LeFou (2017)

Do-Gooder
Full Name	LeFou
Alias	No information
Origin	Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Occupation	Gaston's right-hand man (formerly) Tavern employee
Powers/Skills	Intelligence Singing Dancing
Hobby	Help Gaston in his evil plans (formerly). Serving beer. Singing. Dancing.
Goals	Aid and please Gaston in any way possible (formerly).
Family	Unknown
Friends/Allies	Gaston (formerly), Tom, Dick, Stanley and Walter, Belle, Beast, Maurice, Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, Chip Potts
Enemies	Gaston, Belle (formerly), Beast (formerly), Maurice (briefly), Cogsworth (formerly), Lumiere (formerly)
Type of Hero	Voice of Reason

“	Well, I used to be on Gaston's side, but we're so in a pretty bad place right now.	„
	~ LeFou after saving Mrs. Potts.

LeFou is the secondary antagonist turned supporting character in the 2017 live action adaptation of the film, He is the (ex) friend and right-hand man of Gaston.

He is portrayed by Josh Gad who also voiced Louis from Ice Age: Continental Drift, Olaf from the 2013 film Disney's Frozen, Chuck from The Angry Birds Movie and Ludlow Lamonsoff in Pixels.

History

Just like his animated counterpart, LeFou tends to aid Gaston in running the local tavern and being under his thumb. He even once sang about Gaston's greatness to the village in order to cheer him up after the latter's failed attempts to woo and marry Belle, and finds Maurice's ravings about the Beast to be quite ridiculous.

However, as the plot unravels, LeFou starts to become uneasy over Gaston's true nature, as he objects over Gaston's intent to leave Maurice to die in the woods forever. Even when Maurice returns after being rescued by the local beggar woman Agathe and accuses Gaston for attempted murder, Gaston secretly silences LeFou from testifying against him before convincing the villagers that Maurice must be locked away in the local asylum for his "delusions", much to LeFou's guilt.

Eventually, Belle returns and proved her father's sanity by revealing the Beast's existence with a magic mirror, which made LeFou and the villagers realize that Maurice was telling the truth. Despite this turn of events, Gaston turns the table by stealing the magic mirror and convincing the villagers to help him take down the Beast. After Gaston locks up Belle and Maurice in the asylum carriage, LeFou starts to develop second thoughts, but is forced into compliance when Gaston threatens to have him locked up as well. As Gaston leads the villagers to the castle, LeFou feels uncomfortable in raiding the Beast's castle, feeling that Gaston is becoming more deranged than usual.

As the villagers break into the castle, LeFou inadvertently instigates a battle after seeing Chip, the talking teacup that Maurice mentioned earlier. Noticing Mrs. Potts standing next to Chip, LeFou wrongfully identifies her as Chip's grandmother, which left Mrs. Potts insulted as she signals the servants' ambush against the villagers. During the battle, the coat rack Chapeau taps on Gaston's shoulder as he prepares to attack him, making Gaston use LeFou as a human shield who Chapeau inadvertently brawled several times before the latter ends up being accidentally smacked by the harpsichord Maestro Cadenza. LeFou begs for help, but Gaston just left him for dead as he went to the West Wing to kill the Beast himself, much to LeFou's shock (even Cadenza himself is horrified by this act of betrayal). Finally having enough, LeFou defected to the servants' side, even saving Mrs. Potts from being fallen before the villagers flee away in humiliation and defeat.

Following Gaston's death, LeFou witnessed the curse being broken by Belle's expression of her love towards the Beast, which transformed the Beast and his servants back to normal. LeFou is even surprised to see that the returning villagers have recognized some of the servants as their lost loved-ones after regaining their memory following the curse being broken. In the end, LeFou happily dances with the crowd at the final ceremony, particularly with Stanley.

Personality

Unlike his animated counterpart, LeFou acts as a voice of reason for Gaston, whenever he tries to do questionable facts. LeFou is shown to be more friendly with Maurice, expressing concern for him when Gaston left him with the wolves and expressing genuine relief when he is safe. As Gaston becomes more deranged than usual, LeFou is shown struggling between his loyalty to him and his moral conscience. Finally, when Gaston used him as a human shield and lets him die, LeFou finally turns against him and he redeems himself when saving Mrs Potts' life, and even wholeheartedly joins the servants in fighting off the villagers after being comforted by her words.

Gallery

Images

LeFou and Gaston spotting Belle through a telescope.

"She's so well-read and you're so....athletically inclined."

LeFou arriving in the village.

"It's never gonna happen, ladies."

LeFou trying to be like Gaston.

Trivia

• While King Stefan, the Grand Duke, and King Louie were all more evil than their respective original animated versions, LeFou is the second original Disney villain to have more heroic qualities than his animated counterpart, the first being Maleficent and succeeded by Max Medici and Cruella. The reason being is because he fully turned against Gaston for his constant mistreatment towards him, something his original counterpart would never do.
• In the 2017 live action film, it is implied that Lefou has romantic feelings for Gaston, making him one of the few Disney characters to be homosexual. After losing interest in Gaston, he is shown dancing with a different man (Stanley) at the end of the film, giving him a happy ending.
• There is a difference between the 1991 film and the 2017 film. He did not reform in the 1991 version of Beauty and the Beast, but he did reform in the 2017 live action version.