Esmeralda

Esmeralda is the deuteragonist of Disney's 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and a secondary character of its sequel. She is voiced by Demi Moore in both films.

Personality
She is a fearless and streetwise gypsy with a heart of gold (and is very capable of defending herself). She's also able to look beyond physical appearances and is one of the first -- and only -- people in both films to befriend the deformed yet lovable hunchback Quasimodo. Esmeralda is a wonderful heroine whose greatest wish is to see outcasts like Quasimodo and her fellow gypsies be accepted into society and be treated as people. She also seems to be quite witty, as when Phoebus first confronts her in the church, she verbally challenges him. She is quite passionate and demands justice, and displays this at the Festival of Fools, when she stands up for Quasimodo while the crowd jeers at him.

She is very beautiful and attracts the attention of three men during the course of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Quasimodo is the first to fall for her as soon as he meets her during the Festival of Fools. Claude Frollo takes a (rather unhealthy) liking to the gypsy as well, and sinks into dreams of obsession about her. He then gives her the chance to live with him as his wife, or to die at the stake, when she is accused of witchcraft. Phoebus also loves her, and he is eventually the one who winds up earning her love in return.

Design
Esmeralda goes barefoot in the first film (but wears black shoes in the sequel), and she has light brown skin, raven-black hair, and striking emerald-green eyes (in fact, a possible reason is that "Esmeralda" is the Spanish and Portuguese word for "emerald").

Phoebus
At first, Phoebus and Esmeralda weren't very good friends. Actually, they weren't friends at all, for that matter. She was initally agressive towards him, up to the point of attacking him with a candlestick. After learning that he was honorable about the sanctity of the church, they began to develop a romantic relationship.

Quasimodo
Ever since they first met, Esmeralda and Quasimodo have had a great friendship. It is shown that in the second film that whenever Quasimodo has problems, he turns to Esmeralda for advice.

Judge Claude Frollo
Frollo is Esmeralda's archnemesis and was a serious threat to her life. Despite his power and authority, she was not afraid of him. Not only was she even brave enough to publicly humiliate and insult him at the Festival of Fools (also intriguing him a bit as well), she even had the courage to spit in his face before her attempted execution.

Zephyr
Esmeralda and her son, Zephyr, loved each other very much.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
She is the deuteragonist of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is first seen dancing in the streets for coins. Some guards come along and harass her, but with the help of Djali and Phoebus, Esmeralda escapes. She is then seen dancing at the festival of fools and catches the attention of everyone, even Frollo. When the time comes to crown the king of fools, she pulls Quasimodo onto the stage, mistaking his face for a mask. When the crowd is torturing Quasimodo, she solely comes to his aid and accuses Frollo of cruelty for not having it stopped sooner and for refusing justice to "the least of these in need of [his] help". Frollo orders her arrest for her defiance, but she uses magic to disappear by blowing her nose, which Frollo believes to be witchcraft. Esmeralda expertly dodges and outwits the soldiers sent after her and ultimately disappears from view after sufficiently humiliating Frollo and the sentries.

Esmeralda is next seen following Quasimodo into the cathedral disguised together with Djali as an old man, but is followed by Phoebus. She is initially agressive towards him, up to the point of attacking him with a candlestick, but engages in conversation when he puts away his sword and introduces himself. When Frollo arrives and orders Phoebus to arrest her, Phoebus says Esmeralda has claimed sanctuary and can therefore do nothing. Frollo and the soldiers are ordered out of the church by the Archdeacon. Frollo stays behind long enough to warn her that she can only stay inside for so long and hints at a physical attraction to the gypsy girl, eliciting repulsion from her. Frollo leaves and stations guards at every door, forcing Esmeralda to rethink her exit strategy. The Archdeacon advises her against antagonizing Frollo and she complains about his treatment of Quasimodo and the gypsies and how no one can stand up to him. At the suggestion of the Archdeacon, she offers a heartfelt prayer to God to help her and her people. Enchanted by her song, Quasimodo comes down and watches from afar but stumbles over some candles, alerting her of his prescence. He escapes away to the belltower and she chases after him, attempting to apologize for bringing him onto the stage. She then stumbles upon Quasimido's workshop and is instantly impresssed by his talent. He begins to understand that she means him no harm and decides to show her around the bell tower. As he takes her to see the view from the top of the tower, Esmeralda expresses her surprise that such a cruel man like Frollo raised such a wonderful boy. Quasimodo says that Frollo took him in even though he is a monster. Esmeralda cites Frollo's lie that gypsies are evil and says Frollo may be wrong about them both. Quasimodo offers to let her live with him in the bell tower where she can have sanctuary but she expresses her desire to escape the church as "gypsies don't do well in stone walls". Quasimodo carries her and Djali down the tower to the streets where she can escape. Esmeralda asks him to come with her to the Court of Miracles, but he knows he would not be welcome and his place remains in the tower. Esmeralda promises they will meet again and gives him a map of the town which will lead him to the Court of Miracles where all the gypsies are hiding before escaping into the night.

Shortly afterwards, Frollo initiates a manhunt for her and throws the town into chaos by breaking into homes and burning the homes of uncooperative families. On one ocassion in particular, Esmeralda is observing Frollo from a distance and sees him burn down an innocent family's house. Phoebus saves them in time, and is subsequently arrested for disobeying orders. Esmeralda flings a stone to startle Frollo's horse. Phoebus uses the distraction to jump on the horse and escape. Under fire from Frollo's soldiers, he is mortally wounded by an arrow when trying to escape. She saves him and brings him to Quasimodo whom she knows will help her. She tends to his wounds and passionately kisses Phoebus, unwittingly breaking Quasimodo's heart as he was convinced she loved him. She escapes the bell tower when she hears Frollo approaching and leaves Phoebus in Quasimodo's care, telling him to be careful and not to let anything happen to him. Although he doesn't find Phoebus, Frollo bluffs that he knows where the Court of Miracles is and that he will attack it in the morning with one thousand men. Quasimodo and Phoebus quickly reach the Court of Miracles using the map Esmerelda gave them to try and warn them, only for Frollo to suddenly appear, having used Quasimodo to lead him there. Esmerelda is captured and sentenced to burn at the stake for the crime of witchcraft the following night.

At the execution, as Frollo holds the torch to set the pyre ablaze, he offers her one last chance to be with him or be burned. She spits in his face in utter disgust and Frollo sets the fire. She is saved in time by Quasimodo and brought up to the tower, but ends up nearly suffocated and falls unconscious. Quasimodo cries over her seemingly dead body before fighting off Frollo when he attempts to murder the boy. Esmerelda manages to come to and is rescued by Quasimodo from Frollo's attacks. The battle ends with Frollo falling to his death and Esmeralda clinging to Quasimodo to keep him from falling, but he slips out of her hands and is caught by Phoebus. Phoebus, aware of Quasimodo's feelings for Esmerelda, stands aside so Quasimodo can be with her. However, Quasimodo understands their feelings for each other and interlocks their hands, having accepted their love and the two kiss. As Phoebus and Esmeralda emerge safely from the church to cheers of triumph from the crowd, Esmeralda extends her hand to Quasimodo to join them outside. As Quasimodo joins her, he is finally accepted into the town population as a hero.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
In The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, Esmeralda becomes Phoebus' wife and has a son named Zephyr. Her role is more minor compared to her role in the first film, as it is mostly about Quasimodo finding a love for himself. In most scenes of the film, Esmeralda is suspicious that Phoebus still carries prejudice views towards gypsies. She also wears black shoes instead of being barefoot.

Kingdom Hearts
Esmeralda is set to appear in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. She has been confirmed to appear in her homeworld La Cité des Cloches. She was seen in a preview for the game with Quasimodo and Riku. Her full role in the game in currently unknown.

She also appears in The Sceptre and the Kingdom, a spin-off comic published in Spain, where she helps Sora and Riku escape Frollo when they are accidentally teleported to Paris. Sora briefly thinks Esmeralda is a Princess of Heart. She is flattered by this, but tells him she's not. Sora and Riku continue on their journey, with Laverne pointing the way to their next destination.

House of Mouse
Esmeralda makes several appearances along with Quasimodo, the Gargoyles, and Phoebus. In "Ask Von Drake", Esmeralda was seen dancing on Quasimodo's table during the The Ludwig Von Drake Song.

Disney Parks
Esmeralda appears as a walkaround in the Disney parks, though she is now rare to find. She can be found in several entertainment entities at Disneyland Paris. For meet and greets, Esmeralda is often found with Clopin.

She is seen in a Halloween show at Parc Disneyland with Clopin during a segment based off her film. Here she performs a gypsy dance similar to the film. After, she is seen at the finale with other characters.

Trivia

 * Esmeralda is not part of the official Disney Princess line up. Coincidentally, she appears in books and doll sets promoting the Disney Princess franchise.
 * In the second movie Esmeralda's hairstyle is drawn like Aurora's from Sleeping Beauty (but only in some scenes).
 * In the original book by Victor Hugo:
 * Esmeralda is successfully killed by Frollo and is the main protagonist in the book.
 * Esmeralda is hanged, not burned at the stake in the film.
 * Esmeralda does not like Quasimodo right away. He actually grows on her throughout the course of the novel.
 * Esmeralda is the only Disney heroine to dance in a seductive manner.
 * Esmeralda is the first Disney heroine to have green eyes, with the second being Rapunzel.
 * Esmeralda is the first Disney heroine to be seen inside a holy building, with Tiana being the second.
 * Esmeralda is the third Disney heroine to be bare-footed though-out most of her movie, the first being Aurora, the second being Pocahontas, and the fourth being Rapunzel.
 * Esmeralda is officially the first and so far only Disney heroine to pole dance.