Princess Elena

Princess Elena is the protagonist of the Disney Channel animated series Elena of Avalor. She is the oldest princess and the current Ruler of Avalor, but before she can become Queen she must rule as the Crown Princess.

Background
Elena was born to the late King Raul and Queen Lucia of Avalor. She resides within the kingdom's castle alongside her family, consisting of her sister Isabel, maternal grandparents Francisco and Luisa, as well as her scheming maternal cousin, Esteban. She is additionally accompanied by a trio of comedic, flying jaquins that double as her friends and mode of transportation, as well as the wise spirit fox Zuzo, whom only she can see on her own free will, as a result of her magical abilities.

Personality
Elena has the heart and mind of a true leader. She is devoted to the welfare of her subjects, her family, and her friends. She is shown to hold her father in high esteem and looks to him for inspiration. Like the Princess who freed her, Elena values keeping promises no matter what and has a strong dislike of disappointing her loved ones to the point where she can take on more than she can handle. Also like Sofia, she has a personal approach to leadership and a disregard for her own personal safety. Unlike Sofia, Elena is very confident, so much so that she can be careless. Also unlike Sofia, who is quite particular, Elena can rush into things and miss key points. Her grandfather Francisco noted this to her through the story of the king who thought he had lost his crown, a way of telling her she wasn't ready to rule alone. Elena is reluctant to take advice at the beginning, while Sofia can take too much advice. She's also shown to love Dia de los Muertos because she sees it as a party where everyone you love is invited.

Physical Appearance
At seventeen years of age, Elena is an olive-skinned girl, with a slender figure and amber-brown eyes. She has ruby red lips and long, wavy, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail.

Her signature outfit is a long red sleeveless over-skirt dress stylized with matching coral gauze ruffle/flounces around the elastic neckline and on the side and bottom with an attached ivory colored underskirt. Around her waist is a golden belt held in place with a golden buckle. She wears brown high heeled shoes with flowery patterns. Elena's jewelry includes a pair of golden engraved hoop earrings, a braided beaded bracelet on her left wrist, and a flower hair comb clip on the right side of her hair.

She also usually wears an elegant, flowing yet once again ruffled flower motif red ball gown with a pink sash for more formal occasions. With this, she retains her usual ponytail, yet swaps out the flower hair combs for a tiara, and her hoop earrings for hanging jeweled earrings.

Powers and Abilities
In her teenage years, Elena was given the Scepter of Light from her father, and the Amulet of Avalor from her mother. Both artifacts are ancient Maruvian treasures that possess powerful magic. The scepter can conjure spells through verbal order, while the amulet has a wide array of abilities that generally works to protect its bearer.

As a result of being trapped within the amulet for decades, Elena has garnered a few magical abilities of her own, as theorized by Zuzo at any rate. For one, as revealed in "First Day of Rule", she has the power to see and summon spirits at all times, as opposed to only when a wizard summons one. This also carries over to non-magical entities, such as the spirits of deceased humans, though this ability is only possible on Dia de los Muertos.

Elena and the Secret of Avalor
When Elena turned fifteen, her mother Queen Lucia gave her the Amulet of Avalor, a magical amulet that her parents hoped would always protect her from harm. One year later, Shuriki, an evil power-hungry sorceress from the Northern Islands, invaded Avalor and killed her parents. Alacazar, Avalor's Royal Wizard, came up with a way to save her family. Because he needed time to cast it, Elena made the choice to face Shuriki on her own. When Shuriki tried to strike her down, the Amulet saved Elena by pulling her inside it. When the Amulet was given to Princess Sofia of Enchancia, Elena knew she was the one who would free her.

Forty-one years after her imprisonment, Princess Sofia of Enchancia achieves enough of a state of oneness with the Amulet that Elena is finally able to make contact with her by triggering the Amulet's Secret Library Visions ability. This sends Sofia to the Secret Library of Enchancia where she learns of Elena's imprisonment from Alacazar. This makes Sofia set out to free Elena from the Amulet. With a combination of Alacazar's grandson, the Jaquins, Shuriki's wand, and her powers, Sofia finally frees Elena from the Amulet. Elena takes Shuriki's wand and sets out to defeat Shuriki alone. Her attempt fails when she can't use the wand properly and she's forced to flee. Elena and Sofia team up and free their families. They then rally the Citizens of Avalor, who march with them to the castle where they confront Shuriki. Her cousin Esteban grabs Shuriki's wand and tosses it to Elena. Knowing she can't use the wand, Elena destroys it. With the wand gone, Shuriki's powers are destroyed and she turns into an old woman who flees defeated. Elena then assumes the throne to the joy of all of Avalor.

Season One
In "First Day of Rule", Following her freedom from the amulet, Elena and her family resume their lives in Avalor, with Elena being particularly excited to finally be crowned Queen. However, Francisco informs her that her crowning will have to wait, as Esteban has discovered that Elena is too young to rule the kingdom as queen, per the kingdom's by-laws. Instead, Francisco explains that Elena will rule alongside a Grand Council who will help her make decisions until she comes of age. Elena strongly rebukes the idea, believing she's mentally capable of solely maintaining the kingdom and vows to prove herself by gathering the city leaders and working alongside them to restore Avalor's welfare, which had been damaged by Shuriki's purge. She was accompanied by Isabel, Estaban, and a new member of the Royal Guard, Gabe.

While out, Elena is informed of a mysterious series of thefts involving ships. Though Elena wants to spring into action, Esteban convinces her to instead focus on meeting the city leaders as intended, to which Elena agrees. Isabel and Gabe stay behind, where they uncover the mysterious ship thieves before being captured and kidnapped by them. A young girl named Naomi notices this and quickly informs Elena. Teaming up with Mateo and Naomi, Elena uncovers the whereabouts of the stolen ships, revealing the thieves to be mystical creatures known as Noblins. Elena and her friends battle the creatures, but this only heightens the danger and leads to senseless altercations. Zuzo appears and helps Elena realize that she's approaching matters far too hastily and recklessly, advising that she slows down and think before acting. Elena calms her nerves and approaches the Noblins diplomatically, learning they were imprisoned by Shuriki and forced to make gold for decades. After her defeat, they were freed and stole the ships to return home. Elena allows the Noblins to borrow the ships to sail home and journeys back to the castle for the Royal Ball.

She accepts that she is not ready to become Queen, and instead takes her grandfather's advice by assembling the Grand Council of Avalor consisting of her grandparents, Esteban, and Naomi. She is then dubbed "Crown Princess of Avalor".

In "Model Sister", Elena tries to balance her Royal Duties and family commitment by catering to both Isabel's invention fair, as well as important meeting with the visiting King Toshi. After causing havoc in the process, she admits her shenanigans to Toshi and chooses her sister over business, to which Toshi responds pleasantly to, admiring Elena's devotion to family and strengthening the bond between their two kingdoms.

In "All Heated Up", a rock monster named Charoca is causing havoc on a nearby village for unknown reasons. With his power triggering volcanic activity that threatens the people below, the Grand Council almost unanimously agreed to rid the kingdom of Charoca, believing him to be a soulless monster. Elena believes otherwise, decided to take a more humane approach by confronting Charoca diplomatically. She learns that children of the village hike up the mountain and steals Charoca's rocks (his equivalent to family), infuriating him. Before the problem can be resolved, Esteban and the guards attack Charoca, infuriating him to the point of upsetting the volcano. As lava pools toward the village, Charoca realizes the error of his ways and seemingly sacrifices himself to save the people. Fortunately, he manages to survive and thanks Elena for believing in him, as well as garnering a friendly relationship with the villagers.

In "Island of Youth", Esteban's patience with Elena begins to wear thin, as he laments his longing to live life by his own merits, and not under the authority of someone else. He believes he could do so if he were younger, and thusly journeys to the Island of Youth to drink from the enchanted fountain which, according to legend, would restore his youth. Elena and Mateo tag along as a way to keep Esteban from the castle as the family prepares his birthday party, but things go wrong when Esteban begins to decrease in age at a rapid pace. To restore him, Mateo retrieves an aging flower, and Esteban's true self is restored. However, the island begins to disappear. While retreating, Elena (as well as the last bit of youth water, which Esteban had stored in his water container) falls into a ravine. Esteban briefly struggles to choose between the container and Elena, but ultimately rescues his cousin, allowing them to return home safely. Elena expresses her love and appreciation for Esteban, in spite of their differences, allowing the strain in their relationship to settle somewhat.

In "Spellbound", Elena dubs Mateo the new Royal Sorcerer of Avalor in place of the deceased Alakazar, while simultaneously boosting his confidence by helping him defeat the roughish sorcerer, Fiero.

in "Prince Too Charming", Elena's developed maturity is twisted to mockingly label her as a workaholic, according to Prince Alonso, whose kingdom Elena and Gabe visit to discuss building a trading bridge between Avalor and Alonso's Kingdom of Cordoba. Her insecurities get the best of her as she takes Alonso's advice and spends time away from work, unknowingly allowing the rise of the ancient being known as the Yacalli, who vows to destroy Cordoba Castle after Elena and Alonso orders the construction workers to build the bridge on the land inhabited by buhitos. Elena is able to convince the Yacalli that they meant no harm and rebuilds one of the destroyed buhitos homes. This satisfies the Yacalli, and after it is declared that the building site will not be the bridge site, the Yacalli returns to his resting place. Meanwhile, Alonso is punished for neglecting the danger of the Yacalli while Elena decides to give herself a deserved break by going on a tour of the kingdom with Gabe.

In "Finders Leapers", Elena successfully stands by her decision to elect Naomi as a member of the Grand Council by appointing her leader of an expedition of a newly discovered cavern underground.

In "Royal Retreat", Elena goes on a retreat, where she makes a new enemy in the form of King Hector, whose obnoxious antics are endured by the other visiting kings in exchange for gifts from Hector. When a normally docile creature, a Marposa attacks a ship, Hector orders to attack, using the creature's aggression as an excuse to imprison it within his aquarium. However, he is quickly challenged by Elena, who believes there to be a logical explanation for the creature's behavior (similar to her encounters with the Noblins and Charoca). Hector declares that her actions will prevent her from becoming one with the Kings, to which Elena retorts by declaring herself a future queen, further establishing her independence. This inspires the other visiting Kings to rebel against Hector and encourages them to do what's right no matter what.

In "A Day to Remember", Elena honors her deceased parents, alongside her grandparents and Isabel, who is visibly distraught by the remembrance of their passing. Elena (viewing Dia de los Muertos as a day of celebration) uplifts Isabel's mood by reminiscing on pleasant memories shared with their parents, giving her the strength to visit the altar. At the royal alter, Elena sees the spirits of her parents watching over the family.

In "The Scepter of Light", Elena finds a replacement for the Amulet of Avalor in the form of her father's scepter. After she accidentally blasts some of her furniture with it, Zuzo tells her that it is a magical object created by the Kingdom of Maru. When the evil moth fairy Orizaba invades Avalor, Mateo reveals that the scepter is indeed such an object: It's the Scepter of Light which gives its bearer the power to harness the Powers of Light at the cost of having their energy drained. Upon realizing that the Scepter can defeat Orizaba, who draws her strength from darkness, with it, Elena proceeds to do so. She later reveals to her family that she has magical abilities now.

In "Navidad", Elena is looking forward to spending Navidad with her family and all her friends. However, she receives multiple invitations from people who all want her to attend their festivities. To ensure that no one's disappointed, Elena arranges first a Navidad Fiesta and then a Navidad Parade in Castillo Park. However, Dona Paloma ruins her attempt by getting everyone competitive to the point where they ruin everything. Elena fixes everything by reminding everyone what the holidays are about through a parranda.

In "Olaball", Elena throws the first Peace Festival between Avalor and Cariza since Shuriki took over forty-one years ago and she reunites with King Joaquin and meets his wife Queen Teresa and his daughter Princess Caterina for the first time. She also plays for Team Avalor in the Festival's Olaball game and enthusiastically welcomes Gabe to the team. Her enthusiasm quickly wans when Gabe is revealed to be a terrible player. She helps him improve his game by telling him to play like a Royal Guard. She is happy when he patches things up with his father by ensuring Avalor win the game and by saving Isabel and Cat.

In the special "Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins", Elena is in attendance with Mateo as Skylar's little brother Nico is participating in the tests to become a Guardian of Avalor under Chief Zephyr that the chief arranged with Mateo's help. However, when on his way to complete the second task, Nico is secretly prevented from doing so by Victor Delgado, causing him to be unable to graduate into a full-fledged Guardian of Avalor. Hoping to help him, Elena travels with Luna to Vallestrella, the home of the Jaquins, to speak to King Verago, who is Skylar and Nico's father, but Verago is furious to see Elena and Mateo in Vallestrella as humans are prohibited from being in Vallestrella due to a previous incident. However, it is soon learned that a forest sprite named Marimonda has been released from her imprisonment and attempting to leave Vallestrella to attack Avalor. Elena seeks out the sun bird spirit Quita Moz, who reveals a new ability of the Scepter of Light that Elena had not known about before, the power to create illusions. With that knowledge, and an enchanted jar provided by Quita Moz to imprison Marimonda permanently again, Elena heads to find her, only to end up ruining a trap set up by King Verago and Migs to catch Marimonda, resulting in Marimonda capturing Migs, while Verago is not pleased at Elena's interference. Elena tries to make amends as she uses the Scepter's new power to fool Marimonda right before she reaches the portal to Avalor, but just when it looks like she and Skylar have Marimonda, Victor and his daughter, Carla, interfere, revealing themselves to be the real threats as they wanted revenge on Elena for defeating them previously.

Thanks to them, Marimonda opens the portal, and all three villains escape to Avalor. Elena and King Verago make amends and agree to work together to stop Marimonda once Skylar finally stands up to his father and tells him off for blaming Elena in allowing Marimonda being able to reach Avalor, returning to Avalor to enlist the aid of Chief Zephyr and the Jaquins there. While King Verago, Chief Zephyr, and the other Jaquins keep Marimonda distracted, especially Nico with his speed and agility, Elena is able to conjure a fake illusion of the front facade of the Royal Palace, so when Marimonda attempts to set foot on the stairs leading up to the front doors and believes she's won, Elena reveals that she instead set foot right in the enchanted jar, trapping Marimonda permanently once more, and undoing all her damage to Avalor. Afterwards, Elena tells her grandparents of the Delgados' part in Marimonda's attack, and orders the Captain of the Royal Guard to assemble a team of his best men to hunt them down and bring them to justice. With that, Elena returns to Vallestrella to return Marimonda to Quita Moz, but before she can leave, the sacred fire says something to Quita Moz, who then warns Elena of a great darkness that she will need to overcome in the future. If she fails, she will never be crowned Queen of Avalor. Unknown to Elena, that great darkness is her old arch-enemy, Shuriki, allied with the Delgados, seeking revenge on Elena, and promising to make the Delgados malvago wizards if they succeed.

Season Two
Elena has another run-in with Victor and Carla in the second season episode, "The Jewel of Maru", as she's fearful of the test Quita Moz forewarned her about and worried she could fail it and lose her chance to become Queen. When Skylar and Luna warn her that Victor and Carla are heading for the abandoned capital of Tepet Muul, of the Kingdom of Maru, she discovers the fabled Jewel of Maru itself, along with its guardian, Amaláy, who was the creator of the Scepter of Light itself. When Elena's attempts to stop Victor and Carla from escaping with the Jewel result in her trapping herself in debris, she is visited by the spirits of her late parents, King Raul and Queen Lucia, due to it also being Dia de los Muertos as well. After Elena explains her concerns to her parents, they encourage her to never give up, and do what she knows is best for Avalor. Thanks to their support, Elena escapes, and manages to stop Victor and Carla from escaping with the Jewel of Maru, which she takes back to seal away forever. She then returns to her parents' grave to let them know she'll see them again at next year's Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Disneyland Resort
Elena made her California debut during Princess Elena's Musical Grand Arrival, a musical cavalcade that introduced guests to Elena and her story, followed by meet-and-greet sessions.

Walt Disney World Resort
Elena made her debut at Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom on August 11, 2016, which marked the debut of the temporary castle show, Princess Elena of Avalor - Royal Welcome. In the show, Elena is welcomed into the park family by Cinderella and Prince Charming.

On November 24, 2016, Elena began making regular meet-and-greet appearances at the Princess Fairytale Hall at the Magic Kingdom.

Trivia

 * Elena is Disney's first Latin-inspired princess.
 * Elena is Disney's second oldest princess, as she is chronologically fifty-eight years old while being biologically seventeen due to being imprisoned in the Amulet of Avalor for forty-one years. The first would be Kida from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, who is over eight thousand years old, and the third being Elena's sister Princess Isabel.
 * Elena and Zita Flores share the same last name.
 * Elena's voice actress Aimee Carrero is known for Young & Hungry, and her character shares the same first name with Princess Sofia, coincidentally.
 * It is currently unknown what the age gap between her and Isabel is.
 * In "First Day of Rule", it is revealed that Elena had been trapped inside the Amulet of Avalor for forty-one years.
 * It has been assumed by Zuzo that during her long imprisonment Elena had absorbed some of the amulet's magic, making her magical and able to see Zuzo without the assistance of a wizard.
 * The flower that Elena wears in her hair is an Apricot Mallow, which grows in Sonora and Baja California in Northwest Mexico.
 * In Latin America, "Princesa Elena" is the name given to Princess Eilonwy.
 * Elena means Shining light, or bright one.
 * Funnily enough, Elena was still in mortal peril even when she was trapped in the Amulet of Avalor. Had Princess Ivy's attempts to destroy it succeeded, Elena would more than likely have perished.
 * At the start of the series she was sixteen years old.