He is described as approximately 40 to 45 years old in and "fair with a scar across his cheek". Known throughout the novel as "The Man from Meung ", his first appearance is in the opening chapter of The Three Musketeers He reappears from time to time as the story progresses. D'Artagnan regularly sees Rochefort and tries to catch him, but each time Rochefort skilfully vanishes into the street crowds of Paris. D'Artagnan does not meet him again or learn his name until the end of the novel.
It is Rochefort who kidnaps Constance Bonacieux, and we eventually learn that he is the other main agent in addition to Milady de Winter of Cardinal Richelieu. He is sent by Richelieu to escort Milady de Winter in some of her missions. At the end of the novel, Rochefort tries to arrest d'Artagnan for the cardinal; Richelieu eventually orders the men to become friends.
In the Epilogue, we learn that Rochefort, and an older and wiser d'Artagnan, fought on three occasions all duels being won by d'Artagnan , settled their differences and became friends. Rochefort reappears in the sequel, Twenty Years After. He falls out of favor with Richelieu's successor Mazarin , and spends five years in the Bastille.
When Mazarin dismisses him from service for being too old, he joins the side of the Frondeurs. He aids Athos in freeing the Duke of Beaufort, and reappears in the end at the riot against Mazarin's return. Unable to recognize his friend in the chaos, d'Artagnan kills Rochefort, as he had predicted he would if they fought a fourth time.
Dumas combined the two, replacing an aristocrat named Rosnay from the d'Artagnan story with the Comte de Rochefort. Film incarnations tend to depict Rochefort as a far darker character than in the novel, and often extend his role. In his three appearances as Rochefort, Christopher Lee wore an eyepatch , intended to make the character look more sinister. The eyepatch, a departure from Rochefort's appearance in Dumas' novel, was deemed striking enough to be retained in several other film adaptations: Wincott, Mikkelsen and eventually Warren retained it in their portrayals, as did the cartoon series Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds and the anime version.
