The main Frozen characters include Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, and Hans, plus a whole flurry of trolls, spirits, and snowmen. That is the short answer. The long answer is a lot more fun, and with Frozen 3 finally on the way, it feels like the right time to walk through every name in Arendelle.
I will admit something up front. I came into Frozen as a skeptic and left humming Let It Go like everyone else. What hooked me was not the snow or the songs, though. It was the cast. A movie that swaps the usual prince-saves-princess ending for two sisters saving each other lives or dies on whether you believe in its characters, and Frozen pulls it off.
So here is my full guide to the Frozen characters, from the heroes and elemental spirits to the one properly nasty villain hiding in the family tree.
I have packed in the trivia and behind-the-scenes facts I wish I had known sooner, plus a quick word at the end on what Frozen 3 has in store.
The main Frozen characters, explained
Elsa, the Snow Queen who almost stayed a villain
Elsa is the heart of the franchise, the queen whose ice powers run on fear until she finally stops hiding. Her arc from terrified shut-in to self-possessed Snow Queen is the entire reason Let It Go hits as hard as it does. Idina Menzel voices her, and the reveal that Elsa could belt like that was its own kind of magic.
Trivia worth knowing:
- In early drafts, Elsa was the villain of the film, not its emotional core.
- Then Let It Go softened her so much that the team rebuilt the story around a hero.
- Frozen II finally answers the big fan question: her powers are a gift tied to her mother’s Northuldra heritage, which is also why Anna has none.
Anna, the heart that never freezes
Anna is my favorite, and I will defend her to anyone. She is the optimistic, slightly chaotic younger sister whose real superpower is refusing to give up on people. Her story is not about transforming. It is about staying stubbornly, fiercely herself while everyone around her changes. Kristen Bell voices her with the perfect mix of warmth and goofiness, and when the film’s true act of love turns out to be Anna saving Elsa rather than any kiss, it lands because she earned it.
Kristoff, the ice harvester raised by trolls
Kristoff starts as a gruff loner who prefers his reindeer to people, which, fair enough. He thaws over the course of the film into a loyal partner. Here is a detail that recontextualizes him: he was raised by the rock trolls, so his social awkwardness suddenly makes total sense. As a Disney prince he is refreshingly normal, more flannel and frostbite than royal polish. Jonathan Groff provides the voice.
Olaf, the snowman who just wants a warm hug
Olaf is the comic relief who keeps sneaking in the wisest lines in the script. Born from Elsa and Anna’s childhood snowman, he is pure innocence with a dream of summer he does not fully understand. Josh Gad voices him across both films and the shorts, which makes Olaf the one character who turns up in basically every Frozen project. For more on him, here is my piece on Olaf and his quiet wisdom.
Hans, the prince with a chilling twist
Prince Hans of the Southern Isles is the answer to who the villain in Frozen really is, even if you do not see it coming the first time around. He plays the perfect supportive suitor for Anna, then drops the mask to reveal a power-hungry schemer.
A detail people miss:
- Hans is the youngest of thirteen brothers, with twelve older siblings who spent years ignoring him.
- That backstory is the whole engine for his desperate grab at a throne that was never going to be his.
- Santino Fontana voices him, and the late heel turn still ranks among Disney’s sharpest.
Sven, the reindeer who says everything without talking
The reindeer in Frozen is named Sven, and he is Kristoff’s best friend, conscience, and occasional translator. He never speaks a word, yet he carries half the emotional beats with a single look.
Voice-actor trivia:
- Sven’s grunts and snorts come from Frank Welker, one of the most prolific voice actors alive.
- Welker also handles Bruni, the Nokk, and Hans’s horse Sitron, so nearly every Frozen creature is secretly him.
- He is the same legend behind Scooby-Doo and decades of cartoon animals.
The trolls, led by Grand Pabbie and Bulda
The rock trolls are the mystical glue of the saga. Grand Pabbie is the ancient seer who patches up both sisters at crucial moments, while Bulda is the warm troll matriarch who adopted and raised Kristoff. It is easy to write them off as comic relief, but they are also the bridge between Arendelle and the older magic underneath it. If you have ever searched for the Frozen trolls, or specifically for Bulda by name, this is the crew you mean.
The Duke of Weselton, greed in a toupee
The Duke is less a villain than a weasel, which the film knows full well, hence the running gag about everyone mishearing Weselton as Weasel Town. He is a small, paranoid man terrified of Elsa’s powers and hungry for Arendelle’s trade riches, and his arc is a slow slide from honored guest to disgraced exile. Alan Tudyk voices him, and Tudyk has since hidden somewhere in nearly every Disney animated film.
Marshmallow, the bouncer made of snow
Marshmallow is the giant ice golem Elsa conjures to throw intruders out of her palace, basically her personal boundaries given fists and fangs. He looks terrifying, yet by the short Frozen Fever he has softened into a gentle guardian for the tiny Snowgies. Paul Briggs voices him, and that quiet turn from monster to babysitter is one of the franchise’s sweeter jokes.
Oaken, the trading-post owner with a big Hoo-hoo
Oaken runs Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna, and he is a perfect example of how much personality Disney can pack into ninety seconds of screen time.
Blink and you miss it:
- When Oaken waves to his family relaxing in the sauna, many viewers read it as a quietly inclusive background moment, though the film leaves it open.
- Chris Williams voices him, and that cheerful Hoo-hoo became an instant catchphrase.
- He upsells Kristoff a sauna visit and a bag of carrots in the same breath, which is elite small-business hustle.
The Snowgies, Elsa’s accidental snow babies
The Snowgies are the dozens of tiny snowmen Elsa sneezes into existence when she catches a cold in Frozen Fever. They begin as pure chaos and end up as Marshmallow’s adorable charges. Minor characters, sure, but they prove the franchise can squeeze real charm out of a single sight gag.
The elemental spirits of the Enchanted Forest
Frozen II trades castle intrigue for myth, and the elemental spirits are the engine of it: Gale the wind, Bruni the fire, the Nokk for water, and the towering Earth Giants.
The deeper layer:
- The four spirits come from a Northuldra legend, and Elsa turns out to be the Fifth Spirit that bridges magic and people.
- The Northuldra were developed with input from the Sami people of northern Scandinavia, who signed a formal agreement with Disney.
- It is a rare case of a sequel building genuine cultural homework into its world.
Lieutenant Mattias, the soldier frozen in time
Destin Mattias is an Arendelle soldier trapped in the Enchanted Forest for over three decades, still loyal to a kingdom that moved on without him. It is a small role with a big heart, and Sterling K. Brown gives him real gravity. His reunion with a changed Arendelle is one of Frozen II’s warmer notes.
Yelana, the Northuldra leader who trusts no one
Yelana leads the Northuldra with a wariness earned by decades of betrayal, so she starts out deeply suspicious of Elsa and Anna. Watching that suspicion thaw into a genuine alliance is one of the sequel’s quieter pleasures. Martha Plimpton voices her with exactly the right edge of steel.
The Nokk, the water spirit that runs as a horse
The Nokk is the spirit of water that takes the form of a horse, and the sequence where Elsa finally tames it across the Dark Sea is gorgeous.
Folklore corner:
- The Nokk comes straight from Scandinavian folklore, where the nokk is a shapeshifting water spirit.
- In the old legends it lured people into the water to drown, so Disney softened a properly eerie myth.
- Once Elsa proves her worth, the adversary becomes her loyal mount.
Bruni, the fire spirit everyone calls the lizard
Bruni is the tiny blue salamander who turns out to be the fire spirit, and he is the runaway breakout star of Frozen II.
Why people search for the lizard:
- Plenty of fans look up the Frozen 2 lizard or salamander, and Bruni is exactly who they mean.
- He is technically a fire spirit rather than a reptile, but the little guy became a merch sensation regardless.
- Frank Welker provides his chirps, because of course he does.
Queen Iduna, the mother with a secret
Iduna is Elsa and Anna’s mother, and Frozen II reveals she was secretly a Northuldra who once saved a young Arendelle prince named Agnarr. That single act of love is the source of Elsa’s magic. She and Agnarr died in a shipwreck before the events of the first film, yet her lullaby All Is Found keeps guiding the sisters from beyond. Evan Rachel Wood voices her in the sequel.
King Agnarr, the father who shaped them both
Agnarr is the girls’ father, the prince Iduna rescued as a boy in the Enchanted Forest. His fear of Elsa’s powers drives the decision to lock the castle gates, and that choice, however well-meaning, shapes the entire tragedy. He dies alongside Iduna at sea, but his stories and his choices echo through both films.
Ryder and Honeymaren, the Northuldra siblings
Ryder and Honeymaren are a brother-and-sister pair from the Northuldra tribe. Ryder shares Kristoff’s love of reindeer, which sets up a properly funny bonding subplot, while Honeymaren strikes up a warm friendship with Elsa that fans have read a great deal into. Their roles are small, but they clearly hint at the wider future the franchise keeps teasing.
King Runeard, the villain hiding in the family tree
If Frozen II has a true antagonist, it is not a spirit or a storm. It is Elsa and Anna’s late grandfather.
The real monster of the saga:
- Runeard built a dam to secretly weaken the Northuldra, then triggered the attack that cursed the whole forest.
- He buried it all under a tidy story about generosity, so his granddaughters grow up believing a lie.
- Jeremy Sisto voices him, and uncovering the truth is the moral gut-punch of the sequel.
The full Frozen and Frozen II voice cast
If you came here hunting for the Frozen characters names and who plays them, here is the core voice cast across both films.
- Elsa – Idina Menzel
- Anna – Kristen Bell
- Kristoff – Jonathan Groff
- Olaf – Josh Gad
- Sven – Frank Welker (non-speaking)
- Hans – Santino Fontana
- Duke of Weselton – Alan Tudyk
- Oaken – Chris Williams
- Grand Pabbie – Ciaran Hinds
- Bulda – Maia Wilson
- Marshmallow – Paul Briggs
- Young Anna – Livvy Stubenrauch and Hadley Gannaway
- Young Elsa – Eva Bella and Mattea Conforti
- Sitron, Hans’s horse – Frank Welker
- Kai – Stephen John Anderson
- Gerda – Edie McClurg
- King Agnarr – Alfred Molina (Frozen II)
- Queen Iduna – Evan Rachel Wood (Frozen II)
- Lieutenant Mattias – Sterling K. Brown (Frozen II)
- Yelana – Martha Plimpton (Frozen II)
- Honeymaren – Rachel Matthews (Frozen II)
- Ryder – Jason Ritter (Frozen II)
- Bruni the fire spirit – Frank Welker (Frozen II)
- The Nokk – Frank Welker (Frozen II)
- King Runeard – Jeremy Sisto (Frozen II)
What about Frozen 3?
So, Frozen 3. After an eight-year wait, Disney has set it for November 24, 2027, the same pre-Thanksgiving slot that turned the first two films into box-office monsters. And for the first time in Disney Animation’s history, a fourth film is coming too. Jennifer Lee has said the story grew so big that it needs two movies to tell properly.
The core voices are all coming back, with Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Jonathan Groff returning as Elsa, Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff. Lee returns to direct, this time alongside co-director Trent Correy, and the Oscar-winning songwriting team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez is writing fresh music. Josh Gad has already called it the funniest of the three.
Disney is keeping the plot tightly under wraps, so any brand-new Frozen characters are still a mystery. If the pattern holds, expect at least one new spirit or sidekick built to become the next Bruni. In the meantime, the team at Odeon has its own character rundown, and if you love the stage musical versions of this cast, that ranking is worth a look too.
The cast that made Arendelle feel real
Frozen works because every one of these characters, from a sentient snowman to a water horse, is built to make you feel something. That is rarer than it sounds, and it is the reason the films stuck around long enough to earn a trilogy. Here is one of the moments that still gets me every time:
So that is the full cast of Arendelle. Who is your favorite Frozen character, and who are you hoping turns up in Frozen 3? Tell me in the comments.
