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 has used 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 gentlemant.

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 had stolen 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 Assane that his name is Benjamin.

2006
Assane has decided to style himself after 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 he is not a good person, which is what she likes about him; 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. 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 that to his son, and gives him back the alimony, telling 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 necklace. They crash through the glass roof of the museum 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.



Going to prison
Assane walks into prison with blankets and meets his new roomate.

Two days earlier, Raoul walks into a store and plays, where his father talks to his friend Benjamin, who tells him that the gems on the necklace were never taken apart, which meant the necklace had never left the Pellegrini's safe.



Assane rides a Deli +Eat bike and sits next to Juliette, who has someone pretending to be a mom with a stroller, using a hidden camera. He sits down next to her and tells her he wants no money; he covers the microphone and tells her that since the necklace was never taken apart, his father had not stolen it, which she mentions is true. She mentions that the gems being scattered around the world was only to create hype and the necklace had been bought from a jeweler in South Africa. She holds his hand and tells him it's true, which makes the detective assume they knew each other. Assane asked her to tell him his father was not guilty, but she reminds him that his father had signed a confession and tells him that she did not think he knew his father. Assane hops on his bike and rides to a park, where the police encounter many people using the same clothes as he was and lost him.

Assane gets home, and holds his father's gloves and reads his confession letter. When reading, he found several typos, which was odd of his father. He asked Benjamin what that was about and told his friend about his father's cell mate, which Benjamin called a coincidence. Benjamin told him to visit Comet and get answers and Assane figures out how to get into prison.



Assane visits someone in prison, who he calls cousin even though the man mentions he does not have any. Assane tells him that he can get out, while he took his place. The man laughs and sarcastically reminds him they are not twins. He tells the man that the guards just changed shifts and nobody else knew him. The man reminded him that he had forgotten about the handcuffs, but Assane shows him the "handcuff trick" and manages to take them off the man and on his wrists instead. He told the man to not deal anymore when outside, or he would find him and could get him back in. Later, Assane is given coffee by his roommate before going outside to the courtyard. He walks up to a few men, asking if he knew Comet and mentioning that they had a mutual friend, and gives the men cigarettes so they would give him the cell number.

Assane walks to Comet's cell, but he is told by another man that it appeared Comet had left and would not be returning. He is grabbed by the two men who he had asked for the cell number, and is told that he now owed them 1,000 euros worth of dope and now he had three days, which he accepts.

Assane is taken to the nurse, and tells her he had a pain in his stomach that had spread, joking with her. However, he gets refused a night in the infirmary, where Comet was at.

In the courtyard, Assane walks up to the men, and asks how he is supposed to get the dope, and is told that he could pull it out of his ass. Assane mentions this is funny, since that was the place he could shove his money, but he is stabbed by another man. He is taken to the infirmary, where he tells the nurse that he had had an accident.



At night, Assane wakes Comet and tells him his father was named Babakar and tells him that they had been in prison together. Comet asks if he had been the one to steal the necklace and Assane tells him that he had been wrongly accused. Comet tells him, however, that he did not know his father since he was alone in his cell and under surveillance and had only seen him once when he had been working in the library. Soon after, he also mentions that Babakar had intended to give the book to Assane because all the answers were inside and tells him to look through his things to get it.

Assane looks through Comet's things and finds an Arsène Lupin book. While he read through the book, he found his father had highlighted certain words, which told him he was innocent and was trapped by Anne Pellegrini.

Assane gets permission to see Comet at the infirmary and tells him he found the book. Comet told him he did not care how he did it, but asked him to make his wife smile, which he promised to do. He thanks him, and leaves the infirmary, telling the nurse that it had been nice meeting her.

In prison, the nurse finds Assane hanging, and calls for help. Assane is taken to an ambulance and is rushed to the hospital, but he had faked everything and managed to escape the ambulance, with the help of Arsène Lupin. He walked into a hotel, where he stole the maid's key and walked into Anne Pellegrini's room.



Anne was shocked to see him, but he directly told her that she had framed his father and asked what she had done to him. She told him that she made him sign it, telling to sign it so he would get a reduced sentence, but the judge was strict. She told him that she had helped him after his father's death from a distance and also mentioned that a police officer had promised that he would help Babakar, but he lied. She told him that the police officer was named Dumont, who knew she trusted his father and used it against him. She told Assane that everything she said was true, but he left. Later, Assane sneaks into a Comet's home, where his wife was and places a gem on a photograph she had, which made her smile.

Kidnapping Dumont
Dumont has a meeting, where he takes notes until Assane walks in and calls him, telling him he is from IT and needed to update some things from his computer, but mentions he found porn on it. He walks with Dumont, who gets angry because he thinks it's a sort of joke; Dumont tells him to erase it and be done with it, but Assane refuses to erase things on the commissioner's computer, mentioning that he had to file a report. Assane is asked for ID, since Dumont started getting suspicious about him working there; he gets offended and shows him the ID, also calling him out on the porn. Assane leads him to a place he does not recognize, and manages to knock him out. He took the battery and SIM cared out of his phone and put him in a van, which he and an accomplice drove off in.

In a cellar, Assane turned on a timer, and Dumont woke up. Assane asks him if he remembers his father, also mentioning that he was in no rush to leave.

Assane shows Dumont that his name was everywhere that had to do with his father's investigation, which Dumont mentioned was normal. Assane asked him why he framed his father and reminded him that he had offered a reduced sentence in exchange for a confession; Dumont told him he did not know anything, and Assane asked him to explain. Dumont told him Babakar was guilty, and asked why Assane was asking him all this, wondering if it had to do with the robbery at the Louvre.



Assane shows Dumont his family, and asked how he was able to make the money he made, given his salary and tells him about different payments he had been receiving, which he knew about. Dumont asks if he would turn him into internal affairs, but Assane mentioned that he would not, but mentioned he would be speaking to his wife if he did not tell him why he framed Babakar. Dumont tried reasoning with Assane, but Assane called Dumont's wife, who could not hear him until Assane turned on the microphone while Dumont mentioned the stolen money was for his kids, mentioning he would do anything for them, just as Babakar had done for his kid.

Assane gets a call from Claire, who asks him if he had thought of something for Raoul's birthday, but Assane metioned it was a surprise. Claire reminds him that he had said the same thing last year, but mentioned it was real this time. Claire mentions she does not even know what he is doing, but he mentions that she does not want to know, and she tells him not to do anything dumb, and the hang up.

Assane tells Dumont he knows his whole life and family, telling him he would not hurt him, but would hurt him, by editing videos of him, telling him he could get him to say anything he wanted unless he told Assane the truth. They both start losing their patience, and Assane messes up, telling him to say why he framed his father. Dumont remembers his name, and asks if that is him.

Dumont asks Assane to forgive him for how he had treated him when he was younger, stating he only wanted to look tough and mentions he knows his father was a good man, but was tempted. He asks Assane what he was doing, and mentions he is innocent and tells him he wants to see his family again, not turning him in. Assane talks to Dumont, telling him that people do not change, but wanted to change his mind about him, wanting to believe him. He tells Dumont that he forgives him, and the timer ends. Assane leaves the scene of the crime just as police begin to arrive and storm into city hall, where they find Dumont.

Working to beat Hubert
Assane visits Dumont in a restaurant and reintroduces himself, telling him that he has a gift. He gives him a Circé since he had broken the last one and asks about Pellegrini, wondering what he wanted to tell him the other day. Assane asks Dumont where his wife was, since she was not at work, and once again asks him to tell him about Pellegrini. Dumont asks him if he would stop if he gives him a name, which Assane agrees to, but tells him he cannot be trusted. Dumont tells him there is a woman named Fabienne Bériot who could help him, a journalist who almost got Pellegrini. As soon as Assane leaves, Dumont calls his wife who tells him she is working.

Assane looks Fabienne up and buys her book in order to get to know her.



Later, Fabienne got home, but was surprised to see Assane there. Assane tells her he is not a thief, but a fan. However, the woman tells him that Fabienne used to live there, but not anymore. However, Fabienne told him that she does not exist, since when she attacked the Pellegrini's she faced an army of lawyers. She asked him how she knew he did not work for Pellegrini, but he tells her about his father and tells her he wants to finish what she started, but she refuses.

Assane walks down the street and is found by Fabienne. He gets in her car, and she tells him that Pellegrini had taken everything away from her, which now meant she had nothing left to lose. She revealed that when he had gone to her house the other day, he had been the first person she had spoken to in days, and he had said nice things, so she decided to help him. She asks him for his name, and he says Georges Berlat, which she does not believe, so he moves on to Jean David. She tells him he has one last chance, and opens her car door and he finally tells her his name.

They get to Assane's house and Assane told her that he had tried to find documents since his father had been framed in 1995. She mentions it makes sense since Pellegrini's company was going down, but when Assane's father was framed, he was able to collect insurance money and save his empire. Assane tells her they need to create noise in order to take him down, and she mentions that she may have something.



Assane and Fabienne are in front of The Objector, which is where Fabienne spent her career working. She tells him where the archives are and tells him what to get from inside the building. She reveals that the tape he is going to get is a meeting Pellegrini attended in 1996. Assane takes her glasses and asks her if she knows the coward trick, and proceeds to enter the building while Fabienne called the security guard, telling him not to allow Assane to leave the building and to send him to the third floor. The guard stopped Assane, and sent him to the third floor, which he managed to leave just in time while the guards realized it was a trick.

Assane and Fabienne talk about Pellegrini, mentioning that the attacks in Kuala Lumpur in 1996 were an act of revenge since the French embassy had been blown up. They play the video and Pellegrini tells some men that they need to pay double to get his weapons, which angers the men. Assane asks Fabienne if Pellegrini was behind the guns that had been used, and he tells him that maybe he had used the insurance money to buy the weapons. Assane tells her that he would post the video on Twitter.

Assane gets to Claire's home late, which she does not like, but leaves and tells him Raoul's in his room. Assane and Raoul play videogames, and the former asks his son if he had finished the book, which Raoul mentioned he had. He told him that he was going to give him all the books for his birthday and told him that he would be getting him something else, which would surprise him. Raoul mentioned he doubted it since she had been on many dates with a doctor with a cool car.

Hubert leaves his home, where a press conference would begin while Assane and Benjamin watched. He tells the reporters and Fabienne that France is a country to be proud of, and tells them they have a big influence on the world, but some people had tried to damage the country's image and his as well. He tells them that he built his company with hard work, paying taxes, but somebody had launched an anonymous rumor and he felt it deserved his attention since Juliette would start a foundation and this could ruin her chances. He asks the anonymous Twitter user to show himself since he had nothing to hide. Fabienne asks Hubert if she believes he has the blood of the victims of the Kuala Lumpur attacks on his hands, but he does not add a comment. After she leaves the press conference, she is followed by a man, who she notices.

Fabienne is congratulated by Assane and she tells him about how she was followed. Assane told her he went to The Other Edition and told them that Salvator had wanted to make his TV debut. Fabienne told him that that was not journalism, but he argued that 2 million viewers would watch it. He also mentioned that she had done a lot, and he would go up as Salvator and mentioned it was his turn to take the risk.

Assane uses makeup and gets ready for television. He gives her a fancy pen, and tells her he hopes that it will help her write again. She mentions that she had not been Fabienne Bériot in a long time, and thanks him for bringing her back.



On The Other Edition Assane is welcomed, using a disguise. He tells the reporter that when someone has a Twitter account fighting injustice, people assume they're young, but tells Thomas that a lot of people are old. Assane mentions that the video they would see is a meeting that took place in 1996 in Malaysia in which Pellegrini sells guns to a group of men who orchestrated an attack on the French emabassy at the time. The host mentions that is insane, and asks for the tape to be rolled. After the video, the host mentions that there was nothing incriminating on the video and a man enters the room. Assane asks the host how much Pellegrini had paid him, and he brushes it off. On the way out, Assane fights Pellegrini's men and manages to leave while taking his disguise off.

Later, Assane finds J'accuse, Fabienne's dog and sees that she had been hung. Assane sits down, while holding J'accuse; he opens Fabienne's book, and cries.

Trip to Étretat
Assane holds Fabienne's dog and tells Benjamin that it was his fault that she had been killed and tells him that he should not have involved her. Benjamin tells him that he does not want to find him dead as well. Assane asks what he should do, and Benjamin reminds him he has a family and also that it was Raoul's birthday. Assane is being followed by the man who killed Fabienne, but starts running into a parking lot. He makes it to the roof and is able to lose his stalker, saluting him from the distance.

Later, he makes it to Claire's house, wishing Raoul a happy birthday. He opens his suitcase and gives Raoul a hat, which he mentions he is not sure if he likes, despite liking the books. Assane tells him that he knows he will love it, and mentions that they should go because he has something planned. Claire mentions she will not go with them since she has plans. Assane tells her that he had already bought her a train ticket and she agrees to go, but she tells him that she feels like he does not give her much choice.

Assane, Raoul, and Claire get on the train and tells them they would be going Under the Fréfossé fortress. Claire understands and tells Raoul that they would be going to Étrerat where there would be an Arsène Lupin celebration. Claire mentions that she had known Assane for twenty-five years, so she remembered a little of The Hollow Needle, however when Assane cites the book, she completes the phrase and Assane tells Raoul they are crazy, but connected.

On the train, Assane tells Claire and Raoul that it was fun being with them. Claire looks at her phone, and Assane asks if it was the doctor; she mentions that his name was Marc, and tells him that it was none of his business. He asks her if she had been seeing Marc, and since she does not reply, Raoul tells him that she had not seen him. She takes a photo of the three of them, and Assane spots Pellegrini's man on the picture.



Assane opens up his bag in which he has a cake. He lights it up and begins singing "happy birthday," inviting the people on the train to sing, which they begin to do. Raoul blows out the candle, and Assane turns to face Pellegrini's man. He tells his family he would return, since he would get something to drink. He passes by the man, who gets up and follows him. He steals something from the ticket man and walks away from the man, who could not find him. Assane grabs the man and starts hitting him, locking him in a room and walking away.

Raoul asks Claire where Assane is, but he returns and tells them that he could not get anything to drink. He also tells Claire that he got into a fight with someone who said The Mysterious Traveler was the best Arsène Lupin book, but tells them that everything is okay.

On the train, they make it to their destination, but Assane sees the man he had locked walk up to him. The man shows him his gun, and sits next to Raoul, asking him if he liked Lupin. Raoul mentioned he did; the man mentions Assane has good taste so Claire asks if they know each other. Assane tells her that they do not. Assane texts Belkacem, saying he was Paul Sernine and was arriving at Le Havre; Captain Laugier tells his crew to call Le Havre immediately.

Claire gets up and tells Raoul to go with her. Assane tells her that he would catch up and sits in front of the man, who orders him to get up and get off the train. Assane does as he is told, and is stopped by police officers who walk up the man and arrest him, believing he is Paul Sernine. In his pockets they find a diamond and his gun as Assane walks away.

Raoul wanders in front of his parents, while Claire asks him who the man was. Assane tells him that he needed to settle something concerning his father which he needed to see through in order to tell her. He tells her that he knows he tells her he would stop screwing up a lot, but asks for a last chance. They look around, but are not able to find Raoul.

Assane and Claire call for Raoul, but have a hard time finding him since many people were wearing hats like he was. Raoul was kidnapped by Pellegrini's man and shoved into a car which he drove off in. At the same time, Guédira walks up to Assane says "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.