Gaston

### Enemies

Belle (ex-crush), Beast (arch-nemesis), Maurice, LeFou, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Plumette, Madame de Garderobe, Cadenza, Fru Fru

## Portrayal

### Portrayed by

Luke Evans

**Gaston LeGume** is the main antagonist in Disney's 2017 *Beauty and the Beast*.

He is portrayed by Luke Evans.

## Biography

Gaston first appears riding on a horse on a hill with LeFou in *"Belle"*. Gaston explains how he declares his love for Belle and about his time during the war. He says it felt like he was missing something and that Belle was the only one who understood him.

**REST IS TO BE ANNOUNCED**

Gaston later convinces the villagers that the Beast is a man-eating monster. He locks up Belle alongside her father when he realizes she loves the Beast and subsequently rallies the villagers to join him in storming the castle. Gaston abandons LeFou during the battle. He shoots the Beast with his gun after finding him heartbroken. When Belle arrives at the castle, Gaston gloats, but soon the Beast subdues him after a harsh fight but eventually spares his life and orders him to leave.

The Beast leaps across to join Belle, only to be fatally shot from behind by Gaston, mortally wounding him. Before Gaston can celebrate, the footbridge on which he is standing crumbles and falls to his death.

## **Personality and Traits**

Gaston is strong and handsome and is all too aware of this. He is hailed as a local hero, desired by many of the young women of his village (he is even described as “cute, dreamy and handsome”) but he is really boorish, uncultured and egotistical. However, despite these negative qualities, he is far from stupid or brainless as Belle claims.

In this version, Gaston is a perfect example of a sociopath. He acts civil and polite to Belle and never doubts her intelligence, and offered to help Maurice rescue Belle. However, all of these good deeds he does are done purely for his own benefit, and he sees Belle as nothing more than a prize to be won. Also, he sees people as nothing more than tools in his plans and discards them when they have run out of use. Examples being, when Maurice refuses to give Gaston his blessing to marry Belle (which was Gaston's motivation in helping Maurice), Gaston leaves him to be eaten by wolves. And finally using LeFou as a human shield in the climax and leaving him to die once he served his purpose.

Gaston is the absolute antithesis of Beast. Although Gaston is physically handsome, he is very arrogant, shallow, self-centered, not very bright, and thrives on attention. However, when his ego is bruised he becomes a very dangerous foe for Beast, Belle, and Maurice. Gaston will be portrayed as a former soldier prior to his career as a hunter due to a portrait of him standing over fallen soldiers in the tavern. Gaston is a war hero on top of having good-looks and hunting/fighting skills, which goes further in explaining why someone so obnoxious is so beloved and trusted by the townsfolk.

Gaston undergoes this with regards to his villainy, possibly to avoid his animated counterpart gets. In this version, Gaston has been harassing Belle for quite some time when the action proper begins, to the point that she avoids him whenever she can, and the villagers' admiration of him is partially out of obligation to his war heroics. He snatches an alms cup from a beggar just to check his reflection in it before his first on-screen conversation with Belle, and in his second conversation tells her that she's doomed to become a beggar herself if she doesn't get married. Later, before he tries to have Maurice institutionalized, he tries to kill Maurice by tying him to a tree in the cold woods and letting him die of either exposure or the wolves.

It is also implied that this incarnation of Gaston, he is far more damaged than the original. In an interview, Luke Evans pointed out that Gaston struggles with PTSD symptoms. And in an era prior to a proper psychological aide -- this makes him come across as far more violent and fury-prone than his animated counterpart. However, it should be noted that he's not as anti-literature as animated Gaston. Going so far as to mention (in the novel) that he's read several books, especially during the war.

## **Physical Appearance**

Gaston possessed an extremely athletic build, a handsome appearance, a double square chin, a very hairy chest and. His black hair was long and tied with a red band into a ponytail. He possessed icy blue eyes. He generally wore yellow hunting gloves, although he discarded them by the midpoint but wore them again towards the end of the film.

He also wore a red tunic and black tights, alongside boots. He mainly carried a quiver of arrows on his back and wore a cape during cold evenings and his final battle with the Beast.

During the failed wedding attempt, Gaston wore a red tailcoat trimmed with gold fabric, a waistcoat, black ribbon tie, breeches, and even black boots, and also had white tights.

As a child, his hair was slightly disheveled with its ends standing on top, although he retained the ponytail. In addition, he possessed freckles, and his outfit consisted of a shirt, pants, and elf-shoes.

## **Trivia**

* During his first appearance in the song 'Belle', Gaston is wearing a military uniform. Through historical facts and timeline speculation, many fans agree that Gaston fought for France in the Seven Year's War (1756-1763). The events of the film take place twelve years after 'the war'. Placing the date as early as 1768, but more than likely in the range of 1775 -- just one year before the American Revolution, and fourteen prior to the French Revolution.
* In the novelization, Gaston is referred to as a former Captain. This was his rank in the French Army.
* Although it's not mentioned in the film, the filmmakers created a backstory for Gaston: he first defended the village against Portuguese marauders when he was only 16 years old. Shortly after, he enlisted in the Army and went off to war.
* Considered the most attractive man in the village, and he's a narcissistic jerk.
* Even though he is shown to be a high-grade jerk in the village, and makes no effort to hide it going by his song ('Gaston'), the villagers genuinely love him and don't follow him out of fear. This is part of the movie's message about not relying too much on outward appearances; Gaston's an oafish thug, but he's a *handsome* oafish thug, and the villagers end focusing so much on the latter that they miss the former.
* Gaston goes through a darker version; he starts out as an oafish buffoon, becomes kind of a jerk, and then finally turns into an all-out, terrifying villain.
* Public rejection makes him so angry that not even *alcohol* can make him feel better.
* He appears to be a dumb meathead, and yet he easily managed to manipulate an entire town at the last minute. He also seems to know a bit of Shakespeare if the "sticking place" quote is of any indication, and has a large enough vocabulary to use words like "expectorating" correctly in a sentence. One gets the impression that Gaston has a good deal of natural intelligence, but he just happens to place no value in books and learning.