Georges Benoît Ménard, better known simply as Benoît Ménard, is the Grand Inquisitor of Scion Republic of France and spouse to Luce Ménard Frère. French voyants sometimes refer to him the Butcher of Strasbourg.
Biography[]
History[]
Ménard was born in the summer of 2019 in Strasbourg, a port city on the Rhine. His mother is Sophie Ménard Chaillou, who lives in the Scion Republic of Greece. He grew up seeing free-world children beyond the electric fence that separated France from Germany. The free-world children would mock him and the other Scion children and throw unnatural paraphernalia over the fence. They called them coucous, based off the German and Swiss clock called pendules à coucou. Calling someone a coucous meant they were mad and mechanical. Digusted by the influence of the free world on Strasbourg, Ménard moved to Paris to study law. Not long after receiving his degree, he secured his first job as a judicial clerk at the Inquisitorial Courts. Ménard quickly rose in prominence. He was a fixture in the Fortreresse de Justice and praised for his intelligence and meticulous approach to every task.
At twenty-six he suddenly departed for the Scion Citadel of Lyon, where he served as "expert counsel" to the Ministry of the Interior. There is no further record of his movements at this time, most likely because he was involved in the hidden cruelties of Scion. In 2049 he returned to Paris as Minister for Justice. Within four years, upon the death of Jacquemine Lang, he became the youngest ever Grand Inquisitor of France at thirty-four. One of his first acts had been to remodel almost the entire city of Strasbourg and to increase the voltage of the electric fence on the border, making it lethal.
He married Luce Frère in 2049. They are two sides of the same coin and rarely seen apart. They have three children: Onésime, Mylène, and Jean-Michel, with a fourth one on the way. As a member of the Inquisitorial family, he has a security unit of eighty elite Vigiles, some of them are former soldiers. He and his family live at the L’Hôtel Garuche.
The Song Rising[]
Ménard was expected for the Novembertide celebrations in London, but according to ScionEye he has become ill.
The Mask Falling[]
Ménard is now forty years old and has been Grand Inquisitor for almost seven years. Ménard has been avoiding contact with the government in England.
When Paige Mahoney first possesses Frère, Ménard is on the phone to Chief Birgitta Tjäder. His soldiers are helping to drive the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, and thus he is in constant contact with his commanders there. As expected, he is wholly focused on the invasion. Later that night, Paige is possessing Frère again in order to attend dinner with Ménard. Paige brings up Oxford to try and get Ménard to reveal the location of Sheol II. Ménard tells Luce that Nashira Sargas "will have to purge her own house if there is another uprising" in Sheol II. He will not reveal its location to Paige's frustration. Ménard then says that Birgitta Tjäder is in agreement with them. It will take time to arrange the counterstrike, given the situation in Sweden, but they have her loyalty. Paige pretends that Luce is having a headache and Ménard helps her to bed.
Ménard reveals his plans to Paige after capturing her. He wants to stage a coup and usurp power from the Rephaim and England. He considers the Rephaim the true unnaturals. He views the system they created, Scion, as perfect and necessary, but the Rephaim neither of those things. The hypocrisy and deceit of them are against the natural order in his view. Ménard means to purge Earth of all the Rephaim, and then all the clairvoyants. He wants to make a human-controlled Scion the one and only power in the world. He plans to use Sheol II to destroy the Rephaim. He proposes to Paige that in exchange for giving him the support of the Ranthen and the Mime Order, he will not kill her. He cryptically tells Paige that she doesn't need to worry about the threat posed by the Emim.
After Sheol II burns down, Nashira tells Ménard that France must make significant financial reparations to England for the loss. At the gala celebrating the success of Operation Madrigal, Paige offers Ménard a temporary truce. In exchange for focusing the attention of the newly aligned London and Paris syndicates on England and bringing down Weaver, Ménard will suspend all capital punishment of clairvoyants. Ménard accepts her truce but tells her that he only gives her two years of clemency.
Physical Description[]
Ménard has olive skin that looks golden in firelight. He has dark eyes. Lately there are shadows under his eyes that age him by ten years. Ménard has a penetrating gaze. Ménard is a clean-shaven man with a high forehead and dark walnut hair, neatened with pomade. A crescent-shaped birthmark curves under one cheekbone. He has small brown eyes and solid brows. He wears the black suit and red tie of all Scion officials. His lips are smooth and soft. He smells clean, like soap and lemon. He wears a plain gold spousal ring.
Personality[]
Ménard is a fanatic, his bloodthirst unrivaled among the leaders of Scion. He sends hundreds of people to the guillotine each year. His commitment to Scion should not be underestimated. His popularity is rooted in his impeccable manners, good looks, and a hardline approach to unnaturalness. Ménard rarely gives interviews. When he does, he know journalists wait on tenterhooks for his every word. He has a cool and self-possessed demeanor. He is all mild courtesy, never gesticulates, and his smiles are lukewarm at best. He is entrancing. Without ever raising his voice he commands attention. Ménard strongly dislikes the Rephaim. He says the word Réphaïm as if it were a poison, which is unexpected. According to David Fitton, Ménard would "raze citadels to protect" Luce. He makes blood and destruction sound practical and reasonable. He is not a theatrical man by nature, but he understands the power of a symbol.
Appearances[]
- The Song Rising (mentioned only)
- The Mask Falling
Trivia[]
- In interviews he claims to work long past midnight and start again at five in the morning.
- He speaks French and English.
- He uses his middle name, Benoît, officially.
- He is one of the few Scion officials who doesn't secretly drink alcohol.