Judge Claude Frollo

Judge Claude Frollo is the main villain in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He killed Quasimodo's Mother 20 years prior to the time of the film on the very steps of the Notre Dame cathedral, and prepared to drown Quasimodo. The Archdeacon stopped him just in time before he can do it. Fearing repercussions from God and especially from Mary, the Virgin Mother of Jesus. Frollo, was tasked by the archdeacon to raise the deform Infant, for killing the deform infant's mother. who was an innocent gypsy women. He agrees to do so, and named the baby Quasimodo in reference to his deform appearance. Frollo however, kept Quasimodo hidden from the world in the church's belltower, until he could be of use to him.

Background
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 gypsy's "stolen good" was actually her deformed baby son. Believing the child to be an unholy demon, Frollo prepares to drop the child 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 the boy "Quasimodo" (literally meaning "Half form"), and raises him in the Cathedral. He makes sure that Quasimodo is hidden from the outside world. Frollo constantly teaches him that he would be considered an ugly, and hideous monster by the cruel outside world.

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, spiteful and corrupt official who uses his place in power to meet his own selfish ends, going as far as to employ common thugs to enforce his 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. However despite being hghly religous he is also blasphemous calling religous people such as the Archdeacon "fools".

While most Disney villains know that what they do is wrong (and either do not care or take pride from this), Frollo actually believes 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 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 committing crimes, and sins. His lust drives him murderously insane, which ultimately proves to be his downfall when he pushes Quasimodo too far by almost killing 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, and only uses him as a tool for his personal gain. He also refuses to allow Quasimodo any happiness or freedom by keeping him locked up in Notre Dame.

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.

Appearance
Frollo is an aging man defined by his wrinkled face and white hair. As the Minister of Justice and a high-ranking public official, Frollo is most frequently dressed in dark 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.

The Festival of Fools
Twenty years later, Frollo summons Captain Phoebus, since his 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 he refuses Phoebus' permission to stop it, and is enraged when a defiant Esmeralda openly defies him for his cruelty. In retaliation, Frollo orders her arrested. She escapes from his guards, and he angrily sends Quasimodo back into the cathedral.

Finding Esmeralda in the Cathedrals
Esmeralda then goes into the Cathedral, where he corners her and tells her that he will arrest her if she dares to leave. However, unknown to him that Quasimodo helps her escape.

Hell Fire
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. He then learns from one of his guards that Esmeralda has escaped the cathedral.

Being Betrayed by Phoebus
Frollo 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.

Telling Quasimodo that he used him as a tool
Realizing Quasimodo assisted Esmeralda, Frollo convinces him that the Court of Miracles has been found and will eventually be attacked. 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".

Esmeralda's Sentence
He then sentences Esmeralda to execution. She refuses to become Frollo's mistress and is prepared to burn to death, 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 been lead by Phoebus, The king of France and his successor. Frollo gains entrance to the interior of the cathedral, directly defying the Archdeacon and flinging him down a flight of stairs.

His battle with Quasimodo
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, but 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 reveals to Quasimodo that he killed his mother, and will now kill Quasimodo himself as he "should have done" twenty years ago. Frollo subsequently uses his cape to knock Quasimodo off of the balcony, but Quasimodo manages to hold on and ends up pulling Frollo along with him (but is unable to let him fall).

His Death
Frollo dangles momentarily for his life, but he is soon able to climb on a gargoyle in perfect position to kill Esmeralda, who is attempting to save Quasimodo. However, as he raises his sword, the gargoyle that he is standing on starts to break and he falls, clinging on for dear life and dropping his sword. In his last moments, the face of the gargoyle come to life and demonically roars, terrifying Frollo as the gargoyle breaks off completely from the balcony and sends him falling to his death into a vast lake of molten lead created by Quasimodo.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2
Although Frollo makes no full appearance in the second film, he is mention by Sarousch when he asks Madellaine "and did I turn you over to the authorities?" which reveals that he was aware of Frollo's prejudice against gypsies. Also, 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. He is then mention by Phoebus, when he finds out that Sarousch really did steal Le Fiedle, and blamed Madellaine for it. He say " Sarousch How could I be such a Fool!". Also, Frollo is lastly mention by Quasimodo when Madellaine begs Quasimodo to trust her, Quasimodo says "I already made that mistake once". When he was possibly referring to the mistake he made of trusting Frollo.

House of Mouse
Frollo makes a few cameos in the series. He 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. In "Everybody loves Mickey" he was seen sitting with Grumpy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Grimsby of The Little Mermaid. In "Dining Goofy", he showed to be unamused with the fact that he was seated with 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.

Knownable Relatives

 * Unnamed Parents
 * Quasimodo (Foster son)

Trivia
Frollo also shares some traits with Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Frollo is also similar to Shere Khan Frollo also shares similarities with Zira.
 * Despite being a "human", Frollo ranks as one of the most evil Disney villains due to his personality, xenophobic hate, immense political power and above-the-law status.
 * 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 Ultimite Disney.com's Disney Villain countdown
 * Both live in France.
 * Both develop certain feelings for the female main characters
 * Both fight the male main character in a high area, and fall to their deaths.
 * The way Frollo tells Quasimodo that he killed his mother is quite similar to how Scar reveals that he killed Mufasa to Simba at the end of The Lion King (Film), given how they do not reveal it until they believe they are about to kill their respective foes, only to arouse their foes' rage and lead to their own deaths.
 * 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.
 * As they both have a hatred for something (Frollo: gypsies and for Shere Khan: humans)
 * Both of them only care about their own opinion about them.
 * Frollo's behavior may suggest that he is a pyromaniac.
 * 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
 * Frollo is the third 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 healthy like the other two.
 * Where as they appear to care for a hero (For Zira : Kovu and Frollo : Quasimodo) they actually grant them little or no freedom. Frollo keeps Quasimodo in Notre Dame cathedral isolated from the outside world and Zira does not allow Kovu to explore the Pride Lands.
 * Although in love with Esmeralda it is actually her that makes him in love with her.
 * Frollo's aura is reveal to be Red. Red aura is to symbolize for someone that is Evil.

Voice Actors

 * Japanese : Takeshi Kusaka (1996 - Present),Toshihide Mura (Singing voice in the first film)
 * English : The late Tony Jay (1996 - 2006), Corey Burton (Video Games - Present)