In “Hop-Frog,” Poe adopts a fairy-tale-like style, presenting his story in the manner of a folk tale or a fable. This style is evident in the first few lines of the story, as the narrator states that:
I never knew any one so keenly alive to a joke as the king was. He seemed to live only for joking. To tell a good story of the joke kind, and to tell it well, was the surest road to his favor. Thus it happened that his seven ministers were all noted for their accomplishments as jokers. They all took after the king, too, in being large, corpulent, oily men, as well as inimitable jokers.
Here, Poe uses a style reminiscent of folk tales, emphasizing the role of the narrator as a storyteller who claims to speak of a true event that they experienced firsthand. His claim that he “never knew” anyone with such an appetite for comedy as the king, for example, implies a direct familiarity with the monarch. Additionally, the characters in this short story are depicted in a simplistic and generalized manner, closer to generic figures rather than fully individuated characters. The king, for example, has no specific name other than “the king,” and his somewhat cruel sense of humor is practically his only notable characteristic.
