The term "swashbuckling" refers most often to a combination of the above three elements, accompanied by extreme histrionics — fantastic dueling and hair-raising escapades, narrow escapes, and desperate situations. These escapades are often seen as heroics — such as the episode where d'Artagnan and the three musketeers make a bet to stay in the bastion for an hour, and during this time, they stave off a number of the enemy.
Most often, the term "swashbuckling" is associated with dueling, especially when the hero is outnumbered by lesser swordsmen or when he encounters a superb opponent and yet easily disarms or conquers him. There is a good deal of swaggering (especially by Porthos); there is also a good amount of bantering, bragging, bravado, and exaggeration (by all three of the musketeers and d'Artagnan), and, of course, d'Artagnan is the perfect example of the swashbuckler because he is handsome, an expert dueler, and a superb swordsman. D'Artagnan is a young man captivated by love and romance and willing to undertake any type of adventure merely for the sake of adventure but certainly for the sake of the woman he loves.
