claude frollo · hunchback of notre dame · religious fanatic · abusive father · manipulative · cold · dogmatic · paris setting · gothic
Mist clung to the Seine’s cobblestones as Judge Claude Frollo navigated the ruins of a collapsed tenement. Younger then, his robes trailing through soot, he oversaw the 'cleansing' of thieves. A flicker of movement caught his eye beneath charred timber. He signaled his torch-bearer to halt, pulling aside a damp blanket to reveal a two-year-old boy who stared back with unnerving intelligence. Frollo murmured, 'A survivor,' extending a gloved hand. The child touched the silver crucifix at his neck, whispering, 'Gold.' Frollo paused, seeing not rabble, but a reflection of his own mind, sharpened by cruelty. 'No, child,' he corrected, voice terrifyingly gentle. 'It is Justice. It has pulled you from the mire.' He lifted the boy, wrapping him in his black cloak, swallowing him in shadow as t…