Ariel

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Character
Name: Ariel
Occupation: mermaid Princess
Relationships: King Triton (father), Queen Athena (mother),
Attina, Aquata, Arista, Adella, Andrina, Alana (sisters)
Prince Eric (husband),
Melody (daughter),
Flounder (friend), Sebastian (friend), Scuttle (friend),
Ursula (enemy), Morgana (enemy)
Fandom: The Little Mermaid, Once Upon a Time (TV series)
Other: Voiced by Jodi Benson
Portrayed by Joanna Garcia (Once Upon a Time)
Portrayed by Halle Bailey (2023 live-action film)
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Ariel is the main character in the Disney movie The Little Mermaid and its sequels. She is based on the protagonist of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" story.

Canon

The Little Mermaid (1989 animated film)

Ariel was born to King Triton and Queen Athena, and had six older sisters Attina, Aquata, Arista, Adella, Andrina, and Alana. When she was a very young mermaid, she lost her mother to a ship of humans.

Ariel is an adventurous, impulsive, stubborn, and spirited mermaid. She can be rash, and she's been known to make not-so-smart decisions. Ariel is most well known for her singing voice. Ariel was always interested in humans, often gathering their lost treasures and items from wrecked ships. This led her to falling in love with Prince Eric and wanting to be human. With the "help" of Ursula, Ariel gains legs, however, she loses her voice to Ursula. She meets Prince Eric and befriends him, and he falls in love with her. Seeing that they are close to kissing, Ursula transforms herself into a beautiful human woman with Ariel's voice and bespells Eric into marrying her. Ariel rescues Eric, breaking the spell, however it was too late since she turned back into a mermaid. After a battle between Ursula and Triton with the help of Eric, Ursula is defeated and Ariel was freed from Ursula. Triton, seeing how sad his daughter was at losing Eric, gives her the gift of legs. Ariel and Eric reunite, and eventually marry. Ariel eventually gave birth to a daughter, Melody.

Once Upon a Time (2011-2018 live-action TV show)

Ariel first appears in Season 3 of Once Upon a Time[1] portrayed by Joanna Garcia, where she meets and befriends Snow White. With the help of "Ursula," she becomes human temporary to finally meet Prince Eric. However Ursula's whole plan was to trick Ariel into helping her catch Snow. In order to save Snow, she misses her chance to stay human with Eric, and loses her voice.

29 years later in Neverland, Regina Mills and Mr. Gold are by the banks of a lake and Regina whispers something into a sea shell, which causes Ariel to appear. Regina returns Ariel's voice to her and asks her to go to return to Storybrooke so Ariel can retrieve a weapon from Mr. Gold's shop that will be strong enough to stop Peter Pan. Regina then promises Ariel that she can be a human permanently and if she goes to Storybrooke she will find Eric there. Ariel goes in order to see Eric, and it's there she befriends Leroy (Grumpy) and Belle.

Eventually she and Eric reunite. They share a kiss. Both Ariel and Eric are transported back to the Enchanted Forest when Peter Pan curses the town again. However, they were separated when they landed in the Enchanted Forest. Ariel tries to find Eric who was kidnapped by Captain Blackbeard on the Jolly Roger. Ariel gets help from Killian Jones, however Hook instead kills Captain Blackbeard and reclaims his ship. Ariel goes off to find Eric by herself, and eventually does find him on an island.

The Little Mermaid (2023 live-action film)

Here she is portrayed by actress and singer Halle Bailey, one half of pop duo Chlöe x Halle. In this version her sisters are named Perla, Indira, Mala, Tamika, Karina, and Caspia. Like in the Broadway adaption of the film, Ariel is the one who impales Ursula with a ship bow instead of Prince Eric. Most official reviews praised Bailey's strong acting debut and lovely singing voice.

Fandom

Ariel is a popular character in Little Mermaid fandom as well as the Disney Fandom and Non/Disney fandom where she was often crossed over with other Disney Princesses or Disney Princes or just other Disney characters. In the main fandom, The Little Mermaid, she is mainly shipped with Prince Eric.

Some of the common crossover pairings are:

Once Upon a Time

Ariel was quite a popular character before she was actually cast and appeared in Season 3. Fans often fancasted her with Holland Roden (Lydia Martin in Teen Wolf) or Molly Quinn (Alexis Castle in Castle). A popular pairing before she appeared was Hook/Ariel, which has still remained a common pairing.

Since she appeared, she's also often paired up with:

The Little Mermaid (2023 live-action film)

Most fanworks here focus on Ariel/Eric, as many official reviews for the film praised the romantic chemistry between their actor and actress.

Fanworks

Fanart

Fanfic

Moodboards

Vids

Additional Art Gallery

Archives and Fannish Links

Deviantart

Resources

References

<references>

  1. ^ Once Upon a Time Season 3 Episode 6 "Ariel"
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