Prince Hans of the Southern Isles is the main antagonist of Disney's 2013 animated feature film Frozen. He is voiced by Santino Fontana.
Background[]
Hans is a prince from the Kingdom of the Southern Isles, a trade partner of Arendelle. Not much is known about the prince's past; however, he is the youngest of the thirteen royal siblings, and felt somewhat neglected amongst his brothers. Knowing he would never rule the throne of the Southern Isles, Hans concocted a scheme to marry into monarchy elsewhere, eventually setting his sights on the kingdom of Arendelle. Hans' plans changed after realizing how reserved the to-be queen was towards socialization, prompting the prince to instead target her lonely, less mature younger sister Anna, planning to murder Queen Elsa after their marriage, which would result in him becoming king. He was apparently willing to keep up his facade for an indefinite length of time. However when he realised that Anna would not be cured by his kiss, thereby proving to her that he didn't love her, he was just as willing to end her life and claim they had married. He then used the ongoing crisis and 'death' of Princess Anna to order the execution of Queen Elsa.
Personality[]
Cold, sarcastic, conniving, calculating, cruel and psychopathic, Hans is a devilish prince with a hunger for admiration, power, obedience and chivalric honor. Being the youngest sibling of thirteen princes, Hans spent a portion of his life being ignored and abused at the hands of his siblings, something he reveals to Anna during their encounter at the coronation banquet. This abuse likely led to Hans' villainous transformation over time, but on closer examination of the situation, he may just as likely have been exaggerating in order to appeal more to Anna.
Though he appears to be noble to the fullest extent Hans is actually a master manipulator, caring nothing for anyone other than himself. Through his charm and charisma, he is able to fool first Anna and then Elsa, as well as the entire kingdom of Arendelle and its visiting ambassadors, providing excellent proof of his dangerous psychology. Like many villains, Hans is power-hungry, visiting Arendelle in order to rule the kingdom by any means, revealing that his only desire is to become king, prepared to rid anyone necessary in any way he can for his quest for power, making him amongst Disney's more complex villains. He is exceedingly arrogant, bragging about his plans to Anna when he realises it's pointless to help her live, and threatening the Duke of Wesleton with being charged with treason when he becomes Regent of the kingdom - despite the fact that the Duke has done nothing more than point out Arendelle's goods are not for Hans to hand out.
It is unclear as to his precise motivation, if it is simple power lust, or if he genuinely craves respect and recognition, which he professes to being denied as a child under the burden of his dozen siblings. He is also verbally abusive as he constantly torments Anna and Elsa with precise and cutting words after his dark side is revealed. Examples of this can be seen when he and Anna are in the library, and the prince constantly taunts the dying princess. In the fjord during the confrontation with Elsa, Hans decides to further Elsa's suffering by telling her Anna has died as a result of her actions.
Hans' most powerful trait is quite possibly his vast intelligence and incredible ability to lie, disemble and manipulate. He's proven to be quick thinking, resourceful and extremely diligent; being able to fool the entire kingdom without fail, even the Duke of Weselton, whom Hans holds a disliking to that only seemed to increase throughout the film. However, unlike many Disney villains, Hans constantly has to change his plot accordingly with the shifting events that take place in the film, without letting loose his villainous nature. At first he merely intends to marry into the crown, but when Elsa's powers are revealed and Anna leaves, he knows he must have one of them alive to do so. When Anna is dying, he realises he will not be able to trick her any longer since his kiss will not work, and leaves her to die, manipulating the panic situation to order the execution of Queen Elsa. But when Elsa escapes and her powers are fully unleashed, he tells her that she has killed Anna, his intention apparently to drive her into enough despair that she will allow him to kill her, and make himself a hero in the eyes of the kingdom.
Physical Appearance[]
Hans is handsome, of moderate stature and generally good looking. Whilst he is well built, he is not as broad-shouldered or as muscular as Kristoff. Though the two are never seen close enough together to properly compare, it is fair to say Hans would probably look relatively shorter and slimmer next to Kristoff, though he is definitely physically accomplished, as he was able to defeat the hulking Marshmallow in single combat. He is well versed in horsemanship, and has tremendous sword fighting skills. It is also shown that he is skilled in using crossbows, or at least in capably diverting their fire when needed. Hans has fair skin and a light dusting of freckles across his nose. He also has auburn hair, sideburns and green "dreamy" eyes. Throughout the film, he wears navy blue trousers, black boots, a magenta tie, blue shirt, indigo vest, and a light gray-and-black jacket with patterns. This is reminiscent of a naval uniform, and would be traditionally in keeping with royal siblings of lower birth entering military service.
During the day and night of the coronation, Hans dons a lighter version of his formal wear. It is a cream jacket with a yellow shirt underneath and red sash, with black boots, white stockings, red and golden designs and patterns, and a matching cream ascot. This lighter-coloured suit reflects Anna's warmer-coloured clothing in turn. It is also worth noting that Hans is seen wearing this lighter-coloured suit for a longer time period than his traditional suit, mainly due to him wearing it for the entirety of the coronation day and night, which features him most prominently in the movie.
While he is in control of the kingdom, to protect himself from the harsh winter, Hans is given a cloak resembling the castle guards' uniforms. It's a dull, gray cloak with wavy patterns and a purple interior. In Elsa's palace, however, it appeared to have more of a green shade. It also has a more villainous vibe.
Frozen[]
Once the Southern Isles is given word of Queen Elsa's coronation, Hans is the royal representative that attends in honor of his kingdom. Along with the other invited royalty, Hans arrives on the day of the event, though he fully intended to wed Elsa to marry directly into the throne, lustful only for power and obedience, knowing he would never rule his native kingdom. However, it was soon clear that Elsa was far too reserved for anyone to become close to for reasons he didn't know at the time (out of the desire to keep them safe from her then-unstable magic), thus leading to the next victim of the prince's scheme. Hans is first seen arriving in Arendelle on his horse Sitron, accidentally running into Princess Anna. Using grace and charm, Hans immediately woos the lovesick princess, with Anna almost immediately falling for him due to his wondrous looks and undeniable charisma. Their little flirtation is cut to a close, however, when the bells for the queen's coronation are rung. As Anna runs off, Hans realizes he's found the perfect tool for his plot to domination. Moments later, Hans attends Queen Elsa's crowning, waving to Anna as he watches alongside the other visiting royals and dignitaries. Later on that night, a ball is held in honor of the new queen, and Hans appears at the celebration party, soon finding and inviting Anna for a romantic waltz after "coincidentally" bumping into her once again.
The romantic dance eventually leads to an entire date, with the entire night of the young couple being spent bonding. During their time together, Hans learns of Anna's longing of having someone special in her life, with her sister apparently developing a dislike of her, to which Hans openly relates to, only furthering Anna's connection with him. And with this, Hans promises to never shut Anna out, unlike Elsa, much to the princess's absolute joy. By the end of their tour throughout the kingdom, Hans works up the courage to propose, with Anna agreeing in a heartbeat. The two head back to the royal throne room, where the party is being held, to ask for Queen Elsa's blessing, to which Elsa coldly refuses, denying Anna marrying someone she just met, ending the party and ordering Hans to leave out of frustration. Heartbroken, Anna confronts her sister, but this causes the queen's powers over ice and snow (the reason she goes so far out of her way to isolate herself from the outside world) to be revealed, much to Hans' shock, along with everyone else's. The Duke of Weselton, one of the neighboring royals, immediately declares Elsa a monster, and orders his men to capture her. Elsa flees, accidentally causing an eternal winter over Arendelle while doing so, having Anna and Hans chase after her until she is out of reach. Hans asks Anna if she had known of Elsa's mysterious abilities, to which the princess denies. In order to save the land, Anna volunteers to go after Elsa, but Hans wasn't too fond of the idea, knowing if something terrible should befall Anna, his quest for domination would be abolished, as they still weren't married just yet. However, Anna insists that Hans stays behind to rule during her absence, to which the prince eventually agrees to.
It wasn't long before Arendelle became an icy wasteland, with citizens becoming weak due to the frigid temperatures, causing mild chaos throughout the land that would surely worsen. Hans took advantage of the situation to endear himself to the people. While this seemed to be a charitable act, the goods were not for Hans to distribute. When the Duke of Weselton pointed this out, Hans did not bring up the plight of the people but asserted his authority by threatening the Duke with a charge of treason - which has no basis. While the Duke was being selfishly businesslike, it is unknown whether Hans would have been so generous with the goods of his own kingdom.
Scolding Hans, the Duke then openly expresses his suspicion over Anna and Elsa, believing they're conspiring together to doom them all. Hans immediately snaps and threatens to punish the Duke for treason if he doesn't silence himself, ordering the diminutive Duke to refrain from questioning the princess. Throughout this crisis, Hans actually proves to be a confident leader: distributing aid and allocating resources in the face of a disaster he did not foresee; whether it is to capitalize on popularity or simply because he is actually an effective royal is unclear. Just then, Anna's horse returns without the royal rider, making Hans believe Anna is in danger. He needs one of the royal ladies alive for his plan to continue. With the royal guards and the Duke's men in tow, Hans leads a rescue mission for Anna and a hunt for Elsa. Unbeknownst to the kingdom, this gives Hans the perfect chance to alternately kill Elsa for a seemingly heroic reason, or to return her and Anna to the kingdom and cement himself with both women and the public as part of his greater plans.
The army arrives at Elsa's ice palace before long, and are immediately attacked by Elsa's giant snowman golem Marshmallow. Hans and his army battle the beast, though he proves to be nearly invincible and completely implacable. Fortunately for the prince, he is able to get a clear path at the snow beast, and slices Marshmallow's left leg clean off, causing the creature stumble into a chasm to his apparent death. With him out of the way, Hans and the others rush inside to find Anna, but she is nowhere in sight. Instead, they find Elsa seconds away from killing the Duke's two guards who had previously snuck past Marshmallow on orders of the corrupt Weselton representative. Hans is able to stop her from killing them as they intended for her, freeing the two thugs. However, one of the thugs attempts to strike her with their crossbow, but Hans interferes and, with apparent purpose, causes the arrow to shoot upward to Elsa's massive chandelier, hoping the impact would kill her while making it seem like an accident. The chandelier comes crashing down, but it only manages to knock Elsa unconscious. Captured, Elsa is imprisoned in Arendelle's dungeon. With the winter curse spiraling out of all control, Hans knows he must find a way to save his potential kingdom, and decides to pay Elsa a visit, asking her to put an end to the winter. However, Elsa confesses that she doesn't know how, and asks to be released in hopes that leaving will draw the storms away with her. Hans claims he will do what he can, and returns to the Duke of Weselton and the other dignitaries in the library, who were frantically looking for a solution to freedom from the icy curse, though to no avail just yet.
Hans decides he must go back out to find Anna, still needing her marriage in order to legitimize his hold on the throne, but one of the dignitaries explains that he needs to stay put, as he is all Arendelle has left. With this in mind, Hans learns it will be unnecessary to return into the blizzard, as the kingdom is practically his as long as Anna never returns. Just then, Anna suddenly returns and desperately begs Hans for a kiss. The two are given privacy as Anna explains that during her journey, Elsa froze her heart, and only an act of true love can save her from freezing to death, to which Hans presumes she's refering to "a true love's kiss." However, Hans smirks and rejects Anna, immediately pulling away from their failed kiss and closing the shades of the room, as well as putting out the fire in an attempt to quicken her death. Confused, Anna tries to understand what's going on, to which Hans reveals his matured plot to marry her, kill Elsa and become king of Arendelle through ascension, verbally abusing her in the process by pointing out how easy she was to deceive compared to her sister. Anna tries to stop him, but she is far too weak and can merely plead for mercy as her condition deteriorates. After informing her of his next move, which is to kill Elsa, thus restoring summer and gaining the unflinching loyalty of Arendelle, the evil prince leaves Anna to die, locking the door and trapping her within to prevent others from finding her.
Hans then returns to the Duke and the other dignitaries, pretending to be terribly distraught. He tells them that Anna was killed by Elsa's curse and that their marriage vows were said just before she died in his arms, thus making him king of Arendelle. The lie is fully believed by the assembled ambassadors and royals, and, as his first order as the new ruler of Arendelle, Hans charges Elsa with treason and sentences her to immediate death.
He and the royal guards then make their way to the dungeon to carry out her execution, but by the time they arrive, they find that Elsa has managed to escape into the fjord through the accelerating chaos caused by her powers, much to Hans' frustration, and just as a deadly blizzard begins consuming the entire kingdom, driven inadvertently by his own meddling and stressing of the queen.
Furious, Hans decides to take matters into his own hands, and goes into the frozen fjord to confront Elsa himself, sword in hand. Once he stumbles upon her in the blizzard, he tells Elsa that escaping all the damage she's caused is futile, but Elsa merely pleads for mercy, asking the prince to take care of her sister in her absence, to which Hans responds by informing Elsa of Anna's fictitious death as a result of the former's strike to her heart and, despite his "efforts" to save her, blaming Elsa for the tragedy. Devastated, Elsa falls onto her knees, with her sorrow freezing the very air around them, and providing Hans the opportunity to end her.
Before he is able to murder Elsa, however, Anna arrives and blocks Hans' blow, completely freezing to death just before Hans' weapon strikes her, and shatters the blade with frigid temperatures. The forceful blast caused by Anna's freezing death brutally knocks the evil prince off his feet, causing him to fall upon the ice and rendering him unconscious. When he awakens several moments later, he finds Arendelle thawed and peace restored. As Hans struggles to his feet, Kristoff moves to attack him, but the princess Anna decides to confront the fallen prince herself, staying the big man's hand. Anna approaches the traitorous prince, and the sight of Anna alive and well confuses Hans, prompting him to ask how she had survived the frozen heart curse. Anna then berates Hans by telling him that he's the only one present with the frozen heart, and turns her back at him; out of fury, the princess wheels around, punches him in the face, and causes him to fall off the ship they were aboard.
Humiliated and defeated, Hans is then imprisoned on a French ship heading back to the Southern Isles and banished from Arendelle forever. His behaviour having been despicable, humiliating his country and family, and risking a war with a country that has an ice-sorceress for a ruler, he is set to face an unspecified punishment by his brothers.
Once Upon a Time[]
Hans appears in the third episode of the fourth season of the series, portrayed by Tyler Jacob Moore. In a seemingly alternate continuity set two years after events equivalent to the film's, he is first mentioned by Elsa when she warned Anna about leaving Arendelle vulnerable to Hans and his twelve brothers, who are waiting and plotting to take over the kingdom. The portrayal of Hans as being in collaboration with his brothers in his plots and them desiring as a whole to conquer foreign lands for their nation differs heavily from his implied motivations and standing with his family in the film.
Some time after Anna left for Mist Haven (The Enchanted Forest), in her quest to find a cure for Elsa's magic, Hans and his army, which consists of three of his twelve older brothers, had setup camp in the Southern Mountains on their way to Arendelle. His brothers still belittle him for being the lowest in line, and they add insult to the injury by bringing up his failed attempt to seize Arendelle's throne during his previous encounter there. He lashes back, stating that he wasn't prepared the last time, but he found something that will help him. Unbeknownst to all of them, Anna's fiancé Kristoff was spying on them and discovered their plan: they will use a mysterious urn located in a cave within the North Valley that's capable of trapping people with magical powers, such as Elsa, then take Arendelle once she's out of the way. Though Elsa and Kristoff beat Hans to the powerful urn, he and three brothers managed to catch up. Even though they managed to dispatch his brothers, Hans holds Kristoff at sword point. He demands Elsa to either give him the urn or Kristoff will die. Concerned for Kristoff's safety, Elsa ultimately give Hans the urn. After Hans obtains the urn, he uncapped its lid and pours out a living white liquid substance. As it was heading towards Elsa to trap her, Hans gloated his supposed victory, coldly stating in a smug tone that her kingdom doesn't deserved to have a monster as its ruler. Just as the liquid substance is about to latch onto Elsa, it suddenly changes direction and morph into a woman, Ingrid the Snow Queen. Expressing her offense in his earlier insult, the Snow Queen then freezes Hans into an ice statue, leaving his brothers to flee in panic.
Later, Ingrid brings both the urn and Hans' frozen body back to the castle and place them in the wardrobe in her old room, where Elsa and Anna, who had returned from the Enchanted Forest and was imprisoned by their devious aunt, would eventually find them.
Relationships[]
Anna[]
When Anna first met Hans, she became infatuated with his good looks and charm. As the two became more acquainted with each other and their lonely pasts, they soon shared a romantic duet which ended with Hans proposing to Anna, which she gladly accepted despite having only known him for a day. While Anna was away, she proclaimed that Hans would be in charge during her and Elsa's absence. While it seemed during Anna's absence that he truly cared and loved her, when Anna returned to Arendelle to receive a true love's kiss from him in the hopes of healing Elsa's curse inflicted on her, Hans revealed that he never loved her as well as how he only planned to marry her to become king of Arendelle and kill Elsa to ensure this. He left Anna to die as he went to kill Elsa, and any feelings Anna had for him disappeared. She managed to interfere with his plans, and saved Elsa by using her own body as a shield to block his killing blow and later expressing her renouncement of Hans before abruptly punching him off a ship in a rare-for-Disney but highly justified act of non-defensive violence.
It should be noted that due to her years of loneliness and desperation for love, Anna's "love" for Hans was nothing more than a small crush based on his outward appearance and her belief that she may not have another chance to find someone else, while her feelings for Kristoff were more genuine and based on a mutual attraction, even though she had known him no longer. Even Hans has stated how she was so desperate for love that she was willing to marry him almost sight unseen. It's also apparent that there's no (longer any) affection between the two sides, as Anna hates Hans for the monster he truly is, and Hans never truly cared for Anna at all, but was instead using her infatuation for him to get Arendelle's throne. Truly, the broken relationship with Anna was cited as an error in Hans' part, effectively creating a force that would prevent his usurpation into king from seeing the light of day, and would plunge him into humiliation and defeat.
Elsa[]
Inadvertently, Elsa and her nature as a winter elemental have been a major obstacle to Hans' pursuit of becoming Arendelle's sole monarch. Originally, it was Hans' plan to marry the soon-to-be queen regnant of Arendelle so he could rule the kingdom with her by his side (or more likely Elsa as queen, but with him as the prince consort, it would give him considerable political power), but gave up on the idea when he got word of her dislike of being close to people and her stand-offish behavior. He did not learn of her abilities until Elsa and Anna got into an argument about being married to Hans after only knowing him for a day, which causes her powers to manifest, much to everyone's shock. From then on, inadvertently thanks to Elsa and her winter magic, he had to constantly change his plans to become the king of Arendelle, from making Elsa seem like a monster in the eyes of the public to killing her to end her unintentional winter curse and become a hero to the people and taking advantage of the winter curse to claim the throne without marrying Anna. This also required getting into Elsa's good graces by stopping her from killing the Duke of Weselton's bodyguards after they attempted to murder her in obvious cold blood. He briefly succeeded in ingratiating himself to her, taking advantage of her emotional instability by acting as her apparent confidant while she was in the Arendelle dungeon, before dropping this facade when she escaped, finally ending with him promising to kill her to end the curse of her powers (but never actually revealing his machinations to her the way he'd done with Anna before her).
