Pierre Bezukhov

Count (Graf) Pyotr "Pierre" Kirillovich Bezukhov (Russian: Пьер Безу́хов, Пётр Кири́ллович Безу́хов, or Pierre Bezuhov according to Rosemary Edmonds' translation) is a central fictional character in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. He is the favourite of several illegitimate sons of the wealthy nobleman Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov.

In BBC's 2016 adaption he is described as follows: "Pierre is an outcast. The awkward, illegitimate son of a dazzlingly wealthy Count, he was educated abroad but returns to Russia now his father’s health is in decline. Polite society shuns him for his hero-worship of Napoleon and enthusiasm for the politics of revolution. But his blundering sincerity charms Andrei, his truest friend; and Natasha, who delights in his presence. He is quickly married off by stealth through the manipulation of others around him and is likely to face further heartache given that his wife prefers bedding her brother. It looks like this unlikely hero is smitten with his friend Natasha Rostova but, is set for heartache given his kind and gentle nature."

Described as: The large-bodied, ungainly, and socially awkward illegitimate son of an old Russian grandee. Pierre, educated abroad, returns to Russia as a misfit. His unexpected inheritance of a large fortune makes him socially desirable. Pierre is ensnared by the fortune-hunting Helene Kuragina, whose eventual deception leaves him depressed and confused, spurring a spiritual odyssey that spans the novel. Pierre eventually marries Natasha Rostova.

At the opening of the novel, Pierre is a young man who has recently returned to Russia to seek a career after completing his education abroad. Although a well-meaning, kind hearted young man, he is awkward and out of place in the Russian high society in whose circles he starts to move. Pierre, though intelligent, is not dominated by reason, as his friend Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky is. His lack of direction leads him to fall in with a group of profligate young men like Anatole Kuragin and Dolokhov whose pranks and heavy drinking cause mild scandals. After a particularly outrageous escapade in which a policeman is strapped to the back of a bear and thrown into a river, Pierre is sent away from St. Petersburg.

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Wikipedia