- "The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!"
- —Ursula
Ursula is a Sea Witch who repeatedly tries to take control of Atlantica in the Kingdom Hearts series.
A sea witch, Ursula 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
- Sora's Story
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 her 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 Ariel 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, and 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 Triton 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.
Sora battled Ursula, destroying her "poopsies" Flotsam and Jetsam. Sora finally knocked the Trident out of Ursula's hand and it landed in 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 titled "Ursula's Revenge".
Other appearances
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
In the game's February 2012 trailer, Sora and Riku are seen in their Kingdom Hearts attire fighting against a giant Ursula. In one of the scans it shows Sora and Riku on the raft in their normal attire, so it's possible that Ursula will appear from under the sea.
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", 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 shoulder less, backless gown. The underside is a bright violet color, while Ursula's short hair is stark white with a few grey streaks that stands on end. She also sports 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 on 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.
When disguised as Vanessa, Ursula takes the form of a thin, fair-skinned young woman with long, black hair. She wears black shoes, pantyhose, and a navy blue and sky blue dress. She also wears red lipstick and a yellow seashell - which contains Ariel's voice - as a necklace. Her attire is very similar to the clothing Ariel wears as a human.
Despite her underwater nature, Ursula is seen being able to survive when sitting on the council of Disney villains.
Origin
Ursula initially came from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid", a popular fairy tale from 1837. She was simply known as "the Sea Witch" back then, and her role was a neutral one instead of an antagonist. The Sea Witch was named "Ursula" in Disney's 1989 movie The Little Mermaid where she was the main antagonist of the film. Ursula was banished from Atlanticas royal palace by King Triton. She then sought revenge to the King and wishes to command the sea by taking King Triton's trident. One day, she founds out that King Triton's son, Ariel, was in love with a human prince. Seeing this as an opportunity, she manipulated Ariel into signing an agreement in which Ursula transformed Ariel into a human, and Ariel had three days to get Prince Eric to kiss her or otherwise Ariel will belong to Ursula. Ursula also took Ariel's voice. Seeing how Ariel nearly kissed with Prince Eric, Ursula transforms herself into a beautiful woman named "Vanessa", and she uses Ariel's voice to sing which attracts Prince Eric's attention. Prince Eric eventually decides Vanessa was the one that saved him and he planned a marriage with her. Ariel thwarted the plan and Ursula escapes with Ariel into the ocean. Trying to broke free Ariel from Ursula's deal, King Triton trades place with Ariel and is turned into a polyp. Ursula gains King Triton's Trident and wreak havoc in the sea by turning into a giant. Prince Eric finally defeated her, and all of her spells are cancelled, turning King Triton and many Mermaids back from being a polyp.
The name of Ursula's human disguise, "Vanessa", is derived from the Latin word "Vanitas" (but unrelated to Vanitas himself), meaning "vanity".
Gallery
Ursula as Vanessa
A gigantic Ursula wielding the Trident
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Trivia
- 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.
- If playing as Riku in "Reverse/Rebirth" in "Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories," a small audio glitch will occur when fighting Ursula. If the boss fight is started by entering the final door, the song "Face It!" (Which is usually played right as Ursula appears) will continue playing during the fight. However, if Riku loses the battle and restarts it from the Continue menu, the usual Boss music will play in its stead. This does not happen with any other boss in the game or the series.