List of Disney's Beauty and the Beast characters
Various characters have been featured in Disney's Beauty and the Beast franchise. This list includes those from the 1991 animated film, its direct-to-video follow-up, a short story collection, the stage musical adaptation, and the 2017 live-action and computer animation remake.
Introduced in ''Beauty and the Beast''
Belle
Beast
Gaston
Maurice
Maurice is the village inventor and Belle's father. However, most of the villagers think he is insane for crafting devices believed ridiculous and impossible to construct in reality.During the beginning of the film, he is working on a machine that automatically chops up firewood. Once it is successfully working, he leaves for the County Fair to display his invention. However, he is unable to make it to the fair due to getting lost in the woods. After going down a path that results in the loss of his horse and cart, and being attacked and nearly killed by a pack of rabid wolves, he winds up at the gate of a dark castle. When he enters the castle to stay for the night, he ends up being locked up by the Beast, the castle's master.
Belle learns of what happened and goes to the castle, attempting to release her father. She then tries to convince the Beast to release him from the castle. She succeeds in convincing the Beast to release him, under the condition that she is to take her father's place, to Maurice's protests. Maurice is forcibly taken back to the village.
Upon returning to the village, Maurice tries to seek the villagers' help in trying to rescue Belle, but they don't believe him, and they consequently throw him out of the tavern.
Determined to not give up on Belle, he decides to return to the castle alone. However, it doesn't take long before he succumbs to an unknown illness due to the cold weather. Luckily, Belle discovers that her father is in trouble via the Beast's Magic Mirror and is released by the Beast so she can save him. Shortly after arriving back home, Le Fou has alerted the villagers of their return. Shortly thereafter, Monsieur D'Arque, the keeper of the Maison de Lunes Insane Asylum, and the other villagers come to take Maurice to the insane asylum in an intricate plan to blackmail Belle into marrying Gaston. Belle reveals that Maurice's rants are true and that the Beast does exist. Both she and Maurice are locked up by Gaston in the cellar, to stop them from interfering with Gaston's goal to kill the Beast. Chip has managed to stow away in Belle's satchel and uses the automated firewood cutter to destroy the door to the cellar. Maurice and Belle leave for the castle to stop Gaston from killing the Beast. He is last seen in the ballroom standing by Mrs. Potts as he happily watches Belle and the Beast dance while he laughs at Chip's question to his mother whether he still has to 'stay in the cupboard'.
In the 2017 live-action remake, Maurice is played by Kevin Kline. He remains as an inventor, but makes music boxes to help Belle see the world from the comfort of home in the village of Villeneuve. He fled Paris and settled in the provinces with Belle when she was still a baby to protect the both of them from a plague that took the life of Belle's mother and Maurice's wife. True to the original story, Maurice is imprisoned by the Beast for taking a rose from his garden instead of being caught trespassing in the castle. Maurice returns to Villeneuve to find help, but only Gaston and LeFou are willing to do so. However, Gaston only wanted to help in order to get Maurice's blessing for his marriage to Belle. Knowing that Belle has no interest in marrying Gaston, Maurice refuses her hand, prompting Gaston to leave him to die at the hands of the wolves. The Enchantress, disguised as a villager named Agathe, rescues him and takes him back to Villeneuve. Upon his return, Maurice attempts to have Gaston arrested for attempted murder, but Gaston in turn declares him insane and has him committed to an insane asylum. Belle arrives back in time to vindicate Maurice, but both are locked in the asylum wagon while the whole village goes to kill the Beast. After Maurice and Belle make amends regarding Belle now understanding why Maurice was so overly protective of her, thanks to the Beast, Maurice uses his inventor skills to pick the lock on the wagon, allowing Belle to take Phillipe back to the Beast's castle while Maurice remains behind with the dumbfounded Monsieur D'Arque. At the end of the film, Maurice is seen painting the ballroom dance as everyone celebrates which is briefly witnessed by Mrs. Potts before she dances with her husband.
Maurice makes a cameo in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas as one of the people listening to the story Mrs. Potts is telling.
Maurice makes his debut appearance in the Kingdom Hearts series in Kingdom Hearts χ.
Lumière
Lumière is the Beast's kindhearted but rebellious maître d' and Cogsworth's counterpart and rival. Because of the curse placed by the Enchantress, he was transformed into a candelabra. He allows Maurice to come into the castle to stay. Later, he and Cogsworth lure Belle to Maurice in hopes that she will break the spell. He suggests that the Beast try and move her to a better room. Lumière tries to help the Beast become more civil for Belle, and sometimes rebels against the Beast if it suits the other characters' needs. Later, after the Beast rescues Belle from more wolves, and Belle nurses the Beast back to health, earning his affections in the process, Lumière, aware of what would impress such a voracious reader, astutely suggests that the Beast give Belle the castle's immense library as a gift, which has the desired effect. He also tries to help the Beast learn how to do the waltz. He is initially upset that Belle leaves the castle, but he remains optimistic at the same time, since he's still convinced that she'll break the spell. When he discovers that the castle is going to be invaded by Gaston's lynch mob, he plans the battle. He then decides to set up a trap where all of the furniture is in the foyer, and he gives the signal to attack. While he is unable to stop Gaston from deserting the battle to kill the Beast, Lumière rescues Fifi the Featherduster from being plucked apart by one of Gaston's friends and is earlier himself rescued by Cogsworth from Lefou. He, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts rush to aid the Beast who is fighting against Gaston, but arrive after the battle's end, when the Beast dies from a mortal wound from Gaston, who fell to his death from the West Wing. The spell breaks, however, reviving the Beast as a human and returning Lumière and the others to their original forms. In the end, he gets into an argument with Cogsworth about who told who about Belle breaking the spell.In The Enchanted Christmas, he tries to help bring Christmas back into the castle. Also, he and Cogsworth help get a Christmas tree with Belle upon Forte's suggestion. When Forte decides to try to destroy the castle, he and Cogsworth try to save the rose.
He later appears in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a supporting character in the Beast's Castle world. In 358/2 Days, he and Cogsworth serve as the castle's patrol guards, forcing Roxas, Xion, and Xaldin to evade their sight during missions in that world. In Kingdom Hearts II, he is locked in the dungeon by the Beast along with the other servants in an attempt to protect him by the Beast's rage, fueled by Xaldin, but he is freed by Sora, whom he helps by opening a secret passage out of the undercroft.
Lumière is voiced by Ewan McGregor in the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. This depiction of Lumiere has him as a charismatic footman who has been transformed into a human-shaped candelabrum with a bronze human-like face, arms tipped with candles and legs to walk with as well. Despite the differences, Lumiere's design as a candelabra with three branches still remains only by shape shifting and can be self litten. He is lover of Plumette, who has been transformed into a feather duster.
Cogsworth
Cogsworth is the Beast's tightly wound and extremely loyal Majordomo, and Lumière's counterpart and rival. When the Enchantress curses the Beast, he is transformed into a pendulum clock. He initially tries to stop the others from allowing Maurice to stay at the castle, but ultimately gives in. When the Beast arrives, he tries to explain what happened, but the Beast is too angry to hear what happened. He tries to get Belle to come to dinner, but she refuses. When he reports to the Beast her refusal, he tries desperately to calm him down, as well as keep him calm when trying to get her to join him for dinner. He follows the Beast's orders to deny her dinner, but he eventually relents, telling them to at least keep the noise down. He is eventually swept up in the boisterous "Be Our Guest" number. Later he learns that the Beast let Belle go, much to his dismay. He then tells everyone the bad news, and seems resigned to his fate. When the residents of the castle learn of the upcoming invasion, he tries to come up with a plan to stop the villagers, but the others leave him before he can finish. He later participates in the battle and rescues Lumiere from Le Fou by sliding down the banister and prodding Le Fou's rear end with a pair of scissors. He, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts rush to aid the Beast who is fighting against Gaston, but arrive after the battle's end, when the Beast dies from a mortal wound from Gaston, who fell from the West Wing. The spell breaks, however, reviving the Beast and returning Cogsworth and the others to their original forms. In the end, he gets into an argument with Lumiere about who told who about Belle breaking the spell.In The Enchanted Christmas, he is initially opposed to the idea of Christmas, but eventually decides that Christmas in the castle wouldn't be such a bad idea. He and Lumière try to help Belle find a Christmas tree under Forte's guidance, unaware of Forte's plans. Later, when Forte tries to destroy the castle, he attempts to save the rose.
He later appears in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days in his homeworld, Beast's Castle. In the latter, he serves as a patrol guard in the castle, and in the former, he aids Sora in the brief fight against the Beast, under Xaldin's influence. He later plays a small role in the final battle against Xaldin.
Cogsworth is voiced by Ian McKellen in the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. This version has a wife named Clothilde. In the ending, he is reunited with Clothilde after he transforms back into a human, much to his dismay. It is revealed that this version's first name is Henry.