Achille Talon is a "bourgeois" who likes to think he's an eloquent (others say ) intellectual. He is vain to the extent that he builds a giant statue of himself in his front garden and desperately tries to get on the good side of the local gentry. That being said, Achille Talon is a gentleman, an intrepid traveler and an animal lover. He values etiquette and sometimes resorts to activism (e.g., pro peace or against pollution) or inventions. He is often at odds with his neighbour Hilarion Lefuneste, who loves to argue too. (In French, "le funeste" means "the grievous/fateful one" suggesting any dealings with him will have negative consequences.)