Ursula

### Enemies

King Trition. Ariel, Eric. Nemo. Luca. Dory. Marlin. Coarl. Spongbob. Patrick. Squidward. Mr. Krabs. Sandy. Mrs. Puff. Flounder. Sebastian

### Relatives

Unnamed mother †Morgana (younger sister)

Uma (daughter)

### Likes

Her eels, power, shrimp, manipulating merpeople, causing despair for others, revenge, cosmetics, dark magic, King Triton's crown (because of stealing)

### Dislikes

King Triton, being second-best, starvation, failed spells, people forgetting her birthday, losing her eels, Spongbob

### Powers and abilities

Black magicSize alterationShape shifting

**Ursula** (also known as the **Sea Witch**) is the main antagonist of Disney's 1989 animated feature film *The Little Mermaid*. She is a villainous cecelia (half-woman, half-octopus) who strikes deals with unfortunate merfolk with the promise of making their dreams come true. Ursula's contracts, however, are covertly designed to advance her own ambitions and cause general misery. In the past, Ursula was a resident of King Triton's palace, before being banished and exiled by order of the king. Scorned, she has since vowed to exact vengeance by harnessing the power of the king's trident and installing herself as ruler of all the ocean.

Ursula is loosely based on the nameless sea witch from the original Hans Christian Andersen tale, while her characterization takes inspiration from the drag queen Divine. Ursula's fervent confidence and theatricality have been met with critical praise, and have influenced villains that followed. She has since featured prominently as a primary member of the *Disney Villains* line-up. Ursula is also one of the main antagonists of Under the Sea alongside Plankton.

## Physical Appearance

Ursula is a morbidly obese octopod, classified as a cecaelia (half human, half octopus). She has light lavender skin, short white hair, and her body, from the waist down, is black with six tentacles dotted by violet suckers. The area around her eyes is a darker shade than the rest of her face. Her eyes are gray and she has a mole near the right side of her mouth. She is always seen wearing makeup; in particular, she has aqua blue eye shadow, deep red lipstick, and red nails. For jewelry she wears purple shell earrings and a gold nautilus shell necklace.

Ursula's alter-ego, Vanessa, looks like what could be considered a "mean girl" version of a Disney Princess. In many respects, she resembles Ariel with her striking beauty, slim figure, and long hair. It is believed that this was deliberate, to match Eric's hazy recollection of the woman on the beach. However, it's not difficult to tell them apart. Vanessa has olive skin, dark brown hair (black when wet) that is parted down the middle rather than brushed to the side like Ariel's, higher cheekbones, and violet eyes in contrast to Ariel's bright blue which are accented by highly arched eyebrows. The latter feature gives Vanessa a more mischievous expression, especially when she's pleased with herself. Vanessa wears three outfits during her appearance on screen: the first is a sleeveless blue dress under a deeper blue corset. She wears this and black shoes on the beach when hypnotizing Eric, along with a long black cape, but is later seen without the cape. Her second outfit is simply the vanilla-colored slip she later wears under her wedding dress and black flats. Her final outfit is the aforementioned wedding dress, a long white affair with ruffles covering the front and a split skirt, revealing the slip underneath. This dress has large puffs at the sleeves, much like Ariel's. She also wears a long, opaque white veil on her head and a pair of white high heels. With all three outfits, she wears Ursula's golden nautilus pendant which contains Ariel's voice. That is, until Scuttle destroys it at the end of the movie.

## Personality

In tone, and by nature, Ursula was very dark with a wicked sense of humor. After her banishment from Atlantica, the sea witch established herself as a beacon of hope for unfortunate merpeople, allowing them to strike deals and business propositions that would supposedly result in their happiness, should they successfully fulfill their end of the bargain. During such deals, she presumably spoke in a grandmotherly tone, as if her only concern was the satisfaction of her customers, just as she did with Ariel. This would have lulled her clients into a false sense of security, making her schemes easier to fall for. She would have pressured her victims into accepting her offer, portraying herself as their last resort at making their dreams come true, especially if her initial deal wasn't appealing alone. Also, if Ariel's deal is any indication, Ursula would sadistically ensure her customers fail at upholding their end of the deal, resulting in their souls being kept forever in her possession, their bodies becoming permanent members of her living garden as polyps. The motivation of such practices are never exclusively revealed, though it could be theorized she held a general contempt for merfolk as a result of her banishment. However, she reserved no sense of morality or remorse for those she tormented. In Ariel's case, her intentions are purely to use the young mermaid as a pawn to obtain power over the seas. On a separate note, Ursula is the only character seen eating in the film when she ingests a hapless shrimp during her opening scene.

Throughout the film, Ursula is driven by vengeance and a lust for power. Her prolonged vendetta against King Triton fueled her desire to usurp him in revenge for her banishment from the palace. She quietly spies on the merfolk with the help of her minions, Flotsam and Jetsam, biding her time until she eventually finds an opportunity to concoct a scheme capable of placing her in power; this, of course, being Ariel falling in love with Eric. Ursula's insatiable hunger for revenge and power finally culminate at the film's climax when she crowns herself ruler of the seas, her maniacal rage matched only by her increased size.

Despite Ursula's irredeemable traits, she had a softer side as seen in her relationship with Flotsam and Jetsam, who Ursula lovingly referred to as her "babies" or "poopsies". They are the only creatures she treats with any true affection, despite barking at them at times when enraged. The only remorse she ever displayed was after accidentally killing them with Triton's trident, immediately redirecting her anguish and rage toward Ariel for causing it in the first place. In the TV series, however, she does abuse her minions for failure at times.

Ursula was classy, if not a bit flamboyant, and presents herself with confidence. She had an eye for high standards and decorum as evidenced by her belief that lurking in doorways is rude. Though she was very obese, she appeared to suffer dysmorphia, claiming to be "wasted away to practically nothing" and "starving". Despite this, she exhibited vanity, regularly admiring herself and applying makeup and hair treatment. Though she had power to alter her appearance, she chose her naturally curvaceous figure, apparently content and even going so far as to flaunt it in a sultry manner. Most of her personal distaste derived from her demoted social status and lack of power.

Though Ursula was highly intelligent and calculating, she was extremely arrogant and egotistical to the point of underestimating her opponents. For example, when she used the trident to transform herself into a giant, she disregarded Eric as a threat and did not consider that her size made her an easy target. She gleefully brought shipwrecks to the surface, inadvertently providing Eric the perfect means to retaliate, without realizing his strength and skill as a sailor. By the time her fatal mistake was realized, it was too late, and she was easily impaled by the broken bow of Eric's ship before she could react. It was these negative traits and mistakes that eventually led to Ursula's painful, yet justified, death.

Though it is ambiguous as to whether or not Ursula knew she was evil, she makes it clear (in song) to Ariel that she is aware of her infamous reputation among the merfolk and appears to agree with and embrace their assessment. Some media, such as the Disney Villains book, back this up.