King Triton (2023)

King Triton is the overarching protagonist of the 2023 remake of The Little Mermaid.
He is the King of the Seas, the father of Ariel and her six older sisters. Triton is fiercely protective of his children, especially his youngest daughter.
He is portrayed in the live-action remake by , who also portrayed Stilgar in Dune (2021) and its 2024 sequel and Hector P. Valenti in Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.
==Personality==
King Triton, like his original counterpart, is fiery and headstrong. He prioritizes the safety of his daughters, especially Ariel; this can borderline into an overprotective and obsessive nature. After his wife's murder at the hands of a human, Triton has developed a xenophobia and hatred towards them. He also disapproves of his daughter's fascination with humanity. When Triton learns that Ariel has saved a human from drowning, he angrily confronts her about it and destroys all the human artifacts in her grotto.
However, after Triton's temper drives Ariel away, the sea king falls into depression and feels remorse for what he has done to her. After giving up his life to Ursula and how Ariel fought for his, Triton finally accepts his daughter for who she is and must let her go. By the end of the film, Triton completely accepts humans and shows respect towards Eric when he shows up at his and Ariel's wedding.
==Powers and Abilities==
* Merman Physiology: being a menace, Triton has all the abilities that a merperson possess: superhuman strength, durability, speed, agility, reflexes, leaping, stamina and senses. 
** Superhuman strength: King Triton's strength is greater than any human or aquatic entity. For example, he pushed Ariel and Eric's boat from the shores to their boat. 
** Thermoendurance: Triton can adapt to both hot and cold temperatures. 
** Aquatic breathing Like all merpeople, Triton can breathe underwater and above land
** Aquapathy: King Triton can communicate to all sea creatures as seen through his interactions with Sebastian and Flounder. 
* Power of the Trident
** Energy Bolts: The trident can create powerful bright energy, which Triton used to destroy all the human trinkets in Ariel's grotto. He attempted to attack Ursula after what she did to Ariel. However, Ursula blocked his attacks. 
** Transformation: With the Trident, Triton was able to turn Ariel permanently human at the end of the film so she could be with Eric.
==History==
===Background===
King Triton was the older brother of the sea witch, Ursula. However, he had her banished when she committed treason. Triton was the ruler of all the seas and oceans and happily married to Queen Athena. With his wife, Triton had seven daughters, Mala, Indira, Caspia, Tamika, Karina, Perla, and finally, Ariel. 
Unfortunately, Queen Athena was killed by a human when Ariel was very young. King Triton was devastated by the loss of his wife. He forbade any contact with the human world and decreed that no one was allowed to go to the surface. As his daughters all moved away to rule their oceans, Triton became overprotective of his youngest daughter Ariel, as she ruled closer to the castle. However, the family would convene every year around the time of the Coral Moon. 
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Triton and Ursula being siblings was an idea originally intended to be used in the original film but was dropped during development.
*In the tie-in novel, Against the Tide, Triton banished Ursula because she tricked his wife into swimming up to the surface in an area filled with hunters. This resulted in the Sea Queen's death and Triton's prejudice against humans.
*Triton was going to sing a song "Impossible Child", which was ultimately cut from the film for time reasons. 
*In the remake:
**Triton has upper armor instead of being bare-chested.
**In the original film, Triton shows remorse for destroying Ariel's human objects. However, in the remake, he does not show any sign of remorse until after Ariel has disappeared.
**Triton accepted humans after Eric killed Ursula. However, in this film, he accepted humans because Eric helped Ariel fight Ursula.
**Unlike in the original film, Triton's daughters also share their father's hatred of humans.
**In the remake, Triton was destroyed and then revived.
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