History Characters / TheHunchbackOfNotreDameBookCharacters

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' '''[[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Main Character Index]]'''\\
'''Book''' | [[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisneyCharacters Disney Film]] | [[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisneyFrollo Frollo]]]]-]]]

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[[folder:La Esméralda]]
* BreakTheCutie: Goes from a happy, carefree teenage girl to a despondent shell of her former self by the end of the novel through an attempted kidnapping, attempted rape, stalking, assault, being falsely accused for the murder of the man she's in love with, the subsequent torture and imprisonment, and being sentenced to death... ''twice'', just to name a few of her misfortunes.
* ChastityDagger: She keeps a knife under her skirt, which she uses to threaten Gringoire when he tries to come onto her.
* DamselInDistress: She is in need of rescuing several times in the story. [[spoiler:However, nobody can save her from execution]].
* DudeMagnet: Lots of guys in the story are interested in her, which causes her endless trouble.
* GoodSamaritan: Even though Quasimodo tried to kidnap her, she still takes pity on him when he gets whipped on the stocks, and gives him water.
* HappilyAdopted: Despite her Romani mother [[spoiler:stealing her]], she raised Esmeralda lovingly, and gave Esmeralda a charm to help her find her birth mother.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Esmeralda believes Phoebus is a KnightInShiningArmor when he saves her from the hideous Quasimodo but he's really a jerkass who only wants her for sex and whose selfishness is ultimately more responsible than even Frollo for ruining her life. [[spoiler:She literally might have survived in the end had it not been for her misguided infatuation with Phoebus.]]
%%* HotGypsyWoman: Not as you would expect or even definitively of UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} ancestry, but the story essentially treats her as so. [[spoiler:She's French by birth.]]
* TheIngenue: Innocent, virginal, pure... definitely an ingenue. How she remained pure and naive while hanging around with a bunch of thieves and prostitutes, and doing sexy dances in public is not clear.
* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:The cute and innocent teenage girl is hanged at the end of the story.]]
* LoveAtFirstSight: She falls for Phoebus the first time they meet; but she idealizes him and doesn't realize that he's a selfish jerk who only wants sex from her.
%%* MeaningfulName: Her name Esmeralda coming from her necklace, her real name (Agnès) meaning "lamb" or "pure/chaste", and Phoebus' nickname for her (Similar) being comparable to Quasimodo's name meaning something along the lines of "almost".
* MoralityPet:
** To Quasimodo. He may be angry and violent with most people, but shows his softer side toward Esmeralda and would do anything for her.
** To Clopin. Despite his murderous side, he does care for Esmeralda, viewing her as one of his subjects.
* NiceGirl: She's a genuinely kind and innocent girl who is well-liked by most people, and one of the few characters to show Quasimodo a moment of human kindness.
* OddFriendship: With Quasimodo later on - mainly odd in that it's a very indirect friendship, since Esmeralda doesn't like looking upon Quasimodo, who accommodates her by making sure she sees as little of him as possible.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: She is known as ''La'' Esmeralda (the Emerald). Her true name is only revealed at the end of the book--she was christened Agnes.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: Has her old shoe, which was turned into a charm that will apparently help her find her birthmother.
* RescueRomance: She falls in love with Phoebus after he rescues her from Quasimodo and Frollo who are trying to kidnap her.
* SilkHidingSteel: For the time that she can, she keeps a knife under her skirt despite it being explicitly illegal and will not hesitate to use it at the slightest provocation, all while being a demure and innocent teenage girl.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: If she wasn't so beautiful, none of the bad things in the novel would've happened, because those assholes in the story wouldn't have noticed her.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: In Victor Hugo's adaptation "La Esmeralda", she gets exonerated of all charges.
* StalkerWithACrush: A recipient of this from Frollo and Quasimodo. Esmeralda herself is this to Phoebus because she believes him to be her knight in shining armor.
* SwitchedAtBirth: [[spoiler:Was switched with an infant Quasimodo, making her French by birth, and the latter Romani.]]
%%* TooDumbToLive: Esmeralda takes on severe shades of this when she's hiding in her mother's cell, trying to evade detection by the guards, and getting away with it... only to dash for the window and start crying for Phoebus the moment she hears his voice.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler:Esmeralda is a sympathetic, kind-hearted character in the cruel world of Medieval Paris: she dies in the end.]]
* VirginPower: She believes her charm to find her birth mother will only work if she's a virgin.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Quasimodo]]
* AmbiguousDisorder: Quasimodo has a combination of a mental disorder and social ineptness, which prevents him from properly functioning in society. Whether this is due to an organic condition or a lifetime of social isolation is unclear. This and his deformed appearance are the reason why he rarely goes outside. He's also deaf.
* AntiHero: For a good part of the novel, Quasimodo is mischievous, mean, and socially inept. Despite this, he shows himself to be heroic by protecting Esmeralda, defending Notre Dame with his life, and giving Frollo his just desserts.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason for his attachment to Frollo and Esmeralda is because they are some of the only people who showed him kindness and accepted him despite his appearance - and in Esmeralda's case, despite the fact that Quasimodo tried to kidnap her.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: While Quasimodo is very friendly if you get to know him, he's incredibly fearsome, and brutal when his loved ones are threatened.
* CharlesAtlasSuperPower: He's incredibly strong, and menacing in battle.
* CreepyGood: His hideous appearance and social ineptness are off-putting to many of the characters. However, he's a genuinely heroic character who defends Esmeralda and Notre Dame.
* DarkIsNotEvil: His appearance comes off as dark and deformed, but he is more heroic than the [[LightIsNotGood light themed]] [[BeautyIsBad and handsome]] [[LightIsNotGood Phoebus]].
* DemotedToExtra: Quasimodo has a much reduced role in Victor Hugo's SelfAdaptation the opera "La Esmeralda."
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Inverted with [[spoiler:Esmeralda. She was already dead when he found her. He spent the rest of his life cradling her corpse. The DownerEnding ends with people trying to separate the skeletons, but the skeletons disintegrated instead.]]
* EvilRedhead: While not evil, his red hair (of all things) marks him as an outcast due to the prejudices in Medieval Paris.
* EvilCripple: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Despite later adaptations being famous for the {{Aesop}} of not [[BeautyEqualsGoodness beauty not actually having a correlation with goodness]], in the original story, due to [[RealityIsUnrealistic the prejudices of actual Medival Paris]], it's his ''red hair'' of all things that makr him as a social outcast.
* FacialHorror: His face is so ugly and frightening that he never leaves the cathedral, because the people in the city always mock him for his apperence.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Choleric in an ensemble of the four suitors (Quasimodo, Phoebus, Frollo, and Gringoire).
* GentleGiant: Downplayed. Except to the people he loves (all two of them), Quasimodo is unsociable, violent, and mean, although to be fair this is only because people tend to have those attitudes toward him first.
* GoThroughMe: Quasimodo's solution to his dual loyalties to Frollo and Esmeralda is to tell Frollo he'll have to go through him to get Esmeralda.
* GreeneyedRedhead: Has green eyes, and red hair.
* TheGrotesque: Quasimodo is very physically deformed, yet is basically good hearted.
* HandicappedBadass: Quasimodo is knock-kneed, hunchbacked, and deaf, but extremely physically formidable.
* HappilyAdopted: Quasimodo loves Frollo and is devoted to him, seeing how he was the first person to ever show him any kindness and accepted him despite his appearance.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Quasimodo does all he can to make Esmeralda happy, including acting as a messenger to Phoebus, whom he knows to be a jerk. This contrasts with Frollo, who is willing to leave Esmeralda die if he can't have her, Phoebus, who just wants to use her for fun, and Gringoire, who will save himself first.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's hostile and angry, as a result of the others being hateful and hostile towards him since he was born. He shows kindness and loyalty to the few people who are nice to him.
* MeaningfulName: While the Disney movie tells us it means "half-formed", Wiki/TheOtherWiki tells us it means "almost the standard measure" (of a human being), but can also mean "similar to". Also named for the day he was adopted, Quasimodo Sunday.
* MisunderStoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: He rejects and avoids society, but only because they reject him. Once you get to know him however, he's actually extremely kind and loyal.
* MoralityPet: To Frollo. While known as a dour, reclusive loner, he was actually a loving ParentalSubstitute to Quasimodo.
* MrViceGuy: Despite his reclusiveness, and social short comings, he's one of the most selfless characters in the novel, doing all he can for Esmeralda, and wanting nothing more than her happiness.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: He single-handedly holds off the Siege attacking the cathedral...to rescue Esmeralda from being hanged.
* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: At first he appears to be TheIgor to Frollo, but we later find out he's one of the nicest characters in the novel.
* OneManArmy: Is able to hold off the Siege of truands on his own.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Due to being deaf, he is unable to hear Clopin's yelling they're here to rescue Esmeralda, and thus assumes they're trying to harm her. This helps lead to Esmeralda's death in the end.
* SecondaryCharacterTitle: Only in the English title (the original title is ''Notre Dame de Paris''), since the protagonist of the novel is Esmeralda.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:The ending scene has two diggers try to separate his skeleton from Esmeralda only for it to crumble apart, implying this.]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler:He's one of the kindest characters in the novel, and he dies due to the injustices of Medieval France.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Claude Frollo]]
* AgeLift: Most adaptations portray him as an old man. A few portray him around his real age (mid-thirties). The book lampshades it by noting that his ascetic lifestyle aged him prematurely.
* AffablyEvil: For most of the novel, he's a startlingly decent guy, in contrast to his movie counterparts because the "arch deacon" is part of his character. He loses all affability, however, after his attempted rape of Esmeralda followed by his final descent into madness.
* AntiVillain: He's much more likable than his the majority of his film counterparts, to say the very least, because the benevolent "Arch Deacon" from the Disney version is part of his original characterization.
* BreakTheHaughty: Begins as arrogant and pompous and ends pathetic and self-hating through the course of the novel, which is not particularly kind to him.
* ByronicHero: A compassionate, fatherly person for most of his life, by the time the novel begins, he, while still brilliant, is isolated by his alchemical studies and ultimately doomed by his lust for Esmeralda.
* CompositeCharacter: In Victor Hugo's SelfAdaptation the opera "La Esmeralda" Jehan is AdaptedOut and Claude had some of his aspects incorporated into his character.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He wasn't always evil, but he did genuinely care about his younger brother, Jehan, whom he unsuccessfully attempts to reform towards a better life. Quasimodo is also an easy second.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The serious and studious Responsible to Jehan's Foolish troublemaker.
%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic in an ensemble of Quasimodo, Phoebus, Frollo, and Gringoire.
* GoodParents: He started out as such, having adopted Quasimodo as an infant when nobody else would, raising him as his own, and even teaching him how to read and write. He does indeed care about his adopted son, but his obsession with Esmeralda is what ends their relationship in tragedy.
* IfICantHaveYou: Decides to let Esmeralda hang when she refuses him. [[spoiler:He even laughed at the sight of her execution in the end.]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: While his attempted murder of Phoebus was more MurderTheHypotenuse, given how much of a Jerkass the latter is, you don't feel too bad about it.
%%* LaughingMad: He completely loses it at the end.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Falls for Esmeralda as soon as he sees her.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Frollo's unhealthy obsession with Esmeralda drives the plot.
* MeaningfulName: His full name means something similar to "crippled and weak". Make of that what you will.
* MoralityPet: Before meeting Esmeralda, he was this to Quasimodo, who was angry and violent with most people but absolutely loyal and devoted to his adoptive father Frollo.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: He attempted to kill Phoebus in a jealous rage. Depending on which film you watch, he either succeeds or fails.
* {{Omniglot}}: Speaks Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French.
* PromotionToParent: Frollo's parents died while he was a young man, leaving him to raise his baby brother, and then Quasimodo, whom he adopted later.
* SanitySlippage: Frollo is slowly losing his mind due to his unrequited and forbidden lust for Esmeralda.
* SinisterMinister: Is self-centered, manipulative, and entitled despite being an archdeacon, though was originally a good man before his lust for Esmeralda sent him over the edge.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: In Creator/VictorHugo's SelfAdaptation, the opera "La Esmeralda", Frollo is still alive by the end, receiving no punishment for having stabbed Phoebus and the whole situation Esmeralda was in.
* TragicVillain: Frollo used to be a deeply compassionate and caring man. When baby Quasimodo was abandoned on the cathedral's foundlings bed, nobody would take him because of his ugliness, except Frollo, who raised him like a son. He also raised his younger brother, Jehan when their parents died, and supported him later, even though he disapproved of Jehan's lifestyle. He did evil things only because of his obsessive and unrequited love for Esmeralda, and it's described how much he's suffering (being aware that you're slowly going insane is NOT a pleasant process.)
* WickedCultured: Although he wasn't evil before he met Esmeralda, he fits very much the "cultured villain" trope: Frollo is a respected scholar and studies several languages, law, medicine, science and theology.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: A man who tried so hard to be genuinely good that his perverse lust drives him tragically insane.
* {{Yandere}}: For Esmeralda. He develops an unhealthy obsession for her the moment he sees her and tries to have her for himself. He spends part of his time following her around town, observing her from afar. At one point, he recruits Quasimodo to help abduct her, but Phoebus stops them before they get too far. When she expresses interest in Phoebus, Frollo attempts to kill him and tries to proclaim his love for Esmeralda in the dungeons. However, once she rejects his feelings, he decides that [[IfICantHaveYou if he can't have her]], then she's better off dead. [[spoiler:The ending completes this trope by having him laugh madly during her execution.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Only in his mid-thirties, but looks much older and is nearly bald.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jehan Frollo]]
* BigBrotherWorship: He loved his older brother dearly.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Even by the standard of the other deaths in the novel, his demise is described very gruesomely.]]
* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:When he knows that Quasimodo is about to kill him, he laughs in the hunchback's face and starts singing a song before getting killed.]]
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Foolish troublemaker to Claude's serious and studious Responsible Sibling.
* TheHedonist: Jehan Frollo is the 15th century equivalent of a frat boy. Supposedly a student, he spends all of his freetime and (his brother's) money on hedonistic pursuits: expensive clothes, parties, and courting loose women.
* IronicName: Jehan is an old French form of Iohannes or John. Iohannes is Latin form of the Greek name Ioannes. Ioannese is derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan which means ''Yahweh is gracious''. Despite this, Jehan is a good-for-nothing mooch, and never changes in the novel.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's an unapologetic leech to Frollo, and is this to Quasimodo in every scene with him.
* MoralityPet: To his brother Claude, who genuinely tried to be a supportive older brother.
* PluckyComicRelief: He's a secondary comic character in the novel.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Assumes Quasimodo is holding Esmeralda captive, and shoots him with a crossbow during TheSiege, only making their pointless conflict worse.
* ThePrankster: Claude mentions that he hears complaints from Jehan's university everyday of this. Two examples are mentioned 1) He got in a fistfight which bruised another student, 2) He tore a girl's gown to expose her sexually.
* ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler:After his death, things turn ''really'' dark for everyone.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Phoebus de Châteaupers]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: In Creator/VictorHugo's SelfAdaptation the opera "La Esmeralda", Phoebus is genuinely in love with Esmeralda and appears at the end to testify her innocence. He dies not long after her exoneration.
* TheAlcoholic: Phoebus is described as a hardcore drinker and able to maintain his self-possession when he's tanked. This is directly compared to his drunkard friend, Jehan, who passes out from alcohol outside of a tavern, despite both of them drinking relatively the same amount.
* AssholeVictim: Given how much of a HateSink Phoebus is, you won't feel too bad for him [[MurderTheHypotenuse when Frollo murders him over Esmeralda]]. [[spoiler:Averted when it’s revealed he made a full recovery from his injuries.]]
* BeautyIsBad: He is the most attractive man in the novel, and he's mostly interested in enjoying himself at the expense of others.
%%* BrainlessBeauty: Hugo doesn’t favor his intelligence.
* TheCasanova: Spends much of his time courting other women, despite being engaged to Fleur-De-Lys.
* DeathByAdaptation: In Creator/VictorHugo's SelfAdaptation the opera "La Esmeralda", Phoebus dies after he testifies Esmeralda's innocence and she is exonerated.
%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine in a four suitors ensemble (compared to Quasimodo, Frollo, and Gringoire).
* HateSink: While in-universe his actions are handwaved because BeautyEqualsGoodness, to audiences he's unquestionably the ''only'' character in the novel with no redeeming qualities whatsoever and is ultimately just a petty, selfish, womanizing scumbag.
* InformedAttractiveness: He’s described as very handsome multiple times, with a swaggering and arrogant mein that attracts many woman and a Burgundian trimmed mustache, but his exact appearance is not described.
* IronicName: His name comes from Greek god of the sun, Phoebus. Esmeralda, who's head over heels for him, loves when she learns he is named after sun god and holds him to a level of nobility for it. However he is one of the antagonists of the novel, and co-signs her death warrant [[MurderByInaction by staying silent]] during her false prosecution.
* {{Jerkass}}: He didn't care one bit about Esmeralda being in danger or dead.
%%* JerkJock: The medieval equivalent of one.
* KarmaHoudini: He has no problem taking advantage of Esmeralda's innocence, or [[spoiler:letting her die]] on trumped up charges [[spoiler:including charges of his own murder]]. However, he suffers a tragic fate at the end: he gets married.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Subverted. Phoebus is this in Esmeralda's eyes because he saved her from a hideous cripple, and also has the appearance. The subversion comes in when he does not fit the heroic aspect. Rather than being chivalrous and noble, he's actually a drunk, a womanizer, and a bully, with virtually no idealistic qualities, behaving more like... well, like a medieval soldier.
* LightIsNotGood: He is a stereotypical knight and has a solar deity name. He's also a petty, selfish womanizer.
* PetTheDog: When Jehan passes out from intoxication, Phoebus arranges his friend's head on a plane of cabbage-stalks to act as a pillow, before leaving to meet up with Esmerelda.
* PrinceCharmless: He is of noble birth and looks charming on the outside, but his true nature is much more ugly and not as charming as he looks.
* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: His status as a handsome man is what lets him get away with his assholery.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pierre Gringoire]]
* ActionSurvivor: Despite being kind of a loser and a nobody, [[spoiler:he's the only major character who leaves the story unscathed]].
* BestialityIsDepraved: He seems a little ''too'' smitten with Djali.
* ButtMonkey: He's a [[WritersSuck bad poet]] who repeatedly has bad things happen to him, although amazingly enough, he [[spoiler:doesn't die at the end]].
* DeadpanSnarker: This is his usual reaction when things go badly for him (which means "always" in the first half of the story).
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Despite being the cast's ButtMonkey, [[spoiler:he and by extension Djali are the only ones who get an unambiguously happy ending]].
%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Phlegmatic in a ensemble of the four suitors.
%%* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Gringoire was a real person.
* LovableCoward: While he's not a bad person by any means, if it all begins to endanger his well-being he'd really rather not.
* MrViceGuy: He's a very nice guy especially compared to most of the others but is deemed a coward by the other characters and is known for being a horrible writer.
* NoRespectGuy: Few characters respect him, Clopin tried to hang him, Esmeralda views him in a patronizing light, and Frollo views him as a fool.
* SexlessMarriage: Esmeralda only marries him to save him from being hanged, but she doesn't let him get near her. Gringoire accepts this pretty easily.
%%* SmallNameBigEgo: He has a ''very'' high opinion of himself and his plays, despite their bad quality.
* StartingANewLife: He is forced to go into hiding from angry sponsors after his play bombs, and joins the Gypsies as a street performer.
* WritersSuck: His morality plays are pretty crappy and boring, to say the least.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fleur-De-Lys]]
%%* AlphaBitch: She and her friends embodied this trope long before it was ever popularized.
* KarmaHoudini: Suffers no consequences for starting the witchcraft accusations against Esmeralda.
* TheRival: Considers herself this to Esmeralda, which is why she brands her as a witch. Phoebus and her are engaged, and she can see his eyes roving iver that gipsy girl. She felt both outraged and threatened.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clopin Trouillefou]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: In Creator/VictorHugo's SelfAdaptation the opera "La Esmeralda", Clopin is in on Frollo's second abduction plot to get Esmeralda.
* AntiHero: He's a violent thief who nevertheless fights to save Esmeralda.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Threatens to hang Gringoire because: he intruded in the Court of Miracles, someone hung one of his subjects for being from the Court of Miracles, and Gringoire's last play was bad.
* BerserkButton: Hurting his subjects makes him angry.
%%* BunnyEarsLawyer: May be literally crazy, yet is a surprisingly competent and powerful leader.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Dies singing a song while cutting down many soldiers during TheSiege until he is finally felled by Muskets.
* AFatherToHisMen: He cares about his subjects, and creates a rescue mission to save Esmeralda. Several of his comrades though, are more interested in stealing from the cathedral however.
* {{Foil}}: To King Louis. Clopin is a bad guy who embraces and even revels in it, yet when push comes to shove he cares about his subjects and will fight to the death to bring them justice. King Louis is seen as good and respectable, but is truly a Machiavellian jerk who doesn't really care about his subjects or believe in any kind of real justice.
* KingOfTheHomeless: He is a beggar, conman, and pickpocket, whose skill has earned him the leadership position among the Romani, and other lower class citizens of Paris.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: One of the few characters close to Esmeralda not to be attracted to her, outright comparing her to a sister.
* ObfuscatingDisability: He pretends to be a fool with a crippled leg which alternates between right and left when begging. When leading his subjects, Clopin walks tall, and proud. He's even capable of acting as a OneManArmy in TheSiege. This is TruthInTelevision as beggars would feign physical disabilities to earn more money and mental disabilities to appear harmless.
* OneManArmy: Takes down many soldiers on horseback with a simple farming scythe, it takes multiple gunmen to bring him down.
* PetTheDog: Despite his murderous side, he does care for Esmeralda, viewing her as one of his subjects.
* PoorCommunicationKills: He's unable to communicate with Quasimodo due to the latter being deaf, leading to a pointless conflict between them.
%%* TakeThat: His games in the Court Of Miracles are an InUniverse one to the King of France's court.
* SinisterScythe: Uses a scythe to mow down many soldiers, and is a AntiHero.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:King Louis XI]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: It's under his authority that Esmeralda is charged, hunted, and [[spoiler:executed.]]
%%* ManipulativeBastard: A case of TruthInTelevision, as the real King Louis XI was well known for his Machiavellian cunning and penchant for plots and intrigue.
[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Djali]]
%%* InterspeciesFriendship: With Esmeralda, her human owner. [[spoiler:Also this for Gringoire]].
%%* NonHumanSidekick: A goat for Esmeralda. [[spoiler:Later becomes this for Gringoire instead]].
%%[[/folder]]

'''Book''' | [[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisneyCharacters Disney Film]] | | [[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisneyFrollo Frollo]]]]-]]]

'''Book''' | [[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisneyCharacters Disney Film]]]]-]]]

Go to [[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Main.]]

[[folder: La Esméralda]]

* DamselInDistress: She is in need of rescuing several times in the story. [[spoiler:However, eventually nobody can save her from execution]].
* DudeMagnet: Lots of guys in the story are interested in her and this causes her endless trouble.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Esmeralda believes Phoebus is a KnightInShiningArmor when he saves her from the hideous Quasimodo but he's really a jerkass who only wants her for sex and whose selfishness is ultimately more responsible than even Frollo for ruining her life. [[spoiler: She literally might have survived in the end had it not been for her misguided infatuation with Phoebus.]]
* HotGypsyWoman: Not as you would expect or even definitively of UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} ancestry, but the story essentially treats her as so. [[spoiler: She's French by birth.]]

* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: The cute and innocent teenage girl is hanged at the end of the story.]]

* MeaningfulName: Her name Esmeralda coming from her necklace, her real name (Agnès) meaning "lamb" or "pure/chaste", and Phoebus' nickname for her (Similar) being comparable to Quasimodo's name meaning something along the lines of "almost".

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: As stated above, she is known as ''La'' Esmeralda (the Emerald). Her true name is only revealed at the end of the book - she was christened Agnes.

* RescueRomance: She falls in love with Phoebus after he rescues her from Quasimodo and Frollo who were trying to kidnap her. Averted when Quasimodo saves her from her execution. She doesn't fall in love with him, and is still very much in love with Phoebus.

* SwitchedAtBirth: [[spoiler: Was switched with an infant Quasimodo, making her French by birth, and the latter Romani.]]
* TooDumbToLive: Esmeralda takes on severe shades of this when she's hiding in her mother's cell, trying to evade detection by the guards, and getting away with it... only to dash for the window and start crying for Phoebus the moment she hears his voice.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: Esmeralda is a sympathetic, kind-hearted character in the cruel world of Medieval Paris: she dies in the end.]]

[[folder: Quasimodo]]

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Inverted with [[spoiler: Esmeralda. She was already dead when he found her. He spent the rest of his life cradling her corpse. The DownerEnding ends with people trying to separate the skeletons, but the skeletons disintegrated instead.]]

* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler: The ending scene has two diggers try to separate his skeleton from Esmeralda only for it to crumble apart, implying this.]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: He's one of the kindest characters in the novel, and he dies due to the injustices of Medieval France.]]

[[folder: Claude Frollo]]

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic in an ensemble of Quasimodo, Phoebus, Frollo, and Gringoire.

* LaughingMad: He completely loses it at the end.

[[folder: Jehan Frollo]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Even by the standard of the other deaths in the novel, his demise is described very gruesomely]]
* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: When he knows that Quasimodo is about to kill him, he laughs in the hunchback's face and starts singing a song before getting killed.]]

[[folder: Phoebus de Châteaupers]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: In Creator/VictorHugo's SelfAdaptation the opera "La Esmeralda" Phoebus is genuinely in love with Esmeralda and appears at the end to testify her innocence. He dies not long after her exoneration.

* AssholeVictim: Given how much of a HateSink Phoebus is, you won't feel too bad for him [[MurderTheHypotenuse when Frollo murders him over Esmeralda]]. [[spoiler: Averted when it’s revealed he made a full recovery from his injuries.]]

* BrainlessBeauty: Hugo doesn’t favor his intelligence.

* DeathByAdaptation: In Creator/VictorHugo's SelfAdaptation the opera "La Esmeralda" Phoebus dies after he testifies Esmeralda's innocence and she is exonerated.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine in a four suitors ensemble (compared to Quasimodo, Frollo, and Gringoire).

* JerkJock: The medieval equivalent of one.

* KnightInShiningArmor: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Phoebus is this in Esmeralda's eyes because he saved her from a hideous cripple, and also has the appearance. The subversion comes in when he does not fit the heroic aspect. Rather than being chivalrous and noble, he's actually a drunk, a womanizer, and a bully, with virtually no idealistic qualities, behaving more like... well, like a medieval soldier.

[[folder: Pierre Gringoire]]

* BestialityIsDepraved: He seems a little ''too'' smitten with Djali.[[note]]This is even worse when you consider he was based on a real person.[[/note]]
* ButtMonkey: He's a [[WritersSuck bad poet]] who repeatedly has bad things happen to him, although amazingly enough, he [[spoiler: doesn't die at the end]].

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Phlegmatic in a ensemble of the four suitors.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Gringoire was a real person.

* SexlessMarriage: Esmeralda only became his "wife" to save him from being hanged, but she doesn't let him get near her. Gringoire accepts this pretty easily.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He has a ''very'' high opinion of himself and his plays, despite their bad quality.

* WritersSuck: His morality plays are pretty crappy & boring, to say the least.

[[folder: Fleur-De-Lys]]

* AlphaBitch: She and her friends embodied this trope long before it was ever popularized.

* TheRival: Considers herself this to Esmeralda, which is why she brands her as a witch.
** More to the pint, she considers Esmeralda her rival: Phoebus and her are engaged, and she can see his eyes roving iver that gipsy girl. She felt both outraged and threatened.

[[folder: Clopin Trouillefou]]

* BunnyEarsLawyer: May be literally crazy, yet is a surprisingly competent and powerful leader.

* LikeBrotherAndSister: One of the few characters close to Esmeralda to not be attracted to her, outright comparing her to a sister.

* TakeThat: His games in the Court Of Miracles are an InUniverse one to the King of France's court.

[[folder: King Louis XI]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: It's under his authority that Esmeralda is charged, hunted, and [[spoiler: executed.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: A case of TruthInTelevision, as the real King Louis XI was well known for his Machiavellian cunning and penchant for plots and intrigue.

[[folder: Djali]]

* InterspeciesFriendship: With Esmeralda, her human owner. [[spoiler: Also this for Gringoire]].
* NonHumanSidekick: A goat for Esmeralda. [[spoiler:Later becomes this for Gringoire instead]].
[[/folder]]

* EvilRedhead: While not evil, his red hair marks him as an outcast due to the prejudices in Medieval Paris.

* TooDumbToLive: Esmeralda takes on severe shades of this when she's hiding in her mother's cell, trying to evade detection by the guards, and getting away with it...only to dash for the window and start crying for Phoebus the moment she hears his voice.

* IronicName: Jehan is an old French from of Iohannes or John. Iohannes is Latin form of the Greek name Ioannes. Ioannese is derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan which means ''Yahweh is gracious''. Despite this, Jehan is a good-for-nothing mooch, and never changes in the novel.

* FacialHorror: His face is so ugly and frightening that he never leaves the cathedral, because to the people in the city always mock him for his apperence.

* FacialHorror: His face is so ugly and frightening that he never leaves the cathedral, due to the people in the city mocking him for his apperence.

* RescueRomance: She falls in love with Phoebus after he rescues her from Quasimodo and Frollo who were trying to kidnap her.

* IronicName: His name comes from Greek god of the sun, Phoebus. Esmeralda, who's head over heels for him, loves when she learns he is named after sun god and holds him to a level of nobility for it. However he is one of the antagonists of the novel, and co-signs her death warrant by staying silent during her false prosecution.

* AssholeVictim: Given how much of a HateSink Phoebus is, you won't feel too bad for him [[MurderTheHypotenuse when Frollo murders him over Esmeralda]]. [[Spoiler: Averted when it’s revealed he made a full recovery from his injuries.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: While his murder of Phoebus was more MurderTheHypotenuse, given how much of a HateSink the latter is, you don't feel too bad about it.

* AssholeVictim: Given how much of a HateSink Phoebus is, you won't feel too bad for him [[MurderTheHypotenuse when Frollo murders him over Esmeralda]].

* IronicName: His name comes from Greek god of the sun, Phoebus. Esmeralda, who's already head over heels for him at this point, loves when she learns he is named after sun god and holds him to a level of nobility for it. However he is one of the main antagonists of the novel, and co-signs her death warrant by staying silent during her false prosecution.

* ObfuscatingDisability: He pretends to have a crippled leg which alternates between right and left when begging. When leading his subjects, Clopin walks tall, and proud. He's even capable of acting as a OneManArmy in TheSiege. This was apparently TruthInTelevision in medieval Paris as beggars with disabilities earned more money.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: When begging, Clopin acts like a crippled fool, but he's also a capable leader.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason for his attachment to Frollo and Esmeralda is because they are some of the only people who showed him kindness and accepted him despite his appearance.

** To Quasimodo. He may be angry and violent with most people, but shows his softer side toward Esmeralda and would do antything for her.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason for his attachment to Frollo and Esmeralda is because they showed him kindness.

* HateSink: A sort of retroactive example due to ValuesDissonance; while in-universe his actions are handwaved because BeautyEqualsGoodness, to modern audiences he's unquestionably the ''only'' character in the novel with no redeeming qualities whatsoever and is ultimately just a petty, selfish, womanizing scumbag.