Yes. If you’re asking “does frozen have any black characters,” the clearest named example is Lieutenant Mattias in Disney’s Frozen II (2019). His animated design shows dark skin, and he is voiced by Black actor Sterling K. Brown.
Mattias is a supporting character, not one of the main heroes, and the first Frozen movie does not feature a clearly identified Black character in a substantial named role. Here’s where Mattias appears, what his part in the story is, and how to distinguish Black representation from other identities in the films.
Does frozen have any black characters in the movies?
Yes: Lieutenant Mattias appears in Frozen II. He is a Black character with a speaking role and a place in the story, although he is not part of Anna and Elsa’s central group. Mattias is one of the Arendelle soldiers found in the Enchanted Forest.
The original Frozen (2013) does not introduce a clearly identified, named Black character in a substantial speaking role. The sequel adds Mattias, making it the simplest answer for someone asking about the animated films as a whole. Background characters can be harder to identify, so this answer focuses on named characters whose appearance and role are visible in the story.
The distinction matters: asking about the first movie gives a different answer from asking about the franchise. It also helps to separate what a character looks like on screen from what a film explicitly says about their identity.
| Film or group | Character or identity | What viewers can say | Best answer for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frozen (2013) | No prominent named Black character is clearly identified | The main named cast does not include a substantial Black role | Questions about the first film alone |
| Frozen II (2019) | Lieutenant Mattias | A named, speaking Black character appears in the Enchanted Forest | Questions about Black representation in the films |
| Frozen II (2019) | The Northuldra | A fictional Indigenous people with a distinct cultural identity | Questions about Indigenous representation, not Black characters |
Who is Lieutenant Mattias in Frozen II?
Mattias is a lieutenant in the Arendelle guard. Before the events of the sequel, he and other soldiers were sent to the Enchanted Forest during a conflict between Arendelle and the Northuldra. A magical mist sealed the forest, leaving the soldiers trapped there for decades.
When Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf enter the forest, they encounter the soldiers and the Northuldra people living inside it. Mattias helps explain the old conflict and the history surrounding King Runeard, Anna and Elsa’s grandfather. His memories reveal that the official story about the confrontation was incomplete.
That role makes Mattias more than a background figure. He has dialogue, knowledge that changes the characters’ understanding of the past, and a part in the resolution of the conflict. He also remains a supporting character: the plot continues to center on Elsa and Anna, rather than following Mattias as a lead.
Who voices Mattias?
Sterling K. Brown voices Mattias in the English-language version of Frozen II. Brown is a Black actor, and the animated character is also depicted with dark skin. Those details support identifying Mattias as a Black character, while the story itself does not make race a major topic of conversation.
Voice casting and character identity are related but not identical. An actor’s identity does not automatically determine a character’s ethnicity, especially in animation. In this case, Mattias’s on-screen design is also part of why audiences recognize him as Black.
Is Mattias one of the main characters?
No. Mattias is an important supporting character, but he is not among the film’s central protagonists. Elsa and Anna drive the main story, while Mattias helps connect the present-day events to the history of the forest and Arendelle.
That distinction is useful if you are looking for a lead character, a major supporting role, or simply a named Black character in the franchise. Mattias fits the last two descriptions more accurately than the first.
How much screen time and story importance does Mattias have?
Mattias appears during the Enchanted Forest portion of Frozen II. He is part of the group of soldiers whose long confinement has kept an old dispute unresolved. His conversations with Anna and the others help make the past understandable, but the film does not give him a separate storyline that runs alongside theirs.
His value to the story is largely historical and moral. The soldiers have lived with a partial account of what happened, and the Northuldra have their own experience of the conflict. Mattias’s perspective helps the characters—and the audience—see that the events cannot be explained by the simple version the kingdom has repeated.
He also participates in the film’s broader theme of taking responsibility for harm caused by earlier generations. Anna and Elsa must respond to choices made before they were born. Mattias’s testimony helps reveal what those choices were, even though he was not the person who made them.
For viewers looking for extensive representation, it is fair to note the limits. Mattias is visible and named, but he is not the lead, and the movie does not spend much time exploring his identity or life beyond the forest conflict. His presence answers whether a Black character appears; it does not make him the center of the franchise.
Are the Northuldra characters Black?
The Northuldra are a fictional Indigenous people in Frozen II, and they should not be treated as another name for Black characters. The film connects their culture to Indigenous traditions and includes cultural elements inspired by Sámi people. Their identity is distinct from Mattias’s Black identity.
Some viewers may notice that characters from different communities have varied skin tones. Appearance alone is not always enough to identify a fictional character’s cultural background. In this case, the story gives the Northuldra their own community, history, and relationship with the forest, while Mattias is an Arendelle soldier with a different background.
Recognizing both groups accurately avoids a common mix-up: representation of one marginalized group does not automatically count as representation of another. Frozen II includes a Black supporting character in Mattias and also gives the Northuldra a separate Indigenous-inspired story. Those are different forms of representation.
What viewers should know about representation in the Frozen films
The films are fantasy stories set in a fictional northern kingdom. Their main characters are Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and the people around them. Mattias broadens the visible cast in the sequel, but the movies do not present Arendelle as a detailed portrait of a real-world society or explain every character’s ethnicity.
That means it is best to use precise descriptions. You can say that Mattias is depicted as Black and voiced by Sterling K. Brown. You can also say that the first movie lacks a prominent, clearly identified Black character, while the sequel includes one. It would be less accurate to imply that Mattias is a lead or that every character with a darker complexion shares the same identity.
There is another practical distinction: the animated films are not the only versions of Frozen. Stage productions, school performances, and other adaptations may cast performers differently. A live actor’s race is a feature of that production’s casting and should not be confused with the animated character design or with the casting of another version.
If a particular performance or adaptation is the subject of your question, check which version you mean. The answer may change depending on whether you are discussing the 2013 movie, Frozen II, a stage production, or another adaptation.
Common questions about Black characters in Frozen
Is Mattias Black in the movie, or only his voice actor?
Mattias is depicted with dark skin in the film, and Sterling K. Brown voices him in the English-language version. The character’s appearance and the actor’s identity are separate facts, but both are consistent with identifying Mattias as a Black character.
Does the original Frozen have a Black main character?
No clearly identified Black character has a substantial named role in the 2013 original. Its central characters are Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, and Hans, and Mattias does not appear until the sequel.
Is Lieutenant Mattias the only Black character in Frozen II?
Mattias is the clearest named Black character with a speaking role in the sequel. There may be background figures whose identities the film does not establish, so it is more careful to describe Mattias as the clearly identifiable named example than to make a claim about every extra on screen.
Is Sterling K. Brown’s character a lead?
No. Mattias is a supporting character. He has a meaningful role in explaining the history behind the Enchanted Forest conflict, but the central arc belongs to Anna and Elsa.
Does Frozen include other kinds of cultural representation?
Yes. Frozen II features the Northuldra, a fictional Indigenous people whose culture draws inspiration from Sámi traditions. That representation is distinct from the film’s depiction of Mattias as Black.
Do stage versions have the same characters and casting?
Not necessarily. A stage production may use different casting from the animated films, and productions can differ from one another. For a question about a specific show, identify the production rather than assuming its casting matches the movie.
Yes—does frozen have any black characters? The clearest answer is Lieutenant Mattias, a Black supporting character in Frozen II, voiced in English by Sterling K. Brown. The 2013 original does not feature a comparable named role.
For a precise answer, specify which film or adaptation you mean. If you are discussing the movies as a whole, name Mattias and note that he is a supporting character, not a lead.