Javert

Javert is a fictional character created by Victor Hugo for his 1862 novel Les Misérables. He serves as a police inspector whose career centers on enforcing the law without exception, making him the principal antagonist and moral foil to Jean Valjean, a former convict who reforms his life.

Javert is portrayed as rigid, disciplined, and unswayed by mercy. He believes society operates according to an unbreakable code of justice: criminals must be punished, while the law must be upheld at all costs. He pursues Valjean for years after the latter breaks parole, but Valjean's mercy and transformation challenge Javert's black-and-white view of morality.

In adaptations of the novel, Javert's character is a focal point for themes of justice, law, and mercy. In the stage musical, he is given the solo song Stars and is depicted as a relentless figure who cannot reconcile mercy with the letter of the law. In film versions, Javert has been portrayed by actors including Geoffrey Rush (1998) and Russell Crowe (2012). The ending of Javert's arc varies by adaptation: in many stage and screen versions, he dies by suicide after his worldview is shattered by Valjean's mercy; in the novel, his fate is left more ambiguous.

Javert's presence in Les Misérables has made him a recognizable archetype of unyielding authority, often cited as a literary representation of the conflict between justice and humanity. His character raises questions about mercy, reform, and the possibility of redemption within a punitive system.