Andre Toulon

Andre Toulon is the main protagonist of the Puppet Master series, though he appears "alive" in less than half the installments. Toulon is the first "Puppet Master" and the creator of the main living puppets featured in the bulk of the series.

Toulon appeared as a hero in Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge, and a victim in the beginning of the first film. After dying, Toulon was resurrected first as a villain and then as just another fighter inside a puppet-body. He is referenced throughout the films, and is the greatest connection, besides the puppets themselves, the films have with each other.

History
Toulon was born May 1st, 1877. The youngest we see him is during Retro Puppet Master, taking place in 1892. In "Retro", Andre is a fairly successful French puppeteer, who owns the "Theatre Magique", along with his friends. One night following a show, Toulon stops an old man from being beaten to death and takes him in to care for him.

As it turns out, the man is Afzel, a sorceror who stole the secret of life from a demon named Sutekh, whose followers hired the men to mug him. During his stay with Toulon, he animates the puppets used in the show, though he tells him that this is not true life. Later, Toulon brings in the dead body of a beggar friend of his, leading Afzel to present him with a ring containing an extendable needle. With Afzel's guidance, Toulon pricks the beggar's neck and injects the needle into a puppet known as "Pinhead" and says magic words told to him by Afzel. Due to this, the puppet comes to life, signaling that it knows who Toulon is and what he has done, though Afzel pulls him away before Pinhead can signal whether or not he enjoys what has been done.

Later, Toulon is met with a young Belgian aristocrat named Elsa who enjoyed his show, only for the both of them to be taken back to the Belgian embassy by her bodyguards. Elsa's father tells her not to go out again and the bodyguards assault Toulon, leaving him out in the cold night. During this time, Sutekh's followers detect Afzel in the theatre and kill Toulon's friends and fellow puppeteers before Afzel kills himself so Sutekh cannot "lay claim" to him. When he returns, Toulon finds his friends dead and uses Afzel's technique to re-animate them within his puppets. Toulon addresses his friends (Including the returned Pinhead as well as Afzel, residing in a puppet known as "Six-Shooter") by their puppet-bodies' names, and vows revenge. One puppet wielding small blades cuts a symbol of protection into his arm to aid in the quest. Shortly after this preparation, Toulon confronts Sutekh's followers (who sensed Afzel's magic being used again) in his theater, and along with the puppets kills one and incapacitates the two others. Afterwards, he plans to flee the country, saying there is nothing left for him in France. Sutekh magically resuscitates and re-empowers his other 2 followers, who continue in their plans to kill the puppet master. In their bid to do so, they capture Elsa and send a dream across the city telling Toulon of their location, aboard the caboose of a train.

Toulon and the puppets board the train in hopes of rescuing Elsa. The puppets kill one of Sutekh's men whilst Toulon himself throws another one off the train. With the threat temporarily ended, Toulon introduces Elsa to his "friends", and he and Elsa begin to profess their love for each other.

In 1912, Toulon is shown to have moved to Cairo with Elsa, where he has put on a puppet rendition of Faust, to little popularity.