Can we just quickly talk about how Quasi is basically a superhero...
He just yanks a fully-grown man (and a hefty-looking one at that) clean off his feet WITH ONE HAND.
What we’re seeing here is essentially the Spiderman of Disney.
And again, he lifts a fully-grown man in a full suit of armour WITH ONE HAND.
Yep, that happened.
He doesn’t break the chains, he breaks the building.
But I love that Quasi’s brute strength absolutely makes sense in this movie- he’s been ringing bells the size of elephants (and probably weight as well) nearly all his life - of course he’s going to be strong.
It’s a great character point too - he doesn’t use his strength to intimidate (not counting the incident when he has that squabble with Phoebus in the Cathedral- he was protecting his new friend). But rather uses it, like any good superhero should, when he absolutely needs to in a pressured situation where he has no other choice.
As the above examples tell us:
He needed his strength in order to defend himself and fight back against a ravenous mob
To get Esmeralda back to safety and then protect her from a supposed threat from a soldier
To aid in the hunt to warn Esmeralda about Frollo
And then finally when saving Esmeralda from the pyre
It’s also worth noting how often Quasi uses his strength specifically to help and/or protect Esmeralda, showing that his loyalty and heart is just as fierce and powerful as his strength.
As ‘Hercules’ taught us, a true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.
(Sorry, I didn’t anticipate how corny this post was going to get)