The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s 5 Worst & 5 Best Traits
Ariel has long been a Disney princess favorite since the release of The Little Mermaid in 1989. She was unlike the other merfolk, wanting to know more about humans and the surface world. She had a father that heavily disapproved of such interests, but it didn’t stop her from meeting and eventually marrying the man of her dreams, and becoming a human to be with him.
She exercised the necessary personality traits to make her dreams come true, but she also had some traits that made her journey harder than it could have been.
10 Worst: Flaky
Ariel is usually caught up in her own little world. In the beginning of the film, she’s happily exploring a shipwreck in search of human artifacts with Flounder. However, she’s flaked out on her sisters, her father, Sebastian and the rest of Atlantica, having forgotten to show up for the concert that was to be held. Ariel’s flakiness gets her in trouble immediately in this case, and proves to set off a chain of events that nearly causes her downfall. She had innocently forgotten, but it was still inconsiderate.
9 Best: Confidence
Ariel had to have a healthy dose of confidence to be able to get Eric to kiss her before Ursula’s deadline. If not for Flotsam and Jetsam’s interference, Ariel would have easily made the deadline.
She doesn’t possess an over-inflated ego, but she’s confident in herself, and in Eric for sure. There are few times when she doubts herself or her abilities, as she completely believed in herself and those around her.
8 Worst: Not The Best Listener
She never really listened to her father. King Triton could be harsh in his delivery, granted, but Ariel never understood that he had her best interests at heart and wanted to keep her safe. At the same time, King Triton didn’t know everything, but Ariel still should’ve listened to him more. Perhaps she could’ve been spared some of her heartache and her huge fight with him in her grotto. It was a hard lesson to learn, but Ariel learned to be a better listener by the end of the film, if her repaired relationship with her father is anything to go by.
7 Best: Curiosity
Ariel wanted to learn everything she could. Educating herself wasn’t easy, but she searched shipwrecks and consulted with Scuttle regarding her findings. Scuttle wasn’t necessarily an expert, but he tried his best.
Ariel wanted to know as much as she could, to understand the world she desperately wanted to be a part of. She put in the effort and had the proper amount of curiosity to pursue the answers to her questions.
6 Worst: Rebellious
Ariel resorted to keeping secrets and going behind her father’s back to learn about humans. She took risks and seemed to have little concern over whether it would hurt her father. She deliberately disobeyed him on different occasions and kept doing whatever she wanted regardless of King Triton’s opinion. Ariel’s rebelliousness, however, did help her get what she wanted: true love and life as a human. She was sixteen, but she was never actually punished for breaking the rules. Though, nearly losing her father and Eric and facing Ursula’s wrath was undoubtedly punishment enough.
5 Best: Open-Minded
Ariel happily adapted to human life, willing to use forks, wear dresses, and travel by horse and carriage. She was all for trying new things with enthusiasm and eagerness. She happily took the reigns from Eric when they were on a carriage ride, she learned that a fork was actually for eating, and she was awed and fascinated by everything around her, exhibiting a childlike wonder that Eric seemed to find attractive.
Ariel embraced a world completely different from her own with no doubts or hesitation, only too excited to discover and experience it for herself.
4 Worst: Impulsive
Ariel didn’t always think things through; she tended to live in the moment. Most notably, she was impulsive in signing Ursula’s contract. She lost her voice and gained legs, but had to ensure she got Eric to kiss her within three days to remain human, or else she’d become a mermaid again and forever belong to Ursula. Ariel didn’t fully weigh out the consequences, only listening to her desire to be human and be with Eric, even though she didn’t really know him and couldn’t foresee how things would turn out. She nearly lost everything and put humans and merfolk alike in danger with Ursula threatening to take over; if not for Eric taking out Ursula once and for all, Ariel would’ve had a very different fate.
3 Best: Cheerful
Ariel loves to sing and generally has a happy, cheerful demeanor. She sees the best in everything, especially in humans. She doesn’t always make the best decisions, but she does try to make the best out of less than ideal situations.
Ariel has a healthy dose of hope and faith which no doubt contributes to her cheerfulness, and she spreads that cheerfulness to her friends and family. Her positive outlook is admirable, and her smile is certainly infectious.
2 Worst: Selfish
Ariel so badly wanted to be with Eric, and to be human, that she didn’t consider the fallout. She disappeared, leaving her family to worry about her and wonder what had happened to her. She put Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle in tough positions as they tried to help her meet Ursula’s deadline. She didn’t think about what it would mean to leave everything and everyone she knew behind, as though Eric and humanity mattered more to her than her family, friends and home. She’s a princess, she has duties to Atlantica that she didn’t take into account, either. She leaves without appearing too homesick, though she does make things right with her father before she departs with Eric. Ariel allowed her own desires to come first, without considering how it would affect others or how it would make them feel.
1 Best: Bravery
Ariel is brave in several ways. She saved Eric from a shipwreck, she stood up to her father, she took on Ursula, and she became a part of a world completely foreign to her without hesitation. Ariel’s not afraid of danger, change, or authority. She’ll stand up for what’s right, she’ll risk her life to save another, and she’ll try new things out of a desire to learn. She’ll do all those things and more without a second thought; sometimes she can get scared, especially when she faced Ursula and feared losing her father and Eric, but she still fights bravely. Bravery is about doing things while scared, and Ariel has definitely never let fear hold her back.
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