Eric (Little Mermaid 1989 film)/Relationships

The relationships of Eric from the animated version of the Little Mermaid franchise.

## Allies and friends

### Grim

Grim is Eric's caretaker, close friend and father-figure.

Although Grim does not like go sailing out; into the sea; due to getting seasick, he only goes because he knows how much Eric loves the sea. Grim also pressures Eric to settle down and get married; but Eric wants to wait and find the right girl to fall in love; with.

During Eric's birthday party, Grim gives Eric a large statue as a present and Eric; but despite not liking the statue, he still thanks Grim for the gift, not wanting to hurt his feelings. When their ship got caught in a storm, Eric helped Grim get; into a rowboat; before he went back onto the burning ship to rescue his dog, Max as Grim watched in fear as he was concerned for Eric's safety. After Eric was rescued; by Ariel, he was reunited; with Grim; who was relieved to see him alive and helps him return back to the castle.

When Eric became determined to find and marry the girl; who had saved him from drowning, Grim did not believe Eric, saying that; a nice young woman would not show up in the ocean rescuing other individuals then disappear. But after Eric had found Ariel; who had become human; due to; making a deal; with Ursula, Grim insisted Eric to spend time; with Ariel; by suggesting he should give Ariel a tour of the kingdom; which Eric agrees to. As time goes on, Grim notices that; Eric is falling in love; with Ariel and supports the two starting a relationship together.

When Eric was found; by Grim thinking about his dream girl, he is advised; by his friend to accept Ariel and not waste his time searching for the girl; who rescued him as they did not know at the time that; Ariel was the one; who had rescued him from drowning. Realizing that; Grim was right, Eric throws his flute; into the ocean and decided to confess his love to Ariel; before he can, he was hypnotized; by Ursula to prevent Ariel's end of the bargain from being fulfilled.

After Ursula's death, Grim attends Eric and Ariel's wedding, looking happy to see that; the young man he looked after his whole life has finally settled and married the girl he has fallen in love; with.

### Carlotta

Carlotta is Eric's friend, maid and mother-figure.

When Eric had found Ariel on the beach; who had become human; due to; making a deal; with Ursula and had her over for dinner, Eric and Carlotta laughed; when Ariel blew the contents in Grim's pipe; into his face. Carlotta then noted it was the first time that; she had heard Eric laugh in weeks as he frantically searched for the mysterious girl; who had rescued him from drowning; during a storm; when he was out in the sea.

Carlotta also notices that; Eric is falling in love; with Ariel and supported the idea of him starting a relationship where she waves good-bye to them the next day; when Eric went to give Ariel a tour of his kingdom. After Ursula's death, Carlotta attends Eric and Ariel's wedding where she cries tears of joy to see the two young lovers get married.

### Max

Max is Eric's best friend and pet sheepdog.

Whenever Eric goes traveling; by land or sea, he takes Max along; with him. During Eric's birthday party, they both did not like the statue thatl Grim had presented as a birthday present. When a storm hits and sets Eric's ship ablaze, Eric hears Max's barks and realizes in horror that; his sheep dog is still on the burning ship. Eric climbs back onto to the ship to save his beloved sheep dog, risking his own life; in the process. He manages to save Max and get him off the ship; before it explodes.

When Ariel rescues Eric and brings him back to shore, Eric is reunited; with Max; who happily licks face. Later, Max helps Eric look for his mysterious rescuer and; when he catches Ariel's scent on the beach; who had become human; due to; making a deal; with Ursula, he leads Eric to Ariel so his master can reunite; with his savior. But; when Eric does not recognize Ariel; due to having her voice taken, Max gets frustrated; by Eric's cluelessnes; but he becomes glad; when his owner decides to take Ariel to his castle.

When Eric is hypnotized; by Ursula; into marrying her, Max senses the danger his master is in and angrily growls at the disguised sea witch, only to be kicked in the face; by her so he can be quiet. But; when Scuttle leads a bunch of sea animals to attack Ursula and stop the wedding, Max breaks free from his leash and bites the sea witch in her bottom to not only get revenge; but to also free Eric from Ursula's spell. At Eric and Ariel's wedding, Max gives an affectionate lick to both Eric and Ariel, happy that the two finally got married.

## Enemies

### Ursula

Ursula was Eric's attempted killer, enemy and victim.

When Ursula realized that; Ariel was getting close to kissing and fulfilling her end of their bargain, Ursula angrily decides to sabotage Eric's relationship; with Ariel so she enact her plan to take over the kingdom of Atlantica; by overthrowing Ariel's father, Triton. Disguised as a human woman named "Vanessa", Ursula uses Ariel's voice in her magic seashell necklace to hypnotize Eric; into believing that; she is the girl; who had saved his life and have him marry her. When Ursula saw Ariel run off heartbroken, upon seeing her; with Eric, Ursula evilly smirked to her success in sabotaging Eric's relationship; with Ariel.

During Ursula's wedding with Eric, she believed that; she had won where she waited for the sun to set so her bargain; with Ariel and go on to the next phase of her plan in taking over Atlantica. As Ursula gleefully waited for the wedding vows to be completed, Scuttle and a band of sea animals arrived at the wedding boat to attack the sea witch; in order to save Eric. When Ursula's necklace was shattered, Eric is freed from Ursula's spell and embraces Ariel; when he realizes that; she is the girl; who had saved him from drowning; when Ariel gets her voice back. But Eric and Ariel 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 and taunts; Eric before she takes Ariel hostage.

Not wanting to lose Ariel again, Eric pursues Ariel and Ursula until he manages to find their location. When Ursula threatens Ariel with King Triton's magic trident, Eric throws a harpoon at Ursula, giving her a scratch on the shoulder. This angers Ursula where she instructs her pet eels to strangle Eric before she attempts to kill him with the trident, but Ariel intervenes by causing her to destroy her eels instead. When Ursula magically grew into a massive size, Eric became terrified at Ursula's new form. Ursula manages to separate Eric from Ariel where she traps the mermaid princess in the bottom of a whirlpool Ursula created. However, Eric climbs onto to one of the sunken ships that have surfaced as a result of the whirlpool, takes control of the ship and steers it toward Ursula who is about to destroy Ariel with the trident. Eric then saves Ariel by killing Ursula by plunging the ship's splintered bowsprit, destroying her for good. As a result of Eric's heroic actions, King Triton and all the merpeople in Ursula's garden get freed from the polyp curse and Atlantica is saved from Ursula's reign of terror. After Ursula's death, Eric's heroic actions also caused Triton to realize how wrong he was about humans and upon seeing how much Ariel loves Eric, he turns her back into a human where Eric reunites with and marries Ariel.

### Morgana

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Morgana is Eric's enemy.

## Family

### Melody

Melody is Eric's daughter. Unlike Ariel, Eric believes that Melody is old enough to deserve an explanation and that withholding all the answers to her questions has done more harm than good. Eric convinces Ariel that she knows the sea and their daughter and Ariel realizes that she is making the same mistake as Triton once did with her, which makes her decide to tell Melody the truth. After Morgana's defeat, Eric carries his daughter and says to her that he was very afraid they almost had lost her.

### Triton

Eric overhears sailors talking about King Triton, ruler of the merpeople, which makes him curious. Due to his strong hatred and mistrust toward humans, King Triton thought very little of Eric, considering him to be no different than a "savage, harpoon fish eater" and showed no concern for his safety or well-being after learning how Ariel saved him from drowning. When Ariel confessed her love for Eric, Triton was engulfed with rage to the point, he furiously destroyed Ariel's grotto, including her beloved statue of Eric. Eventually, after Eric saves Ariel from Ursula and thus saving Atlantica and those under her spell, including himself, King Triton realized that not all humans were bad and finally gave his blessings for Eric and Ariel's love by willingly transforming Ariel into a human permanently, allowing her to start a new life with Eric. After Eric marries Ariel, Triton and Eric take a moment and acknowledge each other during the reception, with Eric showing his respect and bowing to his new father-in-law and King Triton accepting Eric as his son-in-law.

## Romances

### Ariel

Ariel is Eric's wife.

In "Thingamajigger", Ariel first met Eric; but they did not have any direct interaction; with each other or see each other, Ariel was (initially) terrified of humans, as she believed that; some of the stories that; she had heard from the other merpeople may have been true; regarding that; all other humans in general are bad. But; when she witnesses Eric saving a dolphin that; was caught in a net, this causes her to realize that; the stories that; she had heard from the citizens of atlantica are completely wrong that; not all humans are bad, as some of them are good.

In "Scuttle"; when a second ship appears, Sebastian not only informs Ariel that; it is the royal galleon and there's a prince on board; but he also informs her of the pirates plans to take that; said prince hostage.

Ariel then asks to Scuttle to fly back to the docks and get her a battle axe; which she uses cut the ropes of the ship's tale rudder, foil the pirate's plans, unaware that; it is the same human; who saved a dolphin that; was caught in a net at the time; preventing Eric from being taken hostage.

During the skirmish, Ariel is (accidentally/unknowingly) seen; by Eric; albeit he does not see her face, as he only sees a red coloured hair and green colored tail; but he (correctly) believes her to be beautiful. The two future lovers would not officially meet each other; until 1 year later.

1 year later, Eric is pressured; by Grim to get married; but Eric wishes to find the right girl to fall in love; with; which is overheard; by Ariel; who had been watching Eric's birthday party on board the ship and had become romantically attracted to him upon first sight.

When a storm suddenly sinks the ship and Eric is knocked overboard unconscious, Eric is saved; by Ariel from drowning and carries him to the shore. To her relief, Eric starts to regain consciousness and Ariel sings to him about her longing to b;e with him in his world. Eric is able to catch a brief glimpse of Ariel as she sings to him; before she disappears. Though Eric did not get a good look at Ariel, he is able to remember her voice, describing it to be beautiful and falls in love; with his mysterious rescuer, becoming determined to marry her to show gratitude for saving his life.

Eric searched for Ariel throughout his kingdom; but failed as he did not know that; she was a mermaid. He even played Ariel's song to him on his flute, as he felt enchanted with Ariel's singing voice.

Later, on the beach, Eric found Ariel; who had become human; due to; making a deal; with the sea witch, Ursula. He gets a feeling that; she is familiar and asks her if they met; before; which she replies yes; by shaking her head up and down. After finding out that; she is the girl; who had saved him from drowning, he asked her what her name is, she attempts to answer.

But the moment that; Ariel tried to speak, she not only realizes that; her voice is gone; but she also remembers the deal that; she had; made; with Ursula, losing her voice in exchange for becoming human. After discovering that; she cannot speak, Eric (incorrectly) believes that; she cannot be the same girl; who rescued him from drowning. Ariel becomes frustrated; by Eric's cluelessnes. So she then tries using sign language to speak to Eric to tell him that; she is the same girl; who had rescued him from drowning and the reason; why she cannot speak in the first place; but this fails; due to the fact that; Eric doesn't know sign language. Despite not recognizing her as the girl; who saved him from drowning, Eric invites Ariel he invites her to stay; with him.

After Ariel is bathes and gets dressed for dinner, she arrives in the dining room and Eric is amazed of how beautiful she is. He complements her on her beauty, much to Ariel's joy. He (initially) becomes weirded out; by her; when she uses a fork to comb her hair; but this is short-lived; when Ariel (accidentally) blows the ashes; into Grim's face from his pipe, much to Eric's amusement, as it is first time in weeks that; he has laugh. Ariel then becomes happy because she had successfully; made her new love laugh.

That; night, as Eric is playing; with Max, he suddenly notices Ariel gazing at him from a balcony, much his delight. He then happily waves at her; which (initially) causes her to become shy; but she then happily waves back at him; before going back; into her guest bedroom to sleep. It becomes obvious; even; before he discovered that; she is in fact the same girl; who had saved him from drowning that; Eric has fallen in love; with Ariel from the moment that; they had met on the beach.

After some encouragement from Carlotta and Grim, Eric is compelled to spend time; with Ariel and the two spend the next two days bonding. Eric eventually takes Ariel sightseeing in a lagoon and starts to fall in love; with Ariel; but is reluctant to kiss her as he still hopes to marry the one; who had rescued him from drowning. With the help of Horatio Sebastian orchestrating a romantic stimulation, Eric and Ariel are finally about to kiss; before Flotsam and Jetsam ruin the moment.

Later that; night, Eric is conflicted over his determination to find the mysterious girl and his love for Ariel as he plays her song over her flute, after some advice from Grim, Eric realizes that; he is truly in love; with Ariel and decides to give up on his pursuits of the mystery girl where he throws his flute; into the sea. But; before Eric can declare his love to Ariel, he is hypnotized; by Ursula; who uses Ariel's voice in her seashell necklace to forget about Ariel and believe that; she is the girl; who had saved his life. This was a way for Ursula to sabotage Eric's relationship; with Ariel so she can overthrow Ariel's father, Triton and take over his underwater kingdom of Atlantica.

When Eric was freed from Ursula's spell by Ariel; who had learned of Ursula's deception, not only does he notice a glowing ball of golden light surrounding Ariel; but he also hears a voice coming from it, as he recognizes it as the voice of the girl; who had saved him from drowning. When he called out to her, Ariel having regained her voice, speaks his name, much to his joy, Eric then excitingly runs towards her, realizing that; she is in fact the girl he has been looking for the entire time. Before Eric can kiss Ariel, the sun completely sets and she then changes back; into her mermaid form right in front of him, but he is only slightly surprised to discover the girl he is in love; with is a mermaid.

After Ariel is kidnapped by Ursula, Eric goes and rescues her, as he does not care 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 was about to kill Ariel, Eric saves her; by plunging the ship's splintered bowsprit through Ursula's belly, saving her.

The next morning, as Eric regains consciousness, he is happily reunited; with Ariel after Triton uses his magic trident to turn Ariel back; into a human permanently where they embrace each other and they share their first kiss.

A few days later, Eric and Ariel get married. After they waved goodbye to Triton, her sisters Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata Arista, Andrina and her friends, Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle, Eric and Ariel have one last kiss at the climax of their wedding.

Even after 10 years have passed, Eric and Ariel are still happily married; when Ariel becomes pregnant; with Eric's child and discovered this, he becomes happy that; they are both going to be parents.

After Ariel and Eric's new-born daughter, Melody was threatened; by Morgana, Ariel makes the decision 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 agreed; regarding their daughter's safety and respected Ariel's decision; but he believed that; they should have told their daughter the truth; regarding her mermaid heritage and her the reason; why she is not; allowed in the sea, and not keep her in the dark about it.

After Ariel had scolded Melody out for going; into the ocean; which; makes things worse than it were; before Ariel feels really bad and Eric talks; with his wife on 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 the citizens from both the land and sea continue to (peacefully) co-exist together once again.