Everyone keeps saying the Disney Frollo is complex...I don't see it.

All I see is a arrogant, ruthless, cold dick who thinks he's the best thing on the planet because he believes in God. 

The book version was more complex because he was actually a nice guy who was driven to insanity

but he's my waifu

AquaxFrollo OTP

but he's my waifuAquaxFrollo OTP

Nah you need the Trifecta AquaxFrolloxTerranort 

Everyone keeps saying the Disney Frollo is complex...I don't see it.

All I see is a arrogant, ruthless, cold dick who thinks he's the best thing on the planet because he believes in God. 

The book version was more complex because he was actually a nice guy who was driven to insanity

You left out the lusting for a woman from the group of people he saw as impure part. That's kind of where a huge part of the complexity argument stems from.

You left out the lusting for a woman from the group of people he saw as impure part. That's kind of where a huge part of the complexity argument stems from.

This he prides himself on being a man of God. His fall to the the very temptation he hates so much is just as complex as the book version. The book version merely explains his struggles better and more in depth.

He's probably not as complex as his book version but a horny old man who hides his pervy intentions as being good behind religion being a character in a Disney movie is pretty amazing imo

All those things you just stated is what makes him complex. It makes him a full human rather than just one dimensional. He thinks of himself as a soldier for God, and yet he is doing terrible things. He sees him self as pure, yet he lusts after a young woman whose race he sees as inferior. He does terrible thing yet he tries to justify it at every turn. And if you listen closely to what he says at the beginning in front of Notre Dame asking how he can preserve his soul and atone for the sin of killing a mother, you do see that fear, that questioning if what he is doing is right. Although, it doesn't last and he goes on to do horrible things.

 

But it really heats up during the 'Hellfire' song. Now, take out what we think of Frollo and think about this song in how he views himself. He sees himself as righteous, pure and a soldier for God. He sees his work as important, essential, and right. But he sees himself spiraling further out of control because of the lust he holds for Esmerelda. He thinks everything he has done up to this point was good but because of his overwhelming lust he is becoming a monster.

 

We all know this to be bull because he already is a terrible person and he is just going deeper into madness. His solution is to either destroy her, or make her his. He struggles with this decision. Even going so far as to ask God for mercy on Esmereldas soul should she not chose him, and mercy on his own soul if he then must destroy her.

 

These things, these traits, these struggles makes him complex. The alternative would be the cliché, 'he is just the embodiment of pure evil' to justify why he does things. That would be a one dimensional, and not complex character. Because people, real people (what you are aiming for when you write a character) are more complex than that. And the book will always have more detail, and be able to do a better job characterizing than a movie. Usual reason, time, budget, mass audience appeal, ect ect.

 

Hope that helped.