Guardian of the Republic

The Guardian of the Republic is an agent of the French Government. His primary mission is to safeguard the French Republic and its values. The tradition was started by the Marquis de Lafayette. The Guardians do not operate outside the Law but are given considerable means and leeway. There is only one Guardian at the time. He is a highly-trained individual, in peak physical shape. Thre Guardian's sidekick is a young female code-named Marianne.

The first Guardian was the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) who came up with the concept in 1777 during the American War of Independence. The Marquis went on to fight as the Guardian on the side of the French Revolution. In 1815, an aging Marquis entrusted the role and duties of the Guardian to his devoted friend Albert Saint-Clair who took over the uniform.

The Second Guardian was Albert Saint-Clair (1763-1815), aide-der-camp to the Marquis de Lafayette who took over the uniform during the Directoire and become Napoleon's Imperial Guardian. He was partially disfigured during a battle with Malerficus in 1806 and his his face under a cowl thereafter, although it was eventually restaured a year before his death by Count Saint-Germain.

The Third Guardian was Jean Saint-Clair (1793-1830) Albert's son, who took over the uniform in 1815. Jean worked freelance for Vidocq's newly-created Sûreté, and traveled to Wien with Flambo to try to convince Napoleon's son to return to France, but in vain.

The Third Guardian was Pierre Saint-Clair (1818-1870), Albert's son, who took over the uniform in 1848 during the Second Republic, fought Andrea Vitelli alongside the Night Prince, and remained Guardian during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III. He was killed during the Siege of Paris by the Germans.

We have no recorded information abiut the Fifth Guardian, other than he was likely born in 1848, became the Guardiuan in 1871 during the Paris Commune, and was assassinated in 1894 during the Dreyfus Affair.

The Sixth Guardian was Victor Romary (1875-1916), who became the Guardian in 1894, fought the Strangler, teamed up with Kell and Freddie Flanagan to fight Dr. Tenebras in 1909, and died heroically at the Bois-des-Dames in Verdun in 1916.

The Seventh Guardian was Sedar (1885-?), a member of the Tirailleurs Sénégalais who was fighting alongside Victor Romary when the latter was killed at the Bois-des-Dames in Verdun in 1916. He was replaced after the War in 1918. Sedar was the uncle of Kanta, the Guardian of Senegal.

We have no recorded information about the Eighth Guardian, other than he died in 1937.

The pre-WWII and WWII Guardian was Marc Saint-Clair (1916-1945) was Pierre Saint-Clair's grandson and had been trained from birth to become a Guardian. His father died in 1937, killed by the Nazis in unrevealed circumstances. Marc took over the mantle of the Guardian at that time. When the French Regime of Vichy sided with the Nazis, he broke up with the authorities and joined the Resistance. He helped form the Partisans and make the D-Day landing a success. His "Marianne" was Jeanne Hallard whom he recruited in 1940. He died in 1945 fighting The Four in the liberation of Berlin.

Bernard de Sault was not as skilled and experienced as Marc Saint-Clair, but was mde stronger because of steroids and experimental drugs. After Saint-Clair defected to the Resistance, Vichy Minister Pierre Laval decided to promote their own Guardian and chose Bernard, a former agent from the Milice, the far right paramilitary organization, to wear amodified uniform. Bernard was killed in 1944 trying to defeat the Partisans.

The Tenth Guardian was Jeanne Hallard (1925-?) who had been the first Marianne and sidekick to the WWII Guardian and became La Gardienne de la République post-WWII and during the 1950s, before retiring in 1954.

The Eleventh Guardian was Marc Fayol who succeeded Jeanne Hallard in 1954.

The Twelfth Guardian was Arnaud Moreuil.

The Thirteenth Guardian was Eric Velasquez.

The Fourteenth Guardian was Pierre Finet who succeeded Eric Velasquez in 1963, but resigned after the political riots of 1968, when he felt the Guardian program had been compromised and hijacked by certain dark political forces working within the French Government. 

François Martel, the then-head of the Guardian program, recruited Franck Maillard to replace Finet, but the latter contacted Maillard and, together, they got rid of Martel and restored the Guardian program to its initial mission. Maillard remained Guardian until 1980.

We have no recorded information about the Sixteenth Guardian, who served from 1980-2000.

Maxime Saint-Clair is the grandson of the WWII Guardian. Reportedly an orphan, he was raised by foster parents. He joined the French army at an early age, when his foster parents were supposedly killed in a car accident. After a period of training in the French special forces, he was selected to become the Guardian of the Republic from 2001 on. The position had been officially cancelled during in the 1990s, but was reactivated after 9/11. Maxime was part of a new team, that included special agent Dyane Mendez and Bricolo, a hacker and weaponary wizard, supervised by MonsieurCellier, from the French Ministere de la Séurité du Territoire. Maxime later met Alima Berzaïm during a mission against Crimen, and she became his Marianne. Maxime has also fought alongside Kit Kappa, Joanni Bourask, the Night Prince , Phenix, Viking, the Strangers, and many more, and was even once transported back in time to the 16th century where he fought alongside Dragut and Scarlet Lips.

Maxime is in peak physical condition; his strengh, speed, reflexes and stamina have been enhanced -- without him being aware of it -- by a new kind of nano-technology. He has the ability to see in the dark, inherited from one of his ancestors. His armor comes equipped with two tonfas and various gadgets.

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