Claude Frollo

"Judge Claude Frollo longed to purge the world of vice and sin. And he saw corruption everywhere, except, within."

- Clopin

Judge Claude Frollo is the main antagonist of Disney's 1996 animated feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He is widely considered to be one of the darkest Disney villains of all time.

He was voiced by the late Tony Jay in the original film.

Personality
Frollo is a deeply religious man who tries to convince the people of Paris that his evil deeds are justified because they are God's will, though he is in reality a prejudiced, sinister, vicious, and cold government official who uses his place in power to meet his own extreme ends, going as far as to employ common thugs to enforce his interpretation of God's will while posing as "soldiers." This makes him feared and reviled throughout the city. Frollo is especially set on eliminating the gypsies scattered throughout Paris as their indulgence in "witchcraft and sorcery" is infectious to those around them, according to him, which therefore makes him genocidal. He also is shown to have sadism, as other than his desire to persecute sinners, he also briefly smiles when the previous Captain of the Guard prior to his promoting Phoebus to the rank was heard being tortured for having "failed" him. However despite being highly religious, he is also blasphemous calling religious people such as the Archdeacon "fools." His deep religion also makes him teach Quasimodo a religious alphabet. Despite his dark methods, he is at least familiar with the belief of "forgiveness," presumably because of his faith. This was evident in including Forgiveness as the representing word for the letter "F."

While most Disney villains know that what they do is wrong (and either do not care or take pride from this), Frollo actually believes that he is a good person. He repeatedly refuses to find fault within himself and is quite self-righteous, declaring himself much purer than "the common vulgar, weak, licentious crowd" and above the biblical doctrine that all men are equally sinful. He believes that everything he does is in the name of God, even as he attacks the cathedral of Notre Dame for the sake of one gypsy. He does take Quasimodo in but not out of genuine guilt but out of fear for his soul after he unjustly kills his mother and also keeps him for one day when he is "of use to [him]." Though, at the end of "Hellfire", he does beg God for mercy on Esmeralda for what he plans to do with her and mercy on him for his plans, so he is capable of some form of guilt in his own twisted way.

He comes to lust for the beautiful Esmeralda, but even blames his own lust for her on witchcraft and the devil rather than accept that he himself is prone to sin as everyone else. His lust drives him murderously insane, which ultimately proves to be his downfall when he pushes Quasimodo too far by almost killing Esmeralda. When he believes his lust for Esmeralda to be turning him to sin he is partially right because it is this that makes him murderous and unfair towards the other people, arresting two families and nearly killing one just because they wouldn't give him Esmeralda.

He is also very cruel to Quasimodo, by locking him away from the world, forcing the boy to call him "master," and allowing him to be humiliated in public without even bothering to help him, as punishment for disobeying him. He also shows no love or compassion towards Quasimodo (except for bringing him food), and only uses him as a tool for his personal gain. As such, he only allowed Quasimodo to live because he feared for his eternal soul. He also refuses to allow Quasimodo any happiness or freedom by keeping him locked up in Notre Dame. He also seems to be somewhat cynical, believing that stone cannot talk and has trained Quasimodo to believe this as well:

''Frollo: Dear boy... whomever are you talking to?''

''Quasimodo: My... friends.''

''Frollo: I see. And what are your friends made of, Quasimodo?''

Quasimodo: Stone.

Frollo: Can stone talk?

Quasimodo: No, it can't.

''Frollo: That's right. You're a smart lad.''

Furthermore, Frollo appears to be a rather stoic man, always appearing cool and collected, and only shows fear when Quasimodo prepares to kill him and when he is about to fall to his death. He rarely exhibits humor, and whenever he does, it is dry and black.

Physical appearance
Frollo is an aging man defined by his wrinkled face and thinning white hair. As the Minister of Justice and a high-ranking public official, Frollo is most frequently dressed in black robes, a purple and black striped hat with a red ribbon attached, and shoulder pads with red stripes. He also wears rings on his fingers, two on the right and one on the left, with the jewels colored red, green, and blue. Despite his frail appearance, Frollo possesses a considerable amount of strength, shown by the muscle in his arms and how he is able to hold his own against Quasimodo.

Difference from the original
Frollo was very different in the original novel. He was far more compassionate, caring, and tragic, as well as significantly less villainous in the original novel. Also, he is significantly younger in age (about 36 in most of the story). As the archdeacon of Notre Dame in the original novel, he took Quasimodo in willingly as his own son when his mother abandoned him in the book (instead of Frollo just killing her himself like in the Disney film) and named him after Quasimodo Sunday instead of his disfigurement. He even helped Quasimodo develop some sort of sign language after the latter became deaf from being the bellringer. He only becomes the villain when Esmeralda enters the picture. His lust drives him insane much like in the Disney version. The only difference at this point was that Frollo actually succeeded at killing Esmeralda just before Quasimodo throws him off of Notre Dame, killing him.

Frollo's character in the Disney version of the story is much closer to Judge Jehan Frollo from the 1939 black and white Hunchback of Notre Dame film (which is generally considered to be the main source of inspiration for the Disney version of the film). In this version of the story, Claude Frollo is the archdeacon just as he was in the novel and is not villainous at all, making him much closer to the archdeacon from the Disney film. Rather, his brother Jehan, who had a very minor role in the book, is the main antagonist. Like Claude in the 1996 film, Jehan serves as the Minister of Justice in Paris and has a deep seated hatred of gypsies. Also like Claude, he is pitiless and brutal, and is driven into a murderous rage out of lust for Esmeralda. Ultimately, the Frollo from the Disney film is like Jehan in all but name.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
At the film's beginning, Frollo ambushes a group of gypsies entering Paris illegally and chases one of them to Notre Dame where he kills her. However, he discovers that the her "stolen goods" was actually her deformed baby son. Believing the child to be an unholy demon, Frollo prepares to drop him in a nearby well, but for the intervention of the Archdeacon, who reprimands Frollo for killing an innocent woman and tells him that the only way to make up for his sin is to raise the boy as his own son, to which he begrudgingly agrees. Frollo names him "Quasimodo" (literally "Near-perfect mode" or "Half-formed"), and raises him in the cathedral, hidden from the outside world, constantly teaching him that he would be considered an ugly and hideous monster by the cruel outside world.

Twenty years later, Frollo summons the gallant soldier Phoebus as his new Captain of the Guard, since the last one was "a bit of a disappointment" to him. He hopes to clear the gypsies out of Paris with Phoebus' help and go to Heaven when he dies. While attending the annual Festival of Fools, Frollo discovers a gypsy dancer named Esmeralda, who attracts him with her beauty. Shortly afterwards, he discovers that Quasimodo left the bell tower and joined the Festival and was crowned the King of Fools. Frollo refuses to help Quasimodo when he is being publicly humiliated by the crowd in order to teach him a lesson, even when the hunchback implores for his help; he even delays Phoebus' permission to stop it. He is enraged when a defiant Esmeralda openly defies him for his cruelty, and in retaliation, he orders her arrested. After witnessing the gypsy vanish in a cloud, he rashly concludes her to be a witch and orders Pheobus to bring her in alive. She escapes into the Cathedral, where he corners her and tells her that he will arrest her if she dares to leave. However, Quasimodo helps her escape. That evening, Frollo is disturbed by his attraction to Esmeralda which he believes is turning him to sin and pleas the Virgin Mary to protect him from her "spell" and to let Esmeralda taste the fires of Hell. Upon learning from one of his guards that she has escaped the cathedral, he is enraged and begins a ruthless manhunt to find her, burning down the houses of those that would shelter gypsies and interrogating the gypsies that were captured. He later attempts to execute an innocent family whom he suspects of collaborating with gypsies, but an appalled Phoebus intervenes and rescues them; Frollo declares Phoebus a traitor and attempts to execute him, but he is eventually rescued by Esmeralda after being left for dead. Realizing Quasimodo assisted Esmeralda, Frollo convinces him that the Court of Miracles has been found and will be attacked at dawn. A misled Quasimodo accompanies Phoebus to the Court, and Frollo and his army of thugs follow and arrest the gypsies. Frollo sees that Phoebus has survived and intends to "remedy it". He then sentences Esmeralda to death, but offers to save her from cremation if she chooses him. She refuses to become Frollo's mistress and is prepared to be burned at the stake, but Quasimodo rescues her after she passes out and brings her to the cathedral. Frollo orders his soldiers to break down the door and some his soldiers attack the Citizens of Paris and the French army who are being lead by Phoebus. Frollo gains entrance to the interior of the cathedral, directly defying the Archdeacon and flinging him down a flight of stairs.

He then attempts to kill Quasimodo, resulting in a violent struggle in which Quasimodo throws Frollo to the floor and finally rejects all that Frollo had taught him. Quasimodo almost kills Frollo who then begs to listen, but Quasimodo shouts that he should be the one to listen. Quasimodo then angrily yells out that all his life Frollo has told that the world is a dark cruel place, and now that he sees that the only thing so dark and cruel about the world is people who are just like Frollo. Just then, Esmeralda awakens, and Quasimodo rushes her to safety. Frollo chases them onto a balcony overlooking the city, slashing at them with his sword with Quasimodo unable to fight back due to protecting Esmeralda.

In his rage, Frollo finally admits that he killed Quasimodo's mother when she attempted to save her baby, much to Quasimodo's distraught. As such, Frollo decides to kill Quasimodo himself as he "should have done" 20 years ago. Frollo subsequently uses his cape to knock Quasimodo off the balcony, but he manages to hold on and ends up pulling Frollo along with him (but is unwilling to let him fall). Frollo dangles momentarily for his life, but he is soon able to climb onto a gargoyle. As he raises himself in perfect position to kill Esmeralda (who is attempting to save Quasimodo), his eyes and teeth are shown in a fire-like color, laughing evilly as he delivers his last blasphemy ("And He shall smite the wicked, and plunge them into the fiery pit!"). However, as Frollo raises his sword, the gargoyle starts to break and he falls, clinging on for dear life and dropping his sword. In his last moments, the gargoyle's face comes to life and demonically roars, terrifying him. It breaks off completely and angrily sends the screaming Frollo falling into a vast lake of molten copper created by Quasimodo, where he meets his death after coming into physical contact, resulting in a fiery explosion. With Frollo finally gone for good, his tyranny has ended and his soldiers are defeated and surrendered to the French army.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
Although Frollo makes no full appearance in the second film (due to the fact that he is obviously dead), he is alluded to several times. For Example, when Esmeralda dances for a crowd, Clopin says "Careful, or you may lose your heart." and holds up a puppet with a thumping heart that looks very much like Frollo, possibly referencing Frollo's lust for Esmeralda. Also, when Madellaine begs Quasimodo to trust her, Quasimodo says "I already made that mistake once.", possibly referring to the mistake he made of trusting Frollo.

House of Mouse
Frollo makes a few cameos in the series. In "Everybody Loves Mickey", he was seen sitting with Grumpy and Grimsby, with all three giving their trademark dry expressions in response to the comedy of Mortimer Mouse.

In "Dining Goofy", he showed to be unamused with the fact that he was seated with the Mad Hatter, during the time that Goofy let Daisy know that he changed the seating chart so that the audience could make new friends, which did not work out.

He also appears in Mickey's House of Villains, but not as one of the villains that takes over. Instead, he only appears in a crowd shot in between the cartoons shorts, taking place before the takeover. During Jafar's reign as host, however, Frollo is nowhere to be seen whatsoever.

Kingdom Keepers
Frollo appears in the fourth book, Power Play. He is seen in Disney's Hollywood Studios where he attempts to drown Willa commanding the Green Army Men. His guards also pursue Willa through Epcot.

In the fifth book, he is seen boarding the Disney Dream along with some other villains. He was also mentioned to in the seventh book.

Disney Adventures
In the Disney Adventures comic based off of the movie, Frollo's personality pretty much stays the same. During the scene where Esmeralda is being sentenced to death, he states to her "your time has come" but says immediately afterwards that even though her fate has been sealed, "it's still not too late" to change her mind and become his mistress. Like in the film, though, he falls to his death in the molten metal.

Descendants: Isle of the Lost
Frollo is one of the villains who was brought back from death to be imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. He has a daughter named Claudine Frollo who works as the bell ringer at Dragon Hall.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Frollo appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance as a villain trapped in his sleeping world of La Cité des Cloches.

When Sora first arrived in La Cité des Cloches, he came face-to-face with Frollo in the town outside Notre Dame. The judge examined Sora, believing him to be a gypsy due to his "disgusting attire", but his interrogation of the young Keyblade wielder was interrupted by Captain Phoebus. Phoebus told Frollo that "monsters" have appeared in the square, and he rushed off after Sora who went to defeat them.

Soon afterwards, Frollo arrived in the square with Phoebus, where he is furious to see Sora standing before Quasimodo, who is riding a Zolephant. The severity of Frollo's anger only increases when he witnessed Quasimodo flee into the Notre Dame cathedral with help from the "gypsy witch", Esmeralda.

When Riku first arrived, he crossed paths with Esmeralda, who was chased by Phoebus and Frollo. Phoebus asked Riku if he has "seen a gypsy woman", but the Keyblade wielder covered for her and said that he had not, Phoebus reports this to Frollo, after which the judge questions his abilities. Later, after escaping from the Wargoyle that attacked him on the bridge, Riku found Phoebus disobeying and betraying Frollo, who then summoned the fire-breathing Wargoyle that he claimed to be "righteous judgment". Intending to use the power of darkness to "smite the gypsies now and forever", the judge headed to Notre Dame cathedral along with the Wargoyle with Riku in pursuit.

Some time later, Sora, Phoebus, and Quasimodo traveled to the Court of Miracles to warn Esmeralda that Frollo is on his way and intends to capture her. As Phoebus ordered Esmeralda to take what she can with her and leave, the judge appeared and surrounded the group with an army of Nightmares. Frollo took Esmeralda to the square for a "bonfire" despite Quasimodo's pleas, and rendered Sora unconscious.

With the combined efforts of Sora and Quasimodo, Esmeralda was rescued from her execution. Enraged, Frollo chased them toward Notre Dame. When Sora attempts to stop him, he is stopped in his tracks by the Wargoyle that fell from the sky above. Frollo cornered Quasimodo and Esmeralda and revealed the truth about how Quasimodo's mother died trying to save him twenty years ago. Frollo attempted to kill him with his sword but after a series of tussles, he loses his footing and grabs the gargoyle by the neck, saving himself, but the creature comes to life and roars at him. At that moment, the gargoyle breaks off of Notre Dame, and the terrified Frollo plummets to his own doom in the flames below the cathedral, a sight also seen by Riku.

Musical
Frollo was a priest in his youth and decided that Paris needed to be safe so he became a judge. He hated Gypsies and believed that they were the sole problem with Paris. He took care of Quasimodo as an act of contrition for killing Quasimodo’s mother. He hoped that Quasimodo would think like him and his emotional abuse was something that he was unaware of. Frollo became consumed with lust for Esmeralda which drove him insane. He thought the cure was either to possess her or to destroy her. He seemed to have intensity than he had in movie.

His fate is changed between the versions of the play are changed. In the German version of the play, he is thrown off of the cathedral to his death by Quasimodo, rather than falling off of the crumbling gargoyle fixture. In the English version of the play, when Esmeralda awakens, Frollo draws his sword and prepares to kill both of them, but then stops, drops the sword, and leaves. This was most likely included in this version of the play to give Frollo a chance at redemption, though whether or not he took that chance is unknown.

Disney Parks
Frollo appears occasionally as a meetable character, but for obvious reasons isn't particularly common. Nevertheless, he is frequently featured alongside other famous Disney villains in merchandise, as well as a small amount of live entertainment.

Ironically, he is nowadays the most common character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame to be found at the parks as a walk-around character. Fittingly, he is most commonly found in Disneyland Paris of all the parks around the world.

In World of Color, Frollo makes a small cameo in the opening of the "Colors of Fear" segment, which showcases the darkness of Disney via Disney villains.

In the Disney's Hollywood Studios version of Fantasmic!, Frollo is one of the leading villains who assists The Queen in her plan to do away with Mickey. He is killed in the end with the rest of the villains.

In Tokyo Disneyland, Frollo is featured in the villains segment of the show One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!, alongside Maleficent and The Evil Queen. He is accompanied by the mysterious red hooded men seen during "Hellfire".

Frollo also takes part in the events, Disney Villains Mix and Mingle and Unleash the Villains.

Starlight Dreams
Frollo, alongside a legion of Disney Villains, plots against Mickey and Friends in a domination scheme. In the end, however they are foiled.

Quotes

 * "A Baby?"
 * "Put your backs into it!"
 * "Find the gypsy girl."
 * "The time has come, gypsy. You stand upon the brink of the abyss. Yet even now, it is not too late... I can save you from the flames of this world and the next. Choose me, or the fire!"
 * "Now--now. L--Listen to me, Quasimodo."
 * "I'm going to do what I should have done TWENTY YEARS AGO!"
 * (singing) "Like fire, hellfire, this fire in my skin. This burning...desire.....is turning me...to....sin!"
 * "The prisoner Esmeralda has been found guilty of the crime of witchcraft. The sentence: Death!"
 * "When your heartless mother abandoned you as a child, anyone else would have drowned you. "
 * "And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!" (last words)
 * "Remember Quasimodo, this is your sanctuary."
 * "How dare you defy me?"
 * "Mark my words, Gypsy, you will pay for this insolence."
 * "Insolent coward!"
 * "Don't waste your arrows. Let the traitor rot in his watery grave!"
 * "10 pieces of silver for the gypsy Esmeralda!"
 * "20 pieces of silver for the gypsy Esmeralda!"
 * "Burn it. Until it smoulders, these people are traitors and must be made examples of."
 * "But you were trained to follow orders."
 * "This is an unholy demon; I'm sending it back to Hell where it belongs!"
 * "I am a public official; I MUST go. But I don't enjoy a moment of it!"
 * (singing) "Beata Maria, you know I am a righteous man. Of my virtue, I am justly proud..."
 * [to Quasimodo] "I think... you're hiding something."
 * "You IDIOT! That wasn't kindness, it was CUNNING! She's a Gypsy! Gypsies are not capable of real love! THINK BOY! Think of your mother..."
 * "In a moment Captain. A lesson needs to be learned here."
 * "Silence, you old fool. The hunchback and I have unfinished business to attend to. And this time, you will not interfere."
 * "I am a virtuous man. Good and evil shall be made plain."
 * "And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit."
 * "Look at that disgusting display."
 * "Get out you idiot! "I'll find her, I'll find her if I have to burn down all of Paris!"
 * "I had a little trouble with the fireplace."

Songs

 * The Bells of Notre Dame
 * Out There (first part)
 * Hellfire

International voice actors

 * Dutch: Edmond Classen (dialogue), Ernst Daniël Smid (singing)
 * Finnish: Ossi Ahlapuro
 * Flemish: François Beukelaers (dialogue), Werner Brams (singing)
 * Japanese: Takeshi Kusaka, Shouzo Sasaki (Kingdom Hearts 3D)
 * Spanish: Constantino Romero

Trivia

 * Frollo is considered as one of the (if not the) darkest and most evil of the Disney villains. In fact, Frollo was meant by Disney Studios to be as evil and as vile as possible, in an attempt to avert the trope "Evil is Cool," common to many Disney villains.
 * The Nostalgia Critic listed Frollo as Number 4 on his "Top 11 Disney Villains" list. His song "Hellfire" was listed as Number 1 on his "Top 11 Villain Songs". His female counterpart, The Nostalgia Chick, listed Frollo as Number 2 on her "Top 10 Evil Nostalgia Characters" list. And, she also rated him number ten on her democratically elected list of the Top Ten "Hottest" Animated Guys.
 * Despite being a "human", Frollo ranks as one of the most evil Disney villains due to his personality, xenophobic hate, lust for women, immense and corrupt political power, and above-the-law status. Only a handful of other Disney villains show this kind of sinful nature, especially in a children's movie.
 * When Frollo falls to his death, it clearly meant to symbolize that his soul is now trapped in eternal damnation in the satanic fires of Hell for all eternity as punishment for his actions and ending his tyranny once and for all. Ironically, his final words in life were "And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit."
 * Frollo is placed 10th on the Ultimate Disney.com's Disney Villain countdown.
 * Frollo commits many crimes in the movie:
 * Imprisonment (Quasimodo)
 * Sexual Assault (Esmeralda)
 * Attempted Murder (Phoebus, Esmeralda, Quasimodo, a family of four people)
 * Arson (Paris)
 * Manslaughter (Quasimodo's Mother)
 * Although he also technically was guilty of attempted genocide and searching homes without a warrant, those did not count as crimes back in the time period of the movie (the 15th century), as the concept of human rights, including warranted searches of homes, did not occur until the enlightenment movement in the 17th-18th century, and genocide did not formally become a punishable crime until the aftermath of World War II due to the actions of Nazi Germany.
 * Frollo was voiced by Tony Jay, who also voiced Shere Khan in TaleSpin and The Jungle Book 2, Monsieur D'Arque in Beauty and the Beast, and one of Dr. Benedict's scientists' in Recess: School's Out. Tony Jay's performance as Monsieur D'Arque is what led the directors of both films to cast him as Frollo.
 * Frollo is very similar to Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit: both are complete monsters, corrupt judges, and attempted to wipe out a group they despise (gypsies and toons, respectively).
 * Frollo's behavior strongly suggests that he is a pyromaniac.
 * Based on his mannerisms, it is implied that Frollo is ambidextrous.
 * Frollo represents the deadly sin of lust, as he lusted after Esmeralda. He also represents pride, as he considered himself above all humans and completely flawless (although Hellfire shows him begging God for mercy on both their souls, so he is at least somewhat aware of what he plans is sin). His desire to punish others also represents wrath.
 * Frollo is the seventh villain who has fallen to his death. The first being the Witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the second being Maleficent, the third being Bear, fourth Ratigan, fifth Percival McLeach, the sixth being Gaston, the eighth being Zira, the ninth being Clayton, and the tenth being Charles Muntz.
 * Unlike most other villains who have fallen to their deaths, Frollo is one of the few who was actually seen landing. The others were Zira, Clayton, and Queen Narissa.
 * Frollo is the third Disney villain to develop feelings for the female protagonist (Gaston being first and Jafar being second), although in this case, Frollo lusted for Esmeralda and it was not as healthy as the other two.
 * In the novel, Frollo was kind and willingly took Quasimodo in when no one else would and turned into a villain when Esmeralda came into the story.
 * Frollo's death is more fear based than the novel. In the film he grabs onto a gargoyle but it comes to life, breaks and goes into the fire created by Quasimodo taking Frollo with it. This is fear based because Frollo fears his soul damnation. In the novel when Quasimodo sees him laughing at Esmeralda's hanging, he becomes enraged and pushes Frollo off the balustrade. A gargoyle stops his fall. He cries out to Quasimodo for help, but he remains silent. Then, Frollo falls down the cathedral, until the roof of a house breaks his fall. He slides down the roof, hits the pavement of the town square, and dies.
 * Frollo is the second villain of French descent to pursue a woman only because of their beauty, the first is Gaston.
 * Frollo bears a strong resemblance to Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars. They both have high cheekbones, a similar hairstyle, gray hair, and a face as long and thin as their noses.
 * He seemingly felt guilty for two of his sins: killing Quasimodo's mother and his lust for Esmeralda, though considering his self-righteous personality, it's quite possible that he's an "ends justify the means" type of man, meaning though he knows these acations are sins, yet he sees them as necessary evils for what he sees as the greater good. But he still fears for his soul because of those sins.
 * Frollo is similar to Mother Gothel from Tangled. Both of these villains raised their own respective protagonists (Quasimodo in Frollo's case, Rapunzel in Gothel's case) and have sang a song to describe why their raised foes should never leave their "homes", never used magic powers, attempted to kill a friend to the protagonist (Esmeralda in Frollo's case, Flynn Rider in Gothel's case), and were seen falling to their deaths.
 * Despite being the main antagonist of the film, Frollo is so far, the most popular character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame to date.