic, silver, and wooden stakes through the heart.
    When decapitated by Blade's (presumably silver) sword, flames followed the sword as the strike's arc was completed. I'm not sure why...

    He could control a human from whom he had non-fatally drained blood, causing that person to take on a vampiric appearance. Additionally, he could also control other living beings that his still-living bite-victim had bitten as well.

    He was not seen to mesmerize others beyond those he had bitten, nor did he demonstrate turning into mist, a bat, or a wolf.

    He was followed and assisted by a canid that may or may not have also been vampiric, or perhaps otherwise magic.

Height: Unrevealed (he is never clearly shown in direct proportion to anyone of known height, but he seemed somewhat short, perhaps 5'4" to 5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 130 - 150 lbs.)
Eyes: Red (original eye color unrevealed, as the flashback images weren't in color and didn't show him clearly, regardless)
Hair: Bald (dark eyebrows)

History:

Gambit III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Bella Donna and the Assassins Guild believed Francois to have failed and to have had his throat fatally slit.

(Gambit III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to gain control over the Antiquary's clan so that he could possess the Antiquary's ancient library and artifacts (to access the associated ancient magicks and spells), the vampire Francois Chicault (a former member of the New Orleans Assassins Guild) bit and fatally drained seven members of the Antiquary's clan (apparently part of collection/slaves in the Velvet Ministry) over a period of two weeks. 

    However, before these victims could be reborn as vampires, the vampire-hunter Blade found and destroyed each of them with a wooden stake through the heart.

(Gambit III#4) - Chicault captured Jerome Mouchier, a young boy who had apparently escaped from the Antiquary's Velvet Ministry. Chicault earned his confidence by giving him something to eat, and telling him not to be afraid, as he wouldn't be like the others.

(Gambit III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Chicault non-fatally drank Jerome's blood by biting his wrist (presumably catching a branch of his cephalic vein).

(Gambit III#4) - As Jerome cried within an abandoned factory building, Chicault told him to stop as it was very hurtful, and he asked if he could be any more frightening than life as part of the Antiquary's brood. He further told Jerome that he offered a legacy, a timeless tradition, a sense of belonging, and a family. As Chicault prepared to bite Jerome again, he told the youth to sit back, close his eyes, and dream of forever.

    Having trailed Chicault, Blade drove a car through the side of the building. Insisting the boy was his and firing a gun at Blade, Chicault told Blade he wouldn't let him take him. When Blade told Chicault he didn't have a choice, Chicault dropped Jerome from atop the building, knowing Blade would abandon him to save the boy, allowing Chicault to escape.
(Gambit III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Mouchier was found wandering the streets by Jean-Luc's clan, whom he informed of the vampiric attack and his being saved by a "chauve-souris noir" (a "black bat.")

(Gambit III#4 - BTS) - Jean-Luc LeBeau shared information on the vampiric attacks with Gambit.

(Gambit III#4 - BTS) - The Antiquary's Ministers Hoard and Tome met with Assassins Guild leader Bella Donna Boudreaux to ask her about Chicault; she revealed his history and seeming demise, and they shared that he was a vampire now decimating their clan. 
    Listening from outside the building, Gambit overheard the conversation.

(Gambit III#4 - BTS) - Seeking out Chicault in a local cemetery, Gambit ended up briefly battling Blade, who had assumed Gambit's red eyes indicated that he was a vampire. After clarifying the confusion, the two joined forces against Chicault; Gambit considered that the best way to stop him might be to allow him to gain the tomes and talismans he sought.

(Gambit III#4 - BTS) - Gambit, Jean-Luc LeBeau, and Blade traveled to the Antiquary's private museum and met with Ministers Hoard and Tome, asking access to the Antiquary's ancient "scriptures of the Old Kingdom" so they could help save him; unwilling to risk the knowledge and power they might get from these scriptures, Hoard and Tome refused. 

(Gambit III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Jean-Luc LeBeau instead brokered a compromise: They returned Jerome to the Antiquary's clan's custody, rightly suspecting this would draw in Chicault so they could stop him. 

(Gambit III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Blade's terms in this agreement were that he would be allowed to destroy Chicault as well as to be given access to any mention of the "old blood language" in the Antiquary's texts. In exchange for their stopping Chicault, Hoard and Tome agreed to release the children/acolytes to Jean-Luc LeBeau's clan.

(Gambit III#4) - After night fell, from outside the Antiquary's museum, Chicault took control of Jerome (who's transitory state exhibited fangs), had him bite the other children in the Velvet Ministry, extending Chicault's control over them, and then disengage the museum's security systems and invite him inside. 

(Gambit III#4) - As the children had overwhelmed Hoard and Tome, Chicault announced that his goal had never been to ruin their despicable clan but rather to control it. Taking the key from around Tome's neck, Chicault noted that it unlocked the secrets of the Antiquary's real collection. He then entered the Antiquary's library via a panel in the base of a statue, noting how he would use it to find the scattered pieces of the Guild puzzle he was missing and perhaps open the gates to the Old Kingdom itself. He further considered that becoming a vampire had been a blessing, as it granted him immortality with which to continue his historical research.

    Chicault was shocked at the extensive and well-preserved whole tracts of ancient text, including a mention of Ain Ghazal, a listing of the so-called X-Ternal elixirs (confirming what he believed his scattered text to represent), and references linking Sumer and Akkad through Dilmun to the village of Banpo, showing that the Old Kingdom had already "cast its first light at the very dawn of civilization."

Comments: Created by Fabian Nicieza, Steve Skroce, Rob Hunter, Scott Hanna, and Scott Koblish.

    Chicault (as well as the seven unidentified members of the Antiquary's clan slain by Blade) was likely revived by the prophecy fulfilled in Blade III#12 that brought back every vampire that had ever perished

    This profile was completed 7/25/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Francois Chicault should be distinguished from:

• other "Francois" or "Chicault" characters... 

Chicault apparently had a small to medium-sized (perhaps weighing 50 lbs.) dog or wolf with him as he first approached Jerome Mouchier.       The canid was with Chicault in the abandoned factory as he prepared to vampirize Jerome. When Blade drove a car through the building, both Chicault and the canid fled.      The canid was present outside of the Antiquary's Museum at nightfall when Chicault took control of Jerome.      It entered the Museum with Chicault after Jerome and the others opened the door for Chicault.      It silently followed Chicault throughout the museum, including into the hidden Library, and as Chicault examined the books and talismans there, it stood watch over the seated and bound Hoard and Tome.       When Blade and Gambit arrive, Blade slashes it with his sword, apparently killing or destroying it. --Gambit III#4 Note: I don't think the canid was mentioned in the text, but it was there in each of Chicault's post-vampire appearances.      A canid refers to a mammal of the dog family, which includes wolves.      I'm not sure if the creature is meant to be a wolf or what. That would make sense, as some vampires can control wolves, but the proportions seem a bit off. Wolves aren't actually that big, but this thing looks more like some kind of Terrier mix.      Maybe it was Chicault's dog before he was vampirized, and it stayed loyal to him...and/or he vampirized it.      The canid can be seen in the main profile fleeing the warehouse into which Blade had crashed, and also as Chicault prepared to unlock the Antiquary's secret library. When Blade nails it with his sword, it seems like it might be turning to dust...

Apparently a long, white-haired man (based on size), he presumably possessed the standard vampire abilities (see Chicault's Powers/Abilities section).      Certainly he could vampirize another by fatally draining their blood. (Gambit III#4 (fb)) - The vampire was apparently residing in a New Orleans manor when Francis Chicault and two others scaled the wall of the building, presumably intent on killing him for the Assassins Guild.      Chicault apparently stabbed the vampire in the back of the left shoulder, after which Chicault futilely struggled as the vampire who bit him in the neck, draining his blood.      Chicault's allies are presumably seen in shadows by the window as Chicault is being bitten. It's not clear, but they appear to be fleeing. (Gambit III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Bella Donna and the Assassins Guild believed Francois to have failed and to have had his throat fatally slit. --Gambit III#4 Note: We don't know who he -- I'm assuming it's a man based on size, but that's unconfirmed -- is/was, and/or why the Assassins Guild targeted him. We don't know anything beyond what's listed here, which is already extrapolizing somewhat.

Appearances:
Gambit III#4 (May, 1999) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Steve Skroce (penciler), Rob Hunter with Scott Hanna & Scott Koblish (inkers), Mark Powers (editor)

First posted: 09/05/2021
Last updated: 09/04/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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