Ariel/Relationships

The relationships of Ariel.
==Romance==
===Eric===
Eric is Ariel's husband. In the prequel television series, Ariel first meets Eric in the episode "Thingamajigger", but they don't have any direct interaction or see each other. Ariel is initially scared of humans, believing in the stories merpeople tell about humans being bad. However, when she witnesses Eric saving a dolphin that was caught in a net, she realizes that those stories are wrong.
In the episode "Scuttle", a second ship appears, Sebastian not only informs Ariel that it is the Royal Galleon and there's a prince on board but also that the pirates plan to take that said prince hostage. She then asks to Scuttle to fly back to the docks and get her a battle axe, which she uses to cut the ropes of the ship's tale rudder, foil the pirate's plans and prevent the prince from being taken hostage. She is unaware at this point that it is the same human that she saw saving a dolphin. During the skirmish, she is seen by Eric, albeit he does not see her face. He only sees her red hair and green tail, but it is enough for him to believe she is beautiful. The two future lovers would not officially meet each other until a year later.
In the original film, Ariel spots a ship passing above her secret grotto. Excited, she quickly swims up to the surface and toward it, despite Sebastian's protest and her father's order to never go to the surface again. She watches the party on board and spots Eric, immediately becoming romantically attracted towards him. When a storm suddenly sinks the ship and Eric is knocked overboard unconscious, Ariel saves him from drowning and carries him to the shore just in time. To her relief, Eric starts to regain consciousness and Ariel sings to him about her longing to be with him in his world. Ariel's friend Flounder even salvages Eric's statue and places it in her grotto.
Even though she and Eric are different species, Ariel doesn't care and she loves him so much that she makes a deal with the sea witch Ursula, trading her voice for a human legs in hopes of winning Eric's heart in three days. If she succeeds before the sun sets on the third day, she is able to remain a human permanently. However, if she fails, she turns back into mermaid and be Ursula's slave forever. When the two reunite, Eric gets a feeling that Ariel is familiar. When he asks her if they met before, she states yes by shaking her head up and down. Thinking she is the girl who saved him, he asks her what her name is, but then she remembers her voice is gone because of the deal she has made with Ursula. After discovering that she cannot speak, he believes that she cannot be the same girl who has rescued him from drowning. Ariel becomes frustrated by Eric's cluelessnes, for she then tries using sign language to speak to Eric to show him that he is mistaken, but this fails because Eric doesn't understand her signs. Despite this, he still invites her to stay with him.
After Ariel takes a bath and gets dressed for dinner, she joins Eric in the dining room and he is amazed of how beautiful she is. He complements her beauty, much to Ariel's joy, making her blush. Unfortunately, she unintentionally embarrasses herself in front of Eric, when she uses a fork to comb her hair (due to previously been told by Scuttle what they are used for). When she sees the looks on Eric and Grimsby's faces, she soon realizes what they are actually used for, much to her embarrassment. After noticing Grimsby's pipe, she takes it and, thinking it as a musical instrument (also due to previously been told by Scuttle what they are used for) blows ashes into his face, also discovering what it is actually used for, believing that she makes a complete fool of herself in front of Eric again. However, her embarrassment is short-lived, when Eric laughs at Grimsby who's face is covered with ashes, after Carlotta points out that the for the first time in weeks that she is seeing her prince laugh, much to Ariel's delight, realizing that she didn't make a fool of herself in front of her love this time.
That night, as Eric is playing with Max, Ariel gazes at him from a balcony. When Eric suddenly notices she is gazing at him from a balcony, this causes him to happily wave at her, which initially makes her become nervous, but then she happily waves back at him before going back into her guest bedroom to sleep.
After some encouragement from Grimsby and Carlotta, Eric is compelled to spend time with Ariel and the two spend the next two days bonding. Eric gives Ariel a tour of his kingdom and eventually takes her sightseeing in a lagoon and starts to fall in love with her, but is reluctant to kiss her as he still hopes to marry the one who rescued him. With the help of Sebastian orchestrating a romantic stimulation, Eric and Ariel are finally about to kiss before Flotsam and Jetsam ruin the moment.
The next morning, when Scuttle informs Ariel that the entire kingdom is buzzing over the news that Eric is getting hitched this afternoon, she is briefly confused. But then she soon realizes that Eric is going to marry her, much to her delight. She excitedly runs downstairs to see her fiancé, only to see him with a dark-haired girl named Vanessa.
Hearing Eric intending to marry Vanessa, Ariel becomes confused about how Vanessa could be the person who saved him from drowning, when Ariel knows that she is the one who truly saved Eric. She then breaks down in tears and runs off, devastated that he is not marrying her. Later that afternoon, the wedding ship departs with him, Vanessa, and the wedding guests on board, leaving a heartbroken Ariel to mourn over the loss of the man she loves.
However, Scuttle informs her that Vanessa is truly Ursula in disguise and that Eric is compelled to marry Ursula while entranced by her. Realizing the sea witch's dark intentions, Ariel dives into the water in order to get to the wedding ship so that she can save Eric from being married to Ursula. After Ariel reaches the wedding ship and climbs aboard, the seashell on the necklace that Vanessa has been wearing shatters in front of her, freeing her voice, which then returns to her. 
Eric comes out of the spell, noticing a glowing ball of golden light surrounding Ariel and recognizing the voice coming from it as the voice of the girl who has saved him, he calls out to Ariel. Having regained her voice, Ariel speaks his name, much to his joy. Eric then excitingly runs towards her, realizing that she is the girl he has been looking for the entire time. Unfortunately, Ariel is so caught up in the moment that she doesn't notice how close the sun is from setting. Just as she is about to kiss Eric, the sun completely sets and she then changes back into her mermaid form right in front of him. However, he is only slightly surprised to discover the girl he is in love with is a mermaid.
After Ariel is abducted by Ursula, Eric goes and rescues her, not caring if she is a mermaid or not. During the battle with Ursula, Ariel shows concern for Eric's safety and tells him to get away, but he refuses to leave her. At the climax of the battle, just as Ursula is about to slay Ariel, Eric saves her by plunging the ship's splintered bowsprit through Ursula's belly, slaying her.
The next morning, Ariel watches Eric on from a nearby rock. She is sad that she is unable to be with Eric due to being a mermaid again. However, her sadness is short-lived because her father uses his magic trident to permanently transform her into a human, much to her delight. After Eric regains consciousness and sees Ariel in her human form, they are happily reunited as they embrace each other, and they share their first kiss.
A few days later, Ariel and Eric get married. After Ariel waves goodbye to her father, her sisters and her friends, she and Eric have one last kiss at the climax of their wedding.
In The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, even after two years have passed, Ariel and Eric are still happily married, though their relationship has become significantly more mature largely due to becoming parents.
After Ariel and Eric's newborn daughter, Melody, was threatened by Morgana, Ariel decides that Melody should not be allowed in the ocean or know about her mermaid heritage for her own safety until the sea witch has been dealt with. Although Eric reluctantly agrees, but he still believes that they should have tell their daughter the truth, regarding why she is not allowed in the sea, instead of keeping her in the dark about it.
Twelve years later, things get worse than it were before after Ariel scolds Melody out for going into the ocean (an attempt to avoid answering her question of why a seashell necklace has her name on it), regarding Melody being humiliated at her 12th birthday party after she was talking to Sebastian to make sure he was okay after he had unintentionally destroyed her birthday cake. Ariel feels really bad that she made things worse than ever, so Eric talks with his wife about what just happened. He points out that they knew that the day would come when they would have to tell their daughter the truth about her mermaid heritage and Ariel realizes that Eric is right, that it is time to trust Melody with the truth. After Morgana's defeat, Ariel and Eric share a kiss as people from the land and sea continue to coexist in peace together.
==Family==
===King Triton===
King Triton is Ariel's father with whom she shares a strong father-daughter relationship. In the prequel film, Ariel and Triton were very close with she was younger. However, after the accidental death of her mother, Athena, and Triton bans music from the kingdom of Atlantica, their relationship becomes strained. However, after Triton saw Ariel getting hit by Marina in the process, he is remorseful for his actions, as he finally comes to terms with his wife's death, restoring music to Atlantica, father-and-daughter reconciles after this, becoming close once again.
In the prequel television series, Ariel and Triton's relationship is not always strained, as they do sometimes see eye-to-eye, as in the episode "Stormy", when Ariel attempted to ride a wild giant seahorse named Stormy that her father warned her was too dangerous. After Ariel is accidentally injured by Stormy, she admits that he was right about the danger. Triton later offers her a tamer giant seahorse more appropriate to her skills.
Ariel's love for human things often clashes with her father, Triton due to his prejudiced regarding humans and human culture; despite this, he is capable of realizing his mistakes, like in the episode "Metal Fish", when he saved a human from drowning after his daughter pointed out to Triton that all merpeople, including himself, are half-humans.
In the original film, Ariel and Triton's relationship has become very strained, partly due to his overprotectiveness and mainly due to her father's prejudiced humans; believing that all humans in general, to be nothing more than savage fish eaters, and Ariel's fascination with humans, when Ariel forgot about the concert, her father becomes very furious, and when his daughter returns home (after her friend, Scuttle the seagull had unknowingly reminded her about the concert), he scolds her for her careless and reckless behavior (despite the fact that she did not intentionally mean to ruin the concert), but during the scolding, Flounder unintentionally reveals that she went to the surface again, in an attempt to defend her. The two get into a heated argument regarding humans, during the argument. Ariel then unintentionally disrespects her father, as after she states that she is now sixteen years old and and no longer a child who is to be protected, which is true. Triton angrily tells her to never raise that tone of voice with him (as he lacks patience with his youngest daughter). When she tries to get her father to listen to her, regarding humans, he refuses, and after being demanded by him to obey his every rule and not to go to the surface again, she tearfully swims off, after she leaves the palace, Triton correctly believes he was being too hard on Ariel.
For the last few days, Triton has notice Ariel's unusual happy behavior lately, but was completely oblivious to the reason behind this behavior of hers. Adrina (his second youngest daughter) then points out that Ariel is in love, much to his delight (initially unaware at the time that she has fallen in love with a human named Eric) believing that the person Ariel fallen in love with is a merman.
Triton summons Sebastian, wanting to know the identity of Ariel's love, the Jamaican crab incorrectly believes he already knows, as his anxiety blinds to the obvious joy the sea king feels, he then accidentally reveals that his daughter saved a human from drowning (as contact between humans and merpeople are forbidden by the sea king himself), breaking the promise he had made to Ariel (he had promised her to keep it a secret). Sebastian is then forced to reveal Ariel's secret grotto, where he goes and confronts Ariel, not only for going to the surface again but also for saving a human, Ariel points that Eric could have died if it weren't for her, with Triton unmovingly stating that it was "one less human to worry about", she responds that he doesn't even know what Eric is like, only for him to arrogantly state that he doesn't need to know him, that all humans are the same; spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters, incapable of any feeling, this causes Ariel to accidentally reveal that he has fallen in love with Eric, much to Triton's shock.
Out of fear that Triton may have lost his daughter, Ariel to the human world, he loses control of his rage and destroyed most of Ariel's human artifacts in a failed attempt to "get through to her" (which ultimately backfires). She begs her father to stop, but he doesn't listen. After he destroys a statue of Ariel's love, he is horrified at what he had done, feeling extremely guilty and remorseful for his unjustified actions. He then leaves in shame, knowing that Ariel is not yet ready to receive an apology from him, especially after what he had done, and the relationship becomes damaged after this. King Triton' actions indirectly lead to Ariel to make a deal with his archenemy, Ursula, to become human in order to be with Eric. Unknown to Ariel, she was being used by the sea witch in a plot to take Triton's throne.
When Ariel goes missing (after becoming human), Triton blames himself for the situation and tirelessly spends his time searching for her, unable to rest until she's safe at home and to apologize to his daughter for what he had done, as he realizes he had gone too far, when Sebastian, who had been watching over Ariel, arrives from the surface and tells the sea king about Ursula's scheme (off-screen) he quickly goes out with Sebastian to rescue his daughter from the sea witch. Ariel apologizes to her father (regarding signing a deal with Ursula), who attempts to destroy the contract between Ariel and Ursula, to no avail. Upon learning from Ursula that Ariel had signed an agreement with Ursula and that she may be willing to make an exchange for someone even better, Triton willingly takes his daughter's place, despite knowing the cost of his choice, this proves just how much he loves Ariel, as he will willingly risk anything for her, even at the cost of his own kingdom.
Despite the fact that Ariel was angry with Triton for his previous actions (regarding destroying most of her human artifacts and a statue of Eric), she never hated her father. After he takes her place and was turned into a polyp, Ariel, horrified and enraged by what Ursula did to him, attacks her, only to be restrained by the sea witch.
After Ursula is killed by Eric, Triton returns to his original form, not only does he realizing just how much Ariel truly loves Eric, but his beliefs about all humans being bad were completely wrong. He also realizes that his daughter has grown up metaphorically as she needs to live her own life and willingly transforms her into a human permanently, allowing her to be with the man she loves, even though he is going to miss her very much. Their relationship is repaired after this, as Ariel forgives Triton for his previous actions, to the point that he is invited to attend her and Eric's wedding, near the climax of the wedding, he gives his daughter, Ariel one last hug, she in return tearfully tells her father that she loves him very much, after saying goodbye, he then uses his trident to cast a beautiful rainbow over the sky, a sign that he approves of Ariel's marriage to Eric.
In The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, despite Ariel and Triton not seeing each other for two years, father-and-daughter are still very close, as she introduces Triton to his newborn granddaughter, Melody, much to his delight. Triton is no longer overprotective of Ariel, he also respected her decisions, even if he does not agree with some of them, such as after Melody was threatened by Morgana, she decided not only should Melody not be allowed in the ocean or know about the existence of the merpeople (until Morgana has been dealt with once-and-for-all). Although Triton agreed with the decision to keep Melody out of the ocean for her own safety, secretly he did not agree with the decision to keep her mermaid heritage a secret from her or not tell her the reason why she is not allowed in the sea, much to his heartbreak.
Twelve years later, when Melody runs away, Ariel reunites with her father who turns her back into a mermaid and helps her look for her missing daughter. After Morgana's defeat, Ariel and Triton are able to stay in touch and remain closer than ever after Melody allows people from the land and sea to coexist together peacefully again.
===Queen Athena===
As a young mermaid, Ariel showed a great love and admiration for her mother, Queen Athena. Ariel resembled her mother so greatly and even shared a love of music with her. After the death of her mother, Ariel was saddened and mourned her death with the rest of her family.
Years later, after discovering an underground music club, Ariel rather than exposing the club, expressed happiness in hearing music as it gave her fond memories of her mother. When the club is exposed and the band is sent to jail, Ariel confronts her father and angrily states that her mother wouldn't want music forbidden.
Ariel then decided to run away as she couldn't be happy in Atlantica without having music to remember her mother. When Ariel found her mother's music box and realized how broken her father was over her death, Ariel decided to bring the music box back to him, hoping to make him happy again and bring music back. After Ariel was knocked out by Marina Del Rey, Ariel was awoken by her mother's song Endless Sky and reconciled with her father, bringing music back to Atlantica just as Ariel hoped to do.
===Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina===
Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista and Andrina are Ariel's six older sisters.
Due to Ariel's free-spirited and rebellious nature, they have always considered her to be the oddball of the family. Despite this, they all love and care about her despite their differences.
Although the sisters were saddened by Ariel's decision to start her own life on the surface with Eric, they all showed their support and wished her good luck while present on her wedding day. They were also present during Melody's christening and were excited to get to know their first niece.
Of all Ariel's sisters, she is closest to Attina and Arista, but Ariel does love all of her sisters deep down.
====Attina====
As the crown princess and future queen of Atlantica, Attina takes on many responsibilities, including keeping Ariel out of trouble and is highly protective of her as a result. Despite Attina's tendency to be bossy, Ariel appears to be more appreciative of her protectiveness towards her than Triton, most likely due to Attina's patience and compassionate approach as well as all the time the two have spent together during their childhood and adolescence. In the original film, it is shown that Attina knows Ariel better than Triton and the other siblings as she instantly realized through Ariel's humming that she was in love with someone, showcasing their strong sisterly bond.
====Arista====
Ariel has a close relationship with Arista, with whom she shares her fun-loving nature and adventurous spirit, and would often go on various escapades with her. However, Arista does not let their adventures come at the expense of her responsibilities to Atlantica and like her sisters, Arista disapproves of Ariel's tendency to stray away.
===Melody===
Melody is Ariel's daughter. When Melody was born, Ariel hoped to connect her with both her ancestral homes so that the girl could be a part of both worlds, a luxury Ariel did not have during her own childhood. When Melody's life was threatened by Morgana, however, Ariel became highly protective of her and as a result, she severed all ties with Atlantica and the ocean in hopes of preventing Morgana from using Melody's heritage to her advantage. As Melody became older, Ariel began to see how isolating her came down on their relationship but nevertheless remained healthy enough for them to express a loving mother-daughter relationship.
Despite being happy with her new life, she misses her father and sisters but keeps this hidden from Melody for the latter's own safety.
Melody is in tears in her bedroom over what happened while Ariel comes in to comfort her daughter, Melody picks up the necklace and sees her name on the locket. Furious, Ariel confronts Melody and learns that she has been sneaking out into the ocean without her permission. Melody tries to learn why she isn't allowed into the sea and asks about the locket. Ariel however doesn't answer Melody's questions, forbids her from going into the sea and warns her that the sea is dangerous. Angry at her mother's refusal to answer her questions, Melody runs out of her bedroom, but not before she takes back her necklace.
Although she comes to realize later in the film that this decision does more harm than good and after discussing the matter with Eric, she admits that Melody is old enough to know the truth behind her heritage.
Ariel blames herself for pushing her daughter away, believing she should have told Melody the truth sooner. Knowing Ariel's familiarity with the ocean, Eric convinces his wife to accompany Triton while he stays to lead the search on the surface. Ariel reluctantly agrees and requests to be temporarily turned back into a mermaid by her father to advance the search. Triton complies, and Ariel dives into the ocean.
While looking for Melody with her father, Sebastian and Flounder, Ariel discovered the trident was missing and notices Melody's locket on the floor.
After defeating Morgana, Ariel and Melody reconcile. Ariel promises that there will no longer be any secrets between them and that she loves her regardless of her species. After being given a choice between coming with Triton to Atlantica as a mermaid and return home to Ariel on land as an ordinary girl, Melody chooses to remain on land as the Child of Sea and Shore, effectively choosing the life Ariel always wanted for her to have in the first place. Melody's decision brings her and Ariel closer than ever before.
==Friends and Allies==
===Flounder===
Flounder is Ariel's best friend. Since their initial meeting, Flounder and Ariel developed a strong friendship. Ariel was often annoyed with Flounder's cowardliness and would playfully call him a "guppy", much to his annoyance. Despite Flounder's timid nature, Flounder is very loyal to Ariel and would follow her on any adventure she goes on. Also, Flounder would try to defend Ariel whenever she got in trouble and comfort her when she is sad. In addition, Flounder would do anything to make Ariel happy. For example, he found the statue of Prince Eric and put it in Ariel's grotto, knowing she was very much in love with the human prince. When Flounder showed her the statue, Ariel gave him a big hug. However, after her grotto was destroyed by King Triton who had discovered his daughter's love for a human, Flounder was heartbroken for Ariel as she broke down in tears.
After Ariel became human during a bargain with Ursula, Flounder came to Ariel's side and helped her swim up to shore before she could drown. As Ariel explored life on land, Flounder willingly helped Ariel get Eric to fall in love with her. When Ursula, disguised as Vanessa and put Eric under her spell to marry him, Flounder was sad for Ariel until Scuttle informed them of Ursula's deception. Flounder then immediately helped Ariel get to the wedding boat so she can save Eric. After the death of Ursula and Ariel becoming a permanent human, thanks to her father, Flounder attended Ariel and Eric's wedding. Ariel gave Flounder a kiss and Flounder waved good-bye to Ariel before he watched Ariel leave to start her new life with Eric.
===Sebastian===
Ariel and Sebastian did not get off to a good start as Sebastian was the royal Chief of Staff and seemingly supporting the ban of music after the death of Ariel's mother, Queen Athena. Ariel also was annoyed with Sebastian's nagging and tendency to follow the rules. However, after discovering Sebastian to be performing in a secret underground club, Ariel, though surprised at first, gained a newfound respect for him and was allowed by Sebastian to join the club, even though he was reluctant as she was the daughter of the sea king. When Sebastian was thrown in jail after being exposed, Ariel decided to free Sebastian and run away with him. Though Sebastian was unwilling at first, he changed his mind so he could help Ariel find her mother's music box and convince her father to bring music back to the kingdom.
When Ariel found the music box, Sebastian comforted her when she learns how her father never recovered from her mother's death and was willing to help her return the music back to Triton. When being attacked by Marina Del Rey, Sebastian protected Ariel, shielding her from Marina and her electric eels. Ariel then managed to save Sebastian by pushing Marina out of the way, stopping her from hurting Sebastian. After Triton brings music back to Atlantica and appoints Sebastian the royal court composer, Ariel becomes so happy for her friend that she gives him a hug.
Sebastian was strict with Ariel, but not as much as her father, Triton. When Ariel found out that Sebastian had discovered her secret grotto and heard her express her longing to be part of the human world, Ariel begs Sebastian not to tell her father, but Sebastian decides to just to take Ariel home, only for her to become distracted by a ship passing above. When Ariel falls in love with a human named Prince Eric, Sebastian was shocked and tried to keep it a secret, worried about what will happen if Ariel's father found out. Sebastian did try to make Ariel forget Eric and the human world by singing Under the Sea, only to fail. Sebastian then accidentally revealed Ariel's rescue of Eric to Triton (believing he already found out), leading to the destruction of Ariel's grotto.
Sebastian felt extremely guilty for ranting out Ariel and she coldly shrugged him off when he tried to stop her from going to Ursula. After Ariel became human during a bargain with Ursula, Sebastian came to Ariel's side and helped her swim up to shore before she could drown. Once arriving on shore, Sebastian freaked out about Ariel having legs, worried how her father would react, and tried to offer up a solution to get Ariel's voice back and turn her back into a mermaid. However, upon seeing Ariel's sad face, Sebastian realized Ariel's life would return to misery should she become a mermaid once more. Sebastian then decided to help Ariel find Eric, as a way to make up for breaking his promise and regain Ariel's trust. She then thankfully gives him a kiss.
After arriving at Eric's castle with Ariel, she rescued him by hiding him in her dinner plate after escaping from Chef Louis. Sebastian expressed his exasperation over the entire ordeal, only to soften once he sees Ariel's happiness and satisfaction over living above the surface where he sleeps beside her on her pillow. Sebastian helped Ariel get Eric to fall in love with her by singing a romantic song so Eric can kiss her, only to fail when Ursula's eels Flotsam and Jetsam intervene. When Ariel became heartbroken upon seeing Eric intending to marry another woman named Vanessa, Sebastian was sad for Ariel. However, when Scuttle reveals that Vanessa is actually Ursula, Sebastian gets a barrel for Ariel to use to get to the wedding boat and goes to warn Triton, in order to save Ariel.
After Ursula's death, Sebastian looked sad for Ariel as she was a mermaid again where she was unable to be with Eric. However, when Triton, who developed a change of heart about humans, turned Ariel back into a human again, Sebastian became overjoyed and watched her reunite with Eric. Later, Sebastian attended Ariel and Eric's wedding, crying tears of joy and watched Ariel leave to start her new life with Eric.
===Scuttle===
Scuttle is another one of Ariel's friends. He identifies any human object Ariel brings to him and tells her how humans use an certain object, despite knowing very little about the object itself. When Ariel rescued Prince Eric and brought him to safety, Scuttle helped her check to see if he was alright and seemed happy for Ariel when he saw that she was in love with the human prince.
After Ariel had become human due to making a bargain with Ursula the sea witch, Scuttle found Ariel washed up to shore and noticed that there was something different about her. Ariel was very patient as Scuttle made guesses on what was different until Sebastian revealed it out of frustration. After learning that Ariel had three days to make Eric fall in love with her, in order to become a human permanently, Scuttle dresses Ariel in a dress made out of sailcloth and gives her a thumbs up when she leaves with Eric.
Scuttle tries to help Ariel get Eric to kiss her by singing a romantic song, only to fail because his terrible singing, much to Ariel's embarrassment. On Ariel's third day of being human, Scuttle congratulated when he believed that Eric was planning to propose to her. However, upon discovering Eric is actually marrying Vanessa who is Ursula in disguise, Scuttle immediately warns Ariel and helps stop the wedding by enlisting several animals to attack Vanessa and free Eric from the sea witch's spell.
After Ursula's death, Scuttle attended Ariel's wedding to Eric after her father, King Triton allowed his daughter to become a human permanently. Scuttle said good-bye to Ariel and she affectionately rubbed his head before she sailed off to start her new life with Eric.
===Urchin===
Coming soon!
===Gabriella===
Coming soon!
===Max===
After her marriage to Eric, Max became Ariel's pet old English sheepdog. In the prequel television series, Ariel first met Max in the episode "Thingamajigger", back when he was still a puppy, however, they did not have any direct interaction with each other, as she was more focus on his master (Eric) unknown to Ariel, the sheepdog saw her as she dived underwater, Ariel and Max would not officially/directly meet each other until a year later; by then, Max would be a young adult.
In the original film, Ariel spots a ship passing above her secret grotto. Excited, she quickly swims up to the surface and toward it (despite Sebastian's protest or her father, Triton ordered her to never go to the surface again) where she watches the party on board. While prancing around, Max catches Ariel's scent and tracks her down at her hiding place. Ariel gets scared and hides, but then glances back in curiosity and comes face to face with a panting Max. Immediately taking a liking to Ariel, Max licks her cheek affectionately before being called away by Eric. It is very likely that Max recognizes Ariel, from their previous meeting a year ago; presumably due to her scent.
When Max finds Eric on shore after the shipwreck, he barks very loudly which causes Ariel to dive back in the water. Max sees her swimming away and tries to run after her, but to no avail. He is still able to smell her behind the rocks in the distance, and hear her reprise "Part of Your World", which he barks in applause to before leaving.
After becoming human, Ariel is still initially terrified of Max. When Eric is walking Max out on the beach, he picks up Ariel's scent (who is now human) further on down the beach and excitedly runs away from Eric, prompting Eric to follow the sheep dog. When the sheepdog arrives and barks very loudly, alerting Ariel to his presence, she becomes frightened and tries to get away from him, Max playfully chases Ariel up a rock, joyfully licking her face once more, which makes Ariel spontaneously lose any fear and smile happily due to the sheepdog being friendly toward her. After being reunited with Eric, the latter assures her that Max is quite harmless.
By the time Ariel had spent three days in Eric's kingdom, her fear of Max has completely disappeared. This is evidenced by the fact that after Scuttle the seagull successfully destroys Ursula's necklace, freeing Eric from the sea witch's spell and Ariel regaining her voice, Max affectionately runs towards Ariel, who smiles at him lovingly as she calms him down with her hands. At Ariel and Eric's wedding, Max gives an affectionate lick to both Ariel and Eric, happy that the two finally got married.
==Enemies==
===Ursula===
Ariel was well-aware of Ursula's reputation as a sea witch and like other [Merpeople|merpeople]] and sea creatures, Ariel feared Ursula. After the destruction of her grotto, Ariel was approached by Ursula's eels, Flotsam and Jetsam who "offered" to take Ariel to Ursula who could make Ariel's dreams come true. At first, Ariel refused as she feared Ursula, but changed her mind upon the eels flicking a piece of Prince Eric's statue towards her.
When Ariel arrived at Ursula's lair, she hesitatingly entered and became terrified at the sight of Ursula's garden, though she managed to keep it together and stay calm while meeting and interacting with Ursula. Ariel was offered by Ursula to become a human for three days and would become human permanently if she shares a kiss of true love with Eric, but will turn back into a mermaid and be bound to Ursula for eternity if she fails to kiss Eric. Ariel becomes reluctant and even more when Ursula demands Ariel's voice in exchange. Nonetheless, Ariel agrees and signs Ursula's unbreakable contract where she allows Ursula to magically take her voice and turn her into a human. However, unknown to Ariel, her bargain with Ursula was part of the sea witch's sinister plot to overthrow her father and take over Atlantica.
As Ariel spends time with Eric on land, Ursula secretly took every measure to prevent Ariel from succeeding on her side of the bargain. After Flotsam and Jetsam tip over the boat in which Ariel and Eric were sitting on as the two were close to kissing, Ursula realized that Ariel is doing a much better job earning Eric’s love than she thought and feared that they may actually share a kiss before the deadline. Ursula then angrily decided to take matters into her own tentacles by disguising herself as beautiful human female named "Vanessa" and uses Ariel's voice to hypnotize Eric to marry her. When Ursula saw Ariel run off heartbroken, upon seeing her with Eric, Ursula evilly smirked to her success in sabotaging Ariel's relationship with Eric.
However, when Scuttle discovered Ursula's deception and alerted Ariel of this, Ariel was shocked and horrified that Ursula would break their bargain and immediately became determined to stop Ursula and save Eric. Upon arriving on the wedding boat, Ariel managed to get her voice back after Ursula's shell necklace broke where she reunited with Eric. However, Ariel and Eric fail to kiss when the sun sets, turning Ariel back into a mermaid, much to Ursula's sinister joy as the sea witch turns back into her true form before taking Ariel hostage.
After Triton confronted Ursula where he allowed himself to take Ariel's place, Ariel watched in horror as Ursula turned her father into a polyp and then took his crown and trident. Realizing now that Ursula tricked her, Ariel furiously tried to attack the former, only to be quickly threatened by Ursula until Eric saves her by throwing a harpoon at the sea witch. When Ursula readied a killing shot for Eric, Ariel quickly managed to stop her by grabbing a hold of Ursula's hair, redirecting the blast to Flotsam and Jetsam-killing them. Ursula becomes saddened and enraged at the death of her eels that she blamed their deaths on Ariel and now resorted to kill her. When Ursula magically grew into a massive size, Ariel became terrified at Ursula's new form. Ursula managed to trap Ariel at the bottom of a whirlpool where she tried to kill her, only for Ariel to dodge her blasts several times. Ursula then taunted Ariel for ever finding "true love" with Eric and prepared to kill her with one last blast from the trident. However, Ariel was successfully saved by Eric who managed to kill Ursula by impaling her with a sunken ship's splintered bow. After Ursula's death, Ariel was turned back into a human by her father where she reunited and married Eric.
===Morgana===
Morgana is Ariel's third enemy. She threatened her daughter Melody's christening and becomes overprotective of her daughter. She said that Melody and herself can't go in the sea until Morgana is found.
Just as Melody is about to give Morgana the trident, Ariel shows up and stops her, frantically. Morgana and Ariel are trying to convince Melody to give the trident to each other. But Melody, angry at Ariel for hiding the truth about her locket, gives it to Morgana. Morgana cackles maniacally and claims that all the seven seas are at her command. She wraps Ariel in her tentacles and mocks her for failure to protect her daughter from her, and carries her to the surface after imprisoning Melody and Flounder into a part of her lair. At the battle, Ariel escapes from Morgana's tentacles and dives in the sea to save Eric from Cloak and Dagger. Morgana seems unaware that her prisoner escaped, especially when she later zapped her with the trident to bow down before her. After Morgana's defeat, Ariel reunites with her family and lifts the ban on the sea.
===Marina Del Rey===
After the death of Queen Athena, Marina Del Rey was hired by King Triton to be the governess of Ariel and her sisters. However, Ariel hated having a governess as Triton was having his family live a strict life after the death of her mother. Marina, on the other hand, hated having to watch over the seven princesses, viewing them as spoiled and lazy princesses. Even so, out of all the princesses, Marina seemed to hate Ariel the most, wanting to look for ways to crush her spirit.
After Ariel ran away from home with Flounder and Sebastian, Marina's hatred of Ariel grew stronger where she decided to kill Ariel and have her death look like an accident. Ariel was then confronted by Marina who ordered her electric eels to kill Ariel and her friends. When Marina tried to attack Sebastian one last time, in order to retain her position as Chief of Staff, Ariel stopped her by pushing her out of the way, getting injured in the process. Ariel's selfless act caused Triton to realize the type of person Marina truly is and regret his mistakes where he lifted the ban on music and threw Marina in prison, as punishment for her crimes.
Category:Relationships
Category:The Little Mermaid relationships
Category:Disney Princesses relationships