Nicolas Thomas and Hugo Renard
Nicolas Thomas (ニコラス・トーマ, Nikorasu Tōma) and Hugo Renard (ユーゴ・ルナール, Yūgo Runāru)[a] are tertiary characters featured in the one-shot Rohan au Louvre.
The two men are firefighters working in the Louvre Museum's security services.
Appearance
Nicolas and Hugo are two large, muscular men with buzz cut hairstyles. They wear matching uniforms consisting of a T-shirt, pants, belt, waist pouches, and lace up boots. Their shirts have two horizontal lines on the top left and a rectangular symbol in the middle. Nicolas is much taller and broader than his partner, whereas Hugo has slightly more hair at the top of his head.
In the live-action film, Nicolas has a shaved head and Hugo's hair is thicker.
Color Schemes
Personality
In the manga, not much is known of Nicolas and Hugo's personalities. As they are part of security services, they lead the group when searching for the painting. The two are afraid upon seeing something move in the darkness, but they shrug off their fears assuming it's a rat.[1]
In the live-action film, their personalities are slightly expanded on. Secretly working for a theft group, they are knowledgeable of paintings. The two are also psychologically skilled enough to hide their emotions upon being accused by Rohan, keeping stiff expressions and not moving their eyes so they don't inadvertently reveal who their leader is. However, Hugo stops caring after his partner's death and proves Rohan correct. He goes berserk and attempts to attack Rohan, as well as Kyoka afterwards with a knife. He no longer trusts anyone, not even his leader.[2]
History
Rohan au Louvre
The firefighters hold the keys to all the rooms in the Louvre. They accompany Rohan, Gaucher and Noguchi to the abandoned warehouse Z-13 in the Louvre to find the painting "Under the Moon" in case the group gets lost, or if something happens. They lead the way, but the door to the storage area is stuck since the lock rusted. In between the door's gaps, they see the painting, as well as something moving on the other side. However, they assume it's only rats.
The men decide to break open the lock and head inside with flashlights. Hugo touches the painting but immediately has his skull pierced. His body is sucked into the darkness in the ceiling. Nicolas then witnesses Gaucher die and recognizes one of their attackers as someone who died in the battlefield. He asks himself how that could be possible and begs him to get away. Numerous gunshot wounds appear on his body and he too is sucked into the darkness. Their bodies are never found and both are considered missing.[1]
Film
Background
In the live-action film adaptation, Nicolas and Hugo secretly work for an art theft group alongside Maurice Legrand, Watabe, Kawai, and their leader, Ryunosuke Tatsumi. They also work as firefighters stationed at the Louvre. In the event of a disaster, they are in charge of evacuating the artworks. They are familiar with all the secret passages in the Louvre and hold keys to all the doors.
In their theft group, Maurice had exceptional skills in reproducing paintings, so the group used him to commit fraud. Since the firefighters had access to every room in the Louvre, they used the abandoned warehouse Z-13 to their advantage. They would take original masterpiece paintings from there, then give them to Maurice, who created a detailed forgery. The firefighters sent the forged painting to the Louvre's storage room, while Maurice hid the original painting in the back of one of his other paintings. He then shipped it overseas to Japan, where his gang members would bid on the cheap painting in an auction, so they can retrieve the original painting from the back.
Rohan au Louvre
Nicolas and Hugo accompany Rohan, Emma, Tatsumi, and Kyoka Izumi to the abandoned warehouse in the Louvre since the area is old and maze-like. Hugo asks them to hand over any flammable items or anything that could harm the stored items like lighters, pens, knives, and keys. The two turn on their flashlights and lead the way down. Emma finds it strange that the warehouse's door opens easily with their key even though it shouldn't have been used for a long time, and Hugo agrees with her, despite him knowing the room was secretly used. Nicolas suddenly sees something move in the room and wonders if it's a rat, but the two aren't concerned.
While searching for what he saw, Nicolas knocks off a painting from the wall. It ends up being an unpublished painting from Johannes Vermeer, which makes Rohan and Emma suspicious since it should have been sent to the Louvre's newly constructed storage center already. Tatsumi declares it's a fake and tells Nicolas to dispose of it. However, Rohan rejects his claim and believes it is authentic. He shows them an art material he found with Maurice Legrand's name on it and then explains his theory of how he believes the art theft group is operating. Tatsumi, Nicolas, and Hugo stay silent upon hearing Rohan's correct theory. After some time, Tatsumi starts arguing, but Nicolas and Hugo don't pay attention to that. Hugo is concerned about Nicolas, who is staring into the darkness of the warehouse. Stunned, Nicolas wonders why a soldier is there and is suddenly shot with several bullets.
As Nicolas dies, Hugo loses his calm and accuses Rohan of doing something since Watabe contacted them earlier saying Rohan is dangerous. Hugo charges at Rohan but the manga artist shakes him off. Angered, Hugo pulls out a knife and lunges at Kyoka. Rohan protects Kyoka and shoves him away, but Hugo successfully managed to snatch away the Vermeer painting. Hugo screams and no longer trusts anybody. Paranoid because Tatsumi spoke in Japanese with the group earlier, he thinks Tatsumi may also be betraying him like what happened with Maurice. After Tatsumi confesses to Rohan, a black spider crawls up Tatsumi's back. Everyone is confused when Tatsumi mentions Maurice's name, as only he could see the man's ghost. While Tatsumi is strangled by Maurice, Hugo sees victims of a tragedy caused by his grandfather's madness. With his lighter, Hugo sets himself on fire, which was his ultimate fate because of the regret inside him from his grandfather.[2]
Gallery
The firefighters arrive with Gaucher
The Louvre staff accompanying Rohan
Gaucher witnessing Hugo's death
Nicolas's death
Trivia
- Nicolas and Hugo were likely inspired by the real life firefighters employed by the Louvre that accompanied Araki during his tour into the museum's basement.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Both of the firefighters' names may not have been chosen by Araki as they derive from the live-action film. As such, they may or may not be considered canon.
