A Character Analysis of John Wick and Queen Elsa (spoilers)

Introduction

The Baba Yaga, the legendary assassin, John Wick, is the last thing men ever see before they die. He once killed three men in a bar with a pencil. Everything you hear about that man has been watered down. However, by the events of John Wick (2014), John Wick enjoys his life in retirement for a few years with his wife after getting out of his Russian mobster family in New York City. All seems to be going well, but a sudden turn of events brings him back to the treacherous life he left behind, which is why the terrifying John Wick can be very closely comparable to… a Disney Princess (she's not an official Princess, actually)?

        In Frozen (2013), Elsa is the eldest daughter of King Agnarr and Queen Iduna of Arendelle. After angrily revealing her ice powers at her coronation, Queen Elsa escapes to the North Mountain where she decides that isolation is her best option to prevent another frozen disaster. She builds herself a glamourous ice palace on the mountain where she believes she will permanently reside. Despite all her best efforts to isolate herself, Elsa's sister Anna embarks on a journey to get her to come back to Arendelle. While John Wick and Queen Elsa come from opposite ends of the film spectrum, they have much more in common than you might think. We will compare their personalities, goals, and conflicts to see how similar their journeys are.

Personality

        John Wick has a very stoic personality and has little expression. Despite this, there is some poise and charisma in his character. In fact, we find out just how expansive his network is as the first movie progresses, revealing how respected he is. Despite his stoicism, Wick is emotionally driven. When his wife dies, she leaves him with a dog in the hopes that he will find peace with someone new. When Iosef Tarasov, the son of Wick's former boss, steals his 1969 Mustang and kills his dog, Wick immediately chooses revenge. The dog came to represent Wick’s last semblance of hope, a last gift from his wife, and it was all taken from him. He springs back into the business driven by the legacy of his wife, reverting into a cold-blooded demeanor that will kill everyone in his way until the Tarasov's are dead.

        Elsa is very closed off and, much like John Wick, emotionally vulnerable. She was isolated for a large part of her life that only taught her to fear her powers. As her coronation comes up, Elsa is very stressed out, like a powder keg ready to ignite. She has to take her gloves off to pick up the orb and scepter, but she must not let her powers be known to the public. Unfortunately, her sister Anna is very demanding and presses Elsa for answers about her repression. This finally ignites Elsa, who unleashes her ice powers with such emotion that she cannot get it under control. She impulsively runs off to isolate herself again and builds her ice castle on the North Mountain.

Portrayal as the Villain

One way that John Wick and Queen Elsa are similar characters is that while they are the central characters of their films, they are both initially portrayed as a feared and powerful villain. Additionally, this fact would not be taken as seriously by the viewers if it were not for other powerful people who can attest to the fact that Wick and Elsa should be feared. In John Wick’s case, Iosef Tarasov sets up the entire movie by showing what kind of power he has as part of the Russian mob. Iosef insults Wick at the gas station, thinking he is just a random nobody, and then he ends up beating up Wick at his house and stealing his 1969 Mustang. Iosef’s goons also kill Wick’s dog and try to use their power to talk over Aurelio at his shop. A little while later, Viggo, the head of the Russians, even references previous jobs like an Atlantic City job, which reinforces the power that the Russian mob has. The powerful Tarasov family legitimizes John Wick’s portrayal as a villain, as Viggo lectures his son in a feared yet respectful way about Wick, who used to be part of them. Not only that, but just about everyone Wick encounters knows about him and admires his skill.

Queen Elsa is also portrayed as a villainous character in Frozen. Unlike John Wick, however, Elsa's power has been hidden from the public, so her initial portrayal is done more through showing Elsa’s experiences on screen and not through her depiction by other characters. We first get a taste of Elsa’s power when she quite literally uses her power accidentally and strikes Anna when they were playing as kids. We also see it legitimized by some other characters, such as the trolls. They are able to heal Anna, which demonstrates the trolls’ power. This experience convinces the viewers that Elsa should be seen as powerful when the trolls warn her to control her fear. Elsa’s power is also legitimized by her parents who separate Elsa and Anna within the castle of Arendelle so Elsa cannot unleash her power again.

        Despite both characters being emotionally driven, during times when they are not, both characters do have a poised stature. As an assassin, John Wick must be calm and collected when calculating his moves and not be affected by death. Elsa has natural charm and presence as she stands tall as the queen, compared to Anna's carefree and lovestruck attitude. Wick and Elsa have calm and soft sides, but they often fail to control themselves on their dark sides. Through the lenses of other powerful characters, the viewer is convinced that both John Wick and Elsa are also powerful characters who should be feared; John Wick is feared by the Russian mob he used to work for, and Elsa by the magical trolls and her parents who are powerful monarchs. Next, we will discuss how the powder kegs ignite and war is declared.

Conflict & Goal

John Wick’s retirement becomes interrupted as Iosef Tarasov takes everything away from him shortly after his wife passes away. The house break-in is the first in a slow-paced but sudden sequence of events that serves as the turning point for Wick. This causes him to get back into the business of assassination, and to get revenge in the form of Iosef’s blood. The next time, when Viggo sends men to kill John Wick in his house, Wick is fully prepared and unleashes his power that earned him the nickname of the “Boogeyman.” After making quick work of Viggo’s men, Wick becomes fully feared by the entirety of the Russian mob.

Queen Elsa undergoes a similar transition to unleashing her power. At the age of 21, she holds her coronation that sets the stage for this transition. One significant aspect of Frozen not seen in John Wick is that throughout her coronation, Elsa and Anna express very opposite moods, and this stark contrast between them helps build tension as the night creeps forward. Elsa tries to close herself off, concerned about her power, and Anna is lively and wants to marry Prince Hans of the Southern Isles who she only met that day. Elsa’s transition occurs when Anna confronts her about objecting to their marriage at the ball. As Anna strongly demands to find out why Elsa is acting so isolated, the heated argument causes Elsa to unleash her power and instill fear into the people of Arendelle. She ends up engulfing Arendelle in an eternal winter, as John Wick engulfs the assassin underworld in a new reign of terror. Both of these characters’ transitions involve a gradual buildup to a peak and then a steep drop where they unleash their full potential. After their transformation, both characters are furious and use their power to make irreversible decisions, in an effort to seek their own peace by unleashing war.

John Wick’s war eventually crosses paths with Viggo when the Russians arrive at the church where Wick had just incinerated Viggo’s private stash. Wick ends up in a shootout with the Russians, but he gets captured. Elsa goes through a similar sequence of events. After Elsa unwittingly strikes Anna’s heart with ice before banishing her, Prince Hans and the Duke of Weselton’s minions pursue Elsa at her ice castle, and the men face the brunt of her war. As Hans battles the snow giant, Marshmallow, the Duke’s minions race forward with secret orders to terminate Elsa. Despite Elsa unleashing hell and holding off well on her own, she ends up getting captured just like Wick. Both characters fight alone against the world and display their long-absent talents, but then get captured by the people who fear them.

Towards the end of Frozen, Hans is revealed to be a villain as he gets corrupted into taking over Arendelle by killing both Elsa and Anna. When he finds out Elsa escaped his custody, Hans ventures into the winter storm after her. When he eventually finds Elsa, they both cross paths with Anna, who steps in the way of Hans’ sword and freezes solid from her frozen heart before Hans could kill Elsa. Elsa begins to mourn for her sister, who thaws out. Elsa realizes that true love is the key to controlling her power, and she is able to end the eternal winter. In the case of John Wick, true love is also the way to control his power. However, this is now impossible because his literal true love has been deceased and her legacy taken away from him. Unlike Queen Elsa, John Wick continues to be drawn back to his old life throughout the later movies because everything he loved was taken away and torn apart. His new dog represents a newfound love, but outside forces like his marker with Santino prevent the story from being resolved. While the resolution of both movies is different, each character’s personality, conflict, and motivations are the same.

Conclusion

John Wick and Queen Elsa are two very different characters in opposite universes, but in many ways, they are the same character. They are fierce, determined, and they are feared by other powerful people. When things go wrong and their power is called for after a long absence, they force themselves to unleash war to seek a greater peace. The biggest difference between Elsa and John Wick is that Elsa has her sister, Anna, who inadvertently shows her how to control her power at the end through true love. Unfortunately for John Wick, he lost his wife and everything he loved. He lost his friendly circle to the hands of Ms. Perkins, and most importantly his old friend Marcus. Just like Anna going after Elsa to look after her, Marcus goes after John Wick to look after him. Unfortunately, Marcus gets killed by Ms. Perkins and Viggo, as he originally swore to kill John Wick for Viggo, not protect him. While Elsa has found her peace from Anna and opened the gates to Arendelle, John Wick may never find his peace ever again because every semblance of love in his life is gone. Now that John Wick 4 is released, who knows if he really found his peace or if there is still war to declare.

P.S.

Both characters are also impressively skilled. John Wick is able to kill massive amounts of people and remain consistent and emotionless. Elsa’s encounter with the Duke of Weselton’s minions also demonstrates that while she may not be as collected as Wick since she is not an assassin and presumably has no military training, she is impressively calm and able to defend herself effectively. Regardless, if Elsa was an assassin, she would be unstoppable. There is no need for Elsa to quad reload her shotgun or switch to her pistol when she can just take reloading out of the equation. And she can do a Matrix move by stopping all the bullets being shot at her with her ice powers. Hey, isn't water incompressible? Maybe not as a solid, but one can dream.