LeFou is the secondary antagonist of Beauty and the Beast. He serves as Gaston's diminutive and bumbling sidekick. In the original 1991 film, he was voiced by Jesse Corti. In the 2017 live action adaptation, he was portrayed by Josh Gad.
Background[]
Development[]
In one of the earlier drafts for the film, LeFou (or rather, "LaFou") was depicted in two ways: One was similar in overall appearance to his final design, and was depicted as a slovenly, dimwitted braggart and a drunkard, and is implied to immensely respect Gaston because the latter always picks up the tab. He was also compared to the character Wimpy from Popeye in this version regarding his love of booze (similar to how Wimpy loves hamburgers).
Another is as a more nerdish character and acted as Gaston's accountant. It is also mentioned in this draft that he was initially very well educated, bright, and enterprising, but Gaston's bullying alongside his failed attempts at keeping Gaston's reckless extravagant and lavish spending in check left him really neurotic and high-strung.
Yet another version, spelled "Oui-Oui", also depicted him as Southeast Asian (presumably Hindi) and explicitly non-European. Another concept art depicted him as two carriers of Gaston's box chariot, although they were given the appearance of being Oriental.
Personality[]
Although LeFou is far from stupid, he is still portrayed as something of a bumbler. He looks up to Gaston as his hero and takes all the abuse Gaston inflicts on him. Despite this, he seems to share something of a love/hate relationship with Gaston, as the two have been shown to get along with no problem, and Gaston mostly hurts LeFou when the latter either makes a smart remark at Gaston's expense or does something stupid. He has been dropped, hit in the head with the barrel of a gun and with Gaston's fist, had his head wedged in a number of objects (including a tuba), squashed underneath a chair or bench, thrown into a muddy pond and a pile of snow, and has still shown loyalty to Gaston. He also is bad at catching things, which was demonstrated twice: first when attempting to catch a fowl that Gaston shot earlier as it was falling with a bag, only for it to land next to him, and next when trying to eat a handful of eggs while Gaston sang about how feasting on eggs made him large and presumably maintain that physique, only for them to splatter all over him. In addition, he also was surprisingly durable especially for his physique, as evidenced by some of the abuse he sustained, some including things that would have been ordinarily lethal such as being squashed under an occupied chair or bench or being exposed to the snow for what was presumed to be a prolonged period of time in the film.
Otherwise, LeFou is much smarter than he looks. He successfully manages to trick Maurice into describing the Beast in front of the congregated mob in order to convince them Maurice is insane and acts as the de facto leader of the lynch mob while Gaston is hiding in the shadows. Earlier on, LeFou is the first to notice Belle walking past him and Gaston; he tries to warn Gaston, though it takes the hunter a while to tear away from his own reflection. In addition, he was at least smart enough to guess correctly what Gaston had been planning when he whispered it in his ear in a short period of time, and his reaction when discovering Gaston wanted to marry Belle implied that he realized that she would most likely not want to marry him, and tried to warn Gaston against it. In the Marvel Comics, LeFou also came up with the plan for a wife auction to ensure all the maidens in the village came to Gaston for proposal in an attempt to lure Belle out, although it failed due to one of the Bimbettes disguising herself as Belle. Furthermore, he was also shown to be smart enough to realize that bears hibernate during the winter and remind Gaston of this when he planned to kill the bear for Belle. However, Gaston just ignored this and got beat up by the bear.
LeFou seemed to at least temporarily have an infatuation for Claudette, Laurette, and Paulette, as he was seen gasping with ecstasy at them while they were singing praises for Gaston before they obliviously squirted water at him with a pump.
Appearances[]
Beauty and the Beast[]
LeFou is first seen in the film's opening musical number, where he caught a waterfowl that Gaston managed to shoot down (or rather, attempted to, as the bird ended up falling a few inches away from him), having presumably accompanied Gaston on a hunting trip. He then told Gaston that he didn't miss a shot and was very likely to be the greatest hunter in the world, and was also the most wanted man among the women in the village. However, he was shocked when Gaston revealed his desire to marry Belle out of all the girls, and apparently tried to warn Gaston that she is not his type and likely will not reciprocate his desires, but was interrupted. Afterward, LeFou, upon rendezvousing with Gaston as Belle was about to leave, briefly mocked Maurice as a "crazy old loon," earning him a rebuke from both Belle and Gaston (the latter mostly to impress Belle), who bopped LeFou on the head. However, they proceeded to laugh while Belle rushed back to her cottage when an explosion occurred at the cottage, most likely from one of Maurice's experiments backfiring.
During Gaston's failed attempt to marry Belle, LeFou is the conductor of an improvised musical band, conducting the band in an impossibly fast version of the Bridal Chorus, although he ended up getting a trumpet slammed into his head by Gaston after prematurely playing the band. After Belle's rejection of Gaston, LeFou asks him how his proposal went, prompting Gaston to throw LeFou into the mud in his frustration, to which he replies "Touchy!" Later, LeFou and the other villagers cheer up Gaston at the local tavern by singing a song about how great he is. LeFou was also the only one of the villagers to directly learn from Gaston the specific details of his plan involving locking Maurice in the asylum to force Belle into marrying him.
When Gaston enacts his plan to blackmail Belle into marriage with help from Monsieur D'Arque, the owner of the local madhouse, LeFou is tasked with standing guard outside Belle's home until Belle and her father, Maurice, return. LeFou attempted to protest his given task to a departing Gaston, only to be ignored, annoying him to an extent that he smashes his arm against part of the house, burying him even deeper in the snow from a minor avalanche. By the time they do return, LeFou had poorly disguised himself as a snowman (being covered in a light layer of snow, and his actual arms are exposed still gripping onto the tree branches that were supposed to act as his "arms."), and upon witnessing their return, LeFou rushes off to tell Gaston and D'Arque. They soon appear with a lynch mob, and LeFou successfully convinces the congregated mob that Maurice is insane by having Maurice describe the Beast again, but the plan falls apart when Belle uses the Magic Mirror to prove Maurice isn't insane and the Beast is real.
In his jealousy and pride, Gaston rallies the crowd to attack the Beast's castle and leave none alive, and LeFou walks by his side. Once inside, he picks up Lumiere to light his way, and Lumiere's signal begins the battle. During the battle, LeFou attempts to get his revenge on Lumiere by waving a torch perilously close to Lumiere's head, melting him slightly, but Cogsworth intervenes and pokes LeFou in the bottom with a pair of scissors. He was later seen pursuing Sultan to the kitchen with other villagers but then ended up fleeing and escaping the castle with the rest of the rioters after the chef frightens them with his huge flames. Presumably, LeFou returned to the village after he left the castle. It is left unrevealed if he ever found out that Gaston died against the Beast, but it is likely that Gaston's absence from then on would give him that exact message.
Live-action appearances[]
Beauty and the Beast (2017)[]
LeFou in the 2017 remake.
LeFou appears in the live-action remake of the film, played by Josh Gad. This version of the character is much more intelligent, gentle, and down-to-earth than his animated counterpart. LeFou is given more development in this version, with the most notable example being LeFou's feelings toward Gaston are implied to be more-or-less romantic infatuation as opposed to just friendly admiration until the climax. Another notable example, is that he gained more heroic qualities than his animated counterpart, such as being the voice of reason for Gaston, and ultimately redeeming himself by helping the Beast's servants fend off the villagers at the climax.
Just like his animated counterpart, LeFou tends to aid Gaston in running the local tavern and being under his thumb. He is first seen with Gaston when he sings about his plans to woo and marry Belle. When the Bimbettes sing about how handsome Gaston is, they are sprayed with mud by Gaston's horse and LeFou sassily tells them that "It's never going to happen, ladies." He even once sang about Gaston's greatness to the village in order to cheer him up after the latter's failed attempts to woo and marry Belle, and finds Maurice's ravings about the Beast to be ridiculous.
However, as the plot unravels, LeFou starts to become uneasy over Gaston's true nature, as he objects over Gaston's intent to leave Maurice to die in the woods. Even when Maurice returns after being rescued by the local beggar woman Agathe and accuses Gaston for attempted murder, Gaston secretly intimidates LeFou from testifying against him before convincing the villagers that Maurice must be locked away in the local asylum for his 'delusions', much to LeFou's guilt.
Eventually, Belle returns and proved her father's sanity by revealing the Beast's existence with a magic mirror, which made LeFou and the villagers realize that Maurice was telling the truth. Despite this turn of events, Gaston turns the table by stealing the magic mirror and convincing the villagers to help him take down the Beast. After Gaston locks up Belle and Maurice in the asylum carriage, LeFou calmly tries to talk Gaston out of going after the Beast, but is forced into compliance when Gaston threatens to have him locked up as well. As Gaston leads the villagers to the castle, LeFou is visibly uncomfortable in raiding the Beast's castle, finally realizing that Gaston is the true monster and not the Beast.
As the villagers break into the castle, LeFou inadvertently instigates a battle after seeing Chip, the teacup that Maurice mentioned could talk, and after wrongfully identifying Mrs. Potts as Chip's grandmother, which left Mrs. Potts insulted as she signals the servants' ambush against the villagers. During the battle, Gaston uses LeFou as a human shield against the coat rack, Chapeau; who brawled LeFou several times before the latter ends up being accidentally smacked by an harpsichord named Maestro Cadenza. LeFou begs for help, but Gaston just left him for dead as he went to the West Wing to kill the Beast himself, much to LeFou's shock (even Cadenza himself is horrified by this act of betrayal). Finally having enough, LeFou defected to the servants' side, even saving Mrs. Potts from being shattered when she had fallen from the chandelier before the villagers flee away in humiliation and defeat. After he saves Mrs. Potts, he tells her that he used to be on Gaston's side, but they are "so in a bad place right now", in which she comforts him by saying that he's too good for Gaston anyway.
Following Gaston's death, LeFou is seen again with the castle servants as the villagers (who have all regained their memories after Belle breaks the curse, which transformed the Beast and his servants back to normal) reunite with their loved ones. In the end, LeFou dances with the crowd at the final ceremony, particularly with Stanley (this has caused much controversy surrounding the fact that LeFou is implied to be gay).
In a deleted scene, LeFou momentarily escapes the battle by retreating to the bathroom where he remorsefully laments to himself that he shouldn't have come. However, he is soon attacked by the toilet and is forced back into the battle (and it is implied from here is when he rescues Mrs. Potts).
In another deleted scene which takes place after the battle and Gaston's demise, LeFou is seen happily leaving the castle when he encounters the toilet, now in human form. When LeFou asks him what will he do now that he's human again, the toilet replies "brush my teeth".