Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ingoodhans) wrote2013-12-12 04:47 pm
ingoodhans) wrote2013-12-12 04:47 pm
hilariously long history section
How do I even begin to explain Prince Hans? Pince Hans is flawless. He has twelve older brothers and a fjord horse named Sitron. I hear his sideburns are insured for $10,000. I hear he fights giant snow golems... in the North Mountain. One time, he met Princess Anna on a boat. And she told him he was gorgeous.
...But really. Not much is actually specified about his background, though through interviews with Frozen's creators, it's not hard to paint a picture.
Hans is the thirteenth prince of the Southern Isles. With twelve older brothers, he was ignored and seen as unnecessary by everyone in his life. As a child, those brothers of his played pranks on him by pretending he didn't exist, often for years without acknowledging his presence. To counter this, Hans developed a rather twisted way of coping. He had to become perfect. Perfectly charming, perfectly strong, perfectly charismatic. Perfectly-- whatever people wanted him to be. But with twelve older brothers each having done all that before, it was never good enough. Hans was never good enough.
It is said Hans grew up entirely without love.
Because love and caring are things he never understood, Hans came to view attention and admiration as substitutes for affection. He believes the only way to gain his family's recognition, to show them all how wrong they were about him, is to find a kingdom of his own and rule it better than they ever could.
You can see how this isn't... your standard Disney prince tale. No, Hans is the villain of our story. His ambition and self-servitude drive him to lie and manipulate everyone around him, all so that he may achieve his goal-- taking over Arendelle and ruling as king.
Hans is a grade-A jerk and a scumbag, don't ever get me wrong. He's just very good at hiding it. Very good.
Anyway, on with the actual plot. In Disney's Frozen, we meet Prince Hans before Queen Elsa's coronation, as Anna, our protagonist, bumps into him at the end of a musical number. A handsome young man who appears kind and apologetic (for running into Anna with his horse, whoops,) he seems to be as instantly smitten for Anna as she does with him. Though their initial meeting is cut short, their awkward fumbling and interaction reeks or cute, quirky chemistry.
It's no surprise that when they run into each other again at Elsa's coronation ball, the two hit it off in spades. Anna has spent her whole life alone and ignored by her sister, while Hans has spent much the same being ignored and overlooked by his twelve brothers. Their connection seems perfect, and they share a musical number, which ends with Hans asking for Anna's hand in marriage. Of course, she says yes. Why wouldn't she? The castle doors would be closed again the next day-- this was her chance! And after all, Hans was perfect.
And he was, truly.
Of course, when Anna and Hans bring the news to Elsa, she is much less receptive to the idea. They'd just met that day! They couldn't just get married after knowing each other for a few hours and sharing a song together!What do they think this is, a Disney movie? Anna insists, citing true love and accusing her sister of wanting to squash her only chance at happiness. (It doesn't help that they'd basically not spoken in thirteen years and there were a lot of issues these two needed to resolve before this whole thing but...) Basically, it doesn't end well. It kinda ends with Anna grabbing one of Elsa's gloves and accusing her of not knowing what love is, causing Elsa to respond by putting the party... on ice. /rimshot
With her emotions frayed and her secret out, the confrontation leads to Elsa losing her already flimsy control on her powers. Fearing public backlash and persecution, she flees Arendelle in terror, accidentally leaving the land in an eternal winter in her wake.
Anna, near-sighted as ever and blaming herself for imposing herself on her sister, announces that she's going up to the mountains to chase after her sister. In the meantime Hans, her betrothed, is in charge of the kingdom.
"Oh no!!!" you say, knowing the spoilers about how Hans is manipulating Anna for the right to rule the kingdom. You may even think, "he's gonna ruin everything!" But you'd be wrong. While Hans' intentions might not be noble, his actions continue to be nothing short of admirable during this time. As the kingdom freezes over and the people are left unprepared, Hans uses his authority to personally hand out cloaks and blankets to the people of Arendelle, offering them shelter in the castle to stave off the cold. He takes his charge very seriously, and doesn't stand for harsh words against Princess Anna or Queen Elsa.
While Anna confronts Elsa and gets her heart literally frozen in the process, Hans mans the fort at Arendelle until Anna's spooked horse returns to the castle. Fearing for her life, (or because she's the princess, or because he wants to look good--- he had plenty of reasons,) Hans issues a search party to the North Mountain, to confront Elsa and hopefully save Anna. On top of that, Hans specifically states that Elsa is not to be injured or attacked. Unfortunately, the Duke of Weselton's men had other ideas.
With a slew of guards in tow, Hans' group makes it to Elsa's ice palace on the North Mountain. There they are confronted by a very angry snow golem which attacks them on sight. Like you do. While Hans engages the monster, Weselton's men run past and break into the castle, intent on murdering Elsa. Like a true Disney prince though, Hans stays back and vanquishes the monster, leading the royal guards into the castle in time to stop Elsa from killing the men who threatened her life. It's all very noble.
(Though right here there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment where Hans redirects a crossbolt aimed at Elsa towards a chandelier instead. The chandelier comes crashing down, knocking Elsa out and easing her capture.)
When Elsa awakes, she finds herself imprisoned in the lower dungeons of Arendelle's castle. Hans is there. As acting Prince of Arendelle, he begs her to bring back summer and undo her curse, but Elsa tells him simply that she doesn't know how. She can't. She begs to be released, to return to seclusion where she can't hurt anyone, and Hans agrees and says he'll do what he can to vouch for her. To save her.
Gee, this Hans guy doesn't sound so bad. Or does he? (He does.)
As Hans mulls over what to do about Elsa, Anna is brought into the palace, freezing near to death thanks to the frozen heart inflicted on her by her sister. Her first thing to do upon seeing Hans is to beg him to kiss her-- True love, frozen heart, yadda yadda. As Anna explains what happened when she confronted Elsa in the North Mountain, she tells Hans that the only cure for a frozen heart is an act of True Love. So obviously, a true love's kiss. In other words, a kiss from Hans. A kiss chosen especially to unfreeze Anna's heart. Hans' kiss. That kiss. That's all they need, and Hans gets it (he's a Disney character, after all,) and just as he leans in to kiss her, he says those few, magical words...
"Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you," he says, lips thinned into a sneer. Hans never loved her. He was using her. Just like he was using everyone else. He wasn't her true love at all.
Cursed by her sister and betrayed by the man she thought she loved, Anna is struck speechless. Hans goes on to do his villain monologue and explain that he initially came to Arendelle hoping to court Queen Elsa, in hopes of gaining the throne by marrying her. But when he met Anna; sweet, naive, innocent Anna, he decided that charming her would be much easier. All it would take for him to become king would be an unfortunate 'accident' to end Elsa's life, and Hans would be sitting pretty on the throne with his golden ticket, Anna, by his side.
The sudden winter, the frozen heart curse-- all this meant Hans had to keep changing his plan, adapting and adjusting to every little thing that went wrong on the way. With Anna locked in a room to freeze to death and the people of Arendelle in love with Hans' flawless act, the only thing standing in the way of his throne was Elsa. Once he killed her and freed the land of her storm, he'd be hailed a hero. He'd get his own kingdom. Finally, his dreams were coming true.
Of course, being the villain, things don't work out the way he'd planned. With the other dignitaries on his side and Elsa officially charged with treason, Hans chases Elsa down, sword in hand, to deliver the final blow himself. Getting this far has been such a pain. It's clear at this point that ridding himself of Elsa is just as much for his goals than it is for his own peace of mind. So, y'know. Hans takes his sweet time explaining to Elsa that her sister had frozen to death because of her and that ending her life was the only way she could atone. The news comes as such a shock to her that Elsa breaks down, leaving her completely defenseless as Hans readies his blade.
Was doing all that really necessary? No. Was it pouring salt on an open wound? Yes. Yes, it was. Which is why Hans totally has it coming when, halfway through his downward strike on Elsa, Anna (who it turns out had barely managed to escape the room Hans had left her in,) rushes in to stand in his way-- and turns to ice just as his blade clashes with her frozen hand.
The shockwave from the blow tosses Hans back on the ice, the weight of Anna's sacrifice, her act of true love, being enough to thaw her own frozen heart. With the power of love, Elsa discovers she can thaw the fjord and all her kingdom, and they all live happily ever after.
Oh, and Hans? Well, he was pretty damn shocked to find out Anna was somehow alive. For all his trouble, Anna gives him a good solid punch and the sisters send him back to his home as a prisoner, for his brothers to do with him as they see fit.
So yeah, a happy ending!
...But really. Not much is actually specified about his background, though through interviews with Frozen's creators, it's not hard to paint a picture.
Hans is the thirteenth prince of the Southern Isles. With twelve older brothers, he was ignored and seen as unnecessary by everyone in his life. As a child, those brothers of his played pranks on him by pretending he didn't exist, often for years without acknowledging his presence. To counter this, Hans developed a rather twisted way of coping. He had to become perfect. Perfectly charming, perfectly strong, perfectly charismatic. Perfectly-- whatever people wanted him to be. But with twelve older brothers each having done all that before, it was never good enough. Hans was never good enough.
It is said Hans grew up entirely without love.
Because love and caring are things he never understood, Hans came to view attention and admiration as substitutes for affection. He believes the only way to gain his family's recognition, to show them all how wrong they were about him, is to find a kingdom of his own and rule it better than they ever could.
You can see how this isn't... your standard Disney prince tale. No, Hans is the villain of our story. His ambition and self-servitude drive him to lie and manipulate everyone around him, all so that he may achieve his goal-- taking over Arendelle and ruling as king.
Hans is a grade-A jerk and a scumbag, don't ever get me wrong. He's just very good at hiding it. Very good.
Anyway, on with the actual plot. In Disney's Frozen, we meet Prince Hans before Queen Elsa's coronation, as Anna, our protagonist, bumps into him at the end of a musical number. A handsome young man who appears kind and apologetic (for running into Anna with his horse, whoops,) he seems to be as instantly smitten for Anna as she does with him. Though their initial meeting is cut short, their awkward fumbling and interaction reeks or cute, quirky chemistry.
It's no surprise that when they run into each other again at Elsa's coronation ball, the two hit it off in spades. Anna has spent her whole life alone and ignored by her sister, while Hans has spent much the same being ignored and overlooked by his twelve brothers. Their connection seems perfect, and they share a musical number, which ends with Hans asking for Anna's hand in marriage. Of course, she says yes. Why wouldn't she? The castle doors would be closed again the next day-- this was her chance! And after all, Hans was perfect.
And he was, truly.
Of course, when Anna and Hans bring the news to Elsa, she is much less receptive to the idea. They'd just met that day! They couldn't just get married after knowing each other for a few hours and sharing a song together!
With her emotions frayed and her secret out, the confrontation leads to Elsa losing her already flimsy control on her powers. Fearing public backlash and persecution, she flees Arendelle in terror, accidentally leaving the land in an eternal winter in her wake.
Anna, near-sighted as ever and blaming herself for imposing herself on her sister, announces that she's going up to the mountains to chase after her sister. In the meantime Hans, her betrothed, is in charge of the kingdom.
"Oh no!!!" you say, knowing the spoilers about how Hans is manipulating Anna for the right to rule the kingdom. You may even think, "he's gonna ruin everything!" But you'd be wrong. While Hans' intentions might not be noble, his actions continue to be nothing short of admirable during this time. As the kingdom freezes over and the people are left unprepared, Hans uses his authority to personally hand out cloaks and blankets to the people of Arendelle, offering them shelter in the castle to stave off the cold. He takes his charge very seriously, and doesn't stand for harsh words against Princess Anna or Queen Elsa.
While Anna confronts Elsa and gets her heart literally frozen in the process, Hans mans the fort at Arendelle until Anna's spooked horse returns to the castle. Fearing for her life, (or because she's the princess, or because he wants to look good--- he had plenty of reasons,) Hans issues a search party to the North Mountain, to confront Elsa and hopefully save Anna. On top of that, Hans specifically states that Elsa is not to be injured or attacked. Unfortunately, the Duke of Weselton's men had other ideas.
With a slew of guards in tow, Hans' group makes it to Elsa's ice palace on the North Mountain. There they are confronted by a very angry snow golem which attacks them on sight. Like you do. While Hans engages the monster, Weselton's men run past and break into the castle, intent on murdering Elsa. Like a true Disney prince though, Hans stays back and vanquishes the monster, leading the royal guards into the castle in time to stop Elsa from killing the men who threatened her life. It's all very noble.
(Though right here there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment where Hans redirects a crossbolt aimed at Elsa towards a chandelier instead. The chandelier comes crashing down, knocking Elsa out and easing her capture.)
When Elsa awakes, she finds herself imprisoned in the lower dungeons of Arendelle's castle. Hans is there. As acting Prince of Arendelle, he begs her to bring back summer and undo her curse, but Elsa tells him simply that she doesn't know how. She can't. She begs to be released, to return to seclusion where she can't hurt anyone, and Hans agrees and says he'll do what he can to vouch for her. To save her.
Gee, this Hans guy doesn't sound so bad. Or does he? (He does.)
As Hans mulls over what to do about Elsa, Anna is brought into the palace, freezing near to death thanks to the frozen heart inflicted on her by her sister. Her first thing to do upon seeing Hans is to beg him to kiss her-- True love, frozen heart, yadda yadda. As Anna explains what happened when she confronted Elsa in the North Mountain, she tells Hans that the only cure for a frozen heart is an act of True Love. So obviously, a true love's kiss. In other words, a kiss from Hans. A kiss chosen especially to unfreeze Anna's heart. Hans' kiss. That kiss. That's all they need, and Hans gets it (he's a Disney character, after all,) and just as he leans in to kiss her, he says those few, magical words...
"Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you," he says, lips thinned into a sneer. Hans never loved her. He was using her. Just like he was using everyone else. He wasn't her true love at all.
Cursed by her sister and betrayed by the man she thought she loved, Anna is struck speechless. Hans goes on to do his villain monologue and explain that he initially came to Arendelle hoping to court Queen Elsa, in hopes of gaining the throne by marrying her. But when he met Anna; sweet, naive, innocent Anna, he decided that charming her would be much easier. All it would take for him to become king would be an unfortunate 'accident' to end Elsa's life, and Hans would be sitting pretty on the throne with his golden ticket, Anna, by his side.
The sudden winter, the frozen heart curse-- all this meant Hans had to keep changing his plan, adapting and adjusting to every little thing that went wrong on the way. With Anna locked in a room to freeze to death and the people of Arendelle in love with Hans' flawless act, the only thing standing in the way of his throne was Elsa. Once he killed her and freed the land of her storm, he'd be hailed a hero. He'd get his own kingdom. Finally, his dreams were coming true.
Of course, being the villain, things don't work out the way he'd planned. With the other dignitaries on his side and Elsa officially charged with treason, Hans chases Elsa down, sword in hand, to deliver the final blow himself. Getting this far has been such a pain. It's clear at this point that ridding himself of Elsa is just as much for his goals than it is for his own peace of mind. So, y'know. Hans takes his sweet time explaining to Elsa that her sister had frozen to death because of her and that ending her life was the only way she could atone. The news comes as such a shock to her that Elsa breaks down, leaving her completely defenseless as Hans readies his blade.
Was doing all that really necessary? No. Was it pouring salt on an open wound? Yes. Yes, it was. Which is why Hans totally has it coming when, halfway through his downward strike on Elsa, Anna (who it turns out had barely managed to escape the room Hans had left her in,) rushes in to stand in his way-- and turns to ice just as his blade clashes with her frozen hand.
The shockwave from the blow tosses Hans back on the ice, the weight of Anna's sacrifice, her act of true love, being enough to thaw her own frozen heart. With the power of love, Elsa discovers she can thaw the fjord and all her kingdom, and they all live happily ever after.
Oh, and Hans? Well, he was pretty damn shocked to find out Anna was somehow alive. For all his trouble, Anna gives him a good solid punch and the sisters send him back to his home as a prisoner, for his brothers to do with him as they see fit.
So yeah, a happy ending!