Judge Claude Frollo

Judge Claude Frollo is the main antagonist in the 1996 Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Frollo is the minister of justice in the city of Paris, but is also xenophobic, fanatical and self-righteous to the point of sadism and hypocrisy. His voice was provided by the late legendary Tony Jay, and animated by supervising animator Kathy Zielinski and her animation team.

It must be noted that in Victor Hugo's famous novel Notre Dame de Paris from which the Disney movie was inspired, Frollo is not a judge but the Archdeacon of the cathedral of Notre Dame, who was at first a gentle and caring man who struggles against his bitterness and his lust for Esmeralda to the point of near madness. In the book, Frollo took care of Quasimodo out of genuine pity, though he comes to despise him as his descent into villainy continues. Disney Studios probably made Frollo a judge instead of a clergyman to avoid controversy and to have a chance to tone up his evil actions and thoughts. Indeed, the Disney version of the character is notoriously different from his book counterpart and far, far, more evil.

For the original book version of the character, see Claude Frollo.

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

- Clopin (the narrator) on Judge Claude Frollo.

Judge Claude Frollo resides in Paris, France, where he is employed as a Court Judge, or as the Justice Minister, saw this is not very clear. (Though the latter would explain his almost complete control over the affairs of Paris. It has been assumed that the King is away at war, leaving him in charge. It can be guessed that he was first the former and was appointed the latter at some point during the time skip.) A deeply religious man, Frollo uses his position to inflict great suffering upon the gypsy population, believing them to "live outside the natural order" and engage in "heathen" behavior.

One night, a group of gypsies attempt to enter Paris, only to be stopped by Frollo and his soldiers. When a gypsy woman attempts to flee, Frollo, believing her to be hiding stolen goods, chases her to Notre Dame. When Frollo catches up to her, he wrestles the "stolen goods" from her and kicks her in the head, causing her to fall on the steps of the parvis and die from a head concussion. He then finds out the the goods was actually her hideously deformed son, whom he attempts to cast in a well, believing him to be an "unholy demon" and that he is going to send it back to Hell "where it belongs".

Yet the Archdeacon of Notre Dame stops him, and tells him that to atone from his crimes in the eyes of the Virgin Mary (Notre-Dame meaning "Our Lady" in French) he must raise the child as his own. Fearing damnation, Frollo begrudgingly accepts and names the baby Quasimodo (half-formed). He keeps him out of the people's attention in the cathedral towers. As Quasimodo grows-up as the bell-ringer of Notre Dame, Frollo persuades him never to venture outside to avoid the hatred of the world, which he describes as cruel and unforgiving for deformed people.

Events of the movie
Twenty years later, while attending the annual Festival of Fools, Frollo discovers a gypsy dancer named Esmeralda, who both attracts and disgusts him with her beauty. Shortly afterwards, Quasimodo is revealed to have fled the tower and joined the festivities, only to be crowned the "King of Fools". One of Frollo's guards throws a tomato at Quasimodo, revealing that he is not disguised, and soon the citizens of Paris start pelting Quasimodo with fruit and begin tormenting him. Quasimodo begs Frollo for help, but Frollo allows the torment to continue to punish him for his disobedience.

Esmeralda then goes to Quasimodo's aid, ridiculing Frollo in the process, and when Frollo vows to hurt her in return she says that they crowned the wrong fool, and throws the crown at Frollo's feet to say he is the real king of fools. In return Frollo orders her arrested; the gipsy girl can only escape Frollo's wrath by remaining within Notre Dame, where she gains Captain Phoebus' respect. Frollo then barges in trying to arrest her but the Archdeacon comes to her rescue stating that nobody can be arrested or cause controversy in the church.

He later confronts her, disturbing her by sniffing her hair inappropriately, and states that she is still a prisoner and that as soon as she leaves, he would throw her to jail. That evening, Frollo is disturbed by his attraction for Esmeralda, believing he is doomed to the fires of Hell. However Frollo believes he is the most perfect man on earth and thus protests against God stating that all his sins are not his fault and accuses others of his own sins most notably when he expresses belief that Esmeralda cast a spell on him to damn his soul, and resolving to have her for him or burn her (which he expresses in the song "Hellfire"). Unbeknownst to Frollo, Quasimodo has allowed Esmeralda to escape the cathedral in gratitude for her rescue of him during the Festival, as well as feelings of love towards her.

Upon learning that Esmerelda had escaped, Frollo leaves at once. He bribes some of the gypsies to find Esmeralda, and has everyone whom he believes to have aided the gypsies killed and their house burned, causing countless casualties. Appalled, Captain Phoebus intervenes and rescues an innocent family that Frollo had locked in their home, planning to burn it. Frollo then declares Phoebus a traitor and attempts to have him executed, but he is rescued by Esmeralda. Not finished, Frollo has his guards shoot Phoebus with arrows and one pierces Phoebus nearly killing him. He sees Phoebus fall in a river and declares him dead, not knowing that Esmerelda hidden in a robe helped Phoebus out of the river and to medical treatment.

Realizing Quasimodo assisted Esmeralda, Frollo convinces him that the Court of Miracles has been found and will eventually be attacked. A misled Quasimodo leads Phoebus to the Court to warn the gypsies, but it was a ruse and Frollo was in fact following them. The fanatical judge attacks the Court of Miracles, captures Quasimodo, Esmeralda, Phoebus, and the Gypsies, has Quasimodo chained down in Notre Dame, and sentences all gypsies to be burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Frollo offers to pardon Esmeralda if she becomes his mistress but she spits on his face and he prepares to burn her. Fortunately, Quasimodo who managed to escape, rescues her after she passes out and brings her to the cathedral, calling for the divine right of Sanctuary. Enraged, Frollo launches an attack against the cathedral, but Phoebus rallies the outraged people of Paris against him. While his guards are getting soundly defeated, Frollo enters the cathedral wanting to kill Quasimodo. The Archdeacon tries to protest refusing to let him defile God's house but Frollo replies by hurling him down the staircase, causing him to break his leg, and locks him from the belltower saying "The hunchback and I have unfinished business and this time you shall not interfere."

"Now, I'm going to do what I've should've done, TWENTY YEARS AGO!!!"

- Frollo attempting to kill Quasimodo

As Quasimodo is mourning Esmeralda who seems to be dead, Frollo pretends to comfort him, concealing a dagger behind his back to kill him. A violent struggle ensues, in which Quasimodo overpowers the deranged judge. Frollo attempted to get Quasimodo to listen to him, but instead, Quasimodo told him, about how Frollo told him that the world was a dark, cruel place, but he realized that it is only dark because of people like Frollo. During that conversation, Esmeralda awakens, and Quasimodo rushes her to safety, while Frollo draws out his sword. Frollo chases them onto a balcony overlooking the city, striking them with his sword to knock them off the balcony. While he was attempting to kill them, Frollo revealed the truth of Quasimodo's mother, that she tried to protect him all those years ago. After that, Frollo declaring that he's going to do what he should've done twenty years ago, by tossing him off Notre Dame, but Quasimodo manages to hold on and pulls the deranged judge along with him.

While Esmeralda is struggling to rescue Quasimodo, Frollo manages to climb a gargoyle and prepares to deal the finishing blow. As he prepares to finish them off, he presumably loses all of his sanity and smugly roars'' "He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into a firey pit!!" ''Just then, the gargoyle he is standing on ironically crumbles beneath him, forcing Frollo to hold onto it with all his might. The gargoyle then roars menacingly at the deranged judge before finally breaking away from the cathedral, sending a screaming Frollo plunging into the molten lead a long way below.

Frollo's death can be interpreted as divine intervention. The gargoyle appears to act as a symbol of God, "judging" Frollo as truly evil and therefore casting him into the "fiery pit" of Hell, in the form of the molten lead. In the end, Frollo suffers what he feared the most, the damnation of his very soul.

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
""This is no demon. It is righteous judgement."

- Frollo talking to Riku about Wargoyle. Frollo makes an appearance as a minor antagonist in the latest Kingdom Hearts game; Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. He is voiced by Corey Burton.

Sora
On Sora's story, he notices Sora and accuses him as a gypsy due to the clothes he was wearing. Captain Phoebus tells Frollo that Dream Eaters were attacking the square. As they ran off, Frollo muttered to himself about how he spent 20 years getting rid of the gypsy's. Later, at the Court of Miracles, Frollo took Esmeralda to the town square and had Wargoyle knock out Sora. After Esmeralda was saved from the bonfire, Frollo seized her and Quasimodo. In the end, his death and last words were the same as the movie.

Riku
On Riku's story, Frollo questioned on why he bothered summoning Captain Pheobus if he couldn't find Esmeralda. Frollo was seen trying to "pass judgement" against a family by using the Wargoyle. Luckily, Riku and Pheobus made it in time. Back at Notre Dame, Frollo fell off the balcony yelling "Judgement is mine!"

Reception
Frollo has left a lasting impact on audiences, being remembered as one of the darkest and cruelest Disney villains, as his crimes include trying to kill a baby, expressing clear genocidal intentions, and trying to burn an innocent family alive, and the sexual element of his character is otherwise almost unheard of for an animated Disney character. It is also implied that he is responsible for the deaths of countless numbers of gypsies and other innocent citizens. An official poll of the Top 30 Disney Villains placed him in the #10 spot, and the Nostalgia Critic gave him the #4 spot on his personal list.

At the same time however, Frollo is arguably the most complex, realistic and "human" Disney villains as he does have an internal conflict, as well as a distinct insecurity and fear for his soul, which he fails to listen to due to his delusional denial of his own sins. Some even find him sympathetic, and wish he had redeemed himself or even ended up with Esmeralda. This may have something to do with the book, where he legitimately is sympathetic. In addition, Frollo's conflict with the Archdeadcon of Notre Dame (a character meant to embody the good aspect of Frollo's character in the novel) has been regarded by some as mirroring the conflict between pure religion and fanaticism.

Despite (and, given the absurd nature of the phenomenon, likely because of) being such a dark character, Frollo is the second most popular Disney character in the Youtube Poop community, next to Gaston. The "Hellfire" scene in particular is a very popular source, again despite and perhaps because of being so dark. The most notable YTP work starring Frollo is "The Frollo Show" by Chincherrinas where he is portrayed as the main protagonist and is best friends with Gaston. In the novel series, Kingdom Keepers, Frollo appears in one of the books. He is one of the Overtakers, a group of certain Disney villains that plan to take over all of the Disney parks. He tried to drown one of the Kingdom Keeper kids. He, along with Maleficent and the baddie in charge-Chernabog- are the main Overtakers (along with Evil Queen and Cruella De Vil)

Trivia

 * Frollo is considered as one of Disney's darkest and most evil villains, alongside with Shan Yu, Maleficent, Chernabog, Scar, and Judge Doom.


 * Frollo shares some similarities to Mother Gothel from Tangled:
 * Both have locked the hero/heroine (Quasimodo and Rapunzel) away from the world and forbade them from leaving their homes and interacting with society.
 * Both have sung a song on why their "kids" shouldn't leave their homes ("Stay in Here" for Frollo and "Mother Knows Best" for Gothel).
 * Both have tried to kill their "kids" love interests (Esmeralda and Eugene).
 * Both have died by falling to their deaths.
 * Frollo is also similar to Lady Tremaine from Cinderella. As both villains lack magic powers and they also mistreat and abuse their stepchildren (Cinderella and Quasimodo).
 * Frollo is also similar to Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. As both villains live in France, lack magic powers, have an obsession with the heroines (Esmeralda and Belle), both have died as a result of a deep thousand foot plunge, and both have fought the deformed heroes (Quasimodo and Beast) on high buildings.
 * Frollo is also similar to Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas, and King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph. As all three villains express hatred and prejudice towards a certain group (Candy towards Glitches, Frollo towards Gypsies and Ratcliffe towards Native Americans), express some form of supremacy and hold a high rank in authority and political influence.
 * Frollo is also similar to Zira from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. In the sense that while they appear to care for a hero (Zira: Kovu, Frollo: Quasimodo), They actually grant them little or no freedom (Frollo: by keeping Quasimodo isolated in Notre Dame, Zira: by forbidding Kovu from exploring the Pride Lands.), Both are bent on destroying an enemy (Frollo: Gypsies, Zira: Pridelanders). However Zira does not share Frollo's egotistical ways as she shows love and cares for her family.
 * In a non-Disney comparison, Frollo is similar to Margaret White from Stephen King's novel Carrie, in that despite being their primary caregivers, Frollo abuses Quasimodo like Margaret abuses Carrie, and both believe that the outside world is nothing but sin and darkness and they even use religion to justify their evil deeds. Towards the end of their respective stories they also both pretend to comfort their "children" before attempting to kill them with a knife, only to end up dead themselves.
 * In another non-Disney comparison, Frollo has some similarities to Girolamo Savonarola from Assassin's Creed II as well: both men manage to gain complete control of a city in the absence of a true ruler and are considered tyrants. Also, both men are paranoid, fanatical, hypocritical, and self-righteous to the point of delusion, seeing sin and corruption everywhere except in themselves, the truly evil ones.
 * Frollo also bears some similarities to Uberto Alberti, another character from Assassin's Creed II. Both hold positions of authority in their respective settings (Frollo is Justice Minister of Paris, and Alberti is gonfaloniere of Florence; both positions are also similar in their responsibilities) and start out as a friend of the hero, but later betray them. Both of them are also responsible for the death of the hero's family. They both have a similar wardrobe as well.
 * In the real book by Victor Hugo, Frollo is actually the archdeacon of Notre Dame and is actually caring towards Quasimodo and not mean to him like in the Disney version, but when Esmeralda comes along, Frollo's lust for her results in his evil self taking over his life.
 * Frollo's genocidal agenda against Gypsies mirrors the Nazi's own genocide against Gypsies (which occured concurrently to the genocide against European Jews). Frollo is also, like the Nazis, a dictator who rules through fear and intimidation and has a complete willingness to kill any who get in his way.