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 Infamous inventor and armaments manufacturer.

    Born 1888 in Lourdes, France with the name Pierre Basil Bazaroff; he was subsequently adopted by his deceased parents' cousins, the Boulle family. Boulle married the Countess Louise bel Andres just as the Great War began -- she was the heiress to a large French armaments company  (headquartered in Luxembourg) that Boulle later used as the basis for his growing empire. He has several children, and his eldest daughter is breaking into the social scene in Paris. He joined the French Army and served in the War, rising to the rank of Colonel in the artillery and earning several decorations.

    He left the Army after the war, and spent several years in the Twenties with the Delegation Generale pour l'Armement ('DGA'); for services to the French nation and military he was made a chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1932.

    He speaks French, Italian, and English, and owns many patents in the areas of electronics, and is an expert on the engineering of naval and land artillery. Boulle has estates in various countries - although his Corsican estate is the largest. Besides these homes, he maintains suites of rooms in many of Europe's cities.  

    His inventions in the armaments field have led to his amassing a huge fortune. His charitable activities are exceeded only by his innovative additions to the defense of France. His companies have managed to gain several of the key electronics provisioning contracts for the Maginot Line from the STG (Service Technique du Génie). His military acumen and technical expertise have managed to gain the trust of governments across the globe. 

    The largest of his companies, Boulle Industries, is a major manufacturer of munitions and military electronics, and provides weapons to armies and private groups in every corner of the globe. Due to this, his reputation is that of a mysterious, machiavellian "merchant of mayhem" albeit with a heart of gold (or at least shiny brass). His long history of generous philanthropic and charitable donations have not been overshadowed by the grim nature of his business empire.

    Boulle is a master of the “principle of incitement,” under which war scares are managed, enemies created for nations, airplanes sold to one nation and antiaircraft guns to her neighbors, submarines to one and destroyers to another -- creating a demand for his merchandise, which his banking concerns can provide loans for. The armament industry is a game of international politics, the arms salesman a diplomatic provocateur, the munitions magnates of all nations partners in cartels, combines, consolidations; exchanging plans, secrets, patents. First entering the scene during his time with the DGA, Boulle's enterprises are quickly closing the gap with such global concerns as Krupp, Zaharoff, or DuPont. As one commentator has observed, if you would see his monument, look at the strife and bloodshed in Asia and Latin America.

   Boulle's ownership of the commerce raiding oceanographic research submarine Kestrel has raised eyebrows among Our Heroes.