Prince Eric (simply known as Eric) is the deuteragonist of The Little Mermaid and a major character in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. He is the love interest and later husband of Ariel, the father of Melody, the son-in-law of King Triton and Queen Athena, and the brother-in-law of Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina. In the first film, Eric has decided to date Ariel after she saved him from drowning during a storm. In the original film, he was voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes who also voiced Spider-Man in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. In the sequel, he was voiced by Rob Paulsen.
What Makes Him Pure Good[]
- When, during his journey on the ship, his friends give him his statue, he is shown to be slightly uncomfortable at being so praised simply because he is a prince. This shows that he is not arrogant, spoiled, or entitled at all.
- During a shipwreck caused by a storm, he pulls one of his friends from the water, as well as his dog Max, but ends up in the water himself.
- When he finds Ariel after she becomes a human, he asks what happened to her and behaves quite politely towards her, which shows his good upbringing. Subsequently, he begins a relationship with her and although he cheats on her, it is not his fault, since Ursula brainwashed him.
- When Ursula kidnaps Ariel, Eric goes to save his beloved girl and does not leave even despite Ariel's warnings to do so.
- While he did kill Ursula by impaling a ship against her, he did it only to save Ariel and he had no other alternative as Ursula was incredibly dangerous and she wasn't the one to deal with. As a result, this allows the merpeople to regain their human forms, including King Triton.
- In the sequel, he shows himself to be a good husband to Ariel and a good father to their daughter Melody. He also goes to save them from Morgana alongside his father-in-law, King Triton.
- While he starts as a somewhat timid guy at the beginning of the first film, he subverts it later on in the film.
Trivia[]
- He and Prince Phillip are the only Disney Princes to be Pure Good and kill the main antagonist of their films in order to save their respective kingdoms.
- He is one of the three The Little Mermaid heroes to be Pure Good, alongside his wife Ariel and his daughter Melody.
External Links[]
- Prince Eric on the Heroes Wiki
- Prince Eric on the Shonen Heroes Wiki
- Prince Eric on the Disney Wiki
