Characters

Jean-Baptise Grenouille

The protagonist of the novel. Grenouille possesses an absurdly keen sense of smell, no smell of his own, and an intense hatred of humanity, which combined leads him on a journey to create the perfect scent that will allow him to control humanity. He's likened to a tick as he's small, inconspicuous, and sucks the lifeblood out of his victims. He realizes his purpose in life when he discovers the intoxicating scent of the girl from the rue de Marais, and vows to become a master perfumer.

He sees nothing wrong or strange about committing murder; he only desires to possess the scent of his victims. He learns to create perfumes conventionally under Baldini, spends seven years wallowing in his hatred of humanity in a remote volcano and his inner palace, and finally sets about creating a perfume that will allow him complete power over people in the town of Grasse, created from the scents of 25 murdered virgins. Grenouille believes that having this power will make him happy, but when he deploys his perfume, he finds his hatred for humanity overshadows any pleasure he experiences from his success. He then uses his perfume to commit suicide in Paris, destroying both himself and his powerful perfume in the process.

Giuseppe Baldini

The perfumer who takes Grenouille on as an apprentice; Chénier's employer. Baldini is very concerned with upholding and maintaining order, both in the larger world and in the smaller world of creating perfumes in his workshop. He's described as kind, although often to his own detriment, but also treats Grenouille as little more than a fountain of brilliant ideas for perfumes. He uses Grenouille to save himself from the has-been perfumer he'd become and rises to European fame with Grenouille's formulas, though Grenouille isn't allowed to take credit for his work. When Baldini exhausts his uses for Grenouille, he grants Grenouille journeyman's papers and sends him on his way. Baldini dies that night when his business, which sits on a bridge crossing the Seine, collapses into the river.

Laure Richis

The young daughter of Antoine Richis and Grenouille's final target. She's very beautiful, with red hair and pale skin, and Grenouille finds her scent to be even more intoxicating than that of the girl from the rue de Marais. Though her father tries to save her by arranging her marriage, Grenouille murders her before the marriage can take place and creates his most intoxicating perfume with her scent.