Assane Diop

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**Assane Diop** was a gentleman thief influenced heavily by **Arsène Lupin**, a fictional thief and master of disguise. He is the husband of Claire Diop, though the two have separated, and Claire has custody over their son, Raoul. In *Lupin*, he is portrayed by Omar Sy and Mamadou Haidara in flashbacks to when Assane was a teenager.

Assane was involved in the Louvre heist along with his best friend, Benjamin Ferel, who he met at a boarding school: College d’Andrésy. His first taste of crime was when he stole a violin from Lorenzo's store as a teenager so that Claire, who at the time was his girlfriend, could use it at an audition. Even as early on as this he was inspired by the crime of Arsène Lupin.

When he was young, Assane's father, Babakar, died while in prison for supposedly stealing a necklace from Hubert Pellegrini which greatly impacted Assane. It created a strong bias against the Pellegrinis and gave him a drive for revenge.

## Biography

### History

Assane was raised by his father, Babakar, who worked as a chauffeur for Hubert Pellegrini. While they went on a walk one day, they encounter Anne Pellegrini, the wife of Hubert, whose car won't start. She quickly locks her door when they offer to help until Babakar explains he is her father's chauffeur. She then gives in and asks Assane to get in the car. Anne asks him where they come from, to which Assane tells her they are from Senegal. When she asks where his mother is, Assane stays quiet. Anne eventually lets Babakar drive her home, and she tells Assane his father is a gentleman.

Occasionally Assane would visit the Pellegrini house due to his father's work. One day he met Hubert's daughter, Juliette, in the swimming pool, and she told him she would give him a kiss if he swam over. Assane does. Juliette keeps her promise.

Shortly after, his father Babakar was wrongfully arrested for stealing a necklace from Hubert Pellegrini. Assane visited him in prison often to remain close to his father, and during one visit he caught eyes with Léonard, though young Assane didn't realise who he was. When the prison guard went to find Babakar, he appeared to have hung himself. At the funeral, Anne Pellegrini approaches Assane and offers her condolences. Distrusting and disliking the Pellegrinis, Assane tells her to "fuck off."

Among his father's possessions he finds an old copy of an Arsène Lupin book wrapped as a birthday present which his father had intended for him to have. Assane reads the books with intrigue and enthrallment.

### Season 1

#### Chapter 1

Assane hears that the diamond necklace belonging to Hubert Pellegrini that his father was accused of stealing on the television. The news reporter explains that the Pellegrinis intend to put it up for auction at the Louvre art museum. In a plan to take it for himself, Assane gains employment at the Louvre as a janitor under the alias of Luis Perenna. He gets his closest friend and companion, Benjamin Ferel, who works as a jeweller, to make an almost-exact replica of the diamond necklace so that Assane. To fund him, Assane borrows €1000 from three loansharks - Kevin, Vincent and Rudy. They have awfully high interest and threaten to kill him if it is not returned.

Much later, he meets his estranged wife Claire, the mother of his child at a café and asks if he can have Raoul at the weekend. Claire agrees, telling Assane that it's what Raoul wants he needs to worry about. Assane tries to make it clear that he has changed, though she is left unconvinced. He offers her some money but she tells him to keep it and buy Raoul a present. Shortly after leaving, Claire realises he hid the money in her pocket. She smiles at him through the window of the café.

Assane meets with three loansharks he borrowed money from. After telling them he does not have the repayment they angrily grab him, hoist him outside onto their apartment's balcony and hold him over the edge. Assane pleads for his life, but explains he has an easy way for them to all become rich. Initially the loansharks are distrustful, but eventually Kevin decides to hear what he has to say.

Assane explains his complex plan to steal the diamond necklace from the Louvre using his access pass to get them inside and giving them bottles of chloroform to take out any guards who challenge them. The loansharks are eventually convinced and agree to aid him. Kevin asks what Assane will be doing while they're risking their lives, and he explains he will be buying the necklace. He then creates the false persona of "Paul Sernine", even going as far to create online records of him with photographs and his net worth.

Arriving at the Louvre, Assane joins the large crowds that will be bidding on the necklace. The auction of the diamond necklace begins after a speech from Juliette Pellegrini. It is steadily brought up and he ends up bidding €40,000,000 under the name of Paul Sernine. When nobody else pays, Assane brings the bid up again to €60,000,000 to "save everyone some time." As expected, nobody competes with this offer, leaving him in possession of the diamond necklace.

Later, when they are alone, Assane and the auctioneer, Thibault Du Quenoy inspect the necklace with two guards near them: the disguised Kevin and Vincent. Assane puts on white gloves to handle the necklace when the loansharks strike, knocking both Assane and Thibault to the floor. Kevin, betraying Assane, gives him a beating, but Assane quickly switches the fake necklace Benjamin made with the real one, causing Kevin and Vincent to run off with the fake necklace. Assane then puts the real one in a bin, where he can later remove it working as a janitor.

Kevin, Rudy and Vincent are later caught. The necklace is retrieved by the police and the three loansharks are arrested. Captain Romain Laugier questions Assane, finding him suspicious but without anything to suggest he was involved with the crime. Assane leaves and changes back into the janitor's uniform, adopting the role of "Luis Perenna" and clears up the mess made from the crash into the Louvre. He then reaches the bin where he hid the diamond necklace and takes it for himself. Assane exits the museum as he takes off his disguise, work done, with the diamond now his.

The following day, Assane visits Claire and Raoul as promised. Both are surprised by him being early - Raoul most of all. Assane takes his son out on a bridge, and while they walk Assane gifts him the collection of Arsène Lupin that he had found among his father's possessions twenty-five years ago.