The protagonist of four of the five books of Gargantua and Pantagruel, Pantagruel is a boisterous giant with a phenomenal appetite for drink. Pantagruel was born to the giants Gargantua and Badebec during one of the worst droughts in history, which is why his father decided to name him “Pantagruel,” roughly translated to “all-thirst” or “thirsty for all things”. The name describes Pantagruel aptly, since his appetite extends not just to drink and food, but also to knowledge and wisdom. He represents a type of “Renaissance man,” shaped by his thirst for discovery, life, and knowledge.

Over the course of the four novels in which he features, Pantagruel gets an eclectic city education, befriends Panurge and makes him his lifelong friend, fights the Dispodians who invade his home country, and sets out on a voyage to seek the Oracle of the Divine Bottle to resolve Panurge’s confusion over marriage. In the course of the novel, he evolves from an exuberant, indulgent youth to a wiser, more temperate prince destined to be a powerful but kind ruler. The Pantagruel seen in Book 4 and beyond is markedly different from the Pantagruel of Book 1. In Book 1, Pantagruel laughs at the trick of Panurge shaming the haughty dame of Paris.