Captain Phoebus Captain Phoebus "Capitaine" Phœbus de Châteaupers is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame". He is the Captain of the King Louis XI's Archers. His name comes from Phoebus, the Greek god of the sun (also called Apollo). 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
La Esmeralda (ballet) and sentenced to death. At dawn the following morning, the Festival of Fools is under way and Esmeralda is due to be hanged for the murder of Phoebus. Her friends and Gringoire are all present and bid her farewell, while Frollo watches in triumph. Just as Esmeralda is led to the gallows, Phoebus arrives alive and well, having survived and recovered from the stabbing. He reveals the true culprit to be Frollo and announces that Esmeralda is innocent of any crime. Frollo takes a dagger and attempts to do away with them, but Quasimodo wrests the dagger from his master