The Trident is a magical weapon that is featured in The Little Mermaid franchise. It serves as the personal weapon of King Triton, and has vast magical abilities capable of controlling the sea and its spoils, and thus has been strongly desired by malevolent forces, most notably Ursula.
The trident is shown to have various applications, depending on the will of the user. When its power is activated, it illuminates with a bright, shining golden or blue glow (green in Morgana's case) and is heard to make a deep humming sound punctuated with high-pitched melodious tunes. Since whoever wields it has command over the oceans, it affords tremendous power.
Most commonly seen is its ability to fire destructive energy bolts. These energy bolts, however, must be fired immediately upon the ready, or they will cause the built up energy to backfire on the user. This is ultimately how Ursula was killed, as she attempted to fire an energy ray at Ariel, but was impaled seconds before she could fire by Prince Eric and one of the ships, causing the energy to backfire on her. Though these energy bolts may destroy many things, the trident is intended to protect Atlantica and the ocean and as a result, its destructive power is incapable of violating any commitments, such as Ariel's deal with Ursula which was willingly, albeit reluctantly, signed by a member of the royal bloodline, making the contract legal.
Triton has also used it to summon rain storms, and transform his daughter, Ariel, into a human. He is also seen creating a rainbow in the first film, and disintegrating the sea wall in the second film. Ariel uses it herself in one episode of the television show, to thaw dinosaurs that have been trapped in a glacier, and it is revealed that the trident is activated simply by the will of the user. When the trident is in Ursula's possession, she grows to gigantic size and creates a giant whirlpool in the ocean that has such force that it raises sunken ships from the ocean floor (which Eric uses to kill Ursula). In the television series, the trident can be mentally controlled at Triton's whim and called to him as well.
In The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, Sebastian claims that only members of the royal bloodline can remove the trident from its resting place. However, this is contradictory to the rest of the franchise; for instance, Urchin in the TV series was able to lift the trident out of its resting place at one point despite him not being related to Triton at all.
The melodic hum the trident makes when powered up.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
Energy Bolts: The trident can create powerful bright gold, pink, green, or blue energy bolts that can destroy almost any substance in existence.
Shapeshifting: The trident can transform its user or other merpeople into humans, and vice versa.
Levitation: The trident can levitate other merpeople, objects, aquatic creatures, etc.
Corporikinesis: The trident can manipulate the bodies of other merpeople or aquatic creatures, forcing them to do the user's bidding against their free will.
Immobilization: The trident can temporarily incapacitate other merpeople, aquatic creatures, etc.
Atmogenesis: The trident can create different aspects of the weather, such as rainstorms, thunderstorms, etc.
Atmokinesis: The trident can manipulate the weather.
Cryogenesis: The trident can create ice.
Cryokinesis: The trident can manipulate ice.
Hydrokinesis: The trident can manipulate and shape water at will. Although all merpeople possesses it, other creatures can also be granted water manipulation if they wield the Trident.
Abilities[]
Melee combat: The trident can be wield in combat just like any other melee weapon.
Weaknesses[]
Limitations: Despite being an immensely powerful mystical weapon, the trident's powers do have its limits.
Humans: The trident's powers, at least by Return to the Sea, have no effect on humans due to the fact that they are not aquatic creatures. However, it should be noted however that Ursula was shown preparing to blast Eric until Ariel interfered with the blast, implying that this limitation was not in effect in the first movie, or that this limitation is only for the Trident's Corporikinesis ability.
Human-Merpeople Hybrids: The trident's powers have no effect on human-merpeople hybrids due to the fact that they are not pure-blooded aquatic creatures, as they are biologically more human then merpeople.
Magical contracts: The trident cannot destroy or undo an individual's deal on magical contracts once they have signed it due to the fact that these said contracts are legal and binding. However, Ursula implied that the trident can still kill the individual in question regardless of the contract.
Individuals: The trident can be wield by any other individual regardless whether or not they are pure of heart and worthy, or pure evil.
Trivia[]
In A Twisted Tale: Part of Your World, when Ariel becomes Queen after Triton is captured by Ursula, she is able to turn the trident into a comb when she assumes human form to search for her father. It is also established that the trident only has power when in the sea or in contact with sea water, with the result that Ariel cannot use its powers when on land (although she is able to channel its power when she makes contact with a fountain that takes its water directly from the sea).
