Sofia the First (character)

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**Princess Sofia** is the titular protagonist of the Disney Junior animated television series, *Sofia the First*. She is a little girl with a commoner's background until her mother marries the King of Enchancia and became a princess. Sofia learns that looking like a princess is not all that hard, but behaving like one can come only from the heart.

## Background

Sofia is a young girl who lived in a village with her mother, Miranda. She had a father, but he got lost at sea. She becomes royal after her mother's remarriage to the King. Being new to the entire Princess legacy, Sofia attends the Royal Prep Academy where Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather show her the ropes about what being a Princess is all about. However, Sofia is caught between two messages—is being a Princess about material goods or having a good heart? It is up to her animals, led by Clover the rabbit, and a powerful, magical amulet, to set her on the path of the heart.

### Personality

Sofia is shown to have a two-sided personality: One side is that of a softhearted idealist. Sofia is shown to be very kind and compassionate. She is also shown to be loyal to her loved ones to the point of altruism. She is also willing to befriend people the large majority refuse to have anything to do with. She also believes in keeping promises no matter what. She also shows her affections by giving her loved ones warm hugs. She also believes that something being trouble free and being a happy something are the same thing.

The other side of her personality is that of a hard-headed pragmatist. Sofia is shown to be a precocious girl who believes the proof is in the pudding. This fuels a side of her that is very investigative and skeptical. She tends to try to juggle more than she can handle, especially when it comes to her friends, and value making herself as multifaceted as possible. This side also gives her trust issues that make her go off on her own without telling anybody and keep secrets from everyone except her Aunt Tilly and her mermaid friend Princess Oona.

There is a smaller third part of Sofia's personality that she tries to hide: Her vulnerable, scared, and worried part. Many times Sofia's vulnerable side has made her question if she truly belongs with her royal friends and family. She has a tendency to worry about her own self-worth and if she can handle being a princess. While she doesn't get scared often, when she does she will lose some of her confidence, which can cause trouble for her.

### Physical Appearance

Sofia is a beautiful young girl with fair skin, rosy cheeks, thin pink lips, light blue eyes, and shoulder-length wavy auburn hair (that she sometimes she ties in a ponytail).

She usually wears a princess gown of a lilac bodice trimmed in two lines of pearls down the front and along the neckline and wings on the skirt, a pearl-hemmed and studded lilac petaled skirt with a row of great lace drops and trumpets each arranged like a four-leaf clover or cross on a nimbus, and a yellowish petticoat with a lilac band; a swirly tiara inset with pink sapphires, white pearls, and a turquoise diamond; violet slippers with bows and mid heels; and the royal family's Amulet of Avalor, a huge fire opal drop cabochon on a swirly silver backing topped with three sapphires and on a silver necklace wrapped over amethyst beans. In the pilot for her debutante ball her dress had elaborate lacework on the shoulders and fourteen scrolls and terminal cloverleaves about each nimbus.

During *Elena and the Secret of Avalor*, her amulet has turned pink and her dress turned into a violet gown like when she was a commoner, her Derby outfit, and sorceress robe, where her bodice now has white vines on a pink front between the only lines of pearls each clustered with eight smaller pearls and her sheer overskirt has shafts of four spade-like pairs of tendrils against beams all greater below the next over 15 drops arranged as daisy petals over the violet skirt with three white fan stripes between each shaft. She also wears purple slippers and white stockings. But earlier the Disney websites featured her in an intermediate glittery outfit of the purple skirt with opalescent clover-nimbus motif, pink petticoat, and violet bow-tie slippers, and stockings and a purple amulet, which she did not wear in the crossover, but more often in the episodes since "The Bamboo Kite". So both of her special outfits in the television specials did not become employed regularly instead of the simpler ones. Sofia's promotional art and merchandise broadly depart on the dress and amulet.

When she goes on outings, she usually wears a violet equestrian suit for riding, of a cap with bow, jacket, trousers, and boots, but her shirt is lilac like her flying horse, Minimus. When she has a Buttercups meeting she wears what essentially looks like a Girl Scouts uniform of the 1960s which, much like the Fireside Girls in *Phineas and Ferb*, has a beret with emblem, shirt, and skirt here of shades of yellow, but with uniform tan vests of badges, tan shoes, and red socks. Each Buttercup has also worn a green or red backpack. Otherwise when Sofia travels on foot she wears a long dress with three stripes at the bottom, a thick coat, sometimes a bow, and a narrow-brimmed hat with a headstrap and a band with her tiara emblem.

Sofia's amulet lets her change to the size of a rodent or wee sprite or into a mermaid, whenever she needs to. Her original mermaid design has a violet tail, lilac top with sheer waist frill, bra of several pink scallop shells and a amethyst-beaded strap, bracelet of starfish and seashells, and golden tiara of stars, a pair of seahorses, and some gems. Her mermaid redesign has a tail with a different shade of purple, a pink top with white frills on the neckline, a sash of red violet seaweed around her waist, pink fins, and a gold and pink seashell tiara.

### Powers and Abilities

Although a young girl, Sofia has displayed various skills, abilities, and magical potential.

* **The Amulet of Avalor:** This magical amulet, gifted to her by her stepfather, grants Sofia the power to talk to animals (for which the amulet blessed her when she helped a baby bird back into its nest). When she helps Oona the mermaid out of a fishnet, the amulet blesses her with the ability to transform into a mermaid and gain everything that comes with it, including the ability to breathe underwater. Her most recent abilities are to turn herself into any animal she sees in front of her and to turn herself into a fairy. The Amulet also gives her the ability to shrink herself at will; she can even shrink what she is wearing to scale. It also summons the Disney Princesses when she needs help.
* **Flying Horse-riding:** Sofia tried out for the Royal Prep Flying Derby team in "Just One of the Princes", with Minimus as her steed. After hard work and training, she managed to win her spot on the team, and became a skilled flying horse-rider. She uses those skills later to rescue Clover from Boswell, then to chase Wormwood, the latter event occurring in her regular dress. This leads to James desiring her as his teammate. Her skills have grown to the point where she can teach herself how to drive a flying coach and a flying sleigh and how to ride a griffin. However, this skill does not immediately translate well when it comes to flying enchanted objects--it takes a day for Sofia to learn to fly a carpet, this being exacerbated by the carpet being wild.
* **Magic:** Sofia began lessons in magic and sorcery in "Cedric's Apprentice", first having trouble with a spell to turn things into rubies. But with help from her temporary sorcery-teacher, Cedric the Sorcerer, she soon masters the ability to cast spells although it requires a wand. This comes in handy later when she frees the fairies from their bubble. However, after her first try at spell-casting when she put everyone attending her first ball to sleep, she remains cautious about bold magical attempts, even in measuring magical plant food. However, her skill has greatly increased, allowing her to break a bubble trapping the headmistresses in one try. As Cedric's apprentice, Sofia got to clean Cedric's books, enabling her to know of a few spells, such as one concerning animal-human transformation that came up when she later turned into a cat. In a rare exception of recklessness around magic, Sofia tested Cedric's new Duplication Spell on herself, despite the food-loving Clover advising her to copy the apple she had tried it out on first four or five more times. This recklessness led to the creation of Sofia the Worst. Her magical skills and knowledge have grown to the point where she is the top student in Sorcery Class. She most recently learned some spells from Merlin.
* **Various Buttercup Girl Scout Skills:** As a Buttercup Scout, Sofia has learned many outdoor skills, such as wood-gathering, identifying various herbs, survival skills, etc.
* **Leadership:** Sofia displayed potential and competency as a leader, when she led her fellow Buttercups in making a sled so they could hurry an ill Baileywick to get treatment at the castle. When Roland was lost in a snowstorm, she ordered the animals of the woods to find him and bring back proof. When rescuing Clover from Boswell, she used strategy with Mia, Robin, Crackle, and Minimus, tricking Boswell into choosing her for a magic trick and repeatedly impeding him from holding on to Clover for long until Crackle shook him off for good with a fiery blast. When defeating Miss Nettle with Cedric, she begins to develop her cunning by using Clover's chewing ability with Wormwood's wings to get a spare wand for Cedric when his original wand is damaged, then uses his Morpho Mirrors trick to trap Miss Nettle. When the island she is having a picnic with her mother and siblings is levitated, her quick wit is used again when she tries to pull them down to a neighboring island with her allies and a rope. Sofia, however, often has difficulty seeing other people's viewpoints, but if she knows those views, she uses them well to her advantage. She also, especially with Amber, is good at winning arguments over opinions on how things should be run. Sofia has recently proven to be good at thinking through how to solve difficult tasks, such as finding the answer to an ogre's riddle, then at figuring out how to make a good science project without Hocus Crocus. When James becomes King For The Day, she proves to be a competent Royal Adviser. Sofia, unlike James, easily takes advice and learns well from experience. Her physical prowess improves after taking Roland's advice and running a race course as a cat in "When You Wish Upon a Well". However, when around figures of authority, even her siblings, Sofia can be overpowered due to her feeling insecure about lacking royal birth.
* **Athletic Prowess:** Despite initially being clumsy, Sofia has shown that she possesses superb athletic prowess. She was strong enough to fling Prince Hugo off his horse and into the haystacks and the RPA fountain, despite the fact that Hugo is bigger. This physical strength is due to her sportsmanship and, for her arm strength, her fencing, and her wand-waving. She also possesses great stamina as shown when she marched through a jungle all the way to the Jade Jaguar's cave, a feat that easily tired out Amber and Jun. Her prowess was heightened when she retained the cat reflexes she gained after Amber accidentally turned her into a cat. Her athletic prowess has grown to the point where both the Dunwiddie Ducks and Royal Redhawks wanted her to be on their team for the King's Cup. Most recently, she was able to airlift a grown man wearing armor.
* **Enchanted Ice Dancing:** Sofia had trouble learning to ice dance in the beginning. When Prince Hugo saw this, he decided to help her out, and she got every move down. Although she became one of the best ice dancers at Royal Prep, she tells Hugo that she still needs help with her royal round-off.
* **Discipline:** Sofia has shown throughout the series to have an unusually high level of maturity and self-control for a child her age. She is able to remain calm in most situations and rarely loses her temper (in the episode Mystic Meadows, she stomps her foot in front of Goodwin the Great due to the latter not realizing the reason behind Cedric’s messing up). It is revealed in "Stormy Lani" that Sofia achieves this by thinking "sunny thoughts".
* **Frigid Temperature Tolerance:** Unlike the other members of her family, Sofia is shown to have a remarkable tolerance to the cold, as shown when she dressed up in a cloak whereas the rest of her family had to wear fur coats, and when she was the only one who was not shivering in the coach when she and her family were caught out in a blizzard.
* **Swordsmanship:** Sofia is shown to be skilled with a sword. It is revealed that this is due to taking Fencing Class at Royal Prep.
* **Mechanical Skill:** Sofia has shown remarkable mechanical ability in "In a Tizzy" when she built a really fast go-carriage from parts she salvaged from Enchancia Castle's junkyard. It's revealed in "Princess Jade" that she gained this skill in Architecture Class at Dunwiddie School.
* **Sewing:** Sofia is shown to be a very talented seamstress, taught from a very young age by Miranda (who had to partially depend on sewing for her livelihood as a shoemaker). This is especially relevant in the episode "Princess Butterfly" in which she is able to expertly craft her own swan costume.
* **Enchanto-Zoology:** Sofia's love of magic and ability to talk to animals has given her extensive knowledge of Enchanted Creatures.
* **Magical Knowledge:** Sofia love of magic has given her superb knowledge of magical things. She uses numerous spells in the episode "Substitute Cedric". She is able to perform a spell to make a copy of herself in the episode "Sofia the Second", however, the spell goes awry. In the episode "Make Way for Miss Nettle", Sofia is extremely skilled at using magic to grow enchanted flowers. Sofia has at least a basic understanding of magical spells.
* **Bright Light of Goodness:** A magical power coming from Sofia herself. It is a powerful light raised from Sofia's heart and can be guided by Sofia's mind to her chosen target. The light is potentially lethal for evil creatures and can dissolve evil spirits and evil ghosts into nothingness, as shown in "Forever Royal". The light can be used as a shield against magical attacks.

## Appearances

### *Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess*

Sofia first appears with her mother on the way to Enchancia Castle to deliver slippers to King Roland II. When her mother and the King marry, Sofia becomes Enchancia's second Princess and the Royal Family's youngest member. Sofia says good-bye to her friends Ruby and Jade before heading to the castle. Sofia is warmly welcomed by everyone at the castle except Amber, who is jealous of her, and Cedric, who is annoyed that she cannot say his name right. Later, her new father announces that she will have A Royal Ball in honor of her Royal Debut and gives her a beautiful necklace that she must promise to never take off. The next day at Royal Prep, all the other kids take an instant shine to Sofia. Amber convinces James to give Sofia a ride on the Enchanted Swing Set. The swing sends Sofia into the RPA Fountain. Sofia runs away and stumbles across a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest and puts it back. Her necklace glows and she hears the birds say "thank you". When she gets home, Cedric reveals that her amulet is magical and the next day she discovers she can talk to animals. For the next few days, Sofia struggles with her studies. At Dance Class Amber tricks her again and when she gets home she asks Cedric for a spell. When it puts everyone to sleep, Sofia's amulet summons Cinderella. At Cinderella's urging, Sofia and Amber reconcile and fix everything. She then dances with her new father and then her whole family.

### *Sofia the First*

As the protagonist, Sofia is a major character throughout the series. As a neophyte Royal, she struggles to find her place among the world of Royalty and prove herself worthy of her new status. She also must learn the responsibilities that come with being the bearer of the Amulet of Avalor and its powers. She also finds herself caught between things she wants to do as a free spirit and what she must do as a Princess.

Sofia reveals to love sports such as the Flying Derby. Her love of sports leads to her trying out for the RPA's Flying Derby team despite everyone telling her it is a Prince only thing. Sofia quickly proves to be a prodigy when she becomes able to ride her horse Minimus and tackle most of the race course in just one day. She eventually wins the tryout race and makes the team. She becomes so good that she is able to win the Flying Crown for Royal Prep for the first time in a hundred years and teach herself how to ride a griffin and drive both a flying coach and flying sleigh. She also loves athletic activities that are considered Princess only things like Enchanted Ice Dancing. It is revealed that most of her physical prowess comes from the real world experience she has gained as a Buttercup Scout. She has also learned spell casting, a skill that has grown to the point where she is the top student in sorcery class. Sofia also goes out of her way to help Amber and James learn important life lessons. She helps Amber learn to not be afraid to try new things and commit to rescuing missions with help from Princess Jasmine and Mulan. She also teaches James how to be a good sport and that some things are more important than winning. Sofia learns about her amulet's third ability the hard way after it places a curse on her for bragging to her friends about being chosen to be the Anthem Singer. With help from Belle, she is able to break the curse. Sofia also shows that she is loyal to her loved ones to the point of being altruistic as shown when she took the blame for James for what he did to the window. She is also shown to have superb detective skills. However, Sofia is also shown to have flaws of her own. Sofia has trust issues that make her keep secrets, a tendency to go off without telling anybody and be vulnerable to peer pressure. These traits tend to annoy or anger some of her loved ones like James and Jade. Most recently, Sofia has taken on the job as the Storykeeper of the Secret Library of Enchancia. At first, she does not think she can do it but thanks to her Aunt Tilly and Merida, she has gained the confidence she needs to accept the job of finishing all the stories in the Library and giving each one a happy ending. In the course of being a Storykeeper, the Protectors of the Mystic Isles offered to train her to be the EverRealm's first ever protector after she saved the Isles from Prisma. She has begun her training under Chrysta and is assisting the Protectors of reclaiming the Wicked Nine before Prisma gets them all.

In the series finale, Sofia is about to graduate from Royal Prep when she is called back to the Mystic Isles to face an evil sorceress named Vor, who plans to take over the kingdom of Enchancia and the EverRealm, whom the Protectors thought had been destroyed after Sofia helped stop Prisma from reviving Vor through the Wicked Nine. Faced with her greatest task yet, she rallies her friends to stop Vor, but she's too powerful.

Sofia rushes to the castle warn her family, when Vor appears in of her and attacks her, causing the princess to lose her balance and fall off the bridge. Luckily, Minimus arrives, catches Sofia on his back, and flies her to safety. They try to sneak into the castle to warn her family, but Vor begins placing her powerful curse over it. Seeing how badly they are outmatched, Minimus tells Sofia he knows a perfect place to hide, and the two make a hasty retreat.

Sofia and Minimus retreat to the Secret Library. Sofia discovers Vor's conquest in the distance and feels like all hope is lost. Suddenly, her Amulet glows blue. A book called *The Tale of Princess Sofia* is selected, explaining Sofia's desitiny to defeat Vor. When Sofia sadly notes she already tried and failed to finish this story, the pendulum turns into a man who is revealed to be the First Storykeeper. He explains to Sofia that she must not give up on her destiny to defeat Vor, even if it means doing it by herself. Encouraged by the Storykeeper, Sofia sends Minimus to the village to make sure their friends are alright and then to the harbor to wait for her while she rescues her family.

Sofia succeeds in freeing her family from Vor's spell and they retreat on a ship. She convince her family to fight back, to which Amber agrees, and Sofia turns into a flying horse and Amber climbs on, and they fly back to the castle, with the rest of the family following.

Eventually, Sofia and Amber reach the castle where Vor is planning to make her next move on another realm. Sofia activates the amulet's power to trap Vor inside it--only for Vor to snatch her by the ankle and drag her inside with her. Inside the Amulet, Vor quickly gains the upper hand on Sofia and prepares to finish her off. But Sofia stands tall after seeing the spirits of the Disney Princesses who had been summoned in her times of need. They encouraged her to be brave and strong for they all believe in her. With their support, Sofia lets the bright light of goodness in her heart shine on Vor, causing the evil sorceress to dissolve into nothingness, destroying her permanently and freeing Prisma from her control. Truly grateful and guilt-ridden for what happened, Prisma apologizes for everything she has done.

Meanwhile, Cedric rallies the Royal Family, Sofia's friends, the animals, and everyone else, and they work together on the spell to free Sofia. The spell works and Sofia and Prisma are released from the Amulet. Prisma willingly turns herself in to face her actions. The Protectors then dub Sofia an official Protector of the EverRealm and is given a new uniform. She and all her family and friends then go inside to celebrate.

### *Elena and the Secret of Avalor*

Sofia appears in *Elena of Avalor* pilot special, where she learns the great mystery of her Amulet from Alacazar: Princess Elena of Avalor has been trapped in her Amulet for forty one years. Believing she cannot tell her family the truth, Sofia convinces them to spend the Royal Family's summer vacation there. With her powers, Shuriki's wand, and help from the Jaquins and Alacazar's grandson Mateo, Sofia frees Elena, who sets off to defeat Shuriki on her own. When this fails, Sofia and Elena team up and together they free their families during which Sofia finally reveals the truth about her Amulet to her family and admitting that all of her secret intention was to protect them. They then rally the Citizens of Avalor and defeat Shuriki. Freeing Elena also turns her Amulet pink. Afterwards, she is rewarded with a new dress.

### *Elena of Avalor*

In the series finale "Coronation Day" which takes place four years after they helped Elena reclaim Avalor from Shuriki, Sofia and her family return to Avalor for Elena's coronation as Queen. Sofia is shown to have aged well into her teenage years, alongside James and Amber, and still wears the Amulet of Avalor. They arrive just in time for the crowning, much to Elena's joy and she warmly welcomes them back. After Elena is crowned, Sofia joins in singing the song "Guiding Light". Elena later dances with Sofia as everyone celebrates Elena's new status as Queen of Avalor.

## Disney Parks

 File:SofiaCalifAdventure.jpg
Sofia made her theme park character debut during the filming of the Walt Disney World segments of the *Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade* special at the Magic Kingdom on December 1, 2012. The fully-costumed character is part of the Disney Junior Live theme park meet and greets at Disney California Adventure, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Walt Disney Studios Park. Her first appearance away from the theme parks was at the 2013 White House Easter Egg Roll along with Jake.

On February 22, 2016 (together with Baymax on the same day), Sofia began meet-and-greet sessions in Fantasyland at Hong Kong Disneyland, as part of its 10th anniversary celebration.

### *Disney Junior Live!*

New segments in the *Disney Junior Live!* show featuring both *Sofia* and *Doc McStuffins* replaced *Handy Manny* and *Little Einsteins* in February 2013 at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure.

## Trivia

* Sofia means "wisdom" in Greek.
* Despite being a princess and being directly affiliated with Disney Princesses in her show, Sofia is not part of the official line-up because she is too young and she did not start with a theatrical movie, unlike the other princesses.
	+ Despite this, she has her own franchise to support her marketing although her franchise might have discontinued because her show has ended.
* Similar to Cinderella, she has a rags-to-riches story and a stepsister who was once antagonistic, but became softer in the climax. Unlike Cinderella, Sofia's stepsister has been a princess her entire life. Additionally, Sofia moved into her stepfamily's home instead of the other way around.
* Sofia is the first princess to have a stepfather rather than the typical stepmother. Plus her stepparent is not wicked and neither are her stepsiblings, though Amber is briefly jealous and is often insecure. Amber and Sofia frequently quarrel over this difference in values, though they resolve these arguments, very often with Sofia winning.
* Also, Sofia is the first princess to have to deal with more than one main antagonist, though Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine all got new foes in sequels and spinoffs.
* Sofia is the third princess with side-parted hair—the first was Ariel and the second Rapunzel.
* She is the fourth heroine to be transformed magically—Cinderella was the first, Ariel the second, and Tiana the third. So far she has been transformed into a lizard, a mermaid, a cat, a rabbit, a raven, a bulldog, a Crystal bird, a Unicorn, a Dragon, and most recently a fairy, making her the only heroine to have taken at least nine distinct forms besides her human form throughout her depiction.
* Sofia's transformation into a mermaid is almost similar to Madison's from the 1984 film *Splash*. When her feet make contact with the water, they turn into a mermaid tail. This is also a reference to the mermaid Marina, whom Ariel Winter voices in *Jake and the Never Land Pirates*.
	+ As shown in the special *Elena and the Secret of Avalor*, Sofia just needs to wish to become a mermaid without having to wet her feet like before.
* Sofia is frequently compared to birds for some reason, possibly because she was often between home and travel. This reason may be due to her being the teacher's pet of Fauna, which is thanks to her having the gift of song, like Princess Aurora.
* In Sofia's stained-glass portrait, she interestingly is not wearing her Amulet, it being substituted by a cloak pin. She is also not drawn wearing the Amulet in Flora's picture of her.
* Sofia is the first underage princess character to interact with Disney Princesses on-screen. She would soon later be followed by Vanellope von Schweetz after the premiere of *Ralph Breaks the Internet*.
	+ It is to be noted however, that Sofia actually interacted with the real princesses from their respective universes, while Vanellope only interacted with digital copies of the princesses.
	+ It should also be noted that Sofia interacted with the princesses individually, while Vanellope interacted with them as a whole group.
	+ Sofia also only interacted with ten out of the twelve official members, while Vanellope interacted with all twelve of them, along with the inclusion of Anna and Elsa.
	+ The first approach of the princesses between the two characters was contrasting because Sofia was more approached in a friendlier and kind manner, while their approach to Vanellope was more aggressive and defensive (although this is because Vanellope was first mistaken by the princesses as an intruder).
	+ Both Sofia and Vanellope were given some advice by the princesses who would apply in their personal situations.
* Sofia states in "Finding Clover" that she takes mandolin lessons, but she has never been seen playing mandolin.
* Sofia is the youngest Disney Princess so far at the start of her series, though she is the same age as Melody and Eilonwy by its end.
* Sofia's birthday is October 6, making her a Libra.
* Like Rapunzel, Sofia's main colors are pink and purple.
* It is revealed in "The Lost Pyramid" that Sofia discovered an ancient idol in the temples of Tangu on a Princess Adventure Club trip.
* Sofia's name was chosen from the beginning, but her design took about six months.
* It took three to four months and almost hundred actresses until Ariel Winter was cast, who director, Jamie Mitchell, thought was right for the role the moment he saw her.
* While at first it seemed Sofia was Latina, the backlash of criticism over her lack of resemblance to the real Latino community caused Disney to alter their statement, by saying that the series is just supposed to appeal to the diverse and multicultural audience, but not be explicit in their actual nationality. Galdiz and Freezenburg are inspired by Spain and Scandinavia, respectively. This was later rectified by having Princess Elena as the first Disney Princess to be Latina, who appears in the spin-off, *Elena of Avalor*.

## References

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