Hans


 * This article is about the character from Frozen. For the author, please see Hans Christian Andersen. For the character who appears in The Little Mermaid TV series, please see Hans Christian Andersen (character).

"The only frozen heart around here is yours."

- Anna to Hans

Prince Hans of the Southern Isles is the main antagonist of Disney's 2013 animated feature film, Frozen. He is voiced by Santino Fontana.

Background
Hans is a prince from the Kingdom of the Southern Isles, a trade partner of Arendelle. Not much is known about the prince's past; however, he is the youngest of the thirteen royal siblings, and felt somewhat neglected amongst his brothers. Knowing he would never rule the throne of the Southern Isles, Hans concocted a scheme to marry into monarchy elsewhere, eventually setting his sights on the kingdom of Arendelle. Hans' plans changed after realizing how reserved the to-be queen was towards socialization, prompting the prince to instead target her lonely, less mature younger sister Anna, planning to murder Queen Elsa after their marriage, which would result in him becoming king.

Official Description

 * Hans is a handsome royal from a neighboring kingdom who comes to Arendelle for Elsa's coronation. With 12 older brothers, Hans grew up feeling practically invisible—and Anna can relate. Hans is smart, observant and chivalrous. Unlike Elsa, Hans promises he'll never shut Anna out; he just might be the connection she's been waiting for all these years.

Personality
"He's a chameleon who adapts to any environment to make the other characters comfortable."

- Animator Lino DiSalvo describing Hans' character in The Art of Frozen

Cold, calculating and cruel, Hans is a proud, devilish prince with a hunger for admiration, power, obedience and chivalric honor. Being the youngest sibling of thirteen princes, Hans spent a large portion of his life being ignored and abused at the hands of his older siblings, something he reveals to Anna during their encounter at the coronation banquet. The constant belittling, bullying and neglect from his family and peers eventually proved to be the breaking point for Hans and led to his villainous transformation over time; however, on closer examination, there is no evidence as to the extent to Han’s childhood abuse, meaning that he may have been exaggerating in order to appeal more to Anna.

Though he appears to be noble to the fullest extent Hans is actually a master manipulator, caring nothing for anyone other than himself. Through his charm and charisma, he is able to fool first Anna and then Elsa, as well as the entire kingdom of Arendelle and its visiting ambassadors, providing excellent proof of his dangerous psychology. Like many villains, Hans is power-hungry, visiting Arendelle in order to rule the kingdom by any means, revealing that his only desire is to become king, prepared to rid anyone necessary in any way he can for his quest for power, making him amongst Disney's more complex villains. He is exceedingly arrogant, bragging about his plans to Anna when he realizes it's pointless to help her live, and threatening the Duke of Weselton with being charged with treason when he becomes Regent of the kingdom - despite the fact that the Duke has done nothing more than point out Arendelle's goods are not for Hans to hand out.

It is unclear as to his precise motivation, if it is simple power lust, or if he genuinely craves respect and recognition, which he professes to being denied as a child under the burden of his dozen siblings. He is also verbally abusive as he constantly torments Anna and Elsa with precise and cutting words after his dark side is revealed. Examples of this can be seen when he and Anna are in the library, and the prince constantly taunts the dying princess. In the fjord during the confrontation with Elsa, Hans decides to further Elsa's suffering by telling her Anna has died as a result of her actions.

Hans' most powerful trait is quite possibly his vast intelligence and incredible ability to lie, dissemble and manipulate. He's proven to be quick thinking, resourceful and extremely diligent, being able to fool the entire kingdom without fail, even the Duke of Weselton, whom Hans holds a disliking to that only seemed to increase throughout the film. However, unlike many Disney villains, Hans constantly has to change his plot accordingly with the shifting events that take place in the film, without letting loose his villainous nature. At first he merely intends to marry into the crown, but when Elsa's powers are revealed and Anna leaves, he knows he must have one of them alive to do so. When Anna is dying, he realizes he will not be able to trick her any longer since his kiss will not work, and leaves her to die, manipulating the panic situation to order the execution of Queen Elsa. But when Elsa escapes and her powers are fully unleashed, he tells her that she has killed Anna, his intention apparently to drive her into enough despair that she will allow him to kill her, and make himself a hero in the eyes of the kingdom.

Physical appearance
Hans is of moderate stature and generally good looking. Whilst he is well built, he is not as broad-shouldered or as muscular as Kristoff. Though the two are never seen close enough together to properly compare, it is fair to say Hans would probably look relatively slimmer next to Kristoff, though he is definitely physically accomplished, as he was able to defeat the hulking Marshmallow in single combat. He is well versed in horsemanship, and has tremendous sword fighting skills. It is also shown that he is skilled in using crossbows, or at least in capably diverting their fire when needed.

Hans has fair skin and a light dusting of freckles across his nose. He also has auburn hair, sideburns and green "dreamy" eyes. Throughout the film, he wears navy blue trousers, black boots, a magenta tie, blue shirt, indigo vest, black epaulettes, gold aiguillette, and a light gray-and-black blazer with patterns. This is reminiscent of a naval uniform, and would be traditionally in keeping with royal siblings of lower birth entering military service.

During the day and night of the coronation, Hans dons a lighter version of his formal wear. It is a cream blazer with a yellow shirt underneath and red sash, with black boots, white stockings, red and golden designs and patterns, gold and red colored epaulettes with golden fringe, and a matching cream ascot. This lighter-colored suit reflects Anna's warmer-colored clothing in turn. It is also worth noting that Hans is seen wearing this lighter-colored suit for a longer time period than his traditional suit, mainly due to him wearing it for the entirety of the coronation day and night, which features him most prominently in the movie.

While he is in control of the kingdom, to protect himself from the harsh winter, Hans is given a cloak resembling the castle guards' uniforms. It's a dull, gray cloak with wavy patterns and a purple interior. In Elsa's palace, however, it appeared to have more of a green shade. It also has a more villainous vibe.

Meeting with Royalty
Once the Southern Isles is given word of Queen Elsa's coronation, Hans is the royal representative that attends in honor of his kingdom. Along with the other invited royalty, Hans arrives on the day of the event, though he fully intended to wed Elsa to marry directly into the throne, lustful only for power and obedience, knowing he would never rule his native kingdom. However, it was soon clear that Elsa was far too reserved for anyone to become close to for reasons he didn't know at the time (out of the desire to keep them safe from her then-unstable magic), thus leading to the next victim of the prince's scheme. Hans is first seen arriving in Arendelle on his horse Sitron, accidentally running into Princess Anna. Using grace and charm, Hans immediately woos the lovesick princess, with Anna almost immediately falling for him due to his wondrous looks and undeniable charisma. Their little flirtation is cut to a close, however, when the bells for the queen's coronation are rung. As Anna runs off, Hans realizes he's found the perfect tool for his plot to domination. Moments later, Hans attends Queen Elsa's crowning, waving to Anna as he watches alongside the other visiting royals and dignitaries. Later on that night, a ball is held in honor of the new queen, and Hans appears at the celebration party, soon finding and inviting Anna for a romantic waltz after "coincidentally" bumping into her once again.

Wooing Princess Anna/Elsa's curse
The romantic dance eventually leads to an entire date, with the entire night of the young couple being spent bonding. During their time together, Hans learns of Anna's longing of having someone special in her life, with her sister apparently developing a dislike of her, to which Hans openly relates to, only furthering Anna's connection with him. And with this, Hans promises to never shut Anna out, unlike Elsa, much to the princess's absolute joy. By the end of their tour throughout the kingdom, Hans works up the courage to propose, with Anna agreeing in a heartbeat. The two head back to the royal throne room, where the party is being held, to ask for Queen Elsa's blessing, to which Elsa coldly refuses, stating that Anna should not be marrying someone she just met, ending the party and ordering Hans to leave out of frustration. Heartbroken, Anna confronts her sister, possibly demanding her blessing, but this causes the queen's powers over ice and snow (the reason she goes so far out of her way to isolate herself from the outside world) to be revealed, much to Hans' shock, along with everyone else's.

The Duke of Weselton, one of the neighboring royals, immediately declares Elsa a monster, and orders his men to capture her. Elsa flees, accidentally causing an eternal winter over Arendelle while doing so, having Anna and Hans chase after her until she is out of reach. Hans asks Anna if she had known of Elsa's mysterious abilities, to which the princess denies. In order to save the land, Anna volunteers to go after Elsa, but Hans wasn't too fond of the idea, knowing if something terrible should befall Anna, his quest for domination would be abolished, as they still weren't married just yet. However, Anna insists that Hans stays behind to rule during her absence, to which the prince eventually agrees to.

Hans in Command
It wasn't long before Arendelle became an icy wasteland, with citizens becoming weak due to the frigid temperatures, causing mild chaos throughout the land that would surely worsen. Hans took advantage of the situation to endear himself to the people. While this seemed to be a charitable act, the goods were not for Hans to distribute. When the Duke of Weselton pointed this out, Hans did not bring up the plight of the people but asserted his authority by threatening the Duke with a charge of treason - which has no basis. While the Duke was being selfishly businesslike, it is unknown whether Hans would have been so generous with the goods of his own kingdom.

Scolding Hans, the Duke then openly expresses his suspicion over Anna and Elsa, believing they're conspiring together to doom them all. Hans immediately snaps and threatens to punish the Duke for treason if he doesn't silence himself, ordering the diminutive Duke to refrain from questioning the princess. Throughout this crisis, Hans actually proves to be a confident leader: distributing aid and allocating resources in the face of a disaster he did not foresee; whether it is to capitalize on popularity or simply because he is actually an effective royal is unclear. Just then, Anna's horse returns without the royal rider, making Hans believe Anna is in danger. He needs one of the royal ladies alive for his plan to continue. With the royal guards and the Duke's men in tow, Hans leads a rescue mission for Anna and a hunt for Elsa. Unbeknownst to the kingdom, this gives Hans the perfect chance to alternately kill Elsa for a seemingly heroic reason, or to return her and Anna to the kingdom and cement himself with both women and the public as part of his greater plans.

Attack on Elsa's Palace
"Queen Elsa! Don't be the monster they fear you are!"

- Hans confronts Elsa

The army arrives at Elsa's ice palace before long, and are immediately attacked by Elsa's giant snowman, Marshmallow. Hans and his army battle the beast, though he proves to be nearly invincible and completely implacable. Fortunately for the prince, he is able to get a clear path at the snow beast, and slices Marshmallow's left leg clean off, causing the creature to stumble into a chasm to his apparent death. With him out of the way, Hans and the others rush inside to find Anna, but she is nowhere in sight. Instead, they find Elsa seconds away from killing the Duke's two guards who had previously snuck past Marshmallow on orders of the corrupt Weselton representative. Hans is able to stop her from killing them as they intended for her, freeing the two thugs. However, one of the thugs attempts to strike her with their crossbow, but Hans interferes and, with apparent purpose, causes the arrow to shoot upward to Elsa's massive chandelier, hoping the impact would kill her while making it seem like an accident. The chandelier comes crashing down, but it only manages to knock Elsa unconscious.

Captured, Elsa is imprisoned in Arendelle's dungeon. With the winter curse spiraling out of all control, Hans knows he must find a way to save his potential kingdom, and decides to pay Elsa a visit, asking her to put an end to the winter. However, Elsa confesses that she doesn't know how, and asks to be released in hopes that leaving will draw the storms away with her. Hans claims he will do what he can, and returns to the Duke of Weselton and the other dignitaries in the library, who were frantically looking for a solution to freedom from the icy curse, though to no avail just yet.

Hans' Betrayal
"As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I would have to marry into the throne somewhere."

- Hans revealing his true plan to Anna after dumping her

Hans decides he must go back out to find Anna, still needing her marriage in order to legitimize his hold on the throne, but one of the dignitaries explains that he needs to stay put, as he is all Arendelle has left. With this in mind, Hans learns it will be unnecessary to return into the blizzard, as the kingdom is practically his as long as Anna never returns. Just then, Anna suddenly returns and desperately begs Hans for a kiss. The two are given privacy as Anna explains that during her journey, Elsa froze her heart, and only an act of true love can save her from freezing to death, to which Hans presumes she's referring to "a true love's kiss." However, Hans smirks and rejects Anna, immediately pulling away from their failed kiss and closing the shades of the room, as well as putting out the fire in an attempt to quicken her death. Confused, Anna tries to understand what's going on, to which Hans reveals his matured plot to marry her, kill Elsa and become king of Arendelle through ascension, verbally abusing her in the process by pointing out how easy she was to deceive compared to her sister. Anna tries to stop him, but she is far too weak and can merely plead for mercy as her condition deteriorates. After informing her of his next move, which is to kill Elsa, thus restoring summer and gaining the unflinching loyalty of Arendelle, the evil prince leaves Anna to die, locking the door and trapping her within to prevent others from finding her.

Death to Queen Elsa
Hans then returns to the Duke and the other dignitaries, pretending to be terribly distraught. He tells them that Anna was killed by Elsa's curse and that their marriage vows were said just before she died in his arms, thus making him king of Arendelle. The lie is fully believed by the assembled ambassadors and royals, and, as his first order as the new ruler of Arendelle, Hans charges Elsa with treason and sentences her to immediate death.

Hans and the royal guards then make their way to the dungeon to carry out her execution, but by the time they arrive, they find that Elsa has managed to escape into the fjord through the accelerating chaos caused by her powers, much to Hans' frustration, and just as a deadly blizzard begins consuming the entire kingdom, driven inadvertently by his own meddling and stressing of the queen.

Furious, Hans decides to take matters into his own hands, and goes into the frozen fjord to confront Elsa himself, sword in hand. Once he stumbles upon her in the blizzard, he tells Elsa that escaping all the damage she's caused is futile, but Elsa merely pleads for mercy, asking the prince to take care of her sister in her absence, to which Hans responds by informing Elsa of Anna's fictitious death as a result of the former's strike to her heart and, despite his "efforts" to save her, blaming Elsa for the tragedy. Devastated, Elsa falls onto her knees, with her sorrow freezing the very air around them, and providing Hans the opportunity to end her.

Defeat and Detainment
"I will return this scoundrel to his country. We shall see what his 12 big brothers think of his behavior."

- The French dignitary about Hans' punishment

Before he is able to murder Elsa, however, Anna arrives and blocks Hans' blow, completely freezing to death just before Hans' weapon strikes her, and shatters the blade with frigid temperatures. The forceful blast caused by Anna's freezing death brutally knocks the evil prince off his feet, causing him to fall upon the ice and rendering him unconscious. When he awakens several moments later, he finds Arendelle thawed and peace restored. As Hans struggles to his feet, Kristoff moves to attack him, but Anna decides to confront the fallen prince herself, staying the big man's hand. Anna approaches the traitorous prince, and the sight of Anna alive and well confuses Hans, prompting him to ask how she had survived the frozen heart curse. Anna then berates Hans by telling him that he's the only one present with the frozen heart, and turns her back at him much to Hans' disbelief; out of fury, the princess wheels around a few seconds later, punches him in the face, and causes him to fall off the ship they were aboard. Humiliated and defeated, Hans is then apprehended without resistance, imprisoned on a French ship heading back to the Southern Isles and banished from Arendelle forever. According to the French dignitary, he is set to face an unspecified punishment by his brothers.

Frozen Fever
Hans makes a brief appearance in this short. Part of his punishment is revealed to be working at the Royal Stables of the Southern Isles, shoveling manure. When Elsa sneezes into the Giant Horn as she blows it to celebrate Anna's birthday, a giant snowball is launched from Arendelle all the way to the Southern Isles, which hits him right into a cart of manure.

Cameos
Hans makes two cameo appearances in the 2014 animated feature film Big Hero 6.

He is first seen on a "Wanted" poster at the San Fransokyo police station, behind the desk of Officer Gerson, when Hiro and Baymax report Yokai's Microbot theft. Later on, he can be briefly seen as a statue in the garden of Fred's mansion home, that's eventually destroyed by Baymax during a testing session for his rocket fists.

Once Upon a Time
An alternate version of Hans appears first in the third episode of the fourth season of this series, portrayed by Tyler Jacob Moore. In a time frame set two years after events equivalent to the Frozen film's and one year before the first Dark Curse within the general OUaT timeline, he is first mentioned by Elsa when she warned Anna about leaving Arendelle vulnerable to Hans and his twelve brothers, who are waiting and plotting to take over the kingdom as revenge for his previous defeat. The portrayal of Hans as being in collaboration with his brothers in his plots and them desiring as a whole to conquer foreign lands for their nation differs heavily from his implied motivations and standing with his family in the film. He also unambiguously and sincerely considers Elsa a "monster" even after she has proved she is not, and overall there is considerably less room for sympathy and potential for redemption for the character here than in canon.

Some time after Anna left for Mist Haven (the Enchanted Forest), in her quest to find a cure for Elsa's magic, Hans and his army, which consists of his twelve older brothers, had set up camp in the Southern Mountains on their way to Arendelle. His brothers still belittle him for being the lowest in line, and they add insult to the injury by bringing up his failed attempt to seize Arendelle's throne during his previous encounter there. He lashes back, stating that he wasn't prepared the last time, but he found something that will help him. Unbeknownst to all of them, Anna's fiancé Kristoff was spying on them and discovered their plan: they will use a mysterious urn located in a cave within the North Valley that's capable of trapping people with magical powers, such as Elsa, then take Arendelle once she's out of the way. Though Elsa and Kristoff beat Hans to the powerful urn, he and three volunteering brothers managed to catch up.

Even though they managed to dispatch his brothers, Hans holds Kristoff at sword point. He demands Elsa to either give him the urn or Kristoff will die. Concerned for Kristoff's safety, Elsa ultimately give Hans the urn. After Hans obtains the urn, and showing off his success to his brothers, he uncapped its lid and pours out a living white liquid substance. As it was heading towards Elsa to trap her, Hans gloated his supposed victory, coldly stating in a smug tone that her kingdom doesn't deserved to have a monster as its ruler. Just as the liquid substance is about to latch onto Elsa, it suddenly changes direction and morph into a woman, Ingrid the Snow Queen. Expressing her offense in his earlier insult, the Snow Queen then freezes Hans into an ice statue, leaving his brothers to flee in panic.

Later, Ingrid brings both the urn and Hans' frozen body back to the castle and place them in the wardrobe in her old room, where Elsa and Anna, who had returned from the Enchanted Forest and was imprisoned by their devious aunt, would eventually find them.

30 years later, when Ingrid is in Storybrooke finally casting her Spell of Shattered Sight on its inhabitants, Hans had thawed out, and managed to claim Arendelle as his kingdom. He and his brothers barged in on Anna and Kristoff, who were discussing a plan to save Elsa from Rumplestiltskin. Feigning on the notion that Anna had overthrow her sister, Hans decided to have her and Kristoff arrested for treason. After claiming that the freezing of Arendelle is Elsa's doing, Anna objected that Elsa is not responsible, actually done by Ingrid, from which Hans express his doubt. Before he can have the couple taken away, Anna and Kristoff fight their way out and escape. In an effort to catch them, Hans buys Blackbeard's compliance with gold to corner Anna and Kristoff. The plan work when, after the deal is struck, Hans and his brothers suddenly appear and trap Anna and Kristoff. Later, Hans takes the couple to a spot out at sea known as Poseidon's Boneyard, the exact spot where the ship that once carried Anna and Elsa's parents went down. He coldly remarks that it's fitting that Anna and her mother will die in the same place, wishing she had never helped Elsa thus leading to the series of events that would "force" him to see her dead. After having Kristoff and Anna placed in a trunk to prevent any possible rescue by a mermaid, and annoyed by her panicking hysterically when he tells them how much time has passed since Elsa is still trapped in the urn, Hans and Blackbeard had the two tossed overboard.

Later, Elsa, Anna and Kristoff return to Arendelle via a magic portal from the Sorcerer's Storybrooke mansion and dethrone Hans off-screen, Anna punching him again, this time in the eye, while doing so. Hans and possibly any of his brothers were most likely imprisoned under Arendelle's jurisdiction, given their shared goals in this version and the latter's obvious lack of disciplining to the former after his first arrest.

Disney Parks
Currently, Hans makes no live appearances at any of the Disney theme parks, but does appear in Disney On Ice.

If asked about him, however, Anna and Elsa mention that he is still in the Southern Isles, receiving his punishment (or more safely, an "informal chat") from his 12 brothers about his actions. When asked half-jokingly if she or her sister would ever be willing to give him another chance, Elsa has replied in the same less-than-serious manner with "maybe".

Hans is also heavily featured during the Frozen Summer Fun event at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which also features his vocal talent from "Love is an Open Door" during the nightly fireworks display.

In the 2014 rendition of World of Color: Winter Dreams at Disney California Adventure, Hans appears alongside Anna, performing "Love is an Open Door", and appears in a similar role in the Disneyland Paris show Disney Dreams!

Anna
When Anna first met Hans, she became infatuated with his good looks and charm. As the two became more acquainted with each other and their lonely pasts, they soon shared a romantic duet which ended with Hans proposing to Anna, which she gladly accepted despite having only known him for a day. While Anna was away, she proclaimed that Hans would be in charge during her and Elsa's absence. While it seemed during Anna's absence that he truly cared and loved her, when Anna returned to Arendelle to receive a true love's kiss from him in the hopes of healing Elsa's curse inflicted on her, Hans revealed that he never loved her as well as how he only planned to marry her to become king of Arendelle and kill Elsa to ensure this. He left Anna to die as he went to kill Elsa, and any feelings Anna had for him disappeared. She managed to interfere with his plans, and saved Elsa by using her own body as a shield to block his killing blow and later expressing her renouncement of Hans before abruptly punching him off a ship in a rare-for-Disney but highly justified act of non-defensive violence. Truly, the broken relationship with Anna can be cited as an error in Hans' part, effectively creating a force that would prevent his usurpation into king from seeing the light of day and plunge him into humiliation and defeat.

It is evident that due to her years of loneliness and desperation for love, Anna's "love" for Hans was nothing more than a small crush based on his outward appearance and her belief that she may not have another chance to find someone else, while her feelings for Kristoff were more genuine and based on a mutual attraction, even though she had known him no longer. Even Hans has stated how she was so desperate for love that she was willing to marry him almost at first sight.

It is also apparent that there's no longer any affection between the two sides, as Anna currently hates Hans for his treacherous actions, and Hans appears to have never had any strong feelings of any kind toward Anna at all even with his current designation as an enemy of her family and kingdom, having considered her nothing more than a convenient means to an end during their brief prospective relationship, for which any affection he may have had at any point was eclipsed by his ruthless political ambitions. However, at the very least Hans did not intend to outright kill Anna had his initial plans for using her gone smoothly, provided she remained oblivious to the circumstances planned for the eventual death of Elsa, regarding whom the same cannot be said. Even in Once Upon a Time, where the show's version of Hans is portrayed as considerably more irredeemably cruel than his canonical self can be confirmed to be and does try to outright murder Anna during events transpiring after those equivalent to the Frozen film, he has a line indicating that her situation would not have come to this had she never left to help Elsa during her self-imposed exile, setting off everything that proceeded to happen later.

Elsa the Snow Queen
Inadvertently, Elsa and her nature as a winter elemental have been a major obstacle to Hans' pursuit of becoming Arendelle's sole monarch. Originally, it was Hans' plan to marry the soon-to-be queen regnant of Arendelle so he could rule the kingdom with her by his side (or more likely Elsa as queen, but with him as the prince consort, it would give him considerable political power), but gave up on the idea when he got word of her dislike of being close to people and her stand-offish behavior. He did not learn of her abilities until Elsa and Anna got into an argument about being married to Hans after only knowing him for a day, which causes her powers to manifest, much to everyone's shock. From then on, inadvertently thanks to Elsa and her winter magic, he had to constantly change his plans to become the king of Arendelle, from making Elsa seem like a monster in the eyes of the public to killing her to end her unintentional winter curse and become a hero to the people and taking advantage of the winter curse to claim the throne without marrying Anna. This also required getting into Elsa's good graces by stopping her from killing the Duke of Weselton's bodyguards after they attempted to murder her in obvious cold blood. He briefly succeeded in ingratiating himself to her, taking advantage of her emotional instability by acting as her apparent confidant while she was in the Arendelle dungeon, before dropping this facade when she escaped, finally ending with him promising to kill her to end the curse of her powers (but never actually revealing his machinations to her the way he'd done with Anna before her).

His twelve older brothers
According to Hans, three of his older siblings pretended he didn't exist for two years. Though Anna felt such treatment was horrible, Hans merely replied by saying "It's what brothers do," so it's unclear if he holds a grudge or any hatred towards any of them, for his main motive for his actions simply comes from the the fact that they will all have the throne of the Southern Isles before him. Since none of his brothers appear in the film, and it's never stated how old they or Hans were when this happened, it's unclear if they bear him any enmity, or were merely children engaging in sibling rivalry, or if any of these things led to his calculating and borderline sociopathic personality. However, due to their lack of appearances, it is possible that Hans was simply making up this story to trick Anna into feeling sympathy for him. At the end of the film, Hans was sent back to his country to receive punishment from his brothers for his actions in Arendelle, indicating that they would hold him responsible for his crimes if nothing else.

The Duke of Weselton
Throughout the film, Hans and the Duke of Weselton were often at odds. They first interact after Elsa's icy curse has been put upon Arendelle, causing the Duke to panic and declare Elsa a monster, to which Hans disagrees with in an annoyed tone. Later on, after Hans takes control of Arendelle on behalf of Anna, the Duke is openly disapproving of the prince's actions, causing Hans to snap and threaten to charge the diminutive dignitary with treason, showing an annoyance of the pompous Duke. Hans, however, uses the Duke's irrational behavior and hatred towards Elsa's magic in his plot to steal the throne, telling him Princess Anna was killed by the Snow Queen, which immediately has the Duke declaring Elsa a threat to the kingdom, thus allowing Hans to further his plans to execute Elsa now that he had the support necessary. The cunning Hans is almost certainly aware of the Duke's poorly concealed machinations, though to what extent he figures them into his own plans is unclear.

Reception
Some critics were divided on the reveal of Hans' duplicity. Gina Dalfonzo from The Atlantic questioned the reveal's age-appropriateness, saying, "Children will, in their lifetimes, necessarily learn that not everyone who looks or seems trustworthy is trustworthy—but Frozen 's big twist is a needlessly upsetting way to teach that lesson." Other critics disagreed - Melissa Leon from The Daily Beast said, "Anna is being ridiculous. But unlike Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, the world of Frozen knows that. It uses Anna's ill-thought-out engagement to show exactly why the cliché is unrealistic and absurd—in her case, it even proves dangerous as ... her charming prince turns out to be a two-faced villain." Alyssa Rosenberg of ThinkProgress took a moderate position, arguing, "Rather than declaring Prince Charming fantasies good or bad, I think Frozen is part of a tradition of adding heft to Prince Charming himself. And that's a good thing. [...] Frozen might have been a dud if Hans had only been a jerk. But, so help me, I found myself with some sympathy for the guy."

Quotes

 * "I'm so sorry. Are you hurt?"
 * "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."
 * "I'd like to formally apologize for hitting the princess of Arendelle with my horse. And for every moment after."
 * "Just you?"
 * "Twelve older brothers. Three of them pretended I was invisible, literally, for two years."
 * "It's what brothers do."
 * "I would never shut you out."
 * "I love crazy!"
 * "Love is an open door!"
 * "Can I say something crazy? Will you marry me?"
 * "Do not question the princess. She left me in charge and I will not hesitate to protect Arendelle from treason."
 * "We are here to find Princess Anna. Be on guard, but no harm is to come to the queen."
 * "Don't be the monster they fear you are!"
 * "I couldn't just let them kill you."
 * "You said she would never hurt you."
 * "A true love's kiss."
 * "Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you."
 * "As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I would have to marry into the throne somewhere."
 * "As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course. But no one was getting anywhere with her. But you... You were so desperate for love, you were willing to marry me just like that! I figured after we married, I would have to stage a little accident for Elsa." (tips a pitcher of water onto the fire, extinguishing it) "But then, she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her. All that's left now is to kill Elsa, and bring back summer."
 * (When Anna tells him he's no match for Elsa) "No, you're no match for Elsa. I, on the other hand, am the hero who is going to save Arendelle from destruction."
 * "Oh... I already have."
 * "Princess Anna is... Dead."
 * "With a heavy heart, I charge Queen Elsa of Arendelle with treason. And sentence her to death."
 * "Elsa! You can't run from this!"
 * "Your sister is dead! Because of you!"
 * "Anna? But she froze your heart."

Trivia

 * When put together, Hans, Kristoff, Anna and Sven sound like Hans Christian Andersen.
 * Given his last name, it's quite possible that Prince Hans may have been based on – the 19th century German king of Westphalia, and youngest brother of Napoleon. The two have plenty in common.
 * Elements of Hans' character are based on the Evil Mirror from the original Snow Queen. In the original fairy tale, it is said that those who looked into this mirror, the darkest aspects of their personality would come to the surface, and that if a glass shard of this mirror got into one's body, their heart would freeze as a result of their cold nature. The mirror in the story was pivotal for it had caused one of the protagonists, Kai, to become cold towards his friend Gerda (the inspiration for Anna).
 * In an interview with Jennifer Lee, Lee confirms that Hans was partially based upon the concept of the Evil Mirror in the original story, as the original story had a lot to do with mirrors. So, as she explains, what Hans is is a mirror which appears charming to the person, but is hollow and sociopathic.
 * Hans' last name is "Westergård", according to a tweet from Jennifer Lee. In a deleted scene (featuring "Bad Elsa"), a character named "Admiral Westergård" was mentioned, possibly being the earlier drafting of Hans.
 * Since this is a deleted scene, its canonicity is questionable. However, the description of the admiral in the scene closely matches that of Hans', (Elsa mentions that he "loves her [Anna] so.") and the changing of the character's last name never occurred when the character was ultimately rewritten into Hans.
 * Given Elsa's portrayal as a villain throughout most of the film's production stages prior to the final product, it's likely that Hans was either created or given his current role very late in production. In fact, Hans may actually provide the viewers a brief glimpse of the type of person Elsa would've become had her heart had stayed frozen and never thawed out by an act of true love.
 * The name Hans is popularly used in such countries as Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The last of the three mentioned might be his homeland.
 * Hans' voice actor Santino Fontana originally auditioned for the role of Kristoff, but after the story changed, he auditioned for Hans.
 * Hans has his own distinct theme that plays when he woos Anna, and it's especially noticeable when he pulls in for the kiss. After the betrayal, his theme can still be heard, albeit with a darker feel to it.
 * Hans is the seventh male Disney Villain to appear in a Disney Princess film, with the first being Gaston, the second being Jafar, the third being Governor Ratcliffe, the fourth being Shan Yu, the fifth being Doctor Facilier, and the sixth being Mor'du.
 * The first two listed above all want to marry the main female heroine for selfish reasons like Hans.
 * All of Hans' voice recordings were completed in a matter of five days.
 * According to one of the coloring books, Hans is a naval officer.
 * In Disney on Ice, Hans claims his brothers had him convinced he was a troll they had adopted.
 * Hans is essentially the complete opposite of many of the heroic characters in Frozen:
 * Anna, for while both were shut out for many years, she actually wants to reconnect with her sister and would do anything to reconnect with her. Hans, on the other hand, only wanted to get more attention than his 12 brothers and as such would do anything to be on top, even if it means murder and forced marriage.
 * Elsa, for while she shuts Anna out, she does that to protect her. Hans, on the other hand, while he would never shut Anna out, he only does that so that he would get to the throne, then he shuts her in the parlor to keep Anna from escaping the cold.
 * On another thought, it's interesting to note that both Hans and Elsa wear gloves the majority of the movie. Both use them to "conceal" their true selves - Elsa wears hers at the beginning to hide her powers, and Hans wears his throughout the whole movie up until his big reveal at the fireplace.
 * It's also interesting to note that both Hans and Elsa are associated with the unlucky number 13, but with a different twist - Elsa, being the 13th Disney Princess, remains good and caring; whereas Hans, being the 13th child in his family, turns out to be selfish and cruel.
 * Kristoff, for while very gruff and tough on the outside, he's actually kind-hearted and friendly on the inside. Hans, on the other hand, while being kind and friendly on the outside, is actually cruel and ruthless on the inside.
 * Another thing to think of is that while both are Anna's love interest, Kristoff is the only one of the two who really loved her, while Hans only loved power and was using her. Also, Kristoff would never hurt Anna, while Hans was willing to let Anna freeze to death.
 * Olaf, for while he represents the love between Elsa and Anna, Hans represents the breaking of Elsa and Anna's bond.
 * Another observation is that while Olaf is goofy and naive but still affectionate, loving, and cares deeply for his friends, Hans, on the other hand, is classy, sophisticated and intelligent but is cold-hearted, ruthless and sadistic.
 * Sven, for while he is a loyal animal, Hans is a traitorous human.
 * Another thing to think about is that while Sven has shown multiple times in the film that he has a strong moral character, Hans is a sociopath.
 * Hans is a rather unique Disney villain in many ways. Usually, when a villain is introduced into a film, the audience gets the idea that this character is not to be trusted, although some protagonists trust them, however (i.e. Simba, because Scar is his uncle). But with Hans, not only is Anna fooled by him, but the audience as well. This makes Hans one of the sneakiest and most dangerous of all Disney villains. Villains in Disney films usually have a sinister appearance, but Hans doesn't fit this description at all, adding to his deception.
 * Another thing that makes him unique among the Disney villains is that the fireplace scene where he betrays Anna is the only time that he acts truly evil in front of someone, particularly Anna. Even though he is clearly doing evil by wanting to kill Elsa, many other characters and Elsa herself were unaware of his true nature, combined with his friendly façade, so his plans remained under wraps.
 * Hans' duet with Anna, "Love is an Open Door", actually holds a few dark meanings on Hans' side of the song. The lines "I've been searching my whole life to find my own place" and "Love is an open door" secretly represent Hans' quest to dominate a kingdom, and doing so through false romance with Anna, who is his door to power.
 * There is a hint to Hans' villainy during the film, most notably during Elsa's capture. If one looks closely, it can be seen that before the guard was about to shoot Elsa, Hans glances upward to Elsa's chandelier after calming Elsa down. Afterwards, Hans runs over to the guard and re-aims the crossbow to fire at the chandelier and shoots it himself. This implies that Hans had attempted to kill Elsa by crashing the chandelier instead of merely intervening to stop the arrow.
 * Hans bears a slight resemblance to Flynn Rider from Tangled. He also resembles the Stabbington Brothers from the same film.
 * Hans says a similar thing as Rapunzel when he calms a horse. Rapunzel says "Easy, easy, boy" to Maximus when she calms him. Hans says the same thing when Anna's horse returns without Anna.
 * According to Jennifer Lee, Hans is around 23 years old.
 * In a cut draft of the film, after Hans' sword was destroyed by Anna's frozen body, the prince was still going to attack Elsa, in a lasting attempt to kill her, only to be stopped by Kristoff. This was cut because it distracted from dramatic mourning of Anna in the scene, which was more important. The fight still happens in some storybooks though.
 * Hans' character is a major subversion of the classical Disney Prince; Hans himself notes of this during his betrayal, and uses it to his advantage.
 * The moment at the end in which Kristoff attempts to confront Hans for his actions is the only time in the movie where the two male leads interact. In the novelization, however, he does knock Hans out when he tries to kill Elsa again after Anna froze.
 * Hans is one of the few villains who doesn't fight with a Disney Prince, since his climatic hero-versus-villain fight with Kristoff was cut from the final version of the film (but their fight still happens in some storybooks).
 * Hans is one of the few Disney villains who doesn't have a sidekick.
 * Hans is the fourth Disney villain to be a prince: Prince John from Robin Hood being the first, Scar from The Lion King being the second, and Mor'du from Brave being the third.
 * His line "Are you sure you can trust her? I don't want you getting hurt." is ironic since he's the one who shouldn't be trusted by Anna, and he's the one who hurts Anna by fooling her and letting her freeze to death.
 * Hans has more on-screen time dressed in his coronation suit than he does in his normal formal wear.
 * Before Anna leaves to search for Elsa, Hans wants to go with her, but Anna said he needs to take care of Arendelle. If he did come, he would fulfill his evil plans by killing both sisters and make up a story so he could be the ruler of Arendelle.
 * When Anna first meets Hans, she trips on a wooden bucket and crashes into him, sending the bucket flying and landing on her head. The last thing we see of Hans is him being tossed into a cage under the ship heading back to the Southern Isles so that he would be judged by his twelve brothers for his crimes. When the cage door is slammed shut, a wooden bucket falls and lands on his head.
 * Before the film was released, Hans was rumored to be Elsa's love interest; in the movie itself, he did want to marry her and make her his consort, but he saw that she was far too collected to become his queen, and so decided to go after Anna instead. He even says this himself when he is quickening Anna's curse.
 * He is one of the most hated Disney villains in many circles, largely because he was legitimately not expected to be an antagonist, and many audiences felt "betrayed" by him much like Anna and Elsa in-story.
 * Hans is strikingly similar to King Frederick VI of Denmark; their facial structure, hair and facial hair are almost identical, and both tried to gain power by a coup d'état, but where Hans failed, Frederick succeeded. It is quite possible that Hans is based on a young Frederick. However, Frederick kept a woman alive to serve as his queen, his wife Marie of Hesse-Kassel, while Hans wanted to kill both Anna and Elsa.
 * Ironically, in a trailer for Frozen, he was referred to as the "Nice guy," although this was most likely to keep his true nature hidden from viewers.
 * Hans is possibly Danish, since his home, the Southern Isles, is probably inspired from Denmark.
 * A chess set is seen in the background when Hans is explaining his scheme to Anna and extinguishing the heat sources in the room, symbolizing his exploitation of her as a "pawn" in his plans. Afterwards, a white queen piece falls when wind bursts through the window during the blizzard, symbolizing the "fall" of Elsa to fear and Hans' pursuit to murder her for the kingdom.
 * Hans changes his suit to a lighter version which matches Anna's after he meets her for the first time and when he successfully woos her during the evening of the coronation.
 * Hans is the first villain of the Disney Princess franchise who has siblings mentioned in the feature film, unlike other villains whose siblings are mentioned in sequels, games, television series, comic strips or short stories.
 * Hans is the third male villain of the Disney Princess franchise to have their last name revealed, with Governor John Ratcliffe being the first, and Shan Yu being the second (though in Chinese, the individual's given name is the last name, while the family name comes first).
 * Hans wears the most white out of any Disney villain.
 * Hans is also the first red-headed and freckled villain in the Disney Princess franchise.
 * Hans is the second villain in the Disney Princess franchise to wear gold, with the fist being Governor John Ratcliffe.
 * Hans is the third main villain in the Disney Princess franchise to still be alive. Lady Tremaine is the first, and Governor Ratcliffe is the second. In standards of Disney Princess villains who don't die in their first appearance, He is the fourth after them and Jafar (Who later dies in The Return of Jafar).
 * Universally, along with Man from Bambi, Lady Tremaine from Cinderella and Lotso from Toy Story 3, Hans is arguably one of the most hated Disney villains because of his heartless treatment towards Anna and Elsa.
 * Many more are angered over what they perceive to be a "break in Disney tradition," in which a love interest has turned out evil. Indeed, his villain song "Love is an Open Door" is tactfully disguised as a love song, further fueling this sentiment.
 * Originally, as seen in a Frozen coloring book, Hans and Elsa were intended to battle, most likely in the scene in which Hans and his army seize Elsa's ice palace or during the climax.
 * According to a recent interview with Hans' voice actor Santino Fontana, the writers are considering to have Hans return in a sequel (if Frozen ever has one). It is hinted that he might also redeem himself.
 * Hans has the most siblings of any Disney Villain.
 * He is the only one of the six main Frozen characters not to be seen in the prologue.
 * When Queen Elsa sees her reflection through the window, she sees it from the right panel, and can clearly see other people outside showing care and concern for them. But when Hans does the same thing, he sees it from the left panel instead, and only sees himself, as he cares for just himself. It should also be noted that the word "sinister", which originally meant "the left side" in Latin, is also a synonym for "evil".
 * Although Hans is a prince by birth, he is not an official Disney Prince due to the fact he was a villain.
 * Anna's horse coming back to the palace, Hans trying to calm it down, and showing concern about the rider is very similar to when Philippe returned to Belle without Maurice much to Belle's concern. The only major difference, however, is that Belle was truly concerned about Maurice's safety, while Hans faked concern for Anna.