The third member of the gang of pals triumvirate is François. François is Esmeralda’s twin brother. He is quite different from Esmeralda and Quasimodo as he is cowardly and egotistical. This means his ego can override his cowardice when properly manipulated and his twin sister can absolutely play him like a fiddle. But don’t worry, Esmeralda manipulates her brother for only good.
Le Poète des Fous
François is very often the butt of the jokes. Typically the jokes involve his very bad poetry, falling down, or some sort of embarrassing scrape. Speaking of his poetry, it is very bad. His poems are so bad that it often used to drive people away.
François naturally doesn’t think his poetry is bad, everyone else is just doesn’t understand great works of high art. It’s often a red flag if someone claims to like François’ poetry. This is either because they are a bad guy or trying to use François for some ulterior motive. This tactic absolutely works because of François’ pesky ego.
Lovely is the Love of François’ Lovey Love Poetry
Admittedly his poetry was funny in the beginning of the show but wore thin after a few episodes.
François also has no other talents. He can not sing, play an instrument, draw etc. This is because Quasimodo and Esmeralda are good at things. But at least he thinks he is good at stuff, so he has confidence and that is at least something.
Unlike Quasimodo and Esmeralda, François is a flirt. Some girls seem into it and some are not. François being a flirt is presented as an off-shoot of him being a “poet.” Wooing ladies with his sonnets, in his mind, adds to his mystique. Also at one point, Quasimodo tells his that he is a handsome guy, so the consensus in this world is that François is attractive. Which explains why at least one lady is alright with the bad poetry.
Basically François is the foil to Esmeralda and Quasimodo as well comedic relief. However he does display some measured behaviors. For example, when he learns the truth of his origins, he’s very accepting of it which played against Esmeralda’s reaction. Though a few episodes later, he was all in when he learned that his ancestor was the founder of Knights Templars. So maybe not the lesson about found family and family being more than bloodline was a moot point to François. Though the whole thing feed his ego so it does track for his character.
François from the Novel?
François is technically a new character for The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo. According to IMDB, François was based on the character François Villon in The Beloved Rogue (1927) as they are both poets. That could be true but there is a character in the Hugo’s novel that is a poet, works closely with Esmeralda and whom is considered more like a brother to her and that would be poet Pierre Gringoire. It’s more likely that François was based on Gringoire. Even the last syllable of their names sound a little similar. But why they changed his name is a puzzler. Maybe they just prefer free men to rocks.
Also given that François is a handsome flirt, which Gingoire is not, it could that the show threw is a dash a Phoebus into his character. Phoebus is not a character in this show nor does he get a name drop of any kind. But that is a “quasi-baked” theory.
Warrior Poet François?
François is not as agile as Quasimodo nor does he have a magical item like Esmeralda. He can be helpful in a fight but he is more an assist than the VIP, which is always Quasimodo. It’s a shame they didn’t weaponize his poetry otherwise they would have been unstoppable.
François is a Genius; You just don’t get his Art!
François is mostly a bumbling buffoon. He does come off as good natured and has some moments to shine but mostly he is there for comedic effect. And donkeys are his worst critics.
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