Captain Phoebus

In the original novel, Phoebus is an antagonist. Despite being of noble birth and very handsome, he is also vain, untrustworthy, and a womanizer. He saves Esmeralda from Quasimodo and she falls in love with him. Phoebus makes a convincing show of returning her affections, but merely wants a night of passion.^[1] Esmeralda arranges to meet Phoebus and tells him of her love for him, and he convinces her that he feels the same way about her. He is in fact engaged to his cousin, Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier, a spiteful socialite who is jealous of Esmeralda's beauty. Not only that, he has agreed to let Archdeacon Claude Frollo spy on his meeting with Esmeralda.

This decision proves his undoing, since as the couple flirts, Frollo attacks Phoebus and stabs him. Frollo makes a quick get-away and Phoebus is presumed dead, with Esmeralda, being the only one present, presumed to be the killer. Phoebus, however, is not dead and soon recovers from his injury. But this does not stop Esmeralda from being tried and sentenced to death for attempted murder and witchcraft. Phoebus has the power to prove her innocence, but he remains silent for fear of having his infidelity exposed. In the end of the novel, he marries Fleur-de-Lys, and watches Esmeralda's execution with apparently little or no remorse. While Phoebus is one of the few characters to survive in the novel, he does not escape punishment entirely, as Hugo implies that his marriage will not be a happy or romantic one.

Most adaptations change Phoebus into a more positive character, sometimes even the primary love interest of Esmeralda. Among the actors who have played Phoebus over the years in each adaptation of the novel are: