Gamache is the novel's protagonist and the central character in Penny’s series. He is the former head of homicide investigation at the Sûrete de Québec and has had a very celebrated career in which he has solved many important crimes. Gamache is a very moral and responsible man who values integrity and doing the right thing; he is keen to take charge of the academy because he wants to make it a better place. He has enough life experience to give him wisdom and a fatherly role towards the cadets, but he is also still playful and good-natured. His face is described as “a careworn face. But most of the lines, if followed back like a trail, would lead to happiness” (9).

Gamache is a natural leader and exudes a calm authority; Amelia marvels at how watching him is “like seeing a mighty ship in a storm. Steady, strong, calm. […] In that calm there was immense self-control. And with that […] came power” (53-54). When he needs to, Gamache can assume a more commanding and stern presence, such as when he tells the cadets that “I’m your commander and I’ve assigned you to work together on the map.