Picrochole is a fictional character created by François Rabelais, who attacks the Kingdom of Grandgousier in the novelGargantua and Pantagruel. His gives his name to the war he fights: la guerre picrocholine. Picrochole is a stereotypical bad king, whom Rabelais seeks to deride by putting him in apposition to the good king, represented by Grandgousier, Gargantua's father.