Judge Claude Frollo

Judge Claude Frollo is the main villain in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (film).

He killed Quasimodo's Mother twenty years before the start of the first film on the very steps of the Notre Dame cathedral, and prepared to drown Quasimodo. But the Archdeacon stopped him just in time before he can do it. Fearing for his life from God and Mary; Frollo was tasked by the archdeacon to raise the deform infant, for killing the infant's mother, who was an innocent gypsy woman. He named the baby Quasimodo in reference to his appearance. But he kept Quasimodo hidden in the church's belltower, until he could be of use to him.

Background

At the film's very beginning, Frollo ambushes a group of gypsies entering Paris illegally and chases Quasimodo's Mother to Notre Dame where he kills her. However, he discovers that the gypsy's "stolen good" was actually her deformed infant son. Believing the child to be an unholy demon, Frollo prepares to drop the child in a nearby well, but it fails if not 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 her boy as his own son, to which he begrudgingly agrees. Frollo names the baby 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 is considered an ugly, and hideous monster by the cruel outside world.

Live Action 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, 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.

Live Action Film

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 (presumably foreshadowing his sinister personality), 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.

Live Action Film

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (film)

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 silently but angrily sends Quasimodo back into the cathedral.

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. 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.

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.

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, unknown to them that Frollo and his army of thugs followed them and arrest the gypsies. Frollo sees that Phoebus has survived and intends to "remedy it". He then tells his guards to take Quasimodo back to the bell tower, and to make sure that the boy stays there.

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.

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).

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 by saying " Sarousch How could I be such a Fool!". Also, Frollo is lastly mention by Quasimodo when Madellaine begs Quasimodo to trust her, Quasimodo says to her "I already made that mistake once", possibly referring to the mistake he made of trusting Frollo.

TV Show Appearances

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.

Songs sung by Frollo

• The Bells of Notre Dame
• Stay in Here
• Hell Fire

Video Games

Kingdom of Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance

Frollo first appear teaching Quasimodo about how cruel the outside world, by reflecting on Quasimodo's appearance. He then informed Quasimodo that he carried out business on the outskirts of the city, including that the Archdeacon is away. He then summoned Phoebus from the war, so the captain can help him capture the gyspies. When Riku arrived, Frollo learned from Phoebus that a gyspy got away using magic tricks, this angered him and he questions if it was a good idea to have summon Phoebus from the war. 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. He then angrily shouts that he has been trying to get rid of the gypsies for 20 years.

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.

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 travelled 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 on the balcony 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 only seen by Sora.

Quotes

• Stolen goods no doubt take them from her
• But you were train to follow orders
• Get out you idiot

Knownable Relatives

• Unnamed Parents
• Quasimodo (Ex foster son)

Trivia

• 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".
• 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 the late Tony Jay, who also voiced Monsieur D'Arque in Beauty and the Beast. Tony Jay's performance as Monsieur D'Arque is what led the directors of both films to cast him as Frollo. He also voiced Shere Khan in various Jungle Book spin-offs. Ironically, Tony Jay who voices the hypocritically religious Frollo also played God himself in Terry Gilliam's 1981 live-action movie Time Bandits. Tony Jay also says that he remembers the 1939 film version of Frollo mostly. Turns out that the Disney version of Frollo is base off of the 1939 film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• 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.
• Frollo is the seventh villain who has fallen to his death. The first being Witch (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), the second being Maleficent, the third being Bear, fourth Ratigan, fifth Percival C. McLeach, the sixth being Gaston, the eighth being Clayton, the ninth being Charles Muntz, and the tenth being Mother Gothel.
• Unlike most other villains who have fallen to their deaths, Frollo is one of the few who was actually seen landing. The others were Clayton, Zira, Queen Narissa, and Mother Gothel.
• Although Frollo is sadistic and enjoys Quasimodo being humiliated at the Festival of Fools he does not actually watch him get humiliated.
• Frollo bears a striking 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.
• Frollo's behavior may suggest that he is a pyromaniac.
• Based on his mannerisms, it is implied that Frollo is ambidextrous.
• 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.
• Frollo became a popular Youtube Poop character, based from his pyromaniac, religious, perverted, and racist personality. The Hellfire scene is most likely the central parody. It is even notable that he even had international cousins who all look like him & has DragonBall-like powers (although it is even notable than he doesn't even have powers in the original). His biggest appearance was in The Frollo Show, along with his best friend Gaston and other Internet phenomena.
• Frollo is placed 10th on the Ultimite Disney.com's Disney Villain countdown.
• Frollo is considered as one of the (if not the) darkest and most evil of all of Disney´s villains, even more than his original counterpart. In fact, Frollo was meant by the company to be as evil and as vile as possible, in an attempt to avert the trope "Evil is Cool," common to many Disney villains. However, Frollo has actually become one of Disney's most popular and favored villains (along with Scar, Hades and Ursula). Some things that make him one of the darkest villains are being xenophobic, a male chauvinist, racist, and a sexual harasser, and blames all of his acts of his religion.
• 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.
• He seemingly felt guilty for two of his sins: killing Quasimodo's mother and his lust for Esmeralda, though considering his self-righteous personality, he tries without totally believing himself to blame them on external forces such as the Devil, Esmeralda, or even God himself (whom he blames for having made Man weaker than the Devil). As already said, he doesn't fully convince himself with those lies and he still fears for his soul because of those sins, asking the Lord of mercy numerous times.
• Frollo has the most screentime of any major Disney Villain ever; for he is shown for roughly a third of the movie's total runtime.

Frollo commits many crimes in the movie:

• False imprisonment (Quasimodo)
• Sexual Assault (Esmeralda)
• Attempted Murder (Phoebus, Esmeralda, Quasimodo & a family of four people)
• Arson (Paris)
• Murder (Quasimodo's Mother)
• Torture (His previous Captain of the Guard and Quasimodo)
• 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 to 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 is also similar to Stromboli from Pinocchio.

• Both villains plan to keep the main characters locked away for their own purposes. (For Frollo : Quasimodo. Whereas for Stromboil : Pinocchio)
• Both even use the main character for their own gains. (For Frollo : Using Quasimodo to find the Court of Miracles. Whereas for Stromboli : To make a lot of money from his puppet show with Pinocchio as his "starring attraction")
• The only difference is that Stromboli sought to keep Pinocchio away from his home, while Frollo provided Quasimodo with an agreed home.

Frollo also shares some traits with Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

• 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.

Frollo is also similar to Shere Khan.

• As they both have a hatred for something (Frollo : gypsies. Whereas for Shere Khan : humans)
• Both only care about their own opinion about them.

Frollo also shares similarities with Zira.

• Where as they appear to care for a hero. (For Zira : Kovu. Whereas for Frollo : Quasimodo)
• Both actually grant them little or no freedom. (Frollo keeps Quasimodo in Notre Dame cathedral isolated from the outside world. Whereas Zira does not allow Kovu to explore the Pride Lands.

Frollo also shares similarities to Lord Cutler Beckett from Pirates of the Caribbean.

• Both hold a high rank of authority and have many henchmen shown to be competent.
• Both have goals ofeliminating a certain group people (For Frollo : gypsies. Whereas for Beckett : pirates)
• They both kill innocent people to achieve their goal.
• Both use the main character to achieve their goal (For Frollo : Quasimodo. Whereas for Beckett : Jack Sparrow)
• Both have a similar death that has to do with being burned in fire.

Frollo is also similar to Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas,

• Both villains first appear in the prologue.
• Both believe themselves to good
• Both express hatred and prejudice against a certain race (For Frollo : Gypsies. Whereas for Ratcliffe: Native Americans)
• Both seem to express some form of white supremecy, and they also obtain a high rank in authority and political influence.

Frolo has many similarities with Mother Gothel from Tangled.

• They both lock the main characters away from the world, forbids them from interacting with society.
• Both lie to them, and uses them for their own personal gain.
• Both do not use any magic powers.
• However, Frollo killed Quasimodo's mother and was forced by the Archdeacon to care for the child. Forcing Frollo to raise Quasimodo ever since. Whereas Mother Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel. But Mother Gothel raised Rapunzel as her own daughter.
• Both tried to kill the first friend of the main character. (For Frollo trying to kill Esmeralda. Whereas for Mother Gothel : fatally stabbed Eugene)
• Finally, both villains meet their deaths by falling from a great height. (For Frollo : felling from the Notre Dame bell tower into a pool of molten lead. Whereas for Mother Gothel : felling from the tower, and disintegrates into dust before hitting the ground)

Live Action Film

Voice Actors

• Japanese : Takeshi Kusaka (1996 – Present), Toshihide Mura (Singing voice in the first film) & Shouzou Sasaki (Video Games)
• English : The late Tony Jay (1996 – 2006), Corey Burton (2006 – Present)

Played by in (Live Action): Ian McKellen

all information on Judge Claude Frollo came from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Claude_Frollo

Gallery

Frollo is angry at Quasimodo for leaving the bell tower

Frollo in the song "Hell Fire".