There's a interesting legend associated with Napoleon that he was advised by some type of scarlet spirit of destiny. I recently came up with a interesting theory that this little red man is actually supposed to be Cardinal Richelieu. Now I don't mean that it was literally Richelieu from beyond the grave, although I suppose that's possible as well. What I think is that the little red man was a symbol which predated Napoleon, and that the creature was based off of the Cardinal. The being has a red motif, is associated with the persecution of Huguenots, and advises the Monarchs of France; fits pretty well with Richelieu. I believe that the legend spread orally amongst French Protestants before being adopted into the mainstream as Propaganda against Bonaparte. The only hole in my theory is that the red man is associated with theTuileries palace, which may place a oral origin to before Richelieu was born.
>litte red manthis is actually a motif from folktales, kind of obscure nowit became associated with the devil over time
