Bluebeard

The French folktale "Bluebeard" (Barbe bleue in French) is most famously preserved in Charles Perrault's version, published in Paris by Barbin in 1697 as part of Histoires ou contes du temps passé. The story follows a wealthy serial murderer who kills his wives one after another, and chronicles his current wife's struggle to avoid becoming his next victim.

Several similar tales exist, including "The White Dove," "The Robber Bridegroom," and "Fitcher's Bird" (also known as "Fowler's Fowl"). The story has become so embedded in culture that Merriam-Webster defines a Bluebeard as "a man who marries and kills one wife after another." The term has even evolved into a verb, bluebearding, which describes either the act of killing multiple women or the practice of seducing and abandoning a series of women.