King Triton
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- This article is about the animated character, see also Triton (mythology).
King Triton is a fictional character who first appeared in the Disney animated movie The Little Mermaid. He was voiced by Kenneth Mars.
Triton is the king of the underwater Kingdom of Atlantica. He is a huge merman and the father of seven daughters: Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Atina, Adella, Allana [1], and Ariel. He is also the father-in-law of Prince Eric and the grandfather of Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody.
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 very protective of his daughters, which often turns into a conflict with Ariel. Although he is over 50 years old, Triton is still physically imposing. Triton's greatest wish is for his daughters to find respectable mermen to marry and to live happy lives. Triton was xenophobic about humans, and Ariel's fascination with humans strained their relationship. Despite his strength, power and honor, Triton has a terrible temper. When he gets angry, tremors shake the background, depicting his rage like his father, Poseidon. Some "Little Mermaid" fans speculate that the reason for Triton's hatred of humans was that his wife's death was somehow caused by humans. After finding out that Prince Eric killed Ursula to save his daughter Ariel, Triton softened his attitude towards humanity, and permitted his subjects to be in contact with humans.
His arch-enemy was Ursula, the old sea-witch who was once a senior member of the Court of King Triton. She has for many years been seeking a way to exact her revenge upon King Triton for banishing her from the kingdom. Ursula is also his relative, as revealed in the deleted songs on the Disney Platinum Edition release of the film.
King Triton also appeared in the Little Mermaid cartoon TV series, and in the Kingdom Hearts series of video games. 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. In Kingdom Hearts, he also knew protagonists Sora, Donald, and Goofy were from another world.
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.