Kida Nedakh

Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh is the deuteragonist of Disney's 2001 animated feature film, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and its sequel, Milo's Return. She is the daughter of the King Kashekim Nedakh, King of Atlantis, and later becomes Queen, and the assumed wife of Milo. Despite being born a princess, Kida is not marketed as a Disney Princess. She is voiced by Cree Summer, while Natalie Strom did her kid voice.

Physical Appearance
Like all Atlanteans, Kida has white hair and dark skin. She has blue colored tattoos (which represent teardrops), which appear to change slightly after she becomes Queen, and large blue eyes. She also wears a shard of the crystal around her neck. As a princess, she wears only a simple blue bikini, the bottoms are covered with sarong type skirt and she goes around barefoot, but changes into more elaborate clothing after becoming Queen. With the power of the Atlantean crystal, Kida and the other Atlanteans are given abnormally long lives. Though Kida is roughly 8,500 - 8,800 years old (according to Milo), she physically resembles someone in their early 20's.

Personality
She is also a warrior princess, making her strong and very skilled at combat. It is mentioned that several thousand years ago, Kida would have killed outsiders on sight. By the present time, however, Kida has become so curious about Atlantis's past that she is willing to let in outsiders with the hope that they could help her rediscover Atlantis's history, even as far as taking a liking to Milo. She is shown to love her father, and later Milo, very much. Although she can seem quite forceful, violent, and aggressive at times, she has a kind heart, and a general respect for all creatures.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Kida was a child when Atlantis came to its downfall and witnessed her mother being taken from her by the power of the crystal, known as the Heart of Atlantis. Most of the city was safely moved by the crystal near the center of the earth, and the king hid the crystal away from the city to protect Kida from being taken into it just like his queen. The king made laws forbidding the citizens from learning to read, to prevent them from trying to control the crystal's power. He had earlier tried to control the crystal himself, but it had led to Atlantis's downfall.

Kida becomes exceedingly curious about Atlantis's past and the disappearance of her mother, even though she witnesed it herself as a child. She and other Atlantean warriors search through the caverns of their underground world and come across the team of explorers searching for their city, and they follow and spy on them. Kida comes across an injured Milo, and instead of killing the outsider or pressing him for questions, she heals his wound and instantly runs from the other coming explorers. Once in Atlantis, she takes the explorers to her father, as she tries to convince the king to let them help restore their crumbling city with their knowledge. When the king allows them to only stay one night, Kida decides to find Milo and ask him questions about the surface world, as he also has questions for her. She takes Milo around the city, and their friendship and trust quickly grow.

She takes him to an underwater mural with Atlantean writing that she can't read, and asks Milo to translate. The writing not only tells of the crystal's power, but also allows them to work various machines which ran off its power. When they surface, Kida is taken hostage by Rourke's crew as bait for Milo and the king to hand the crystal to him, in which Rourke and the crew think that selling it would make them incredibly rich on the surface. Once the location of the crystal is found by Rourke, Helga, Milo and Kida, the crystal summons Kida to it to protect the city, sensing Rourke's evil. It is mentioned that the crystal will merge with someone from the royal family in times of danger. Before merging with and becoming the crystal power source, she tells Milo in Atlantean not to worry and that "all is well". She is almost carried away to the surface by Rourke, but is saved by Milo, the remaining crew members, and Atlantean warriors. Her father having been murdered (from a punch from Rourke), she becomes the queen of Atlantis with Milo by her side, who had chosen to stay with her instead of returning to the surface.

Milo's Return
Kida, as Queen of Atlantis, is working with Milo, who is now her husband, to use the Heart of Atlantis to rebuild the civilization. They are unexpectedly visited by their comrades from the first film. They learn that a creature called the Kraken, which is presumed to be an Atlantean defense mechanism, is attacking a town. Kida and the others travel and are able to stop the creature.

While Kida adjusts well to the outside world, she feels guilty because there could be more Atlantean machines wreaking havoc. Kida and the others travel to Arizona, where they find a town with a statue that appears to be of Atlantean origin. They are also forced to confront coyote sprits who oppose them. A Native-American man is able to serve as a median, and Kida learns that she has the power to choose Atlantis's destiny.

Later, Kida and friends travel on a search for the Gungnir, a mythical spear of Atlantean origin. They track the thief, a man named Erik Hellstrom, to the Nordic Mountains. There, he presumes Kida to be his daughter (Erik believes himself to be Odin), and kidnaps her. Hellstrom intends to end the world by bringing about Ragnarok, and creates various beasts. Kida is able to retrieve the spear after Vinnie provides a distraction.

As a result of the adventures, Kida learns about the power of the Atlantean crystal, and comes to believe that her father was wrong for hiding it. She combines the Heart Crystal with the spear, and uses its power to raise Atlantis to the surface. It should also be noted that unlike in the first film, Kida for some reason does not have the extra tattoos obtained on her face from her wedding to Milo/coronation as Queen.

House of Mouse
Kida appeared in Donald Wants to Fly.

Disney Parks
Kida appeared in Disneyland and Walt Disney World when the film was first released, dressed in her queen robes from the end of the film (probably because of the fact that her main outfit in her film may spark controversy from parents visiting the parks). Kida and Milo also appeared in the Disney Stars and Motorcars parade in a car designed after a Ketak for the first two years of the parade's run.

Trivia

 * Although a definite princess by birth, Kida is not included in the Disney Princess franchise because her film is not a musical, nor did it do well in the box office. Therefore, it is unknown whether or not Kida can sing, for she is never heard. She may also not be a princess due to the fact she became a Queen.
 * With the exception of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, Kida is the only Disney heroine to show how she lost her mother and which explains her absence in the original film.
 * Kida is the only Disney heroine to have natural white hair.
 * Kida is the only Disney heroine to have her kingdom be first above ground and then be submerged underground.
 * She is also the second princess to come from an underwater kingdom, after Ariel.
 * Kida is the oldest female heroine as she is over 8,000 years old!
 * However, considering that one Atlantean year is approximately 300 times longer than that of one human year, if Kida's age was translated back to that of a normal human's, then she would probably by only 28 years old, still making her the oldest amongst the heroines who are in their teens.
 * Kida is the third princess to expose her midriff, after Ariel and Jasmine.
 * Kida is the only princess created by Disney to ever inherit her parents' throne and become a queen, since she both lost both of her parents over the course of the film (her mother was sacrificed to save her kingdom in the prologue, and her father was murdered by Rourke) and married a pauper. The lot of Disney princesses are likely to become queen consort (Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel) or are not in line for any throne at all (Belle's Prince Adam seemed not to be in charge of anything but his castle, Pocahontas' father was chosen, Mulan had no royal ties at all and it seems unlikely Naveen would be King of Maldonia considering he happily settled down in New Orleans). Arguably the only princesses in all Disney films beside Kida who could become active rulers are Rapunzel and Jasmine, and both married non-royalty.
 * Kida is the second princess to have a visible tattoo, after Pocahontas.
 * Kida's tattoos resemble a dot and two curved lines on top of each other, just below her left eye. According to her animators and the book "The Mark of a Princess" (which explains the meanings of the Atlantean tattoos seen in the film, see below), they were supposed to represent teardrops. At the end of the film she gains a second tattoo on her right cheek (resembling a mirrored version of her first tattoo) and a third on her forehead (resembling a stylized "V").
 * In Milo's Return, Kida does not have her extra tattoos in which she obtained at the end of the first film.
 * Also, her dress in the sequel does not resemble the one at the end of the first film.
 * It's revealed in a sequel short story called "Milo's Rescue Mission" that Kida can actually revert to her princess outfit even as a queen (the only indication that she's a queen are her extra tattoos on her face), and can even remove her tiara at times.
 * Kida is the second non-white Disney female to have an unusual eye color, after Esmeralda, who has green eyes, while Kida has blue eyes.
 * Coincidentally enough, she is also the second Disney female lead to wear anklets, also after Esmeralda (Esmeralda wears one anklet, while Kida wears two).
 * Kida's dress at the end was only seen completely in a few concept art such as in "The Illustrated Script", "Subterranean Tours: Atlantis: A Traveller's Guide to the Lost City" and "Milo's Rescue Mission" (though without a tiara, see above). All other book illustrations showing her in that dress either show only the top half (Play-a-Sound book, Wonderful World of Reading, Dark Horse comic, etc.), have the train (back part of the dress) cover the front (Read-Aloud Storybook, various coloring pages), or seen from far away ("The Final Stand", "How to Draw", Ladybird book, etc. Additionally, her face character incarnation at the theme parks depict her in her queen dress and tattoos, but without a tiara. A rare Halloween costume based on this character resembles her queen dress (because again her princess outfit is too revealing), but unlike the face character the costume also includes her tiara.
 * Likewise, her huntress armor when her mask is removed is only seen completely in some promotional artwork (in the film, she is only seen from the knees up when she is wearing her armor, but not her mask, except for a brief shot of her from behind when she and her fellow subjects are leading the explorers to the palace).
 * As a princess, Kida is barefoot, but as a queen she wears sandals. Therefore, the queen appears to the only Atlantean to actually wear footwear (even all of the kings, including her father Kashekim Nedakh and eventually her husband Milo, are barefoot).
 * The feathers on Kida's tiara at the end (one large pink feather between two smaller blue ones) resemble the ones on Jose Carioca's tail.
 * The pink chevrons on the dark blue-with-gold outlines sash hanging from the front of Kida's otherwise mostly light blue dress in the ending, from the shoulders down, form a "V", an "X", a "^", (the ones we only see in the film) a "][", a semicircle and another "^."(see above books)
 * Though she does not appear until halfway through the film, two tie-in storybooks, "Kida and the Crystal" and "The Mark of a Princess" are basically retellings of the film's plot but from Kida's point of view. What's different between those two books is that the former ends during the scene where Milo and Kida are shown exploring the underwater mural, while the latter continues from that point, including her kidnapping and subsequent crystallization by Rourke, her being rescued by Milo and his teammates from Rourke and protecting Atlantis from an erupting volcano, and finally her marrying Milo and beoming Queen.
 * Kida's color scheme (dark skin, white hair, and blue eyes) resembles that of Storm's of the X-Men. It also resembles Princess Yue's from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Queen La (who has cyan eyes) of The Legend of Tarzan.
 * Milo and Kida are the only Disney couple in House of Mouse that were not once seen together.
 * Kida's appearance, design, and outfit in House of Mouse resembles how she appeared in Milo's Return.
 * Kida may have been based on various anime female leads from various Japanese works whose premises are similar to that of Atlantis, but were all created beforehand, such as Sheeta from Laputa: Castle in the Sky or Nadia from Nadia: The secret of Blue Water.
 * Kida is the last princess to be created until Tiana's debut in 2009.
 * According to her animator Randy Haycock, Kida's introduction as a warrior princess was the result of Haycock being intimidated by her actress Cree Summer when she was first introduced to him.
 * If you listen very closely, then you can easily tell that Kida has a clearly British-sounding accent, otherwise known as "Proper English." However, she reverts to an American accent (typical of characters Cree Summer voices like Susie Carmichael, Numbuh Five, Foxxy Love, etc.) in the sequel.
 * The evolution of Kida's wardrobe appears to be the complete opposite of that of Jane Porter's: while Jane starts off wearing more modest clothing but gradually starts to wear less clothing over time, Kida starts off wearing more revealing clothing but gradually starts to wear more clothing over time.
 * Kida, along with Megara, Eilonwy and Jane Porter, are the only four Disney females not to have any sidekicks. Despite the presence of exotic animal life in Atlantis such as lava whales (giant animals that swim in lava, but ironically look more like dogs than whales) and parrot-lizards (small flying creatures resembling either pterosaurs or dragons), and brief cameos of real animals like a cat (Milo Thatch's (now Audrey Ramirez's) pet) and coelacanths (Preston Whitmore's pets), Atlantis is noticeably the only animated Disney film in which no animals actually appear at all. She is also the only princess without any sidekicks altogether.
 * Kida is similar to Pocahontas, being that they both dark skin, fall in love with the film's main character, meet the film's villain, & both have fathers who also meet the film's villain. The only difference is that Milo is Kida's love interest in both films, unlike John Smith who is Pocahontas's love interest only in the first film. Another difference is that Ratcliffe doesn't die, where as Rourke does, as with the fact the Milo and Kida marry while Pocahontas and Smith do not.
 * It is rumored that a redesigned Kida (shown in her queen clothes at the end to make her look more family-friendly) could be created by Disney to promote an upcoming Blu-ray release of Atlantis in mid-2013.(it was originally supposed to have a March 12, 2013 rerelease, but this was later postponed) However, whether this could cause Disney to question her existence and/or challenge the Disney Princess franchise as a whole has yet to be determined. Adding to this is the future greenlighting of Elsa (along with Anna) from the upcoming film Frozen, who happens to have the same traits as Kida.
 * One of the Blotworx, the Shockers, in the game Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two appears to have Kida's hunting mask for a face. This may be due to the fact that one of the game programmers was supposedly a fan of Atlantis, but did not like the fact that Kida is not an official Disney Princess, so he designed that enemy after her since that that game is all about forgotten Disney film characters, and therefore he considers Kida to be "forgotten."
 * Kida is Disney's first original princess (she does not come from an adaptation).
 * Kida's skin color appears to be very inconsistent depending on the lighting, she is supposed to have lighter skin than the other Atlanteans, but darker skin than Milo's. However, in Milo's Return, Kida for some reason is drawn with extremely dark skin.
 * Kida's title as "princess" was only mentioned near the end of the film when Milo is gathering the other explorers and Atlanteans to save her from Rourke and his minions. In Milo's Return, she is occasionally referred to as a "queen."
 * Kida is the second Princess to be seen as a child, after Cinderella, but not counting Ariel (she is seen as a child in Ariel's Beginning).
 * Kida is the third princess to be an orphan, after Snow White and Cinderella.
 * Kida is the only princess to actually care for her own subjects, something all of the official Disney Princesses do not (they are either innocent and carefree or rebellious and wanting to be independent). This may be due to her father being too old to rule his kingdom and constantly trying to hide his guilt for letting his people suffer, only to finally admit his wrongdoings upon his death at the hands of Rourke; combined with Kida's personality as a true leader, is what helps her become a good Queen.
 * In the various promotions for the film, Kida is the only character that isn't shown, nor does she ever have a biography.
 * Kida was originally going to have pale skin and reddish-brown hair. Her final design appears to be an amalgation of different races, particularly African (dark skin and voice actress) and Polynesian (some Polynesians have dark skin and fair hair), with some East Asian (shape of her eyes), Native American (shape of her nose), Scandinavian (white hair is a common trait in Scandinavian people), and Caucasian as a whole (white/blond hair+blue eyes) elements as well. Although unintentional, this also resulted in Kida resembling Storm.
 * Despite not being an official Disney Princess, Kida made a brief cameo in the book "The Art of the Disney Princess."
 * Kida is the only Disney animated film female to be voiced by a professional animated TV series voice actress in her debut appearance. Normally, in animated films, professional voice actors/actresses are often restricted only to voicing background characters and/or additional voices. Richard Horvitz, famous for voicing Zim on Invader ZIM, also did additional voices in Mulan as well.
 * When Kida takes off her sarong, her anklets mysteriously vanish. They eventually reappear when she puts her sarong back on.
 * Kida is the only multilingual princess.

Gallery
Kida