Assane Diop

Assane Diop is a main character and the protagonist of the first part of Lupin. He is portrayed by Omar Sy, while his 14-year-old counterpart is portrayed by Mamadou Haidara.

Assane takes the world famous gentleman thief and master of disguise, Arsène Lupin, as his inspiration. His life was changed forever when his father Babakar was imprisoned for stealing Marie-Antoinette's necklace, which was under Hubert Pellegrini's possession. After Babakar committed suicide in prison, Assane began to use his talents to avenge his father's death and outwit those who stand in his way.

1995
Assane and Babakar stumble upon Anne Pellegrini, whose car has gotten stuck. However, when they offer to help, she locks her door. Babakar explains that he is her husband's new chauffeur, and offers to try to fix her vehicle. Anne relents, and allows Assane to get into the car, where she asks him where they come from. Assane tells her that they are from Senegal. Anne also asks Assane where his mother is; he does not respond. Babakar insists on driving Anne home, and she agrees, telling Assane that his father is a gentleman.

As one of the perks of being the son of their chauffeur, Assane is granted the use of the Pellegrinis' pool. One day, he arrives for a swim and sees Hubert and Anne's daughter Juliette lying near the pool smoking a cigarette. Juliette asks Assane if he is the driver's son; Assane responds that he is, and tells her that he will be fourteen the following week. Juliette tells Assane that if he swims to her, she will kiss him. Assane doggy-paddles his way to Juliette, and kisses her when he reaches the other side.

After Babakar is wrongfully accused of stealing the Pellegrinis' necklace and imprisoned, Assane visits him. On one of his visit days, a guard finds that Babakar has hanged himself. Assane buries his father, joined by Anne Pellegrini, who offers her condolences and tells him that she will help him in any way he can. Assane, blaming the Pellegrini family for his father's death, insults her and leaves. Later, Assane searches through his father's possessions and finds a book of stories about Arsène Lupin, which had been intended for as a present for his birthday. Assane begins to read the book, and is immediately enthralled.

Some time after Babakar's death, Dumont arrives at Assane's apartment, where he has continued to live. He questions Assane about his situation; Assane lies about his age, claiming to be sixteen, and says that he is living with his mother. Dumont is well aware that Assane is lying, and tells him that he will be taking him to social services. Inspired by Arsène Lupin, Assane attempts to escape out of the window, but is caught by Dumont. Assane is brought to an orphanage, where a social worker gives him a bible.

While at the orphanage, Assane witnesses a girl about his age being harassed by a group of boys. He manages to successfully diffuse the situation, and sits down next to the girl, who tells him that men are either knights (like Assane) or barbarians (like the gang of boys), and that both types bother her equally. However, she also tells him that she has heard about what happened to his father, and that she is sorry for his loss. The girl introduces herself as Claire.

Later, while Assane and Claire are reading in a nearby park, the same boys appear and begin teasing them. Despite Claire's warnings, Assane fights them and gets injured. Afterwards, Claire tends to Assane's wounds. Assane tries to kiss her, and Claire laughs at him, telling him that she is not in need of a boyfriend. Assane shows her a lighter that he stole from the boys while fighting them; Claire is surprised and amused that he has managed to snatch it away.

Over time, Assane and Claire spend more and more time together. Claire asks Assane whether he ever gets bored reading the same Arsène Lupin book over and over; Assane tells her that he doesn't, since he learns something new every time. He also mentions that he thinks that there are three kinds of men, the third type being somebody who only cares about what really matters, and who plays the game but respects the rules: the "gentleman." Claire is moved by this and kisses Assane, telling him that she likes the idea that they will always be there for one another.

Assane's stay in the orphanage ends when he is informed by the social worker that somebody has paid for him to attend the College d’Andrésy, one of the best schools in France. He also gives Assane a letter from Babakar, in which he appears to confess to his guilt of the crime of stealing the necklace. Soon afterward, Assane begins attending the College, where he is almost immediately bullied by several boys due to his race and his poverty. However, another boy intervenes, telling the group to back off unless they want him to report them. The student who helped Assane tells him that his name is Benjamin.

2006
Assane has decided to style himself after Arsène Lupin both in demeanor and profession, having become a prolific petty thief. One day, he impersonates a plain-clothes police officer, managing to fool two actual officers and infiltrating a wealthy, elderly woman's apartments. Assane asks her if she has an alarm; she replies that she does not. Assane tells her that this is unfortunate, as thieves (who had already broken into the building) would do so again. He recommends that she leave him with her valuable items, which he will take to the station. The woman obliges, and tells Assane that he is a gentleman. After leaving the apartment building, he receives a call from Claire, who asks him if they can meet in a quiet restaurant for dinner.

Later that day, Assane has lunch with Benjamin, who has found a spot for an antique shop he is planning to open. Assane gifts Benjamin some of the jewelry he had previously stolen from the elderly woman, so that he can sell it in the shop. Juliette Pellegrini walks into the restaurant, and Assane excuses himself and goes to meet her in the bathroom. Assane asks Juliette to stop following him, as he wants to stop cheating on Claire. Juliette tells Assane that what she likes about him is that he is not a good person; Assane urgers her to stop waiting for him, since he loves Claire first and foremost.

At dinner, Claire protests that she had asked Assane to take her to a low-key place, but instead he has brought her to one of the fanciest restaurants in town. Noticing her visible anxiety, Assane asks her what the matter is. Claire anxiously tells Assane that she is pregnant; she is shocked and happy when she sees that Assane's reaction is entirely positive, and he begins telling everybody in the restaurant about his impending paternity. However, he notices the woman he had previously scammed at another table, and hastily leaves with Claire.

As they walk home, Claire tells Assane that she is due on December 11. Assane is excited, as this is also the birthday of Maurice Leblanc, the creator of the Lupin stories. He promises Claire that he will protect their child in any way that he can, and suggests several names, including Raoul.

Present day
In October 2020, Assane hears a news report saying that the Pellegrini necklace has been found and is being auctioned off at the Louvre. Immediately, he applies for a job as janitor at the museum, which he manages to get after the woman in charge of hiring turns out to be from Senegal as well. Assane makes several other preparations, including having Benjamin re-create the necklace, and writing a false Wikipedia page for a businessman named "Paul Sernine."

Assane meets with Claire (from whom he has separated) in a café in order to give her an alimony payment. He tells her that he has a new job; while she is happy for him, she says that based on her past experience with his "work," it is probably something secret that will damage his relationship with her and Raoul. Assane asks her if he can see Raoul, and Claire tells him that he can, but reminds him that he has stood his son up three times now. Assane tells Claire that he will change; she responds that he should tell this to his son, and gives him back the alimony, advising him to get a present for Raoul's upcoming birthday instead. When Claire leaves the café, she finds that Assane has secretly slipped the money into her jacket, along with a paper flower.

Later, Assane goes to meet Kevin, Vincent and Rudy, three loan sharks whom he hopes will help him in stealing the necklace. Having failed to pay back a previous debt, Assane is dangled over the edge of the building by the men, but Assane tells them that he can give them more money than they can ever spend, and proceeds to explain his plans to stage a heist in the Louvre, asking for their help. The three men agree.

On Friday, October 16th, Assane arrives at the auction dressed in an expensive suit, presenting himself as the multimillionaire tech businessman Paul Sernine. Meanwhile, Vincent, Kevin and Rudy arrive dressed as janitors. Juliette Pellegrini introduces the auction, mentioning that the purchase of the necklace will help create the Juliette and Hubert Pellegrini foundation.



Bidding for the necklace begins at 17 million euros. Assane begins making increasingly extravagant bids, competing with a wealthy German man for the prize. The auctioneer, curious about who Assane is, is shown a Wikipedia page detailing Paul Sernine's life and work. Eventually, Assane bids 60 million euros, winning the necklace. Kevin and Vincent, standing nearby dressed in the uniforms of security guards, decide to betray Assane before he can double-cross them. While Assane is being presented the necklace by the auctioneer, Kevin and Vincent attack both of them, managing to tie them down and fleeing the scene with the treasure. They crash through the glass roof of the museum in a Ferrari while attempting to make a getaway with Rudy.



After the accident, the three men are arrested by the police. Romain Laugier, the captain in charge of the operation, deems Assane suspicious, noting that he has never heard of Sernine's supposed company, Nanobay, before. The auctioneer defends Assane's character, and after a brief search of his person, Laugier allows him to leave. Unbeknownst to everybody, Assane, suspecting that he would be betrayed, switched out the real necklace with a fake one made by Benjamin. When he leaves the museum, Assane takes the necklace with him.

The next day, Assane arrives at Claire's apartment, mentioning that the previous night had been nothing special. After collecting Raoul, Assane takes him walking along the Seine, where he gives him the copy of the Arsène Lupin book that had been given to him by his father twenty five years earlier.



Assane gives Benjamin the necklace so that he can inspect it. Benjamin tells Assane that the necklace had never been taken apart, and that the likelihood that it had been stolen from the Pellegrinis' safe is small. With this in mind, Assane arranges to meet Juliette in Luxembourg Gardens, dressed in the uniform of a Deli +Eat deliveryman. Against his expressed wishes, Juliette has brought the police along. When he sits down next to Juliette, she recognizes him immediately, but before she can say his name, Assane covers the small microphone that she is wearing on her jacket pocket.



Assane asks Juliette to tell him the truth about the necklace, noting Benjamin's revelation about its history. Juliette admits that the story that the Pellegrinis had released to the press, that the necklace had needed to be reconstructed as the jewels had turned up individually all across the globe, was made up to increase publicity for the auction. However, she denies believing that anyone other than Babakar was behind the theft. Seeing that he is not going to get anything more out of her, Assane jumps on his bike and leaves the gardens, hotly pursued by the disguised police officers that Juliette had called in. However, many other people wearing the same uniform, whom Assane had called for earlier, arrive on the scene, confusing the police and allowing Assane to escape.

Upon arriving home, Assane reads his father's confession letter, noticing for the first time several errors in spelling. Assane finds this strange, as his father had always been a stickler for proper spelling; when he examines the letter more closely, he realizes that the mistakes appear to be leaving a message about a certain Comet, one of Babakar's fellow inmates. To investigate further, Assane visits another inmate in the prison, claiming to be his cousin. He then tells the man that he intends to switch places with him; the inmate finds this laughable, but agrees to go along with it after Assane successfully steals his handcuffs. The prison guards fail to notice the switch.



Now in prison, Assane gets Comet's cell number and goes to question him; upon arriving, he is told that Comet is in the infirmary and will likely not be coming back. Upon leaving, Assane is accosted by a group of men, who tell him that he now owes them 1,000 euros' worth of marijuana, and that he has three days to give it to them.

Assane goes to the infirmary, telling the nurse that he has a stomach pain. The nurse decides that there is nothing seriously wrong with him, and sends him away. The following day, Assane insults the men to whom he had promised the drugs, and gets stabbed in retaliation. Back in the infirmary, Assane is allowed to stay the night this time. During the night, Assane wakes Comet, telling him about his father. Comet says that while he did not know Babakar well, he is aware that Babakar had intended to give a book to Assane, and that the book is among Comet's belongings.



Assane goes through Comet's cell to find the book, another Arsène Lupin volume. While reading through it, Assane finds that several words and letters have been highlighted. Upon putting the message together, Assane finds out that his father was innocent, having been trapped by Anne Pellegrini. Afterwards, Assane is given permission to visit Comet at the infirmary. Realizing that Comet is dying, Assane asks him what he can do to repay him. Comet tells him to make his wife smile.

Later that night, the nurse finds Assane hanging from a noose in an apparent suicide. Assane is taken to an ambulance and rushed to the hospital; however, having faked the incident using a basketball net harness and lots of sleeping pills. When Assane wakes up in the ambulance, he waits until the vehicle is at a red light and escapes. Later, Assane goes to the hotel in which Anne Pellegrini is living, steals a maid's key, and walks into Anne's room.



Anne is shocked to see Assane, and is even more so when he accuses her of having framed his father. Anne admits that she made Babakar sign the confession, but reveals that she only did it because she believed incorrectly (having been told by Dumont) that it would reduce his sentence. She also tells Assane that it was she who had paid for his boarding school ediucation after his father's death. Afterwards, Assane sneaks into the house of Comet's wife, leaving her one of the diamonds in the necklace.

In order to keep track of Dumont's plans and engagements, Assane installs video cameras in his house. Dumont has now been promoted to the position of commissioner of the Paris police department. One day, Dumont goes to City Hall for a meeting, and encounters Assane, dressed as an IT specialist. Assane loudly mentions that there are issues surrounding porn on Dumont's work computer. Angry and embarrassed, Dumont allows Assane to lead him into a deserted corridor. Once there, Assane knocks him out, brings him to a room in the basement of City Hall, and ties him up. He takes the battery and SIM card out of Dumont's phone, putting both on a van headed for Pantin, a commune in the northeast of the Paris metropolitan area.

When Dumont wakes up, he is horrified to find that he has been kidnapped. Invisible to Dumont and using a voice scrambler, Assane asks him if he remembers Babakar, asking him why he had framed him. Dumont claims that Babakar was indeed guilty, and speculates that the questions may have something to do with the incident at the Louvre. Assane tells Dumont that he knows that he has been involved in several episodes of bribery and corruption, stating that he will reveal this to Dumont's family.



Assane calls Hélène, Dumont's wife, and Dumont attempts to speak to her. However, Hélène is only able to hear Assane's voice threatening her husband, and becomes terrified. Assane hangs up the phone, and Dumont yells that he had only taken the money in order to provide for his children, drawing parallels between his love for them and Babakar's love for Assane.

Assane receives a phone call from Claire, who asks him if he has thought of something he can do for Raoul's birthday. Assane pauses briefly, and then mentions that he has a surprise planned. Claire is dismayed by his reaction, believing that Assane has forgotten about it as he did the previous year. She asks Assane to tell her what he is doing; Assane claims that he is filing paperwork. Claire doesn't believe him, but says that she isn't sure whether she even wants to know what he is actually up to. Imploring Assane to stay safe, she hangs up.

Returning to his interrogation with Dumont, Assane says that he will not hurt him physically, but threatens to release deepfakes of him claiming to be a pedophile or a supporter of ISIS. Dumont becomes very angry, demanding that Assane tell him what he actually wants. Assane loses his cool and yells that he wants to know what happened to his father. Dumont instantly realizes that Assane is the person interrogating him. He asks Assane to forgive him for his behavior when he was younger, but re-iterates his belief in Babakar's guilt. Assane tells Dumont that he wants to change his mind about him, and leaves the room shortly before Laugier, Guedira and Belkacem arrive and untie their commissioner.

Later, Assane visits Dumont in a restaurant and re-introduces himself, asking him about his relationship with Hubert Pellegrini. Dumont is reluctant to give Assane information, until Assane makes vague threats against his wife, at which point Dumont tells him to leave his family alone but gives him the name of Fabienne Beriot, a journalist who had almost exposed Hubert. Assane looks Fabienne up online, finding out that she had been sued for defamation by Hubert after the publication of her book Dirty Money: The Pellegrini System. The fallout from the lawsuit had prevented Fabienne from ever working again. Assane buys Fabienne's book.



Several days later, Fabienne arrives at her home and is surprised to see Assane sitting inside. Assane claims that he is not a thief but a fan. Fabienne tells him that "Fabienne" does not exist after being blacklisted by Hubert and his army of lawyers. Assane tells Fabienne about what had happened to his father, and asks for her help; however, she refuses, believing Assane's quest to be a fool's errand.

However, some time afterward, Fabienne changes her mind, telling Assane that since Hubert has taken everything from her, she has nothing left to lose. She reveals that he was the first person that she had spoken to in days, and that she had appreciated his compliments regarding her journalism. Fabienne tells Assane that it makes sense that Babakar had been framed in 1995, as this was a year in which Hubert's business empire was in serious danger of collapsing. The insurance money collected from the necklace theft would have enabled him to regain control of his finances. Fabienne says that she may have evidence that will prove Hubert's unsavory and illegal dealings.



Assane and Fabienne drive to the headquarters of The Objector, the magazine at which Fabienne spent her entire career. Working together, Assane and Fabienne are able to retrieve a videotape from the magazine's archives, with Assane feigning an unassuming, timid persona to get past the guards. Later, when they are watching the footage, Assane sees that in 1996 Pellegrini had sold weapons to Malaysian terrorists, who went on to blow up the French embassy, killing eleven people. Later, Assane arrives at Claire's house for a visitation with Raoul. Claire is annoyed by Assane's tardiness, and leaves in a hurry. Raoul and Assane play video games during the visit, and Raoul tells Assane that Claire has begun dating a doctor. Assane says that he is happy for her; Raoul tells him not to pretend that he doesn't care.

Under the name "Salvator813," Assane tweets a screenshot from the Pellegrini tape, threatening to leak all of the video. In response, Hubert gives a press conference, denying that the tape is real. Assane and Benjamin watch the conference together on TV. Fabienne, who is standing near Hubert, loudly asks him if he believes that he has the blood of the victims of the Malaysian attacks on his hands; he is furious and ends the conference with no comment.

Afterwards, Fabienne is congratulated by Assane. She tells him that she was followed home; Assane is concerned, but Fabienne assures him that she knows how to lose pursuers. Assane reveals that he has contacted the evening talk show The Other Edition, telling them that "Salvator" wants to make his TV debut. Although Fabienne complains that the show is not real journalism, she is swayed when he reveals that two million viewers would see the broadcast. In order to get ready for the show, Assane applies heavy makeup, as well as a false beard and a wig.



Assane's plan, however, is ruined when the tape is played, and it turns out that Hubert managed to wipe all of the most incriminating footage. Assane is furious at this, and storms out of the broadcast, fighting Hubert's men as he escapes. Once out of the building, he removes his disguise and heads to Fabienne's home. However, when he arrives, he finds Fabienne hanging from a noose, dead. Assane holds Fabienne's dog, J'Accuse, and cries.

In the ensuing days, the news of Fabienne's death breaks in the French press. Assane, who has brought J'Accuse home with him, tells Benjamin that it was his fault that Fabienne had died, and that he should not have involved her. Benjamin, becoming concerned that Assane is over-extending himself, tells him that he does not want to find him dead as well. He reminds Assane of his family, and notes that it is Raoul's birthday. Assane says that he is not in the mood for celebration, but Benjamin convinces him that if he maintains this attitude, Hubert Pellegrini will have beaten him.

On the way to Claire's house, Assane finds himself pursued by Hubert's henchman Leonard, who had killed Fabienne earlier. Assane manages to evade Leonard by running up several levels of a parking garage, and hopping across the roofs of Paris. When he arrives at his destination, he wishes Raoul a happy birthday. Assane gives Raoul a top hat and a cape; Raoul is not sure if he likes the present, but Assane assures him that he will love it, and that he has an outing planned. Claire bids them farewell, revealing that she has plans. Assane sarcastically asks if she has a doctor's appointment; Claire is shocked to find out that he knows about her new relationship. She eventually relents and agrees to go with them.

Once on the train, Assane reveals that they will be going to Étretat, where there is an Arsène Lupin festival being held. Claire attempts to recite several lines from the Lupin book The Hollow Needle, telling Raoul that Assane had her read it when they began their relationship. Later, Claire takes a photograph with Assane and Raoul; when he examines it, Assane is shocked to see that Leonard is in the background, having managed to follow Assane onto the train. He stands up and begins singing "Happy Birthday" loudly, looking at Leonard in a pointed manner. After the song finishes, Assane excuses himself and leaves Claire and Raoul, moving towards the front of the train. Leonard gets up and follows him.

When he reaches the end, Leonard is surprised by Assane, who is hiding in a storage closet. The two fight one another briefly; Assane manages to gain the upper hand and locks Leonard in the closet, dashing back to his seat. When he returns, Raoul and Claire notice that he has exerted himself. Assane claims that he got into an altercation with another passenger, who had claimed that The Mysterious Traveller was the best Lupin story. Claire is startled to hear that Assane has been fighting, and is skeptical of his story, but ultimately lets it go.



However, as the train nears the station at Le Havre, Leonard manages to escape and returns, discreetly pointing a gun at Assane and sitting next to Claire and Raoul. Leonard asks Raoul whether they are going to the Lupin festival; Raoul replies that they are. Claire asks Assane if he knows Leonard. Assane replies that he doesn't, but Leonard says that he does. Assane texts Laugier, claiming that "Paul Sernine" is on the train wearing a beige coat (which Leonard is actually wearing).

When the train stops, Assane motions for Claire to get off the train with Raoul. Although concerned about the situation, she obliges. Leonard tells Assane that they will disembark quietly, pointing his gun at him. As they step onto the platform, they are greeted by a number of local police officers, who proceed to arrest Leonard, into whose pocket Assane has slipped one of the diamonds in the necklace.

Assane catches up with his family, and they continue to Étretat. While strolling through the promenade, Raoul wears the cape and hat that Assane has gotten for him, stating that it would look stupid anywhere else, but is cool in a place where everybody is dressed like this. Claire asks what happened to Lupin in the original stories; Raoul tells her that nobody knows, since he was never caught. Claire says that this makes the books unrealistic. Raoul wanders ahead, telling his parents that he is going to walk on the beach and explore the nearby cliffs. Claire warns him not to go too far.

Assane and Claire continue walking through the town, and Claire asks Assane who the man on the train was. When Assane fails to respond, Claire becomes upset, telling him that she is tired of pleading with him for information. Assane responds that when he is finished, he will be able to tell her everything, but Claire says that she needs more. Assane asks her to give him another chance.

Suddenly Claire notices that she cannot see Raoul anywhere. Worried for his safety, she searches for him on the beach, while Assane does the same on the promenade. Both Assane and Claire struggle with the fact that many of the tourists are, like Raoul, dressed in Lupin costumes. Unbeknownst to them, Leonard has been released by the police, arrived in Étretat, and kidnapped their son. As Assane begins to realize that Raoul may be in serious danger, Guedira appears behind him and calls out, "Lupin?"

Appearances

 * Part One


 * Chapter 1
 * Chapter 2
 * Chapter 3
 * Chapter 4
 * Chapter 5

Trivia

 * Like Omar Sy, Assane is of Senegalese extraction.
 * Assane's surname, "Diop," comes from the Wolof language native to west Africa.
 * Unlike most of the other actors playing the younger versions of the characters, Mamadou Haidara (young Assane) is actually a teenager.