Lumière

"The Casanova of all candelabras. He is a suave, vivacious gentleman and as any gracious host would, treats Belle with warmth and to a spectacular show-stopping number, "Be Our Guest". He is instrumental in helping Belle and Beast fall in love."

- Diamond Edition Website

Lumière (which translates from French as "light") is a man who was turned into a candelabra, featured as a supporting character in Disney's 1991 film Beauty and the Beast.

Background
Lumière is a servant in a French castle ruled by a formerly selfish prince. He served as the castle's maître'd, and is interestingly one of the few inhabitants to actually speak with a (albeit, considerably exaggerated) French accent. He is also somewhat of a showman. Well-liked and respected amongst his peers, Lumière is a prominent member of the prince's unofficial council of confidantes. He also has a notable relationship with one of the castle's many maids, Fifi—a relationship that had been in bloom for a significant number of years, prior to the events of the film.

After the castle was overtaken by a curse placed by a powerful enchantress, Lumière was turned into a candelabra, while the other servants suffered similar fates, also becoming household objects. The prince, meanwhile, would become a monstrous beast. For the following decade, Lumière would remain hopeful that the curse would eventually break, restoring the humanity of himself and his allies. This hinged on whether or not the Beast could learn to love another and earn their love in return.

Personality
Lumière is a kind-hearted, charismatic, yet rebellious servant of the Beast. Incredibly social and hospitable towards all of whom he meets, Lumière has a habit of disobeying the firm rules of his antisocial master, frequently resulting in controversy. Nevertheless, after Belle, he is arguably the Beast's closest friend, as the Beast often turns to Lumière for advice. His free-spirited and rebellious personality often puts a severe strain on his friendship with Cogsworth, who prefers to abide strictly by his master's rules as to avoid any trouble. As shown many times in the film series, however, Lumière values Cogsworth like a brother and vice versa.

He is also depicted as a chivalrous ladies' man, as Beast often goes to him for love advice dealing with his feelings for Belle. In addition to this, he can be rather flirtatious and often speaks in a suave, smooth tone. This is most frequently seen during his interaction with Fifi. He is also somewhat of a womanizer, as implied in the Marvel Comics with him fondling two feather duster maids, as well as in The Enchanted Christmas, where he refers to Angelique as an "old flame". Lumière's admiration and knowledge of romance were also put into good use during the development of the Beast and Belle's relationship throughout the course of the original film; most notably when he gave Beast the idea of bestowing the castle's massive library onto Belle, because of her love of books. Even so, there were instances in which he didn't seem to understand the circumstances of the curse, questioning how much he truly understands love. For example, the evening in which Belle became a prisoner within the castle, Lumière believed Belle and the Beast could fall in love by midnight of that night, thus breaking the spell. It was Mrs. Potts that had to explain the delicacy of two individuals falling in love, reminding Lumière that it will take time. After the Beast eventually does falls in love with Belle and releases her because of this, Lumière again assumed that the spell would be broken, prompting Mrs. Potts to chime in once more, explaining that the romantic affection must be mutual in order for the curse to be lifted.

In the Special Edition song "Human Again", Lumiere's character is slightly expanded on, revealing that he as a human had "a mademoiselle on each arm" and that he was a courter. In addition, a line from Mrs. Potts in the same song about his actions "certainly causing husbands alarm" implies that he also was not above at the very least courting married women.

Physical appearance
Under the curse, Lumière was a three-armed golden candelabra with leaf-shaped accents, features sculpted in the middle and tallest candle and a drop of wax resembling a lock of hair.

As a human, he has fair skin, is lanky, has a prominent chin, auburn hair tied back into a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, yellow cravat, brown vest, cream shirt with long puffy sleeves and ochre leaf-patterned cuffs, ochre culottes (knee-length breeches), cream stockings, brown shoes.

Beauty and the Beast
"Ma chère mademoiselle. It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now, we invite to relax, let us pull up a chair, as the dining room proudly presents... your dinner."

- Lumière's introduction to "Be Our Guest"

After that fateful day when his master refused to let a beggar woman into the castle (who was really an enchantress in disguise), Lumière and the other servants in the castle were turned into household objects. Lumiere was turned into a candelabra. He is the first to show any kindness to Maurice who was lost in the woods. Lumière and the others comfort him until the Beast arrives. Lumière shows fear and has no power to save Maurice from being trapped in the dungeon. When Belle searches for her father Maurice she stumbles upon the castle. Lumière is the first to spot and shows her the way to her father. Belle trades places to save her sick father and Lumière gives advice to the master as he shows her to her room.

Lumière and Mrs. Potts the castle's head of the maids speaks with Beast about the spell being broken and tries their best to calm his temper. When Belle wishes not to attend to dinner it causes Beast's temper to go out of control. Lumière and the others clean up the kitchen and Belle appears. Lumière decides to give Belle a warm welcome by singing "Be Our Guest". After Belle goes into the West Wing which is forbidden, the Beast appears and she leaves. Lumière and the others tend to Beast after he was injured by a pack of wolves whom he saved Belle from.

The winter hits and Lumière notices Beast has feelings for Belle and she may possibly feel the same way. A romantic evening is prepared and their love grows. Belle returns home to tend to her father leaving Lumière crushed, believing the spell will never be broken. The castle is soon under attack by a mob led by a rival suitor for Belle, Gaston. Lumière leads the servants into a ferocious battle with the mob. At one point, he is almost killed by Gaston's right-hand man, LeFou, but is saved by Cogsworth. He soon after rescues his girlfriend Fifi from a mobster, and is eventually successful in driving the mob out along with his allies.

Afterward, having presumably been tipped off by Maurice, he rushes to the West Wing with Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts to aid Beast against Gaston, but arrives too late, just as Gaston stabs Beast fatally and falls to his death. After Belle confesses her love the spell is broken and Lumière and the other servants become human. At the film's finale during the royal ball, Lumière and Cogsworth "agreed to let bygones be bygones", but then broke into an argument over who told who that Belle would break the curse... an argument that quickly turned into a brawl which they abruptly break off to watch Belle dance with the Prince (PS, it was Lumiere).

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Taking place after the events of the first film, a Christmas party is being held at the castle. In during which, Lumière and the servants reminisce the December in which Belle restored Chrismas to the castle, which had previously been prohibited by orders of the Beast. Lumière claims he was the one who saved Christmas, though Cogsworth prefers to take the credit, himself. Mrs. Potts, the neutral party, gathers the ball's attendants and explains that Christmas was the exact day the enchantress cursed Lumière, the master, and the other servants, transforming the Prince into a beast and the servants into various objects. The events occurred after Belle's encounter with the wolves, but before the night of ballroom dance in which she and the Beast fell in love.

As the flashback goes, Lumière was rebellious against an anti-Christmas and wished to celebrate with or without the Beast. Under Belle's leadership, Lumière and the other servants established an underground Christmas celebration, convincing Cogsworth by enticing him with all the food that'd be present at the Christmas feast. For their attempts, however, Belle was punished and locked in the dungeon. On the day of Christmas, Lumière and the others visited her and proclaimed that they can celebrate Christmas without the extra accessories (such as mistletoes and a tree), which led to "A Cut Above the Rest", a bantering show tune between himself and Cogsworth.

When Forte, the castle's musician becomes evil believing the Beast will lose attention after becoming human by Belle, he begins to tear them apart with no true avail, until the climax, where Forte uses all his power to destroy the castle and everyone in it. Lumière helps battle Forte and protect the rose, and eventually, Forte is defeated.

Lumière celebrates alongside the rest of the castle when the Beast puts an end to his hatred for Christmas. Back present day, he and Cogsworth eventually come to the consensus that it was Belle who ultimately saved Christmas at the castle.

Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World
He is the protagonist in the short Fifi's Folly. On the fifth anniversary of Lumière's first date with Fifi, Lumière grows so nervous to the point that he cleans himself excessively and turns to Belle for advice, by walking with her in the garden and reciting what he plans to say to Fifi to her. Fifi overhears this and believes that Lumière and Belle are having an affair behind her back. In reality, Lumière has planned a surprise snow ride around the castle gardens with Babette.

To get back at Lumière, Fifi attempts to seduce Cogsworth, who is apparently not interested. In the end, things are cleared up and Lumière and Fifi go for the ride, but the pot they are sitting in slips off the edge of the balcony and hangs over the moat (the same chasm that Gaston will eventually meet his som). Lumière holds onto Fifi for while hanging for dear life and tells her he loves her. Before they can fall, Belle, Cogsworth, and a few more servants arrive and get them back to safety.

House of Mouse
Lumière has made numerous cameos in the animated television series House of Mouse. His most notable role in the show is in "The Mouse Who Came to Dinner" in which he arrives as a restaurant critic, but none of the employees know this until the end, due to the sneaky Mortimer Mouse tricking them into believing he's the critic. Once exposed, Lumière burns his behind having him rush out the club. At the end of that same episode, the advertisement Lumière's Dining By Candlelight was seen on screen. In "Max's Embarrassing Date", he and his family were sent to Max's dinner table. For some reason, they are all candles, which makes no sense since he never was a candle, to begin with. In "The Stolen Cartoons", he complained about the current service as the club was briefly being controlled by Donald Duck. In "Goofy's Valentine Date", Lumière briefly gave romantic advice to Goofy. In "Pluto Saves the Day", he tells the Beast "Those kittens were so adorable."

Other appearances
An emoticon version of Lumière appears in the Beauty and the Beast entry of the As Told by Emoji short series.

Once Upon a Time
Lumiere appears in the fifteenth episode of the third season of Once Upon a Time played by Henri Lubatti. In this show, Lumiere was punished by Zelena the Wicked Witch and turned into an inanimate candelabra where he communicates through a projection of his human face from the candle's flames. He aids in deceiving Belle and Rumpelstiltskin's son Neal into resurrecting Rumplestiltskin so that Zelena can break his curse. Once the Dark One is recreated, Neal is injured in the process, prompting Rumpelstiltskin to take Neal into his body to save his life, which causes Rumpelstiltskin severe mental trauma as Zelena forces him to kill Belle. Just as Rumpelstiltskin recovers, Lumiere, feeling guilty, briefly binds Zelena in flames, preventing her from announcing further commands as he warns Belle to run while she still has the chance. Belle escapes from the scene, grabbing Lumiere as she does.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Lumiere appears in the 2017 live-action remake, both voiced and portrayed by Ewan McGregor. His design here is markedly different: as opposed to being an ordinary candelabra with a face on the middle candle, the candelabra itself is human-shaped, and as such Lumiere has a bronze human-like face and legs as well. Despite the differences, Lumiere's design as a candelabra with three branches still remains only by shape shifting.

Kingdom Hearts series
Lumiere makes appearances in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. He appears in his home world Beast's Castle.

He plays a minor role in both of the games, but his role in Kingdom Hearts II is considerably more prominent, taking place after his world was restored from darkness. The Beast locks his servants in the Dungeon after Xaldin came and tried to turn him into a Heartless. After being freed by Sora, Donald, and Goofy, Lumière, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts explain Beast's past and the importance of the Beast's rose. It is assumed that after Sora defeated Xemnas at The World That Never Was, Lumiere reclaimed his human form (considering that the Beast recovered his human form).

Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey
Lumière is a minor character in the game as a part of the mini-game in Belle's world. He plays a small role in speaking with the heroine.

Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure
Lumière serves as Belle's leading assistant in this game, where the Beast's castle is overrun by strange creatures, calling for a heroine (given magic by the Fairy Godmother) to journey into the home and rescue the inhabitants. Unlike Enchanted Journey, Lumière isn't reduced to a minor character, and he is accompanied by Cogsworth in the game.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
Like other iconic Disney characters, Lumière is kidnapped and taken to the Wasteland as part of an evil witch's plot to dominate the "Toon World". He can be found in the Never Land jungles after Beast (who's also been kidnapped) asks Mickey to find him.

Musical
In the stage version, Lumière plays a role identical to that of the original film, serving mostly as comic relief; considerably more so than the other servants.

The role of Lumière was originated by Gary Beach, while the final performances were performed by David DeVries. A total of nine performers portrayed the role of Lumière over the lifespan of the production.

Though his role is generally identical, a notable scene involving Lumière and Cogsworth took place during Belle's arrival at the castle, where the living candle revealed his increasing concerns over the curse and the consequences that come with it, including the eventual permanent loss of humanity, that would inevitably result in his own death through the uncontrollable melting of his wax.

Lumière and Fifi (named Babette in the stage version) are also said to openly engage in various affairs, apparently using said encounters to make the other jealous. The two also share a solo dance during "Be Our Guest".

Lumière is also given a starring role in the performance of "Human Again", a song written for the film that was scrapped due to its lack of coherent placement. The success of "Human Again"'s inclusion in the stage play would encourage the filmmakers to add it back into the film in a remastered version on DVD; again led off by Lumière.

Disney Parks
Lumière is currently featured as a staple character at the Disney theme parks, around the world; specifically at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Paris. He has recently starred in a new promotional ad for the Disney theme parks, performing "Be Our Guest".

Disneyland Resort
As part of the World of Color pre-show Carnival of Color, Lumière is a large puppet and makes an appearance on the blue carpet at Disney California Adventure. The puppet, along with the Tigger and Genie puppets, were later reused in the Paint the Night.

Walt Disney World Resort
In Florida, Beauty and the Beast: Live! show at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and is occasionally for backstage meet-and-greets. He's also made special meet-and-greet appearances in Disneyland Paris, on occasion.

Lumière also has a spell card in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom known as "Lumière's Candle Blast".

In Mickey's PhilharMagic, Lumière is the first Disney character Donald encounters on his journey. During their meeting, Lumière sings "Be Our Guest" while Donald tries to retrieve Mickey's sorcerer hat.

In Storytime With Belle and Fantasy Faire, Lumière is the host along with Belle during the play based on the movie guests are to perform. For this role, a new Lumière audio-animatronic was created to have functioning LED eyes and working lip-movement. A similar audio-animatronic is used in the Royal Theatre at Fantasy Faire in Disneyland when Mr. Smythe and Mr. Jones join Belle to re-enact Beauty and the Beast.

Tokyo Disney Resort
Concept art suggests that Lumière is set to appear in Tokyo Disneyland's untitled Beauty and the Beast attraction. He also appears during the Beuty and the Beast segment of Once Upon a Time.

Disneyland Paris
In the spectacular Disney Dreams!, Lumière performs "Be Our Guest" as part of Peter Pan's magic.

A puppet version of Lumière also appears in Mickey and the Magician, where he, again, performs "Be Our Guest" and introduces Belle and Beast's segment of the show, shortly thereafter.

Shanghai Disneyland
In Shanghai, Lumière appears as part of Belle and Beast's display in Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, as well as Belle's wall carving inside of Enchanted Storybook Castle. In Lumière's Kitchen at the Shanghai Disney Hotel, a portrait of Lumière and Cogsworth is featured, which transitions to portray the duo in both their human and cursed forms.

Disney Cruise Line
On board the Disney Dream cruise ship, in the show Believe, Lumière is the last "magic maker" to help Dr. Greenway's imagination develop. He is accompanied by Mrs. Potts and Belle.

Trivia

 * An inanimate candelabra resembling Lumière can be seen on a table alongside a clock resembling Cogsworth, in the ABC series Once Upon a Time episode "Skin Deep".
 * Lumière, along with Cogsworth, is visually referenced in the DreamWorks film Shrek 2, when Shrek, Donkey, and Puss try to escape the Fairy Godmother's factory, they accidentally leak a potion, two of the Godmother's henchmen are turned into a candelabra and a clock.
 * In the movie Enchanted, a woman dressed up as a candelabra resembling Lumière appears in one of the live-action scenes of the film.
 * In the 2017 live-action film he is depicted with legs, as opposed to the original animated film, where he can only hop around on his "stand".