Flambeau, Chesterton’s Trickster

Hercule Flambeau is a fictional character created by English novelist G. K. Chesterton, who appears in 48 short stories about the character Father Brown. A master criminal, his surname ‘Flambeau’ is an alias, the French word for a flaming torch.

Flambeau himself lives to his alias by committing his crimes in daring manner, acting right under the nose of police. Takuan inherits this trait: his tricks are not the ones that are done at night, but the ones that are done in plain sight.

It has been suggested that Agatha Christie’s famous detective Hercule Poirot was inspired by the character.

If you want to know a little more about Flambeau and his connection with Takuan, you must visit his page on Makipedia.