Ariel Not Being a Princess of Heart

[kuraudoVII]

Not even a theory, that's the case. In case anyone was wondering, this is what the official glossary has to say about the princesses

Another name for the princesses of heart: the only seven people in the world whose hearts are pure light.

While not necessarily royalty, they are called "princesses" because they are all female and the one who brings them together will reign over all worlds.

The nature of the princesses' power is not entirely clear, but once already their hearts have been stolen to create an entrance to Kingdom Hearts and a so-called "Keyblade of heart."

This. As was already mentioned, not all of the princesses were even born into their role in the first place. I guess this means that according to Kingdom Hearts, Ariel's heart isn't completely filled with pure light like Alice.

At any rate, I'm fine with not having Ariel as a PoH. If Nomura decides to have a kidnap arc for III, then Ariel may or may not see as much screentime as she would if she were just a party member like Mulan or Beast.

 

[Ventus_]

Alright that is some information I did not realize, 'The Princesses of Heart' is not a term which actually refers to literal princesses? All most just coincidentally happen to be? That does make much more sense of the situation. Perhaps Ariel's heart was not considered pure enough because she wanted to see other worlds which in KH is considered 'meddling'? The reason some such as Triton believe the Keyblade wielder to bring chaos and ruin rather than light and salvation. But then how does Sora have such a pure heart when he's so called "meddled" in worlds outside his own?

This. As was already mentioned, not all of the princesses were even born into their role in the first place.

The circumstances of one's birth is irrelevant however. A woman married to a prince is just as much a princess as one born into it.

 

[The_Echo]

Ariel was originally going to be a Princess of Heart.

I believe they gave her spot to Alice because Ariel doesn't have legs and wouldn't get them in the course of her world's story.

 

[Antifa Lockhart]

Ariel was originally going to be a Princess of Heart.

I believe they gave her spot to Alice because Ariel doesn't have legs and wouldn't get them in the course of her world's story.

That's never been confirmed anywhere. In fact, some of the earliest bits of concept art that we see includes Alice's unused stained glass podium. But I think you may be right.

I also think that game mechanics would be way more relevant to deciding this than the arbitrary amount of darkness would could assign Ariel. Of course, we've got no way of knowing, I guess.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

That's never been confirmed anywhere. In fact, some of the earliest bits of concept art that we see includes Alice's unused stained glass podium. But I think you may be right.

I also think that game mechanics would be way more relevant to deciding this than the arbitrary amount of darkness would could assign Ariel. Of course, we've got no way of knowing, I guess.

I read on TV Tropes (that may or may not be true) that it was because they wanted her as a party member, and couldn't figure how to make both things happen, so they just scrapped her as a POH in favor of Alice.

And honestly, that bothers me to this day. I just don't think hers (or Jasmine's) hearts are pure enough for that, but whatever. Still... if only Rapunzel had been around back then. LOL.

And tbh, I sort of wish they would have used an actual princess instead of Alice. I know that PoH doesn't necessarily mean royalty now, but I do think that was originally the plan in KH1, and Alice was just the odd one out there. (Because of KH1, you easily could have argued that Kairi was the actual princess of Hollow Bastion, and Ansem's daughter or something. Not the case anymore, of course. But back then?)

You know, Shady, it actually sort of bothers me how they've made Sora have such a pure heart. I mean, it just sort of usurps the role of the PoH. imo, and they're the new KH, even! And honestly... a lot of times Sora does seem more pure hearted to me than Kairi, which is weird since he does have Darkness in his heart. I mean, I get that Sora has the power to connect with anybody--and may even be the "chosen one"--but I wish they'd find a way to define his and the Princesses roles more separately or something.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I read on TV Tropes (that may or may not be true) that it was because they wanted her as a party member, and couldn't figure how to make both things happen, so they just scrapped her as a POH in favor of Alice.

There isn't really any interview proof of this...Not that I've ever found, at least.

Alice's stained glass was a part of the concept book Square Enix gave to Disney early on in development, though.

And honestly, that bothers me to this day. I just don't think hers (or Jasmine's) hearts are pure enough for that, but whatever. Still... if only Rapunzel had been around back then. LOL.

I...would somewhat agree if only because Jasmine in the animated series was shown to have many sides to her (Scourge of Agrabah, Princess of Evil!) but...in the end I don't think that necessarily matters. Personality and attitude don't really have to play a part in the person's purity of heart, though. It doesn't necessarily mean they need to be the sweetest people or kind.

Kairi has had her fair share of kind of rude moments, Cinderella had literally lost hope and nearly clouded her own heart with sorrow, Belle certainly showed her attitude to Xaldin.

You know, Shady, it actually sort of bothers me how they've made Sora have such a pure heart. I mean, it just sort of usurps the role of the PoH. imo, and they're the new KH, even! And honestly... a lot of times Sora does seem more pure hearted to me than Kairi, which is weird since he does have Darkness in his heart. I mean, I get that Sora has the power to connect with anybody--and may even be the "chosen one"--but I wish they'd find a way to define his and the Princesses roles more separately or something.

I'm not sure how you are defining "pure heart". "Pure Heart" in this series would only equate to the lack of light or darkness in one's heart, not their attitude or personality.

Sora isn't the "chosen one" (of what he'd be chosen for, idk) That is pretty much the point of the series. He's lucky, but a completely average kid whose grown into an amazing person because of hard work and learning many lessons along his journeys.

There already is a way to define their roles.

Princesses of Heart are born naturally with no darkness in their hearts, making them unique out of anybody in the universe because a normal heart needs both to exist, and when you bring all seven PoH together they will call upon the "Final Keyhole" that leads to the Door to Darkness, opening the pathway to the Realm of Darkness where Kingdom Hearts lies. That is the

Sora is just a normal boy who, through unexpected circumstances, gained the Keyblade and has since become the savior of the universe twice. Because of the lessons he's learned throughout the series and his deep belief in friendship, he has formed many bonds with the people he's met and has essentially shown the true potential of what a heart can do when they are kind. He has darkness and light in his heart. He is not a "pure heart".

He's just a really nice guy (who used to be kind of a butt but grew into his own...but still has some jerky moments here and there)

 

[Ruran]

I read on TV Tropes (that may or may not be true) that it was because they wanted her as a party member, and couldn't figure how to make both things happen, so they just scrapped her as a POH in favor of Alice.

The thing about Ariel being a PoH at one point does sound familiar but I can't find where I read it. I think it was included as trivia and I was looking through the articles but got lazy. Pfft! It'll turn up eventually.

And honestly, that bothers me to this day. I just don't think hers (or Jasmine's) hearts are pure enough for that, but whatever. Still... if only Rapunzel had been around back then. LOL.

As I mentioned previously, the general temperament of the PoH was never established (if they have one). Having a pure heart doesn't exempt them from having "negativity" which is too base to develop into darkness in itself. It's implied in BbS that even the PoH can draw Unversed to to themselves if they're feeling strong negative emotions.

And tbh, I sort of wish they would have used an actual princess instead of Alice. I know that PoH doesn't necessarily mean royalty now, but I do think that was originally the plan in KH1, and Alice was just the odd one out there. (Because of KH1, you easily could have argued that Kairi was the actual princess of Hollow Bastion, and Ansem's daughter or something. Not the case anymore, of course. But back then?)

Yeah, probably. It wouldn't surprise me if Kairi was originally intended to be a princess but they purposely left it up in the air just in case. Although, at the time it also wasn't planned that Ansem SoD was an imposter and the Ansem Reports imply that Kairi was just some random girl he found. I'm leaning on that by the time KH1 was completed, if they ever considered making Kairi a real princess, they had probably already scrapped it. Since she's a main character it just brings up too many questions and elements that can't be ignored, particularly involving her family. Since KH usualy tries to avoid family issues, it'd be tough to do that with Kairi if she were a real princess.

Personally, I prefer that they went with not having all the PoH be princesses. It just seems odd that they would all just so happen to be royalty. I mean, why would they be? Since they're born into their roles and it's not assigned to them I think it would be weird if they all ended up real princesses.

You know, Shady, it actually sort of bothers me how they've made Sora have such a pure heart. I mean, it just sort of usurps the role of the PoH. imo, and they're the new KH, even! And honestly... a lot of times Sora does seem more pure hearted to me than Kairi, which is weird since he does have Darkness in his heart. I mean, I get that Sora has the power to connect with anybody--and may even be the "chosen one"--but I wish they'd find a way to define his and the Princesses roles more separately or something.

How does Sora being very pure hearted usurp the roles of the PoH? Aside from being an over all good guy Sora isn't doing anything a PoH would normally. I find the general issue is that the writers just don't use the PoH to their full potential for some reason (not even Kairi) but I don't think the way Sora's portrayed is hampering them.

 

[Ventus_]

I read on TV Tropes (that may or may not be true) that it was because they wanted her as a party member, and couldn't figure how to make both things happen, so they just scrapped her as a POH in favor of Alice.

And tbh, I sort of wish they would have used an actual princess instead of Alice. I know that PoH doesn't necessarily mean royalty now, but I do think that was originally the plan in KH1, and Alice was just the odd one out there. (Because of KH1, you easily could have argued that Kairi was the actual princess of Hollow Bastion, and Ansem's daughter or something. Not the case anymore, of course. But back then?)

Though I now understand that by their definition the 'Princesses of Heart' isn't referring to literal princess status, it does feel like that was the original intention, that Alice had gotten the role on a technicality due to such suggested reasons as Ariel being preferred as a party member and/or her not having legs (though as I have clarified before I refuse to buy the legs excuse as valid as I offered a suggestion that would have worked fine, to respond to The_Echo).

Lets take a look at another interesting factor here that's been on my mind, Wendy. Remember in Neverland how Hook had captured her only to have Riku tell him she wasn't a PoH. But why not? What would have been the deciding factor between her and Alice? For some reason I feel like Wendy would have made more sense since they insisted on replacing Ariel.
It's a shame the literal princess roster was so limited at the time this game was made as some such as Anna, Rupunzel and Tiana would have been interesting possible choices. Tiana in particular would have fit in well considering that the villain of her film Dr. Facilier is known for working with shadows as his nickname 'The Shadow Man' clearly indicates. So he could have been incorporated very well into the story line.
I'd love to see a remake of the first game that includes characters/worlds that weren't originally around.

 

[Ruran]

Though I now understand that by their definition the 'Princesses of Heart' isn't referring to literal princess status, it does feel like that was the original intention, that Alice had gotten the role on a technicality due to such suggested reasons as Ariel being preferred as a party member and/or her not having legs (though as I have clarified before I refuse to buy the legs excuse as valid as I offered a suggestion that would have worked fine, to respond to The_Echo).

Lets take a look at another interesting factor here that's been on my mind, Wendy. Remember in Neverland how Hook had captured her only to have Riku tell him she wasn't a PoH. But why not? What would have been the deciding factor between her and Alice? For some reason I feel like Wendy would have made more sense since they insisted on replacing Ariel.
It's a shame the literal princess roster was so limited at the time this game was made as some such as Anna, Rupunzel and Tiana would have been interesting possible choices. Tiana in particular would have fit in well considering that the villain of her film Dr. Facilier is known for working with shadows as his nickname 'The Shadow Man' clearly indicates. So he could have been incorporated very well into the story line.
I'd love to see a remake of the first game that includes characters/worlds that weren't originally around.

They didn't have many princesses at the time, but if they really wanted all the Disney PoH to be royalty and couldn't use Ariel there was always Princess Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron. I don't know if not having legs was an actual excuss for not making her a PoH, but for KH1, the writers generally just seemed to avoid using too many heavy plot points from the movies to make their own stories and interegrate them into the overarcking plot better.

Granted, I'm probably limiting conversation buuuuuutttt. I don't think who they chose as the PoH mattered much so long as the characters weren't obviously evil. It probably just came down to who Nomura liked more and in this case I can see why he chose Alice over someone else like Wendy. I find Alice's over all sassy attitude more appealing than Wendy's "momlieness". The Disney PoH seem to be split between the more "docile" girls (Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella) and the more "sassy" girls (Alice, Belle, Jasmine), so maybe they justed wanted some variety in personality. *shrugs*

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

You guys are right; I was thinking about personality far too much, when thinking about the Light and Darkness thing. I should have known better, seeing as how KH has made its take on these concepts very clear, but it was just something I'd always been wondering. (And I have heard people saying that Sora seems to act more Light incarnate than the PoH, but that's neither here nor there.) Personally, I like that Kairi (and the other Princesses) have some bite to them. They would have been too perfect otherwise.

The only thing I sort of don't like is that Sora has the ability to house so many hearts, seeing as how the PoH are the new KH (and KH is the Heart of All Worlds. Shouldn't they be doing things like that, too? IDK, I could be way off, but it just doesn't make much sense to me. Perhaps Sora can do that because he's one of the Seven Lights who will make up the X-Blade? (And the "chosen one", in that he's the one who will save all these people, and is the "Key That Connects Everything"?)

I can understand why they decided to make Kairi a normal girl (and even prefer it that way), but I would have liked seeing where they could have gone, if they'd made her a real Princess (on a side note, I've always wanted to see Sora ask Kairi if she was royalty, after his shocked, "The Princess? Kairi's a Princess?!" line in KH1). And even though I know that KH isn't about family, I do want Kairi to return to a restored RG eventually, and maybe find out what happened to her grandmother.

There were reports from the first game that hinted Kairi was a normal girl that ASoD picked off the street? I don't remember these. Were they Final Mix exclusive? As far as I remember, the only time they talked about Kairi's time in RG in the Ansem Reports, was when they talked about how ASoD cast her out into the Lanes Between.

@Ruran But doesn't Disney like to pretend that The Black Cauldron never happened? Plus, Alice in Wonderland is more well known. I suppose they could have used Tiger Lily or something, though, if they'd really wanted to stick to princesses, so maybe they never were supposed to be necessary royalty.

@Shady I've always wondered that! I still don't know for sure how they knew who and who wasn't a PoH and all of that jazz. I know I said as much in another thread, but I wish it was a little clearer in KH1, but I suppose that's all water under the bridge now.

Somewhat off topic, but do you guys think if something happened to a PoH someone else would be able to take up the mantle? That doesn't seem to be the case now (since if the PoH fall, so will the worlds at present), but perhaps that could change? (I was just thinking about this when trying to figure out how to make the Disney relevant in KHIII. Like, perhaps if our heroes went to Arendelle, they could be trying to protect Anna because she could be a PoH alternate, so to speak?) I mean, unless the PoH are immortal, this is something to worry about right? (Though I do suspect KHIII will do something so the Princesses' Light won't be the pillar for the worlds anymore, but probably not until the end.)

 

[Ruran]

The only thing I sort of don't like is that Sora has the ability to house so many hearts, seeing as how the PoH are the new KH (and KH is the Heart of All Worlds. Shouldn't they be doing things like that, too? IDK, I could be way off, but it just doesn't make much sense to me. Perhaps Sora can do that because he's one of the Seven Lights who will make up the X-Blade? (And the "chosen one", in that he's the one who will save all these people, and is the "Key That Connects Everything"?)

Anyone can do that really, it's just that Sora just so happened to be the one who had to house all those hearts for one reason or another. In the case of Xion and Roxas, they were connected and had to return to him, and with Ven and Kairi, Sora just so happened to be at the right place at the right time.

As Namine most likely has her own heart, then Kairi is currently holding it, Riku was carrying around Ansem SoD's heart, and Terra had ME's. It's deffinatly not a Sora exclusive ability, he just has more than the others because main character powers.

I can understand why they decided to make Kairi a normal girl (and even prefer it that way), but I would have liked seeing where they could have gone, if they'd made her a real Princess (on a side note, I've always wanted to see Sora ask Kairi if she was royalty, after his shocked, "The Princess? Kairi's a Princess?!" line in KH1). And even though I know that KH isn't about family, I do want Kairi to return to a restored RG eventually, and maybe find out what happened to her grandmother.

There were reports from the first game that hinted Kairi was a normal girl that ASoD picked off the street? I don't remember these. Were they Final Mix exclusive? As far as I remember, the only time they talked about Kairi's time in RG in the Ansem Reports, was when they talked about how ASoD cast her out into the Lanes Between.

No, it was vanilla KH, Ansem just mention a "special little girl" who he suspected had a pure heart. If the original idea was that Kairi was Ansem's daughter he was being awefully formal about it, and if she was as important as royalty, he was being pretty formal about that too. It's not so much that there was something specifically stated that implied that she was just a normal girl, it's the lack of information that implied she would be something other. I guess they can pull some "lost princess" bru-ha-ha, and say that Kairi was a princess all along but no one knew it because reasons, but, meh.

@Ruran But doesn't Disney like to pretend that The Black Cauldron never happened? Plus, Alice in Wonderland is more well known. I suppose they could have used Tiger Lily or something, though, if they'd really wanted to stick to princesses, so maybe they never were supposed to be necessary royalty.

Pretty much. I was just using Eilonwy as an example of how they had other options if they really wanted to use a real princess.

Somewhat off topic, but do you guys think if something happened to a PoH someone else would be able to take up the mantle? That doesn't seem to be the case now (since if the PoH fall, so will the worlds at present), but perhaps that could change? (I was just thinking about this when trying to figure out how to make the Disney relevant in KHIII. Like, perhaps if our heroes went to Arendelle, they could be trying to protect Anna because she could be a PoH alternate, so to speak?) I mean, unless the PoH are immortal, this is something to worry about right? (Though I do suspect KHIII will do something so the Princesses' Light won't be the pillar for the worlds anymore, but probably not until the end.)

Perhaps the GoL could work substitutes, but imo, no. The PoH are so important because they are the failsafe for KH already. Since hearts never "die" and the PoH seem to have been around for a while, I just presume they get reincarnated. If, hypothetically speaking, one were to die I don't think that would be enough to make the univerese callapse or something, but I presume that PoH's heart would be reborn into someone else and eventually take their place in the RoL again with the otheres. Aside from seven being a magic number, I think that's why there's as many as there are. If one, maybe two, were to kick the bucket I don't think the universe would collapse or anything, but they would eventually have to return. If they want to make the PoH/Disney relavent again, I don't think they need to make new PoH/take the status away from the others, they just have to...DO something with them.

 

[Ventus_]

There were reports from the first game that hinted Kairi was a normal girl that ASoD picked off the street? I don't remember these. Were they Final Mix exclusive? As far as I remember, the only time they talked about Kairi's time in RG in the Ansem Reports, was when they talked about how ASoD cast her out into the Lanes Between.

According to this website: Kingdom Hearts/Ansem Reports — StrategyWiki, the video game walkthrough and strategy guide wiki
Ansem's Report 11 which describes his finding 'A special girl' whom he is unsure has the power of a princess or not is indeed Final Mix exclusive.

I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is...I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds.

I am slightly confused though because Ansem's Reports 11-13 which are all Final Mix exclusive seem to pertain to the events of Days as shown here:
Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix > New Ansem Reports - Destiny Islands

 

[Max]

This has always bothered me. My cousin freaking loves Disney Princesses, always has, and having played Kingdom Hearts since day 1 it was actually something we could talk about. It just seemed so weird to both of us though that Alice was made a PoH over Ariel, I mean, I know she's a mermaid, but I don't think anyone would have questioned it if say, the story went like this:

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all show up at Atlantica with their new bodies. They meet Ariel, blah blah blah. They still fight heartless and help her out and whatnot, but she doesn't become a party member. She wanders off towards the end of Atlantica's story, and Sebastion/Flounder say they saw Ursula take her. After confronting Ursula, they learn that she sent Ariel off to another world. So they beat up Ursula, promise Triton to bring her back, and then later in Hollow Bastion, there she is with all of the other princesses, walking around with legs.

They even could have made a little optional conversation, where if you talk to Ariel, Donald could be like "Ariel, you have legs?!" And she could respond with "Yes, it's some kind of spell that Ursula-" etc.

 

[Ruran]

According to this website: Kingdom Hearts/Ansem Reports — StrategyWiki, the video game walkthrough and strategy guide wiki
Ansem's Report 11 which describes his finding 'A special girl' whom he is unsure has the power of a princess or not is indeed Final Mix exclusive.



I am slightly confused though because Ansem's Reports 11-13 which are all Final Mix exclusive seem to pertain to the events of Days as shown here:
Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix > New Ansem Reports - Destiny Islands

Strange, I swore that report was in the vanilla version. My bad~

 

[Solo]

The excerpts in the second link are not the KHFM-exclusive reports. They are three of the Secret Ansem Reports, which are obtainable items in KH2.

Ansem Reports 11, 12, and 13 detail about unlocking the doors of the worlds, the different realms, and the Nobodies, respectively. They were penned by Xehanort himself, while the Secret Ansem Reports, which tend to be longer, were all authored by Ansem the Wise.

 

[kupo1121]

Personally, I prefer that they went with not having all the PoH be princesses. It just seems odd that they would all just so happen to be royalty. I mean, why would they be? Since they're born into their roles and it's not assigned to them I think it would be weird if they all ended up real princesses.

I completely agree with this. The reason being, if all the princesses were royalty, I think people would be upset now that Rapunzel, Tiana, Anna, and Elsa never stood a chance. To me, it makes much more sense that Ariel wasn't to show that since 1 of the official Disney princesses didn't make it, you don't need to be an official Disney princess to be one. Heck, you don't have to be a princess at all (since that to me isn't a moral Disney supports anymore since it isn't a realistic goal). I like that 2 normal girls (Alice in Wendy) were so pure that 1 is and 1 was almost considered to be 1.

This has always bothered me. My cousin freaking loves Disney Princesses, always has, and having played Kingdom Hearts since day 1 it was actually something we could talk about. It just seemed so weird to both of us though that Alice was made a PoH over Ariel, I mean, I know she's a mermaid, but I don't think anyone would have questioned it if say, the story went like this:

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all show up at Atlantica with their new bodies. They meet Ariel, blah blah blah. They still fight heartless and help her out and whatnot, but she doesn't become a party member. She wanders off towards the end of Atlantica's story, and Sebastion/Flounder say they saw Ursula take her. After confronting Ursula, they learn that she sent Ariel off to another world. So they beat up Ursula, promise Triton to bring her back, and then later in Hollow Bastion, there she is with all of the other princesses, walking around with legs.

They even could have made a little optional conversation, where if you talk to Ariel, Donald could be like "Ariel, you have legs?!" And she could respond with "Yes, it's some kind of spell that Ursula-" etc.

I don't think anyone is saying Ariel wouldn't have worked, honestly, she's still my favorite princess so I would have loved her to be a PoH as well, but perhaps they didn't want all of the PoH to be princesses and Ariel was chosen to be the one excluded merely because between Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, Snow White, and Ariel, it's easiest to see why she wouldn't make it (between disobedience and the whole making legs thing).

Kairi is technically a PoH, but as far as we know, I don't think she is a literal princess, so she'd be similar to Alice in that I don't think her dad and mom are king and queen of Radiant Garden. If all the PoH were official princesses, people might start to assume she was since she'd be the outlier, but since Alice clearly isn't, Kairi isn't breaking any rules.

 

[Max]

I don't think anyone is saying Ariel wouldn't have worked, honestly, she's still my favorite princess so I would have loved her to be a PoH as well, but perhaps they didn't want all of the PoH to be princesses and Ariel was chosen to be the one excluded merely because between Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, Snow White, and Ariel, it's easiest to see why she wouldn't make it (between disobedience and the whole making legs thing).

Kairi is technically a PoH, but as far as we know, I don't think she is a literal princess, so she'd be similar to Alice in that I don't think her dad and mom are king and queen of Radiant Garden. If all the PoH were official princesses, people might start to assume she was since she'd be the outlier, but since Alice clearly isn't, Kairi isn't breaking any rules.

I guess it does make it better than Kairi just being that one random PoH that isn't a princess, makes it a bit more believable. I think a part of me just also finds it strange that they picked Alice. I like Alice and don't have a problem with her being a PoH, but she just kind of feels... I don't know, out of place?

 

[Ventus_]

This has always bothered me. My cousin freaking loves Disney Princesses, always has, and having played Kingdom Hearts since day 1 it was actually something we could talk about. It just seemed so weird to both of us though that Alice was made a PoH over Ariel, I mean, I know she's a mermaid, but I don't think anyone would have questioned it if say, the story went like this:

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all show up at Atlantica with their new bodies. They meet Ariel, blah blah blah. They still fight heartless and help her out and whatnot, but she doesn't become a party member. She wanders off towards the end of Atlantica's story, and Sebastion/Flounder say they saw Ursula take her. After confronting Ursula, they learn that she sent Ariel off to another world. So they beat up Ursula, promise Triton to bring her back, and then later in Hollow Bastion, there she is with all of the other princesses, walking around with legs.

They even could have made a little optional conversation, where if you talk to Ariel, Donald could be like "Ariel, you have legs?!" And she could respond with "Yes, it's some kind of spell that Ursula-" etc.

My thought exactly though I hadn't thought it through this well, bravo. In fact with this set up she could still work as a party member at least for the first half of the story pertaining to finding the crystal to uncover the keyhole and Triton destroying it. Then when Ursula tricks Ariel into stealing the triton for her she could "fulfill" her end of the bargain to help her see other worlds by as you said giving her legs and having her transported to Hallow Bastian. In the Hallow Bastian conversation you suggested Sora could somewhat regret vanquishing Ursula for fear that the spell can not be reversed without her but Ariel would be perfectly happy with legs because now she can explore and/or perhaps she meets Eric.

Strange, I swore that report was in the vanilla version. My bad~

Vanilla, I keep hearing that term. What the heck does it mean?

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Vanilla, I keep hearing that term. What the heck does it mean?

Vanilla = original; referring to the non-Final Mix versions.

 

[Max]

My thought exactly though I hadn't thought it through this well, bravo. In fact with this set up she could still work as a party member at least for the first half of the story pertaining to finding the crystal to uncover the keyhole and Triton destroying it. Then when Ursula tricks Ariel into stealing the triton for her she could "fulfill" her end of the bargain to help her see other worlds by as you said giving her legs and having her transported to Hallow Bastian. In the Hallow Bastian conversation you suggested Sora could somewhat regret vanquishing Ursula for fear that the spell can not be reversed without her but Ariel would be perfectly happy with legs because now she can explore and/or perhaps she meets Eric.

I think I really would have liked it if all of this happened, even though it really would have had little to no impact on the game itself