Triton

King Triton is a fictional character who first appeared in the Disney animated movie The Little Mermaid. He was voiced by Kenneth Mars in the first two films and by Jim Cummings in the third film. His character is somewhat similar to the Greek Mythology sea god Poseidon.

Background
Triton is the king of the underwater Kingdom of Atlantica. He is a huge merman, husband of the late Queen Athena and the father of seven daughters: Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, Alana, and Ariel. He is also the father-in-law of Prince Eric and the grandfather of Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody.

Trident
He has a powerful magical trident which appears to be made of gold, it emits a glowing light and typical sound when in use. Furthermore, he has a crown and two arm bracelets, which also appear to be made out of gold. He is the over protective father to Ariel.

History with Ursula
His arch-enemy was Ursula, the old sea-witch who was once a senior member of the Court of King Triton. For many years, she has been seeking a way to exact her revenge upon King Triton for banishing her from the kingdom. A concept abandoned for the film had the two as siblings, though it is used in the musical.

Personality
King Triton is a firm, strict, and easily angered monarch. He cares the world for his daughters, but is often too hard on them. He easily loses his temper when he is angry. Triton is also seen to know a thing or two about the Keyblade and Keyhole that Sora has. He seems to be a stubborn, cruel, and mean person, but all he cares about is the safety of his world and his daughters, and understands the importance of bearing the trident. He is distrustful to beings that live outside his kingdom, both humans and inhabitants of other worlds, given by the fact that he immediately states that humans are evil creatures and that the Keyblade brings nothing but destruction and ruin. However, he is also accepting if someone proves otherwise. He seems to be closest to Alana and Arista, but loves all of them.

Design
King Triton is an old, large merman with bushy, light grey eyebrows and long, white hair. He has a thick, white beard and mustache and a widow's peak hairline. He is well muscled and wears gold gauntlets with several studs on them on each wrist. As a merman, Triton's lower body is that of a dark blue fish with cyan, translucent fins. As signs of his royal status, Triton wears a yellow, five-pointed crown that somewhat resembles a sea star on his head, and carries the legendary trident, a golden, three-pronged weapon with powerful magical abilities. He also has blue eyes.

Hercules
According to Disney's Greek Mythology, Triton met his cousin, Hercules, as a boy. They went to school together. Triton accidentally summoned a Sea Serpent, but luckily Hercules and he defeated it.

The Little Mermaid
When the original film begins, Triton is xenophobic toward humans, and Ariel's fascination with humans casts a strain on their relationship. According to Triton, contact between the human world and the merworld is strictly forbidden. After an initial argument over Ariel over her latest trip to the surface, Triton orders his loyal servant, Sebastian, to keep an eye on her. When Triton learns that Ariel has saved the life of a human being, he loses his temper and, determined to turn Ariel over to his views of humans, destroys her collection of human things, completely ignoring his daughter's pleas to stop. In the aftermath, Triton, instantly regretting this action, leaves a tearful Ariel alone in her grotto. Later on, after Ariel runs away from home in search of the sea witch Ursula, Triton orders a search for her, unaware that she has accepted Ursula's deal and become a human. When Sebastian, who had been watching over Ariel, arrives from the surface and tells the king about Ursula's scheme, Triton quickly goes out with Sebastian to find her. When Triton learns that Ariel has signed an agreement with Ursula, he willingly takes his daughter's place despite knowing the cost of his choice. Triton is temporarily transformed into a polyp, but when Ursula is killed, he is restored to his original form and regains both his crown and his trident. By the end of the film, Triton has softened his attitude towards humans, and allows Ariel to marry her love, Prince Eric, the man who killed Ursula and, subsequently, saved Triton's life.

The Little Mermaid Series
King Triton also appeared in The Little Mermaid animated TV series. According to the cartoon series, Triton was the son of Poseidon, his grandfather was called Neptune, and as a child, his nickname was "Red" for his red hair. Although his anti-human sentiments remained, he could sometimes be persuaded to recognize his mistakes, such as when he apologized to Ariel for scaring her so much that she failed to return home after a human charm bracelet was accidentally locked around her wrist, or when he was persuaded to help Ariel rescue a man trapped in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean (Implied at the end of the episode to be Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote the original tale).

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Triton appears in the sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea. He seems to trust humans by the the time of this film. His weakness in the film is his love for his granddaughter Melody, and this is exploited by Morgana, Ursula's younger sister and his second rival. But when he has his trident back, he punishes Morgana by freezing her in a giant ice cube. Triton's character in this film is less menacing and intimidating when compared to his other appearances in all other films and the TV series (aside from the scene where Melody goes to Atlantica with Tip and Dash to get the trident where King Triton mopes over Melody's baby photo and sees his servants preparing a feast and becomes angry and says Do we have a time for this?! I want every available creature in the ocean on patrol! and angrily orders his men to find Morgana (by pushing the table aside and pounding it while shouting at them "FIND HER! FIND HER!" and scares Tip and Dash in the process, and later when he realises the trident is missing and orders his merpolice to increase the search parties and the searching to go on by saying ''Double the search parties! I want the searching to continue!'')

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
In the 2008 direct-to-DVD prequel The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, an opening prologue shows King Triton's wife,Queen Athena. The pair had a loving relationship. Ariel's free-spirited personality is what casts a strain on their relationship in this film, and he is particularly angered when he discovers that the leader of the (illegal) Catfish Club is Sebastian, throwing his confidante into prison for this. He eventually comes to see the error of his harsh decisions, pardons Sebastian, lifts the ban on music and appoints Sebastian as his court composer at the end of the film.

The Princess and the Frog
King Triton made a small cameo appearance in Dis﻿ney's 2009 film The Princess and the Frog as a float in Charlotte's and "Naveen's" (Lawrence in disguise) Mardi Gras wedding.

Kingdom Hearts series
King Triton's Trident is notably used to activate the world's Keyhole in Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom HeartsEdit
Triton saves Ariel, Sora, Donald, and Goofy from some approaching Heartless. He is immediately distrustful of the three newcomers when they mention the "Keyhole" and later confronts them in Ariel's Grotto and advises Sora to leave since he is the Keyblade master, claiming that the Keyblade master is capable of nothing but to bring ruin to the worlds. Ariel retrieves an item that can activate the Keyhole, but Triton destroys it before it can be revealed. Ariel falls victim to the plans of Ursula who steals the Trident, leaving Triton injured. After Ursula's defeat, Triton asks Sora to seal the Keyhole by using the Trident to uncover the Keyhole. After this, he becomes more trusting to Sora and his friends.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of MemoriesEdit
King Triton is mentioned by Ariel, Sebastian, and Ursula, but makes no appearance.

Kingdom Hearts IIEdit
Triton returns as ruler of the sea, but is concerned more than ever for Ariel after she saves a human, Prince Eric, from death and has fallen in love. He asks Sora to help her forget about the human world and practice her singing. Triton discovers a statue of Eric in Ariel's Grotto, and in his anger, he destroys it. Ariel once again falls victim to Ursula's plot and becomes a human for three days. By the end of the three days, Ursula captures Ariel and threatens to finish her off. Triton learns that she has signed a contract with Ursula, and not even he could break it. Instead, he replaces Ariel's signature with his own, in a bid to save Ariel's life. Ursula transforms Triton into a lowly sea creature and takes his Trident. The Trident is used against her by Eric and kills her. Triton finally accepts Ariel's love for Eric and allows her to stay with him by turning her into a human. He is seen in the end credits bidding farewell to Ariel and Eric with Sebastian and Flounder.

Relationship with his daughtersEdit
The reason for his constant clashes with Ariel, as told by Ron Clements and John Musker (directors), is that he is very strong-willed and independent, like his daughter. She is also his favorite of his offspring because, as a child, he also had red hair and sees himself most in Ariel.

TriviaEdit

 * The original Triton is from Greek Mythology and has two finned feet.
 * After Athena's death, King Triton throws away the music box he gave her as a gift, bans music, and raises his daughters in a strict manner.