Ursula
- "The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!"
- —Ursula
Ursula is a Sea Witch who is always trying to take control of Atlantica in the Kingdom Hearts series.
Based off of a legendary creature known as a "cecaelia," she is an obese purple witch that was once a senior member of King Triton's court. However, she was banished for her love of Black Magic. Ursula has two pet eels, Flotsam and Jetsam, whom she refers to as her "poopsies". She first appeared in Disney's "The Little Mermaid".
Journal Entries
Kingdom Hearts
- First Entry
An evil sea witch living in a vast cave far from the palace. Has the power to grant wishes, but in return demands a heavy sacrifice. She's trying to oust Triton and take over Atlantica.
She appeared in "The Little Mermaid" (1989).
- Second Entry
She deceived Ariel and stole the trident to take over Atlantica. Using its power, she became an enormous monster and battled Sora, Goofy and Donald.
She appeared in "The Little Mermaid" (1989).
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
The sea witch. She once lived in the palace, but was banished for scheming.
Ursula deceived Ariel and stole the trident in an attempt to rule all Atlantica.
- Reverse/Rebirth
The sea witch who plotted to rule all of the undersea kingdom Atlantica.
Ursula appeared before Riku as a token of the indelible darkness in his heart.
Kingdom Hearts II
The Little Mermaid (1989)
A sea witch who lives in a cave far from the palace. She used to serve King Triton, until her evil scheming got her banished.
Some time ago, she tried to get rid of King Triton and take over Atlantica. Sora, Donald, and Goofy helped Ariel defeat her, but she used the power of darkness to return. Her grudge against King Triton is as strong as ever...and now she's looking for revenge.
- Vanessa
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Ursula changed herself into a beautiful girl to ruin Ariel's chances with Prince Eric.
Ariel gave her voice to Ursula when she signed their contract...and Ursula used Ariel's voice to mesmerize Prince Eric.
Story
Kingdom Hearts
Ursula was one of Maleficent's followers, and assisted by lending the powers of the ocean. With Ursula's help, the Heartless entered Atlantica. Ursula tricked Princess Ariel into helping her steal the Trident from King Triton so that she could see other worlds. Ursula didn't keep her end of the deal - she did threaten Ariel to enter into the dark world of the Heartless, giving herself into darkness in the progress, but failed when Sora and company came to King Triton's palace. She disappeared in ink with the Trident in her possession. Ariel joined Sora, Donald, and Goofy to confront her in her lair to get the Trident back. Once they arrived, she, Flotsam and Jetsam battled them. In the end, Flotsam and Jetsam were defeated, and Ursula swore revenge. She disappeared once again, and Sora and friends found Ursula in a large, scary, empty trench. She used the power of the trident and darkness to become a giant, Sora and friends battled her once again. She wielded powerful Thunder magic. However, Ariel, Sora and friends defeated her and she vanished into darkness.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Ursula makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a figment of Sora's memories.
Ursula told Ariel that she could help her find her missing friend Flounder with the trident. Ariel agreed, but wasn't sure if what she was doing was right. She told Ursula she needed more time to think about it. Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived and told Ariel not to trust Ursula, but they'd go with her if it's the only way to get Flounder back. Once they arrived in Ursula's lair, Ariel asked her to get Flounder back first. It was revealed that Ursula kidnapped Flounder to obtain the trident. She would not let Flounder go, unless Ariel gave up the trident. Ariel handed it over to her, and Ursula remembered that Ariel also wanted to see other worlds, but it would unfortunately be "a one way trip". She used the trident to become a giant, just as she did in the first game. Sora and friends battled her and won.
Ursula also appeared in Riku's story (Reverse/Rebirth), as a figment of his memory and a representation of the darkness within him.
Kingdom Hearts II
Revived by the powers of darkness, Ursula returned in Kingdom Hearts II without the Heartless and Maleficent on her side. She told Ariel that she could help her be with Prince Eric, by turning Ariel herself into a human (a spell that only lasted for three days). Ariel agreed, and signed a contract with Ursula which stated that: if Ariel was able to kiss Eric before the sunset of the third day, then she could stay human forever, but, if she didn't obtain a kiss, she would turn back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula. After Ariel signed the contract, Ursula took Ariel's voice (the price for Ursula's spell) and turned the princess into a human girl.
After three days had passed and Ariel still hadn't obtained a kiss, Ursula turned herself into a human girl (Vanessa) and used Ariel's voice to hypnotize Eric, taking him away from Ariel. Sora and the others saw through Ursula's disguise and broke the amulet in which Ariel's voice was being kept, thus releasing Eric from her grip and returning Ariel's voice. But it was too late, the sun had set and Ursula dragged Ariel into the sea with her. King Triton tried to stop Ursula, but not even he could break the contract, so King Trition signed over Ariel's name and took her place. This allowed Ursula to have possession over the Trident once again, and she used its power to become gigantic one more time. With the trident, Ursula turned King Triton into a lowly sea creature.
After a battle, Sora knocked the Trident off Ursula's hand and it landed on the boat which Prince Eric was on. He then threw it at Ursula and the Trident went through her chest in a beam of light, defeating her once more. The battle against Ursula in Kingdom Hearts II is a staged performance in song.
Personality
Ursula is scheming, manipulative, deceitful, and devious. She only cares for herself, and her "poopsies" (Flotsam and Jetsam). She is a highly skilled manipulator, twice deceiving Ariel into helping her under false pretenses (she persuaded her that she only wanted to help). Unlike the other villains, she cares about her minions: The "poopsies" Flotsam and Jetsam, treating them as almost like sons or beloved pets. She is very protective of them and becomes enraged and vengeful if they're killed in combat, to the point of a psychotic hate.
Appearance
Ursula is an obese cecaelia (a mythical being with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of an octopus) with lavender skin. The top side of her octopus half is pitch black and reaches up over her chest, resembling a shoulderless, backless gown. The underside is a bright violet color, while Ursula's short hair is stark white with a few gray streaks that stands on end. She also sport a widow's peak hairline. She wears various forms of make-up, including purple nail polish on her pointed nails, light blue eyeliner, dark purple eye shadow, bright red lipstick, and seemingly penciled-on black eyebrows. Ursula has a small beauty mark near her chin on the left side of her face.
She also wears a yellow spiral shell necklace on a thin black cord, as well as two violet, thinner spiral shells as earrings, one on each ear. Despite being based off of an octopus, Ursula only has six tentacles, as opposed to an octopus's eight. This was a change made in the original movie, The Little Mermaid, because it would have been too expensive to animate eight tentacles.
In Battle
Trivia
- Unlike all the other residents of Atlantica, with the exception of Sebastion, Ursula seems to be amphibious (At least, she's more amphibious than the other characters) - she is able to thrive on land and in the water. This is evidenced when she attends the meetings with the council of Disney villains in Hollow Bastion, as well as the final moments of the third day. It is unknown, though, if her amphibious nature is derived from the power of darkness, which she uses.
- Strangely, in Kingdom Hearts II, Ursula does not seem to recognize Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and Sora's group and Ariel make no mention of her death or revival, though during the "Ursula's Revenge" song Ursula says that she is "back" and Sora shouts that she "got what [she] deserved". In fact, when Ariel makes the deal with Ursula, the former reacts as though she has seen the latter for the first time.
- The name of Ursula's human disguise, "Vanessa", is derived from the latin word "Vanitas", meaning "Vanity". Interestingly enough, a character named Vanitas appears as one of the main villains of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, but unrelated to Ursula.
