King Triton

Background

As stated above, the handsome, feisty, and sassy Triton rules the underwater kingdom of Atlantica, though his power has been implied to spread across the entirety of the sea. He is a muscular merman, the husband of the late Queen Athena, and the widowed father of Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, Andrina, and Ariel. The king's magical trident appears to be made of gold. It emits a glowing light and a typical sound when in use. Besides his trident, he has a crown and two armbands, which also appear to be made out of gold. His archenemy was Ursula, the old sea witch who was once a senior member of the Court of King Triton. For many years, she had been seeking a way to exact her revenge upon him for banishing her from the kingdom.

Physical appearance

Triton's supervising animator in the original film was Andreas Deja. King Triton is a large, handsome elderly merman with fair skin and a massive, well-muscled physique. He has long white hair, a thick, matching beard and mustache, a widow's peak hairline, and bushy, gray eyebrows. As a child, he had freckles and his hair was originally red but turned auburn (the same color as his daughter Attina's hair) when he was a young merman. Like his daughter, Ariel, Triton has blue eyes (which are olive green in Ariel's Beginning), though they are more of a grayish hue compared to hers. Because he is a merman, Triton's lower body is a navy-blue fish-like tail with cyan, translucent fins and a matching, fish-lip waist-line. Triton also has three signs of his royal status; he wears gold gauntlets with borders on the edges and five studs around the middle on his forearms, stopping just below the elbow, a golden, five-pointed crown resembling a sea star, and, most important of all, wields the legendary trident, a golden, three-pronged weapon with vast magical powers and abilities.

Powers and abilities

...

Merman Physiology

As a merman, Triton possesses superhuman attributes, such as superhuman strength, durability and speed. Despite his old age, his superhuman attributes are still formidable.

Superhuman Strength

Triton is much stronger than normal humans and certain aquatic creatures. His physical strength is so advanced that his opponents (such as Ursula) avoid getting into a direct confrontation against him.

Superhuman Durability

Triton is much faster than normal humans and certain aquatic creatures. He can move at blur-like speeds while underwater and was also able to get from Atlantica all the way to Norway in less than a day. In his prime, he was possibly just as fast as Ariel, if not faster.

Aquakinesis

Triton can manipulate water, including being able to lift himself out of it with a summoned wave and sustain his position by channeling moving water.

Atmokinesis

Triton can presumably manipulate aspects of the weather. Sailors have implied that he can change the weather through the ocean, resulting in favorable or unfavorable sailing conditions, depending on his mood.

Aquapathy

Triton is capable of understanding and communicating with other aquatic creatures, albeit only with the creatures that are sentient.

Thermoendurance

Triton is immune to extremely cold or hot temperatures and environments.

Aquatic Breathing

Triton is capable of breathing both on land and in the water indefinitely.

High-Level Intellect/Expert Tactician/Leader

Triton is highly intelligent and wise. As the king of Atlantica, Triton is a highly skilled tactician and a capable leader.

Expert Swimmer

As a merman, Triton is an excellent swimmer, which is seen in the TV series and the prequel film The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.

Weaknesses

Limitations: Although Triton is incredibly powerful, he does have his limits caused by his old age. Limited Speed: Although Triton is incredibly fast, his speed is limited and he is unable to match Ariel's speed.

Weapons and equipment

Trident: Triton utilizes a magic trident to protect his family and Atlantica from dangerous threats. It possesses several magical powers, such as the power to turn merpeople into humans. According to Triton, the trident only manifests all its powers (other than lightning) when it is in the hands of the current monarch of the royal bloodline of Atlantica.

Personality

The prequel film The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, initially depicts Triton as a devoted and loving father and husband. After his wife's death, Triton becomes extremely strict due to the grief he suffered over his queen's death, but he eventually comes to terms with the incident, showing this by allowing music back into Atlantica after previously banning it in the wake of the tragedy. The television series, set before the events of the original film, shows Triton as a wise ruler. He is prejudiced towards humans, possibly, due to the death of his wife, Athena, even though her death was an accident and despite evidence that merpeople are half-humans themselves, including Triton himself. Although he is constantly at odds with Ariel, regarding humans and her dangerous adventures, he has shown to have a large feeling of guilt and remorse for upsetting his beloved daughter. In the original film, Triton is a flawed yet caring father. He is a strict disciplinarian whose overprotective nature towards his daughters has been the source of conflicts between him and Ariel, especially, due to her obsession with humans. He is both extremely short-tempered and bad-tempered simultaneously, if he is provoked enough. It was also briefly implied that he didn't particularly care if a human ended up drowning, as when arguing with Ariel shortly after discovering that she saved Eric.

Personality

When Ariel tried to explain that Eric could have died if it wasn't for her, Triton unmovingly stated that it was "one less human to worry about" in response, despite confirming shortly afterward that he doesn't even know Eric. His eruptive nature, when pushed far enough, was also shown to lead to violent and aggressive acts, as he destroyed most of Ariel's human artifacts as a way to "get through to her" after the possibility of losing his daughter to the human world was brought into play. Despite this, Triton immediately expressed remorse afterward, as his angered expression softened to one of despair. After Ariel goes missing, after becoming human, he blames himself for the situation and tirelessly spends his time searching for her, unable to rest, until she is safe at home, proving that he is able to admit when his actions have gone too far. Earlier in the film, he also confides in Sebastian out of the fear that he may have been too strict with Ariel, proving that he struggles in both keeping her safe and being a loving father. By the time of the sequel, Triton has become more rational and accepting of humans. He is still presented as a very wise ruler, although he now has much better control over his temper. But his aggressive nature still remains in times of crisis. He has a soft spot for his first granddaughter, Melody, and greatly values her well-being. When Ariel declares that Melody is to be raised as a normal human for her own safety from Morgana, Triton is noticeably upset as he had hoped to get to know his granddaughter, but lets Ariel decide, proving that Triton has learned to trust Ariel's choices, even if he does not agree with some of them.