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
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film) back inside the cathedral. Esmeralda follows Quasimodo inside, only to be followed herself by Captain Phoebus of Frollo's guard. Phoebus refuses to arrest her for alleged witchcraft inside Notre Dame and instead has her confined to the cathedral. Esmeralda finds and befriends Quasimodo, who helps her escape Notre Dame out of gratitude for defending him. She entrusts Quasimodo a pendant containing a map to the gypsies' hideout, the Court of Miracles. Frollo soon develops lustful feelings for Esmeralda and, upon realizing them, begs the Virgin Mary to save him from her "spell" to avoid eternal damnation. When Frollo discovers that