The Four whores

The "four whores of the apocalypse" are the four main Diamond dogs and can-can dancers they are; Nini legs in the air, Mome Fromage, China Doll and Arbaia. They appear to be a close group of friends and are normally seen together during most of the movie. Despite being close friends their appearances and personalities differ greatly.

Nini Legs in the Air
Nini is the main can-can dancer of the Moulin Rouge and the star after Satine. This causes Nini to hold some bitterness towards Satine that may motivate her cruel actions in informing the duke of Satine and Christain's affair. Like the other Diamond dogs little is known about Nini's past, however by her overall attitude and behaviour it is reasonable to assume that she was poverty stricken prostitute or an artist’s model (which involved prostitution) in Pigalle. This life style of poverty and prostitution on the streets of Pigalle, Montmartre and in the Moulin Rouge has left a deep effect on Nini. She is bitter and cynical especially towards romance. Despite this she forms a somewhat romantic relationship with the Argentinian. Whether it is a business relationship or romantic one is hard to say, although they are seen together throughout the movie.

However out of all the can-can girls, Nini is the best dressed which suggests that she is indeed competing with Satine. She has four costume changes. Her most memorable being her black tango dress and her can-can dress. Her can-can dress is bright yellow with the Moulin rouge windmill printed in red on the skirt. Her under skirts are red and she notably wears velvet black gloves.

Nini, like the other Diamond dogs is named after a real life Can-can dancer. The real Nini opened a can-can school in 1896, however it was close by the police due to suspicions of it being a brothel. She supposedly married at the turn of the century and disappeared.

Mome Fromage
Mome Fromage is one of the most recognizable of the Diamond dogs due to her colourful costume and for being plus sized. She has a close friendship with Nini and shares her sense of humor. Her name and appearance are based on two of the most famous real Moulin rouge performers; Mome Fromage and La Goulue.

Mome has an easy going and good natured personality. She is kind to all of those around her. When Nini mocks Satine, Mome defends her.



La Goulue:

La Goulue was immortalised in famous Moulin Rouge poster by TL, showing her in all her glory and her polka dotted can-can dress (that Mome Fromage dons). But she hadn’t always been so fortunate and like most of the employees of the Moulin Rouge she came from great poverty. Louise Weber was born in Clichy, 1865, after a series of low paid jobs she quickly turned to prostitution before getting a job at the Moulin rouge. Here she quickly became the star and gained the name La Goulue because as she danced she would steal onlookers drinks. She stayed at the Moulin Rouge for six years as a result she become known as the queen of Paris and appeared in many TL paintings. She became respectable and rich yet kept her working class vulgarity. However her attitude became haughty and quickly soured and her outrage attention seeking became unbearable alienating her from her friends.

Deciding she should be queen of the world and not just Paris, La Goulue decided to create a fairground booth to show off her belly dancing. However by now she was very over weight and she had lost public interest meaning this venture failed miserably. She returned to Paris and Montmartre in the 1920s. She was now poor, toothless, bald, old and fat and sold matches outside the Moulin Rouge the site of her former glory.

China Doll
China Doll (played by Natalie Mendoza) is the oriental themed can-can girl. Out of all the Four whores she is the sweetest and most innocent and was voted as one of the most popular can-can girls of the Moulin Rouge. She has a closer relationship with Arabia than Mome Fromage and Nini legs in the air, whom she competes with for the affections of the Argentinian.