The Little Mermaid (Disney Cartoon): Characters

Ariel
Ariel is the youngest and seventh daughter of King Triton and Queen Athena, rulers of Atlantica, and has six older sisters. She is classified as one of the Disney Princesses and is often seen in the company of Flounder, her best friend, and Sebastian, her father's advisor who is often assigned to watch over her. In the television series and first film, Ariel has a fascination with the human world and often goes off to find human artifacts that she displays in a secret grotto. Ariel is often rebellious, wandering off on her own to explore her surroundings, and frequently disobeys the orders of her father or Sebastian, causing conflict between the characters. In The Little Mermaid she is depicted as being willing to do anything to be with Prince Eric, even giving up her voice to become human. Clements described her as a typical teenager, prone to errors of judgment. She also is incredibly curious, and her curiosity often leads her into dangerous situations.

Ariel is kind to others no matter what their circumstances, as depicted in the television series. In an early episode, Ariel helps an orphaned merboy who had fallen in with a bad crowd. In another episode, Ariel befriends a supposed bad-luck creature and protects it from Ursula and other merfolk who wish it harm. Ariel is also self-taught with magic like in "Land of the Dinosaurs", she uses her father's trident to thaw the ice. She appears as an adult in Return to the Sea, and gives birth to a daughter named Melody. Ariel is protective of her daughter, as Triton was of Ariel in the first film. After Morgana threatens Melody, Ariel refuses to let Melody in the ocean. Ariel's Beginning depicts her personality as it was in the original film, after Jodi Benson had advocated returning the character to her roots. Ariel is once again rebellious, and after her father decrees music to be banned in Atlantica she runs away with Sebastian and his band.

Flounder
Flounder is Ariel's best fish friend. Flounder scares easily, and is prone to panicking under stressful situations, but when Ariel is in trouble, he comes through for her without hesitation. As seen in Ariel's Beginning, Flounder was not always jittery and nervous, in fact, Flounder was just as adventurous as Ariel. However, it can be concluded that after the first few adventures with Ariel, Flounder began to suffer from anxiety.

As mentioned above, despite his fear, Flounder will eventually come through for Ariel when needed, to the point where he's not only her closest friend, but her most loyal one, at that. Because of this, the two are nearly inseparable, and the bond is incredibly strong throughout the franchise, especially during episodes within the television series. Like Sebastian, though, even Flounder, at times, tires of Ariel's reckless behavior and expresses so when a dangerous adventure is at hand, but he willingly puts up with it not only to watch out for her, but because he truly loves her, much to Ariel's relief and joy. Because of this, Ariel is rather protective of Flounder, and when in peril, she always puts his safety before her own, making her he's always the first to make it out safe, once again showing the connection between the two to be powerful, to say the least.