#and if youre wondering where i got the last name delorne from. well. that's another pet project of mine you may ask about

[alister312]

What Do We Canonically Know About Christophe aka “The Mole”?

“What do you think this is, kid? [...] Huh? This is real life with consequences you take to the grave!”

For a character with only around 5 minutes of screen time in the 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, Christophe (aka The Mole or Ze Mole) left quite the impact with the SP fandom. Much of this is due to the fact that, despite how little we see of him, he has such a complex and interesting personality. Is it really possible to obtain such depth of character in so little time? Today, I’d like to answer that question by exploring everything we canonically know about Christophe, as well as some personal speculation based on the canon.

To start, I’ll state that what I am taking to be canon is everything that happened in the movie, along with South Park Studios wiki page about him (as close to an official wiki as I can get).

The first time we hear about Christophe, he isn’t even present.

After Stan and the others volunteer to execute Gregory’s rescue mission for Terrance and Phillip (T&P), Gregory insists that they need help from someone who has “done this sort of thing before”. He hands them a card that has the address of someone who Gregory refers to as “The Mole” and claims he is “an expert in covert operations” and “a mercenary for hire”. Though Gregory calls him a mercenary, no money seems to actually exchange hands when the boys recruit him, so it’s possible that Gregory uses the term “mercenary” loosely. However, we know at the very least that Christophe is experienced when it comes to mercenary-esque work.

Additionally, we know that Gregory and Christophe know one another. According to Gregory’s official wiki, in one of the movie script drafts, Christophe asks Gregory if they are going to “free more Canadian prisoners”, implying that the two of them have been doing revolutionary work together already. While this concept doesn’t make it into the actual movie, I feel the fact that the official wiki page for Gregory references it means their implied partnership is something not to be overlooked.

Similarly to Gregory, Christophe is very familiar with the layout of the army base where T&P are being held and the exact window of opportunity during the USO show when they can be freed. He also knew a spot to dig into the base where they won’t be immediately spotted, where to go to lay low once they’re inside, where the electrical box that shuts off the alarms are, and that there are alarms and that he will be attacked by guard dogs if they sound. Christophe even brought along wire cutters to deal with the barbed wire when sneaking into the base. This level of detailed knowledge and preparation is likely something he could only know from having scouted for the rescue mission ahead of time. Since Gregory conceptualized and presented the rescue mission during the La Resistance meeting, as well as initially volunteered to go, it’s possible that both he and Christophe planned it ahead of time.

While on the subject of Christophe and his mercenary/revolutionary work, I would be remiss to not focus a bit on his incredible digging prowess. In addition to literally being named “The Mole” (an animal known for digging), Christophe utilizes tunneling twice during the mission. The first time is to break into the army encampment and the second time is to sneak onto the stage to rescue T&P. Supposedly, he’s able to do this in the span of less than 20 minutes, judging by the time on his watch at the start of the rescue mission (9:40) and the fact that Stan doesn’t seem late to the rendezvous later in the movie, which was set to happen at 10:00. This implies that Christophe possesses good, inhumanely fast digging skills, especially since he claims that the USO stage has bedrock and he is able to get through it.

Going back to earlier, before we actually see Christophe, we learn more about him. First, it can be assumed that he lives in the town of South Park (house number 810), as Stan and the others can easily walk to his house. I know they walked because they’re meant to be grounded at the moment, so they can’t ask for a ride anywhere. Second, Christophe’s mother answers the door, which means we know that Christophe has (at least) a mother. Speaking of his mother, the two of them have an intriguing relationship that is never fully stated, but a lot can be inferred from what is implied.

For starters, it’s not until she calls him to the door that we learn his name is “Christophe”, as before (and the rest of the movie) he was only ever referred to by his code name “The Mole/Ze Mole/Mole”. However, when the others use that name, Christophe’s mother knows who they’re talking about. This means she’s aware of what he does, but it’s possible she doesn’t quite know how real it is considering she tells the boys at the door that “Ze Mole[…] can’t come out and play”. Breaking into a US army camp to free political prisoners seems a bit intense for the word “play” to me. Also, the reason I use “Ze Mole” here is because she has a thick French accent. This begs the question of whether Christophe got his accent from growing up in France or simply developed an accent from socializing mostly with his mother. Sadly, I don’t have an answer.

Christophe’s mothers says the reason Christophe can’t “play” is because he’s grounded for saying “very naughty things about God”. This specification that she is upset with him because he said naughty things about God rather than naughty things generally implies that she is 1) Christian and 2) cares a lot about respect towards God. This idea is further supported as she later gets upset (off screen) when she overhears Christophe starting to talk about God as an oppressive force later on. Her fixation on blasphemy (and Christophe’s constant usage of it) hints at the idea that she is perhaps raising Christophe in a very religious environment. Considering the fact that his name relates to being a devout Christian, this idea is very likely.

Despite how Christophe rebels by vocalizing his hate towards God, he appears obedient to his mother at least on a surface level. He comes to the door when she decides to let Stan and the others talk to him as soon as she calls him. He also immediately stops talking when she yells at him for badmouthing God again, snuffing out his cigarette and going back inside right away. (“What?! Christophe, get in here!” / “Coming, mother!”). He even initially turns down the opportunity to rescue T&P just because he’s grounded. Still, Christophe does actively disobey her by sneaking out later and continuing to blaspheme when not in her presence. It’s possible that he’s scared of her, which is why he is quick to heed her but refuses to actually change his ways.

When we first see Christophe, he doesn’t appear very reactive to the strangers on his doorstep until Stan starts talking about their rescue plans. He immediately grabs Stan and shushes him, demanding “Who are you? Who sent you?” Even though he’s just a kid, Christophe seems extremely paranoid, which means his mercenary work might be legitimately dangerous. There’s a chance that he’s a wanted criminal. However, he lets go of Stan once Kyle mentions “that Gregory kid” sent them, implying that Christophe trusts Gregory and his judgement despite his paranoia.

The reading of Christophe’s next line is a bit difficult to parse. Depending on the emphasis, he is either shocked that Stan, Kyle, and Cartman are the ones going on the rescue mission or he’s shocked that the plan in general is to rescue T&P during the USO show. If it’s the former, then he is rather quick to judge. Sure, Stan started explaining a covert plan with sensitive information at a normal speaking volume, but Christophe barely knows him or the others. How could he know if they’re incompetent or not? However, if it’s the latter, then it implies that a rescue mission of this intensity is too much, even for Christophe. This would shed some light on what level of mercenary work he’s taken on in the past.

Either way, Christophe initially refuses only because he’s grounded. If he really is an expert mercenary (and the narrative paints him as such), then it’s curious that something as simple as that is what stops him from helping in revolutionary work. He even references grounding as a legitimate threat twice more in the film. This could connect back to the idea that Christophe fears his mother, to the point where he’s less scared about the difficulty of the mission and more worried about upsetting his mother. He only relents once he hears the other boys are meant to be grounded too, perhaps admiring their bravery for rebelling against their mothers and wanting to join in solidarity. When asked, Christophe reveals that the reason he was grounded was “because God hates [him]... He has made [his] life miserable so [Christophe] calls Him a cocksucking asshole”.

With that said, let’s talk about Christophe’s repeated displays of misotheism, or hatred of God. We already touched on his mother’s attitude towards God and her potential relationship with Christophe, which could contribute to why he feels the way he does. Beyond based speculation, though, Christophe voices his hate towards God a lot. Aside from his grounding, he goes out of his way to bad mouth God, calling Him “the biggest bitch of them all” and equating him to the US military, who he seems to hate (referring to them as “military bitches”), just because Kyle says “Oh my god” in response to something.

Then, of course, Christophe uses some of his dying breath to bemoan God and point out the hypocrisy of the idea that He is benevolent and merciful (“Where is your God when you need him, huh? Where is your beautiful, merciful faggot now?”). The fact that he casts doubt on the idea of God being infallible and suggests that He is, in fact, selective in who He helps, really continues to potentially paint Christophe’s mother in a bad light. Or, at least, whatever experience Christophe has potentially had with other religious (specifically Christian) people.

The oddest thing, in my opinion, is that Christophe still believes he is headed to Heaven when he dies. In fact, he has an almost resigned excitement about it, challenging God and threatening Him (“Here I come, you fucking rat!”) right before his death. Despite Christophe’s hatred of God, he also clearly still believes in Him and sees himself as worthy of Heaven. His feelings towards religion may seem very clear at a cursory glance, but there’s a lot of complicated emotions involved. This may connect back to his mother, or perhaps even to Gregory, who does seem to believe in God as a force of good.

Christophe has personality traits outside of blasphemy though– the most prominent being his sense of humor! The watch he brings on the mission is labeled “Third Act: The Ticking Clock”. This is a reference to the fact that many movies will introduce a ticking clock (or just a deadline of any kind) in their third act in order to draw the audience back in. Outside of the obvious meta joke for the audience, I want to believe that Christophe finds humor in giving himself a “ticking clock” to make his missions more exciting. Considering how obsessive he is about the timing of everything (becoming upset when the boys don’t have watches to synchronize with him), I don’t think he’d get a watch with that label for no reason.

Another humorous thing he does is using a View-Master toy as binoculars in order to observe T&P. When Kyle asks if Christophe can see T&P, he claims that he can, yet the audience is shown that what he’s actually seeing is a bunch of safari animals. He seems to really like these types of animals, especially considering his distress signal is the sound of a dying giraffe. Going back, the fact that he uses this toy as if it’s a real pair of binoculars, lies about his observations while also being incredible accurate, and then gets the others to follow him by saying “Come on beetches” gives the impression that Christophe enjoys being funny, even if he is the only one getting the joke.

The other joke he makes in the movie also falls flat, though Christophe doesn’t seem to mind. While checking that the others brought everything he asked them to bring for the mission, he asks if they brought the “buttfor”. When Kyle responds with “What’s a buttfor?” Christophe replies “For pooping, silly” and takes a long drag of his cigarette. Despite the sensitive, timed nature of the mission, he takes the opportunity to crack a joke, a toilet humor based one at that. He has a very dry wit about him. Even if his expression remains deadpan as he tells it, the fact that he makes the joke throws doubt on the idea that his personality is one of only angst and brooding.

While he may be enough of a kid to use a toy like legit spy gear or crack toilet jokes, Christophe comes across as much more grounded and intense than the other boys. In addition to all his darker thoughts on God, he treats the mission with a grave seriousness. He chastises Stan for being focused on Wendy and finding the clitoris instead of what they’re doing (which also implies that Christophe knows what the clitoris is while the other boys don’t). He yells at Stan (and the others by proxy) again after learning they don’t have watches, reminding them all that “this is real life with consequences you take to ze grave”. He appears to take great offense to Cartman’s lackadaisical attitude about shutting off the alarms too, which makes sense considering how Cartman forgetting to do so results in Christophe’s death.

Death and injury are things Christophe seems quite familiar with. When telling Cartman he has to shut off the alarms or Christophe will be attacked by guard dogs, he is very insistent about his hatred of them (“You must shut off ze alarms! I fucking hate guard dogs!”). This gives the impression that he has experience dealing with guard dogs, specifically being attacked by them. Considering his implied history of mercenary work, this isn’t surprising. This is not the only known brush with death Christophe has had though. He reveals, rather unnecessarily, to Stan and Kyle that his mother attempted (and failed) to abort him (“Was my mother careful when she stabbed me in ze heart with a clothes hanger while I was still in ze womb?”). That particular interaction also shows that Christophe somewhat lacks emotional boundaries, or at least a basic understanding of social situations and dynamics.

This familiarity with death could explain why Christophe takes his own death in stride. Aside from asking Kyle to hold him, which seems more out of necessity since he can no longer stand, Christophe tries to get the others to abandon him so they won’t also get hurt. He doesn’t even get angry when Cartman admits that it was his fault that the alarms went off, but it’s possible he just doesn’t have the energy to while dying. Christophe’s song, a short reprise to Gregory’s song La Resistance, is about how “although [he] dies, [their] freedom will be won”. Christophe, like Gregory, seemingly idolizes the concept of being a martyr and dying for a cause, specifically fighting for freedom. The notion comforts him, and he’s able to face his death nobly.

It should be said, however, that Christophe is not actually dead! At the end of the movie, Kenny wishes for everything to go back to how it was before, reviving everyone who died. Even if we don’t see Christophe again in the movie, leaving his fate uncertain, he does appear once in the actual show of South Park. In the episode Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub (s3e08), Stan flips through many TV channels. For the briefest moment, Christophe is on the TV, seemingly a guest on a talk show of some kind. It’s unclear why he might be on one, but given the fact that the episode aired after the movie was released, this proves that Christophe is alive.

Now that we know all there is to canonically about Christophe, what can we say about him? First, he and Gregory not only know one another, it’s implied that they’ve worked together on past mercenary/revolutionary work. Christophe himself is an expert and experienced mercenary in all aspects (scouting, planning, and doing). He defaults to tunneling as his main method of operation, likely because he digs incredibly fast and efficiently. This tunneling is also probably why everyone calls him “The Mole”. Christophe and his mother have an interesting and seemingly strained relationship, stemming perhaps from his fear of her and/or her anger towards his disdain for God. This disdain for God permeates so much of Christophe’s character and he takes any opportunity to voice it.

In addition, he is hinted at having various near death experiences in the past, which results in him having a stern personality, becoming frustrated when others aren’t taking things as seriously as him. When he does die, however, he doesn’t fight it and takes comfort in being a martyr for a good cause. Despite this emotional baggage, he has a prevalent and dry sense of humor, as well as an apparent interest in animals. Lastly, Christophe is not actually dead and was actually resurrected via Kenny’s wish at the end of the movie.