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).

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

- Hans explaining his motives to Anna

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

Background
Hans is a prince from the Southern Isles, a neighboring kingdom of Arendelle. Not much is known about the prince's past (such as what he looked like when he was young), but he is the youngest of thirteen royal siblings, and was neglected because of this. Knowing he would not live to rule the throne of the Southern Isles, Hans concocted a scheme to marry into monarchy. And when Arendelle is set to have a coronation, he jumps at the opportunity. However, since the to-be queen is far too collected to woo and wed, he instead goes for her younger sister, Anna, planning to murder Queen Elsa after their marriage, thus becoming king (with Anna as his consort)!

Official Disney Bio

 * "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
"You're gorgeous."

- Anna's first impression on Hans

"The only frozen heart around here is yours."

- Anna's last impression on Hans

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

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

Cold, conniving and quick, Hans is a devilish prince with a hunger for admiration, power, obedience and honor. Being the youngest sibling of thirteen princes, Hans spent a portion of his life being ignored and treated unfairly, something he reveals to Anna during their first night together. This abuse likely led to Hans' villainous transformation over time. Though he appears to be noble to the fullest extent, Hans is merely a master manipulator, caring nothing for anyone other than himself. Through his charm and charisma alone, he is able to fool both Anna and Elsa as well as the entire kingdom of Arendelle and its visiting royals, providing excellent proof of his dangerous power over manipulation. Like many villains, Hans is very power-hungry, willingly visiting Arendelle to murder Elsa and rule the kingdom via marrying Anna, revealing his only desire is to become king, and ridding anyone necessary in any way he can for his quest for power, making him amongst Disney's most wicked villains. However, his manipulation and facade can be at times too perfect, which can be his greatest flaw for his overly-benevolent impersonation during his first meeting is a road to questioning of his motivation, as Elsa and Kristoff do not as easily fall like Anna does, for his seemingly amiable personality the first time.

He appears to be rather arrogant as well, chuckling and smirking to himself whilst revealing his dark plans to Anna, as she is freezing to death right before his eyes. It is clear Hans' goal to rule as king was likely to gain the love and admiration he never had, after being left in his brothers' shadows over the many years. Confirmation of this is seen during Hans' betrayal, where he tells Anna he'll be the hero that saves Arendelle from destruction once Elsa's slain, showing excitement for the oncoming praise. He is also very abusive, though verbally more so than physically, as he constantly torments Anna and Elsa merely through his words after his dark side is revealed. Examples of this can be seen when he and Anna are in the parlor, and the prince constantly taunts the dying princess, as well as in the fjord during the confrontation with Elsa, as Hans decides to further Elsa's eternal suffering by telling her Anna has died, wanting to add that much harm to her before his attempt to kill her.

Hans' most powerful trait is quite possibly his vast intelligence and incredible ability to lie. 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 takes place in the film, without letting loose his villainous nature. All of this is particularly due to Elsa and her newly revealed magical nature, who was his first target for his plan, but had to switch to Anna when he heard of her desire to keep her distance from people, unaware of her powers over winter. Such as Elsa's deadly curse upon Anna leaving Hans with the option of taking over the kingdom without marrying Anna, as well as after Elsa's self-imposed exile after her powers were revealed, where he decides to kill her openly to seem like a hero in the eyes of Arendelle's citizens, gaining their trust and admiration for saving their kingdom.

Physical appearance
Hans is handsome, slender and generally good looking. Whilst he is well built, he is not as broad-shouldered nor 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 weak next to Kristoff, though he is definitely physically formidable as he was able to single-handedly defeat the hulking Marshmallow.

Like almost every character in the film he 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, and a light gray-and-black jacket.

During the day and night of the coronation, Hans dons a lighter version of his formal wear. It is cream jacket with a yellow undershirt and red sash, with black boots, red and golden designs and patterns, and a matching cream ascot.

After he takes control of the kingdom, to protect himself from the 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 the day of the event, though he fully intended to wed Elsa to marry into the throne, lustful only for power and obedience, knowing he wouldn't live to rule his own 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
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 being around her by suddenly shutting Anna out one day when they were kids, 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' 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, denying Anna marrying someone she just met, ending the party and ordering Hans to leave out of frustration. Heartbroken, Anna confronts her sister, 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. However, through it all, Hans proved to be a worthy ruler, not taking his new-found chance at the throne mildly, and uses the power to instead win the hearts of Arendelle's citizens, gaining their trust and loyalty through his seemingly benevolent and caring ways. As Hans and the royal guards hand out cloaks and cater to the freezing citizens of Arendelle, the Duke of Weselton arrives, furious that the young prince is giving away Arendelle's tradeable goods, which is what he's most interested in, as opposed to the safety of others. Scolding Hans, the Duke then openly expresses his suspicion over Anna and Elsa, believing their 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. Just then, Anna's horse returns without the royal rider, making Hans believes Anna is in danger. With the royal guards and the Duke's men, Hans leads a rescue mission for Anna and a hunt for Elsa. Unbeknownst to the kingdom, this gives Hans the perfect chance to kill Elsa for a seemingly heroic reason, bringing him one step closer to ruling the kingdom permanently. Not only that, his "heroic deed" would be the finishing touch to winning the citizens over, knowing he'd be praised as a hero once Elsa is slain.

Attack on Elsa's Palace
The army arrives at Elsa's ice palace before long, and are immediately attacked by Elsa's giant snowman bodyguard, Marshmallow. Hans and his army battle the beast, though he proves to be nearly invincible. Fortunately for the prince, he is able to get a clear shot and slices Marshmallow's leg clean off, having the creature stumble off a cliff 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 merely seconds away from killing the Duke's two guards. Hans is able to stop her, freeing the two thugs. However, one of the thugs attempts to strike her with their arrow, but Hans interferes and purposely 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 getting out of hand, Hans knows he must find a way to save his kingdom, and decides to pay Elsa a visit, asking her to put an end to the winter. However, Elsa confesses she does not know how and asks to be released. Hans claims he will do what he can and returns to the Duke of Weselton and the other dignitaries in the dining hall, who were frantically looking for a solution to freedom from the icy curse, though to no avail just yet.

A Shattered Romance
He decides he must go back out to find Anna, still needing her marriage in order to steal 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, and Anna explains that during her journey, Elsa froze her heart, and only an act of true love can save her from freezing to death. 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 attempt to quicken her death. Confused, Anna tries to understand what's going on, but Hans simply explains his entire plot to marry her, kill Elsa, and become king of Arendelle through marriage. Anna tries to stop him, but she is far too weak. After informing her his next move is to kill Elsa and bring back summer, the evil prince leaves Anna to die, locking the door and trapping her within to prevent others from finding her. Hans then returns to the Duke and the other dignitaries, appearing to be terribly distraught. He tells them Anna was killed by Elsa, and that their vows were said just before she died in his arms, thus making him king of Arendelle.

Death to Queen Elsa
"All that's left now is to kill Elsa and bring back summer."

- Hans

Unfortunately, the story is fully believed, and Hans sentences the Snow Queen to death for high treason. Meanwhile, through her magic, Elsa manages to escape her prison and tries to retreat to her ice palace. Furious, Hans heads after her into the frozen fjords as a harsh blizzard consumes the kingdom. With a sword at hand, Hans is prepared to slay the queen, and eventually stumbles upon her, telling her she can't escape all the horrible things she's already done. Elsa pleads for mercy, still believing Hans to be a benevolent prince and asks him to take care of her sister for her, to which Hans responds by telling the Snow Queen Anna was killed due to her icy curse piercing her heart, despite his "efforts" to save her. Devastated by the horrific news, Elsa breaks down in tears, and whilst she's distracted by her own sorrow, Hans pulls out his sword and prepares to murder the fallen queen via decapitation.

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

Just as Hans was going to kill her, he thought that he would be king of Arendelle. But he was mistaken, as fate would soon turn the tables against him, because he was caught unprepared for Anna's act of true love and the beginning of his defeat. Before he is able to murder her, Anna arrives and blocks her sister from the sword, completely freezing to death just before Hans' weapon strikes her and shatters. The forceful blast caused by Anna's freezing spell 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. Anna then approaches the traitor, and the sight of Anna alive and well confuses Hans, prompting him to ask how she'd survive the frozen heart curse. Eventually, Anna berates Hans by telling him he's the only one around here with the frozen heart and turns her back at him much to Hans' disbelief, and out of fury, the princess punches him in the face off the ship they were aboard. Humiliated and defeated, Hans is then imprisoned on a ship heading back to the Southern Isles and banished from Arendelle forever. According to the French dignitary, Hans is set to receive some unspecified punishment decided by his older brothers.

Disney Parks
Sadly, Hans is not available for meet-and-greet opportunities in the Disney parks. However, he is mentioned by Anna and Elsa if you talk about him. They mention that he is still in the Southern Isles, however, receiving his punishment (or more safely, an "informal chat") with his 12 brothers about what he did wrong.

Anna
Initially, when Anna first met Hans, she became instantly infatuated with his good looks and charm. As the two became more acquainted with each other and their lonely pasts, the two 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 he never loved her and 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 save Elsa by using her frozen body as a shield to block his killing blow and got her revenge on Hans by punching him off the ship they were on. It should be noted that due to her years of loneliness and desperation for love that Anna's "love" for Hans was nothing more than a small crush based on his outward appearance and her belief that she would not have another chance to find someone else while her feelings for Kristoff were genuine and based off of real love. Even Hans has stated how she was so desperate for love that she was willing to marry him. It is also apparent that there is no (longer any) affection between the two sides as Anna hates Hans for the monster he truly is and Hans never truly cared for Anna at all but was instead using her infatuation for him to get Arendelle's throne and was willing to let her die to further his own fiendish schemes. Truly, the broken relationship with Anna was 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 would plunge him into humiliation and defeat.

Elsa the Snow Queen
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, unknown to them that she was doing this to keep them safe from her then-unstable winter magic at the time. He did not learn of her abilities until she and Anna got into a argument about being married to Hans after only knowing him for a day, which cause her powers to be revealed, to everyone's shock. From then on, he had to constantly change his plan to become king of Arendelle, from making the Queen seem like a monster in the eyes of the public then killing her to end her unintentional winter curse and become a hero of the people to taking advantage of the winter curse to claim the throne without marrying Anna. This also required getting into Queen Elsa's good graces by stopping her from killing the Duke of Weselton's bodyguards after they provoked her into a angered state and appearing to show mercy towards her, when it was ultimately to get her to let her guard down for a chance to land the killing blow. However, Elsa was saved from his treachery by Anna and the plot for usurpation was foiled.

His 12 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 "That's what brothers do", so it's unclear if he holds a grudge or any hatred towards any of them. In the end of the film, Hans was sent back to his country to receive punishment from his brothers.

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, the Duke is openly disapproving of the prince's actions, causing Hans to snap and threaten the diminutive dignitary, 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.

Trivia

 * Hans', Anna's and Kristoff's names are all derived from portions of the name Hans Christian Andersen.
 * 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).
 * The possibility of this is supported by the observation that Hans, when interacting with other people, adapts aspects of that persons personality into his own. He's effectively mirroring them, making him seem more approachable to different types of people, making it easy to manipulate them.
 * When interacting with Anna he's playful, kind, and maintains a positive attitude.
 * When interacting with Elsa he's noble, generous, patient, and soft spoken.
 * When interacting with the Duke of Weselton he's demanding, rude, and harsh.
 * Another possibility of this is supported by the fact that in the end of the film, Anna tells Hans that his heart is the only frozen heart, due to how cold and manipulative he is, directly referencing the effects of the Evil Mirror had on the people who looked into it.
 * 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 hallow and sociopathic.
 * Hans' last name is "Westerguard", according to a tweet from Jennifer Lee. In a deleted scene, a character named "Admiral Westerguard" 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', 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 is likely that Hans was either created or given his current role very late in production.
 * The name Hans is characteristic of countries such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which reflects the setting of the film.
 * Hans' voice actor, Santino Fontana, originally auditioned for the role of Kristoff, but was eventually given Hans instead once the film's story changed. Both men have similar voices, however.
 * 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.
 * His favorite foods are sandwiches, as mentioned in "Love is an Open Door" and during a throwaway line later.
 * Hans is the sixth male Disney Villain to appear in a Disney Princess film, the first being Gaston, the second being Jafar, third being Governor Ratcliffe, fourth being Shan Yu, and the fifth being Doctor Facilier.
 * The first two listed above all want to marry the main female heroine for selfish reasons.
 * 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.
 * 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 shut her in the parlor to keep Anna from escaping the cold.
 * On another thought, it is 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 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 selfless 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 2 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.
 * Hans is arrogant with his elitist view of being born into royalty and meant to rule. Originally Kristoff had a similar attitude, albeit cockiness coming from an anti-elitist worldview. Kristoff took pride in being a survivalist and having the same "rough cut" associated with peasant men.
 * 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 is 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 multipal time in the film that he has a strong moral charecter Hans is a sociopath
 * Hans is rather an 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, but 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 sinister Disney villains. Villains in Disney films usually have a sinister appearance, but Hans does not fit this description at all, adding to his deception.
 * 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 representing 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 the sisters in a lasting attempt to kill them, only to be stopped by Kristoff. This would have taken away from the dramatic mourning of Anna in the scene.
 * 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 does not fight with a Disney Prince, since he does not have a climatic hero-versus-villain fight with Kristoff.
 * Hans is one of the few villains who does not have a sidekick.
 * Hans is the third Disney evil prince: Prince John from Robin Hood the first Mor'du from Brave the second. Of the three, his "Princeliness" is by far the most prominent.
 * His line "Are you sure you can trust her? I don't want you getting hurt" is ironic since he's the one who should not be trusted by Anna and he's the one who hurts Anna by fooling her and let her freeze to death.
 * 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 and 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.
 * Hans being the thirteenth brother may be a reference to 13's status as the "unlucky" number, which coincides with his being the "unfavorite" in his own family.
 * Objectively speaking, Hans is arguably one of the most sympathetic Disney villains; he was neglected by his own family for years, living in the shadow of his brothers and developing an intense psychological desire for attention and power so as to "prove" himself and validate his worth as a member of the royal family. It should also be noted that there is no indication that he would have necessarily been a bad or abusive king as far as the population at large was concerned; only his means of pursuing that goal were evil.
 * Despite the above, he is also one of the most hated Disney villains in some 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 similiar to King Frederik 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 Frederik succeeded. It is quite possible that Hans is based on a young Frederik.
 * 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.

Similarities to other Disney villains

 * Hans bears many similarities with Gaston from Beauty and the Beast:
 * Both are handsome but are revealed to be quite cruel and manipulative.
 * Both aren't initially shown to be evil.
 * Both tried to kill a person important to the Disney Princess whom they considered a monster (the Beast and Elsa).
 * Both make themselves appear as a hero to others and use this to manipulate people into following them and in turn make the cursed royals appear to be monsters.
 * Hans and Gaston are also the youngest Disney Villains to date. Hans is 23, and Gaston is presumably in his early to mid-twenties.
 * Both wanted to marry the heroine of their films (Belle and Anna) but primarily for selfish reasons (Gaston because he just wants a "little wife" that will obey and serve him, and Hans because he wants to conquer Arendelle).
 * Anna's first impressions of Hans were also similar to those of the Bimbettes towards Gaston, but her last impression (in which she calls him cold-hearted) is very similar to that of when Belle called Gaston a monster. Ironically, Elsa's views on Hans were the opposite: She at first distrusted Hans similar to how Belle largely distrusted Gaston throughout her film, but by the end she ended up trusting Hans (due to Hans appearing merciful and understanding towards her) and being betrayed, similar to the Bimbettes' reactions if they were present at the lynch mob.
 * Unlike Gaston, Hans never openly boasts his plan in public.
 * Hans shares similarities with Scar from The Lion King:
 * Both villains desire power and wish to be king via murder, manipulate those around them and those who love them.
 * Both are envious of their brother(s), and selfishly wished to be praised as a wonder of a king.
 * Both also manipulate one of the protagonists and/or others into thinking they were responsible for the death of a loved one (Scar leading Simba to believe that the latter was responsible for Mufasa's death, and Hans manipulates Elsa into thinking Anna was already killed by her magic).
 * He also shares these similarities to Nizam in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (who in his case manipulates the entire kingdom to believe Dastan murdered King Sharaman, similar to how Hans manipulates the entire kingdom to think Elsa committed treason). Unlike Scar or Nizam, though, Hans does not kill or attempt to kill his brother(s).
 * Hans also has some similarities with Mor'du from Brave:
 * Both were motivated to hurt others out of pride.
 * Both were princes.
 * Both were envious of their brothers.
 * Both had a desire for power and were determined to become king, even if it meant murdering those around them.
 * Neither had a sidekick.
 * Both were cruel and ruthless.
 * Hans shares a similarity with Jafar from Aladdin: both want to marry a girl (Jafar wants to marry Princess Jasmine and Hans wants to marry Anna), but both want to do so solely so they can rule their kingdoms, and not because they dearly love their chosen consorts. Similar to Jafar, they also planned on killing said girl after assuming power (although unlike Jafar, Hans acted on it when he had the opportunity, and Jafar later decided to make Jasmine his queen instead, probably out of desire to have heirs). They also lie and tell the deuteragonist that the main protagonist is dead and are also trusted by various main characters.
 * Hans also bears many similarities with several Pixar villains: Stinky Pete from Toy Story 2, Mr. Waternoose from Monsters, Inc., Charles Muntz from Up, and Lotso from Toy Story 3, in which they are friendly in their outside appearances but are actually evil and manipulative in their true nature, which surprises not only the main protagonist, but the audience as well. Also, their villainous natures are not shown in their respective toy merchandise but are spoiled in the books prior to the film's release (although Lotso's villainy is hinted at in one of the LEGO sets for the film, also made prior to the film's release).
 * Hans is also similar to Lyle Tiberius Rourke from Atlantis: The Lost Empire as they have antagonized a young queen with light blonde hair (Rourke to Kida, Hans to Elsa). In addition, Rourke is also given enough traits of trustworthiness for not only the protagonists, but also to the audience to trick them into thinking they are good until late into the film. Ironically, Rourke created a queen by killing Kida's father, while Hans tried to destroy one.
 * Hans is also similar to King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph. Both start off as friendly but turn out to be evil, both try and almost kill the film's deuteragonist, both lock the deuteragonists in a dungeon Vanellope for King Candy and Elsa for Hans. This is actually very coincidental since Alan Tudyk, King Candy's voice actor, voices the Duke, another antagonist in the film.
 * Hans is also similar to John Clayton from Tarzan. They are not revealed to be evil at first but as the film progresses their true evil motives are revealed. They also shut the main protagonist to prevent them from stopping his evil plans (Clayton locks Tarzan in the ship while Hans locks Anna in the castle). Also, both of their films are directed by Chris Buck.
 * Hans not being revealed to be bad at first and being the love interest of the main protagonist who betrays her near the end can be compared to Erik from Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama.
 * Hans shares a similarity with Lady Tremaine from Cinderella: both heartlessly mistreats the protagonists who are Disney Princesses that lose their respective parents (Cinderella for Lady Tremaine and Anna for Hans). However, Lady Tremaine begins abusing Cinderella at the beginning of her movie after her father died, while Hans starts mistreating Anna in the film's climax. Also, both villains' plots involve gaining higher status (Hans seeks to become king of Arendelle, while Lady Tremaine wants one of her daughters to marry a high-ranking royal, like Prince Charming).
 * Hans shares a similarity with Hades from Hercules: both obviously have names that begin with h, have only gotten the female lead's good graces (Megara: Hades and Anna: Hans) in order to reveal their true intention (to take over their geographical locations and eliminate those important to the female lead: Hercules: Megara and Elsa: Anna). In the end, both sets of villains got their plans foiled. Ironically, both of their defeats involve getting punched. Both also don't end up killed, and both also desired to gain claimancy to the throne due to jealousy regarding their brother(s).
 * Hans is also similar to Stromboli from Pinocchio, in the sense that they both didn't seem evil at first, but later revealed their true colors to them, manipulated the naive innocent protagonist for their own personal gain, and locked them up.
 * Hans is also similar to Mother Gothel from Tangled, as both take advantage of a young princess by pretending to love and care for them in order to obtain something from them (Hans takes advantage of Anna's immediate infatuation with him to secure his spot as the future King of Arendelle while Mother Gothel pretended to love Rapunzel in order for the princess to trust her and not want to leave the outside world to use her hair to remain permanently young forever). Both also use the princess's lack fo self esteem to ensure their mental control over the princesses and ensure they can get what they want (Hans takes advantage of the fact that Anna sees herself as a "Just" and estrangement with Elsa and claims he would not shut her out while Mother Gothel constantly belittles Rapunzel with insults, though she claims they are just jests).
 * Hans is also similar to Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective in the sense that both plan to usurp the throne to a kingdom, plot to get rid of the heirs (one of which in secret in Hans's case), and trick people into believing that they are royal consort of the heirs.
 * Unlike other Disney human villains, whose clothes are usually black or use unnatural bright colours like red, green or purple, Hans' outfits are always white in some shape or form or have a white element, such as his white gloves, white blazer or silver winter gown.
 * Although Hans may be a "prince", he really doesn't count due to the fact that he wasn't a protagonist, or as he seemed to look like one.
 * Even further, he might also not count due to the fact that he was from a setting that was rarely ever mentioned.
 * And even further, after what happened with him in Arendelle, he might have actually been demoted from being a prince and no longer part of royalty altogether.

Similarities to other villains

 * He actually shares something in common with the play Richard the Third by William Shakespeare; Richard the Third and Hans both try to get to the throne as they're the youngest, with Richard killing his brother's sons and Hans admitting that he planned to marry Anna and then kill Elsa.
 * Hans also shares similarities with Claudius from the play Hamlet, in which they initially appear as benevolent rulers until the revelation of their treachery, and they ultimately resort to devious methods to kill the true heirs to the throne.
 * He share many similarities with Loki:
 * Both were jealous of their brother(s) being king over him, and desired to kill just to gain power (unlike Loki, however, he doesn't try to target his brothers for murder).
 * Both also ended up arrested and sentenced by their family members for his crimes, with the implication that they are to receive a costly sentence.
 * He also is very similar to Miles Axlerod from Cars 2:
 * Both of them are the true antagonists, but no one (not even the audience) knows until close to the end.
 * Both of the red herring antagonists have German accents and serve as a cover-up to the real villain (the Duke of Weselton and Professor Z).
 * They both attempt to kill both of the protagonists (McQueen and Mater/Anna and Elsa).
 * Both of them are arrested and sent to be punished instead of being killed.
 * Both of them have high ranks in a different country (Miles Axelrod is knighted and Hans is 13th in line for the throne in the Southern Isles).