Hop-Frog and Tripetta are the traditional jesters or fools of the court. The King’s generals forcibly took them from whatever land they came from to serve as slaves: entertainment for the king and his seven ministers. The king and the ministers love a good joke and it is clear that they get a kick out of humiliating and abusing Hop-Frog and Tripetta. The King and his seven ministers are the fools because Hop-Frog turns the tables on them. First he convinces them to act like fools. Then they are humiliated in front of all attendees at the masquerade and finally die a painful death. This is plain old irony. The fool makes the authorities, the abusive king and his ministers, look like fools.