Ariel (Character)

Ariel, also known as the Little Mermaid, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the sixth episode of the third season. She is portrayed by JoAnna Garcia Swisher.

Ariel is based on the Little Mermaid from the fairytale, "The Little Mermaid".

History
In the Enchanted Forest, Ariel witnesses a shipwreck at sea and saves a human, Prince Eric, from succumbing to death. After bringing the unconscious man to safety, she falls deeply in love with him, but leaves before he wakes up.
 * -|Before the Curse=

A year later, she collects a piece of paper announcing the upcoming Under the Sea royal celebration that will be held to pay tribute to the sea goddess Ursula. Ariel plans to use a mythical truth, which states every year when the high tide rises, Ursula grants merpeople the ability to walk on dry land until the next one occurs, in order to meet Prince Eric. On her way there, she sees a woman, Snow White, jump into the water and pulls her up to the surface. Snow White thanks her and realizes Ariel is a mermaid.

At shore, Ariel asks what made her jump, so Snow White talks about being chased by an Evil Queen, who has made her do crazy things. Ariel understands what that feels like and gives Snow White the impression she, too, is on the run from someone. Instead, Ariel has plans to run towards a certain someone. Knowingly, Snow White asks for this person's name, whom she believes is a man, as the one thing that can make people crazy is love. Ariel tells her of a prince named Eric, though Snow White is surprised to learn he is human. On further elaboration, Ariel gushes about how she saved him from a shipwreck and he was unconscious the whole time, but it was love at first sight on her part. Shaking out her bag, a handful of various items fall out. One of them, an announcement for a royal ball, is where Ariel wishes to meet Prince Eric. Snow White asks how she is going to do that with a tail. As a demonstration, Ariel hoists herself out of the water and while on land, her tail magically transforms into a pair of legs. Shakily, she walks towards Snow White and settles herself beside her on a rock. She explains how walking on land is possible for her because of Ursula's powers over the high tide and will be able to do so for until the next one occurs in twelve hours. Snow White wonders why she didn't request for a bit more time, though Ariel concedes Ursula hasn't been sighted for thousands of years and is likely just a mythical figure. Grateful for Ariel's earlier help, Snow White decides to help her meet Prince Eric. However, Ariel asks for her true nature as a mermaid be kept a secret, but Snow White prompts that Prince Eric is bound to find out about it sooner or later. Ariel would rather he fall in love with her first, which Snow White agrees with.

At the ball, Ariel and Snow White, dressed in gowns, walk in and down to the main celebration hall. Ariel is unsure of how she looks while pondering if the undergarment under the dress is supposed to be so tight. Snow White reassures her it's normal for a corset; kindling curiosity from Ariel, who inquires how she knows that. Snow White admits in another life she was a princess. Ariel thinks it's possible for her to return to that life again, but Snow White is doubtful. Instead, she believes Ariel can be a princess for the night.

They make their way over to the food tables where Snow White tests Ariel's knowledge on the name of a utensil. Having been schooled on it earlier, Ariel recalls the item as a mini-trident and then a salad trident, but Snow White reminds her it's a fork. While Ariel stuffs the fork into her gown pocket as a collection item, Snow White says it's not very valuable. Just then, Prince Eric strolls in. Gleefully, Ariel recognizes he looks the same; less wet, but more handsome.

From across the room, she catches his eye, but is too shy to approach him until Snow White pushes her forward. She steps over to Prince Eric, but, in the process, stumbles onto the floor. Helping her up, he asks if she likes dancing as it might be easier than walking. Humorously, she replies no one is dancing, though he begs to differ since being a prince has its perks; with one of them being having the free will to dance at any time. After introducing each other, he bows as a dance courtesy and realizes she looks familiar. Curtsying in response, she feigns ignorance. Prince Eric recalls the place he saw her, to which Ariel nervously asks where. Grasping hands, the two are drawn into a romantic waltz as the crowd forms around to watch. He talks about being in a shipwreck that nearly cost his life, yet someone saved him and ever since then, a recurring dream of a person with her face lingers. Still, Ariel maintains she is new in town and thus, isn't the one who saved him. He agrees and suggests perhaps Ursula spared him death and in doing so, sent Ariel as a vision for his future. She says Ursula is only a myth, even though Prince Eric credits the sea goddess as the one who brought Ariel to him. After being queried her reason for stopping by the kingdom, Ariel cites she wants to see the world; something Prince Eric is fond of as well since he will be leaving the next morning to go on an adventurous expedition. When she expresses enthusiasm at the idea, he invites her to join him. Since Ariel can't come to a decision right away, he promises to wait for her tomorrow morning for an answer. Discussing it over with Snow White, Ariel is beginning to regret coming to the ball as a terrible mistake. Snow White looks on the bright side, which is that Ariel met her prince. Ariel, on the other hand, is anxious over her dilemma of possibly asking Prince Eric to give up his dream for someone he just met. Snow White notes that she could be his dream. Ariel echoes in agreement, but doesn't have the heart to make him choose. Ever perceptive, Snow White can see Ariel is afraid of his choice, but advises her to do the right thing by being honest. Ariel is wary of rejection by the prince if he learns she is actually a mermaid.

Giving herself time to think, Ariel goes to the sea shore for guidance from Ursula. Several attempts yield no answer and she begins walking away. Suddenly, the Evil Queen in the guise of Ursula appears from beneath the waves. She offers Ariel a magical bracelet to remain human permanently, however, someone else must take the form of a mermaid. Naively, Ariel trusts Ursula and sees the bracelet as a way for both herself and Snow White to both get what they want.

She runs back to Snow White and clasps the bracelet on her. To Snow White's dismay, she receives a tail, though Ariel considers her new form a way to escape the Evil Queen and start a new life under the sea. Snow White doesn't believe Ursula is real, despite Ariel's claims. From behind, the Evil Queen interrupts the chat and only then, Ariel realizes she has been tricked. Ariel is unwilling to leave, even though Snow White pleads that she must leave. The Evil Queen shoos Ariel away, but she is not willing to leave a friend behind. To drive her off, the Evil Queen proposes Snow White will be harmed either way and Ariel can join her, or she can go off to be with her prince. Additionally, she stresses there are no second chances. Snow White pushes Ariel to leave because at least she still has an opportunity for happiness. Ariel is further persuaded by the Evil Queen of the weight of which is more important, her true love, or losing her life because of a friend. To Snow White, Ariel apologizes and hurries off. In actuality, she only pretended to do and returns to stab the Evil Queen in the neck with a fork. While the Evil Queen wrestles to dislodge the fork, Ariel rips off the bracelet from Snow White's arm, turning herself back into a mermaid and the latter into a human. She hastens Snow White to hold her breath as the two jump into the ocean and swim off.

Escaping to a nearby beach, Snow White urges Ariel to go back to the prince and tell him the truth. Ariel is certain he's already left, but is encouraged by Snow White, who believes Prince Eric will wait as long as possible until she shows up. Happily, Ariel resurfaces at the docks and spots Prince Eric standing at a balcony looking out to the sea's horizon. She begins calling to attract his attention, but is stunned to find her voice gone and watches as he walks away from the balcony. Nearby, the Evil Queen unceremoniously informs Ariel will not have a second chance at true love and takes great pleasure in having stolen her voice. She remarks the only thing worse than rejection from Prince Eric is Ariel's inability to ever confess her feelings for him. In tears, a muted Ariel heads back to the sea. Twenty-nine years, in Neverland, Mr. Gold observes Regina summon Ariel using a conch shell. Disdainfully, Ariel emerges to the surface. In order to receive Ariel's help in procuring a powerful weapon from Mr. Gold's shop to stop Peter Pan, Regina returns her voice. Still, Ariel harbors a grudge, so Regina to give her a way to remain human and reunite with Eric in Storybrooke, which is also where the weapon is. Ariel agrees to the deal.
 * -|After the Curse=

Trivia

 * Ariel was first announced at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con with a teaser featuring her stealing a fork from Leroy's lunchbox.
 * Described by Adam Horowitz as, “Adventurous. Spitfire. Romantic.”