Titular Protagonists | Atlantica Royalty and Associates | Other Residents of Atlantica | Residents of Prince Eric's Castle | Allies | Antagonists
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Prince Eric
"A girl rescued me. She was singing. She had the most beautiful voice."
Voiced by: Christopher Daniel Barnes (first film, Kingdom Hearts II, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Disney Speedstorm), Jeff Bennett (TV series), Rob Paulsen (second film) Foreign voice actors
Facial Model: Joshua Finkel
Prince Eric is the deuteragonist of the The Little Mermaid and Love Interest for Ariel.
- Action Dad: In the sequel, when he becomes a father to his and Ariel's only child, Melody. Eric will still take on anything that threatens him or his family.
- Action Hero: Becomes this in the climax of the first film.
- Adaptational Badass: Compared to the prince of the original story, Eric is far more involved in the plot. He has to be rescued early, yes, but once he realizes Ariel is the girl who saved him he jumps right into the thick of it and uses his wits and sailing expertise to kill Ursula while she is distracted with Ariel.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: Has blue eyes instead of coal black eyes like his counterpart in the original story.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed, but he's nicer to Ariel than the prince in the original story was to the mermaid. While the 1837 prince did generously take the mermaid in, he still treated her more like a favored pet, even having her sleep on a cushion outside his door.
- All There in the Manual:
- The novelization says he's eighteen—two years older than Ariel.
- Disney has stated
that his castle is located somewhere in Italy.
- Babies Ever After: He and Ariel have a daughter, Melody, in Return to the Sea.
- Badass in Distress: As in the original story, he nearly drowns in a shipwreck and is saved by the little mermaid. Unlike the story, however, he is knocked unconscious because he went back to save his dog Max, and he goes on to rescue Ariel in turn.
- Badass Normal: This guy does not give up. EVER. Sky-high Physical Goddess sea witches be damned, you do not mess with his girl.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Eric looks very good for someone who was very close to an exploding barrel of gunpowder.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Eric is one of the nicest characters in The Little Mermaid franchise. He has also threatened or outright killed those who harmed his loved ones.
- Birds of a Feather: He wanted to escape his landlocked life to go out to sea. Ariel wanted to escape her underwater life to live above ground.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Big, dark eyebrows.
- Brainwashed: "Vanessa" does this to him in the first film, using Ariel's stolen voice to cast a spell over him that basically turns him into an emotionless zombie. He doesn't even react to the massive animal brawl that breaks out at his wedding until the necklace is broken.
- Car Fu: A ship example. He defeats Ursula by expertly sailing a ship through her trident-controlled storm. He then uses the pointed end of the broken mast to impale her.
- Chekhov's Skill: His piloting his ship through a hurricane in the first film.
- Chick Magnet: Immediately wins the affections of Ariel and at least lots of compliments from Ursula. His status as this trope is further confirmed at the beginning when Grimsby makes a sarcastic complaint to Eric about denying another proposal from a neighboring princess.
- Clothing Damage: While Ariel saves him from drowning, his boots comes off and his pants get torn. The same thing happens after he defeats Ursula. After he swims back to shore, his pants are ripped, and he's barefoot again.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: In the facial structure, he resembles Kirk Douglas, despite his facial model having been Joshua Finkel.
- Deadpan Snarker: Shows some reserved and lighthearted talent for snarking in the second movie, regarding the length of time it takes for his wife and daughter to prepare themselves for special occasions.Eric: So, we're having a bad hair day?
Ariel: If we were you wouldn’t be helping, would you?
Eric: Well, I'm just here to let you know that there are a lot of people downstairs...
Ariel: Oh, we'll be right down. Just give us two minutes.
Eric: Right, two... Now, where have I heard that before? - Demoted to Extra: He has a recurring role in the TV series, is a supporting character in the second film, and makes no appearance in the prequel. Justified for the first and third since he has not yet met Ariel at that point.
- Determinator: To the same extent as Ariel, as nothing will stop him from saving a loved one (i.e., Max, Ariel, Melody, etc).
- Deuteragonist: In the first film, with Ariel being obviously a Princess Protagonist.
- First Guy Wins: The first human Ariel meets, and the one she ends up marrying.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Twice with Ariel.
- In the movie, he does meet Ariel after she saves him, but only remembers her voice.
- In the TV series episode "Scuttle", Eric catches a brief glimpse of Ariel, but is convinced by Grimsby that it was just his imagination.
- Friend to All Living Things: He helps free a dolphin from a net in the TV series. Unbeknownst to him, his future wife, Ariel watches him save the dolphin. While she doesn't see his full face, Eric's selfless action is the catalyst that helps Ariel believe that not all humans are evil. Then, there's his brotherly and close relationship with Max his sheep dog.
- Good Is Not Soft: Eric is genuinely a Nice Guy to everyone, but that doesn't stop him from killing Ursula.
- Good Parents: He may have made a mistake or two with Melody, but the way Melody grew up into a respectful and good-hearted young lady proves he and Ariel raised their daughter right.
- Happily Married: To Ariel in the sequel; they prove to have an incredibly stable marriage whether there is or isn't danger.
- Hello, Sailor!: An accomplished mariner, and not bad looking.
- Heroes Love Dogs: His best friend is his dog, Max.
- Hidden Depths: This skilled mariner turns out to be an expert on the flute.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Ariel. When she's in her human form, it becomes quite notable how petite she is in comparison to Eric's tall and broad physique. Some examples that show Ariel's shortness are when she is at dinner◊ during her first night at Eric's castle, when they dance◊, and when his hypnotism has been worn off on the third day◊. The fact that Ariel is wearing heels in all of these pictures really shows how petite' she is. At the end of the movie when they finally kiss, Ariel has to stand on her tiptoes while barefoot in order to reach his lips◊
- Humble Hero: He's a prince, but he's quite modest and not at all vain or condescending. When Grim unveils the large, ostentatious statue of him as a birthday gift, Eric is noticeably taken aback.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Blue eyes, kind and heroic personality.
- Interspecies Romance: Eric, a human, falls in love with and marries Ariel, a mermaid, though technically she's half-human.
- I Owe You My Life: Upon being rescued by a girl, Eric resolves to find that girl and marry her by appealing to her heart. And upon learning that Ariel was the girl who rescued him, he returns the favor by rescuing her from Ursula.
- I Will Find You: His intention to find Ariel after she's taken by Ursula.
- Leitmotif: Has a short love motif heard at the beginnings of "Bedtime" and "Eric to the Rescue".
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: Like Triton, he is normally portrayed as a benevolent but easily distracted monarch and as loyal to his subjects as they are to him. And they are fiercely protective of their families. Their similarities are specially apparent in the television series.
- Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: Happens to Eric twice in the first film. First time, when Ariel rescues Eric from drowning, he still has his boots on, but in the next scene, after Ariel has brought Eric to shore, he is barefoot, implying his boots came off at some point in the ocean. The 2nd time is after Eric defeats Ursula, and swims back to shore, his boots get lost again leaving him barefoot once more.
- Love at First Note: While he does see Ariel for a couple of seconds, due to complications involved with him being half-unconscious, he doesn't remember what she looks like, which leads to him falling in love with her voice.
- Love at First Sight: Played with, as said first sight was marred by him being barely conscious and with the sun in his eyes, but Eric immediately feels like him and Ariel have met based only on how she looks very familiar to him. His first reaction is actually him correctly guessing she saved him, but her current muteness makes him doubt it. He still finds himself smitten with her right from the beginning and it doesn't take long for him find himself fully falling in love with her.
- Made of Iron: He was very close to an exploding keg of gunpowder and was merely knocked unconcious.
- Marry for Love: In the first film, he tells Grimsby that the girl for him exists out there, but until then he won't marry someone because it's customary for him to do so.
- Meaningful Name: "Eric" is Old Norse for "eternal ruler", alluding to his status as the prince, later king, of his kingdom.
- Modest Royalty: Except for formal occasions, he prefers very simple clothing.
- Named by the Adaptation: He's only ever referred to as "the prince" in the original Hans Christian Andersen story. He is only the second Disney Prince to be given a proper name (i.e. not "Charming"), after Prince Philip.
- Nice Guy: Heroic, brave, fun loving, kind, selfless, polite, and down to earth.
- Nice to the Waiter: He's happy to join the sailors in their hornpipe. He even pulls out a flute and plays with them.
- Non-Idle Rich: Despite being a prince, Eric enjoys sailing the seas and doesn't hesitate to get into action if he needs to.
- Not Allowed to Grow Old: He still looks the same after Melody is born and even after she turns 12.
- One Head Taller: Than Ariel.
- Papa Wolf: Towards Melody. He angrily asks Morgana (who now has the powerful trident in her hands) what she has done to Melody while brandishing his sword.
- Primary-Color Champion: His Iconic Outfit consists of a white, long-sleeved collared shirt, red sash, and dark-blue pants.
- Princesses Rule: Gender-inverted. He is referred to as the ruler of a kingdom in the first film, but is referred to as "Prince Eric" rather than "King Eric" and there is no presence of his parents or a regent.
- Race Lift: The prince of the original tale was described as having coal black eyes, dancing slave girls in gold and silk and has been interpreted as Middle Eastern. Eric, on the other hand, is pretty damn European.
- Ramming Always Works: During the final showdown, he commandeers one of the old shipwrecks that Ursula's whirlpool lifts from the ocean's bottom and uses the prow as a giant harpoon to skewer her.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: The Prince (later King) of his kingdom and defeated Ursula.
- Rebel Prince: Given how cheerful he is with the sailors, it can be assumed that Eric craves more than just royal customs.
- Rescue Romance: His relationship with Ariel grows after they save each other.
- Ariel saves Eric from drowning.
- He, in turn, saves her (and the rest of the ocean) from Ursula at the end of the movie.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Prince Eric is a competent sailor.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The down-to-earth Savvy Guy to Ariel's spunky, rambunctious Energetic Girl.
- Shrinking Violet: Apparently, Eric is so shy his reluctance to kiss Ariel warranted Sebastian, Flounder, and all the other animals in the lagoon singing an entire song to get him in the mood to "kiss the girl" and see if she likes him too. Eric does muster up the courage eventually, but it's too late as Flostam and Jetsam purposefully tip the boat over by order of Ursula and thus ruin the moment. "He gonna miss the girl", indeed.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Grimsby mentions that Eric wasn't remotely romantically interested in any of the women who wanted to be his bride. Ariel is the only woman he has shown an interest in.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Zigzagged. While Eric is an important character in the franchise, he gets Demoted to Extra in the sequel, prequel, and the TV series — however, the last one reveals that he was the one to show Ariel that not all humans are cruel beings when he rescued a trapped dolphin.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's a head taller than Ariel, has raven hair, and is a Chick Magnet (Ariel certainly thinks so, as she fell for him at first sight).
- Tuckerization: He was named after Eric Larson, one of Disney's Nine Old Men who died the year before the film was released.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Gender Inverted. He impales Ursula to save Ariel.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: He has vivid blue eyes that get a lot of camera attention.
- White Sheep: Unlike Grimsby and the rest of the royal court, it is implied that Eric would rather be a sailor than a prince and the musical expands on this.
- Would Hit a Girl: He kills Ursula and threatens Morgana; both moments in the defense of his (future) wife and daughter, respectively.
Grimsby
"Oh, Eric, it isn't me alone. The entire kingdom wants to see you, happily settled down with the right girl."
Grimsby is Eric's manservant and confidant.
- Affectionate Nickname: Eric nicknames him "Grim".
- British Stuffiness: Grimsby is a reserved man with a thick British accent.
- The Confidant: To Eric. He offers the young Prince advice when it appears needed.
- Cool Old Guy: Grimsby gave Eric good advice on not chasing after a fantasy girl and focus on the real one.
- Deadpan Snarker: Some of his dialogue has a level of wit.
- Demoted to Extra: He only has three scenes in the sequel.
- Nice Guy: He may be no-nonsense and witty, but not to an extent he would be considered mean. In actuality, he's gentle, friendly, and helpful.
- Not So Stoic: An unmoved person, sure, but as his loyal manservant, he will react with fear or concern to whatever dangerous situation Eric is in, whether it be drowning or risking himself to save Ariel.
- Parental Substitute: Implied in his interactions with Eric in the first film that show Grimsby acting as a sort of father figure. The Broadway adaptation does indeed specify that he became Eric's guardian after his parents died.
- Servile Snarker: He's technically a servant to Prince Eric, but isn't above sending some snark his way.
- Shipper on Deck: As time goes on, Grimsby notices that Eric is falling for Ariel. He councils him to forget his dream girl (he wished to marry the one who saved him, not realizing it was Ariel), and to accept the real one he has.
Carlotta
"Why, Eric, that's the first time I've seen you smile in weeks."
Voiced by: Edie McClurg Foreign voice actresses
Carlotta is the sweet and kind maid of Prince Eric; she's also one of his most loyal friends.
- Berserk Button: Downplayed. She doesn't go berserk, but she shows great annoyance at Chef Louis making a mess.
- Beware the Nice Ones: A kindly woman who can strike terror in Chef Louis' heart when she's angry enough.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Throws a bucket of water on Louis' head when he indirectly ruins Melody's birthday party.
- Nice Girl: Carlotta is kind, gentle, sweet, helpful, loyal, hardworking, and lighthearted.
- Parental Substitute: Implied in some of her actions with Eric. Like Grimsby, she seems to take on a sort of surrogate mother role for Eric, worrying about his emotional well-being as well as his physical state. After Eric laughs at Ariel blowing soot in Grimsby's face, Carlotta notes that that's the first time she's seen Eric smile in weeks.
- Shipper on Deck: Implied to be one for Ariel and Eric, as she pleasingly notes on how Ariel made Eric smile for the first time in weeks and how she cried Tears of Joy at their wedding.
- Ship Tease: Some with Chef Louis in the sequel. In the first movie there is the slight implication that they are married.
- Tears of Joy: Gets emotional at Eric and Ariel' s wedding.
- Tsundere: Type 2. The "tsun" part is mostly seen when Louis acts up.
Chef Louis
Voiced by: René Auberjonois Foreign voice actors
Chef Louis is a chef who is infamous for trying to cook Sebastian. He apparently loves his job, possibly to an almost unhealthy extent.
- Accent Adaptation: He has an Italian accent in the first European French dub and a Spanish accent in the second European French dub.
- Angry Chef: The palace chef to Prince Eric, and seems no worse than eccentric as he sings "Les Poissons" while preparing stuffed crab as an entree. However, once Sebastian fights for his life, all of Louis's sanity goes out the window and he obliterates the palace kitchen in a fit of Unstoppable Rage.
- Anti-Villain: While Louis may not harbor any malice, we the viewers are aware he was preparing possibly sentient sea life. This is especially apparent whenever he and Sebastian face off. Though in his case, it may be more just a matter of pride than to actually serve the little crab up on a platter.
- Arch-Enemy: To Sebastian. Whenever he sees the crab, he goes into a rampage and wrecks the immediate area trying to kill him.
- Ax-Crazy: Although he's fine elsewhere, in the kitchen, Louis isn't exactly the most... balanced of individuals. He's just a little too disturbingly jovial when preparing his meals and his response to Sebastian trying to escape is to chop a table in half and destroy the entire kitchen with Unstoppable Rage.
- Big Bad: Serves as this in the Sebastian segments of the TV series Marsupilami, as most of his plots involve catching and cooking Sebastian.
- Butt-Monkey: He takes quite a bit of abuse, being an Ineffectual Sympathetic Anti-Villain at the wrong side of the board.
- Cruella to Animals: Even for a French chef, he’s a little too enthusiastic about cooking sea creatures.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Just read some of these lyrics out-of-context and, ignoring for a moment that it's about fish, ask yourself if they don't sound a little... Hannibal Lecter-esque?Louis: With a cleaver I HACK them in two
I PULL OUT what's inside
And I serve it up fried...- Also given to his loving desire of cooking up sea creatures, you might say that Louis might be a literal example of King Triton's belief that humans are 'spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters'. Sure, while Triton's prejudice towards humans may be a little overboard (even Triton himself starts to regret it), it is not without merit when it comes to Louis' case.
- Evil Chef: As far as sea animals are concerned, yes. He even provides the trope image.
- French Jerk: He has shades of this - including the obnoxious, nasal "french laugh": Hee hee hee, hon hon hon! He also sings about cutting up and serving fish for dinner, which seems almost sadistic from the point of view of Sebastian.
- Gay Paree: To hammer it home that he's French (or more exactly, to display enough Hollywood Parisian clichés to show that he's French), he's introduced with accordion music on the soundtrack, talks about his cuisine as "Nouvelle Cuisine des Champs-Élysées" (the Champs-Élysées is the most famous avenue of Paris) and name-drops Maurice Chevalier for the sake of it. If that wasn't enough, a sped up version of The Cancan Song plays when he furiously chases after Sebastian and destroys the kitchen doing so.
- Gratuitous French: Random French words are sprinkled among his sentences like garnish.Louis: Zut alors, I have missed one!
Sacrebleu, what is this?- Nothing screams more "gratuitous" than name-dropping early 20th century French singer Maurice Chevalier while the movie is clearly set in the early 19th century at best.
- Hot-Blooded: Sebastian pinching his nose quickly gets him so angry that he throws knives at the little crab, goes after him with a cleaver, and then destroys the entire kitchen trying to catch him.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: After he chases Sebastian all over the kitchen in the first film.
- Large Ham: This guy sure loves his job, a little too much.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Does this several times. In the first film, he makes a mess in the kitchen chasing Sebastian, only to be berated by an angry Carlotta for this, prompting him to apologize for the incident. In the second film, he angrily chases Sebastian for ruining Melody's birthday cake, only to get splashed with water by Carlotta, who berates him for humiliating Melody, much to his complete guilt.
- Obliviously Evil: While one could argue he's a little too... passionate when having to cut fishes, he doesn't know that fishes are sentient.
- Psycho for Hire: Downplayed. He is a professional chef, so it is his job to chop up, season, and cook little sea critters for dinner. That said, he seems to enjoy the "cut up" part of his job way more than he should...Louis: First you POUND the fish flat with a mallet
Then you SLASH through the skin
Give the belly a SLICE
Then you rub some salt in
'Cause that makes it taste nice... - Ship Tease: With Carlotta, especially in the sequel. In the first movie, there is the slight implication they are married.
- Skewed Priorities: If he sees Sebastian, he will stop at nothing to hunt him down. Even if he's in the middle of an elaborate birthday party with a large table of dishes in his way and numerous people watching.
- Super-Persistent Predator: To Sebastian, though, to Louis, it may be more a matter of pride than simply to serve the little crab as an entrée.
- Supreme Chef: Despite his...temper problem, he is a rather skilled chef. He appears in the sequel, making an enormous and very fancy cake for Melody's birthday.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: His pseudo-Villain Song, "Les Poissons", is Played for Laughs since he gleefully sings about how much he loves cutting off and chopping up and pulling out little fish parts, not people.
Max
"I dunno, he looks kinda hairy and slobbery to me."
— Scuttle mistaking Max for Prince Eric
Voiced by: Frank Welker
Max is Prince Eric's loyal Old English Sheepdog.
- Animal Companion: Max the Sheepdog follows Eric almost anywhere.
- Big Friendly Dog: He's Prince Eric's dog, and is fond of jumping around and licking Eric and Ariel's faces on various occasions.
- Butt Biter: Max bites Ursula/Vanessa in the butt to save Scuttle in the first film's climax.
- Demoted to Extra: He has minor roles in the sequel and TV series. He makes no appearance in the prequel.
- The Dog Bites Back: "Vanessa" kicks him in the face for growling at her. Less than a minute later when Scuttle's menagerie crashes the wedding, he bites her in the butt, allowing the seagull to pull the shell necklace off her and unraveling her disguise.
- Empathy Pet: Upon Prince Eric's cluelessness over whether or not the now mute Ariel is the one he's been looking for, his dog Max rolls his eyes and blows hair out of his own face in annoyance, which Ariel mimics.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: During the wedding, he snarls angrily at "Vanessa" as she walks down the aisle with Eric. He also assists Scuttle in exposing her plan.
- Eyes Out of Sight: Has very long fur covering the face and eyes.
- The Nose Knows: Which is how Max is able to recognize Ariel when she's human.
- Precious Puppy: The TV series is set when he's a playful puppy, and Eric is shown doting on him.
- Shipper on Deck: Max plays a big role in getting Eric and Ariel together and is overjoyed when they are married.
- They Have the Scent!: From the first film, when he finds Ariel after she became human.
