Amulet of Avalor

"With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse."

- Cedric's spellbook about the Amulet of Avalor

The Amulet of Avalor is a magical necklace that appears in the Disney Junior series Sofia the First, that bestows upon its wearer a power that can be a blessing or curse, depending on either a good or bad deed.

Background
The Amulet of Avalor is an ancient magical necklace that was created centuries ago in the Kingdom of Maru, an ancient civilization that mysteriously disappeared before the Kingdom of Avalor was found, with magic from the Codex Maru.

The Amulet has the power to reward its bearer with magical powers and abilities for each good deed she or he has done, but it can also curse them if a deed is bad. It became very famous among magical folk and highly coveted by those who knew the truth about it.

Sometime in the past, the Amulet was discovered by the Kingdom of Avalor and became a family heirloom of the Royal Family. Forty-two years before the events of Elena and the Secret of Avalor, Queen Lucia of Avalor gave the Amulet to her eldest daughter, Princess Elena, on her fifteenth birthday. One year later, an evil sorceress named Shuriki invaded Avalor and killed King Raul and Queen Lucia. Alacazar, Avalor's Royal Wizard used a spell to save the rest of the family. To buy him time on the spell he had to create, Princess Elena tried to stop Shuriki on her own. Shuriki tried to strike Elena down, but the Amulet saved her life at the cost of her freedom by pulling her into it. The process turned the Amulet from red to purple. Alacazar found the Amulet and spirited it away. It eventually left his hands and ended up in the Kingdom of Isleworth and was worn for a time by Princess Charlotte.

Sometime later, the Amulet arrived in Enchancia and became a family heirloom of the Royal Family. Alacazar gave the Amulet to Princess Matilda, known as Tilly. Grand Mum, Queen of Enchancia, told her children, Roland and Tilly, stories about it. Over time, her son came to dismiss the stories as fairy tales. Tilly, on the other hand, quickly discovered the stories were true and went on to become the first Storykeeper of Enchancia. Sometime later, Tilly took it off and the Amulet ended up in the Royal Jewel Room in the castle until Roland gave it to his youngest daughter Princess Sofia, who also became the current Storykeeper of the Secret Library.

Sofia's role as the Storykeeper led to her discovering how Princess Elena of Avalor was imprisoned in her Amulet for forty-one years. She set out to free Elena and return her to Avalor to liberate her kingdom. Sofia succeeded in freeing Elena from it at long last. The process turned the Amulet from purple to pink. Afterward, Elena let Sofia keep the Amulet as a token of gratitude. Sofia discovered soon after that freeing Elena had brought the Amulet to display new abilities.

Abilities
So far, the Amulet of Avalor has shown sixteen abilities that have helped Sofia out and taught her very important life lessons.
 * Bearer Selection: It's revealed in "The Amulet of Avalor" that the Amulet has the ability to choose its current bearer, which is how it became Sofia's despite the fact that Roland didn't even know what it was when he gave it to her. Elena revealed she chose bearers based on their age and courage.
 * Power Granting: When the one wearing the Amulet does a very good deed, the Amulet will bless its wearer with a magical ability as a reward. After the power is unlocked, the wearer can use it anytime they want as long as they wear the Amulet. In "Cedric Be Good", it is shown that the powers can also be unlocked by magical means such as the Power Plucking potion, but when the powers are unlocked that way, they aren't permanent, since the power isn't truly earned that way. So far, Sofia has unlocked five of the powers it can grant its wearer:
 * Animal Whispering: The first power the Amulet has given Sofia is the ability to converse with animals. She gained this ability in Once Upon a Princess when she helped a baby bird reunite with its mother. This is Sofia's most used ability, as it cannot be "turned off." It is the only ability that Sofia did not use in her quest to free Elena, as the jaquins could already speak.
 * Mermaid Transformation: The second power the Amulet has given Sofia is the ability to transform into a mermaid and back. She gained this ability in The Floating Palace after she helped Oona out of a net. Sofia can use this whenever she puts her bare feet in a body of water and she stops using it after she pulls herself completely out of the water. So far, Sofia has used this ability three times. Sofia can retain her mermaid form while not wearing the amulet, but only in water. She can also activate it by will without needing to wet her feet, like her shrinking and animal transformation powers. When Sofia activates the power by will, she dries off when she returns to human form. When she returns to human form after becoming a mermaid by getting her feet wet, she will stay wet as a human.
 * Shrinking Ability: The third power the Amulet has given Sofia is the ability to shrink to sprite size and back. Sofia gained this ability in "The Littlest Princess" after she helped three wee sprites. This is Sofia's first will-driven ability. So far, she has used it seven times. In "Bad Little Dragon", Sofia finds she can use the power to shrink as small as she likes.
 * Invisibility: In "Cedric Be Good", Winifred reveals that the Amulet of Avalor can grant the wearer the ability to become invisible.
 * Telepathy: In "Cedric Be Good", Winifred reveals that the Amulet can grant the ability to read minds.
 * Growing Ability: In "Cedric Be Good", Winifred reveals that the amulet can grant the ability to grow to giant size and back.
 * Supreme Strength: In "Cedric Be Good", Cedric reveals that the amulet can make the wearer as strong as Hercules.
 * Bouncing Ability: In "Cedric Be Good", it is revealed that the amulet can give the wearer the ability to bounce really high.
 * Cryokinesis: In "Cedric Be Good", it is revealed that the amulet can give the wearer the ability to fire cryokinetic blasts from their hands that freeze anything they touch.
 * Animal Transformation: In "Hexley Hall", Sofia unlocks the power that was granted to her when she freed Elena--the power to turn into any animal she sees and wishes to be. As of now Sofia has transformed into eight different animals. This is her second will-driven ability.
 * Fairy Transformation: In "The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies", Sofia discovers that her Amulet gives her the ability to transform into a Fairy.
 * Princess Summoning: When the one wearing the Amulet really needs help, the Amulet summons Disney Princesses to help them out, with another actually being summoned from the amulet. Ten Princesses have appeared for Sofia so far to help her out. It has also summoned a villainous Princess as a form of curse.
 * Curse Unleashing: When the one wearing the Amulet does a very bad deed, the Amulet will place a curse on its wearer as punishment, some of which can be very dangeorus. The curses the Amulet unleashes are so strong that they can only be lifted when the person it has cursed breaks it. The Amulet's curses can only be broken when the one it has cursed does a good deed to make up for the bad deed that angered the Amulet. So far, the Amulet has unleashed six curses that have helped Sofia, although she was only cursed twice:
 * Croaking Curse: This curse was unleashed in "The Amulet and the Anthem". It makes the victim croak like a frog. The amulet placed this curse on Sofia to punish her for boasting about being chosen to be the Anthem Singer to Ruby and Jade. She broke this curse with Belle's help by apologizing to Ruby and Jade and letting them be the Anthem Singers. It was a very minor curse that was meant to help Sofia learn a very important life lesson: That actions speak louder than words, especially when it comes to setting things right.
 * The Curse of Princess Ivy: This curse was unleashed in The Curse of Princess Ivy. As the name implies, this curse summons the evil enchantress Princess Ivy to the victim's homeland. The Amulet put this curse on Amber because after learning the Amulet's secrets, Amber betrayed Sofia and stole it from her to get a Princess to appear for her. Amber broke this curse with Rapunzel's help by apologizing to Sofia and letting herself get hit by one of Ivy's dragonflies to protect Sofia. Unlike the croaking curse, this curse was really powerful and dangerous because Amber's act of thievery not only was a bad deed but also activated the Amulet's safeguard against thievery.
 * Mini Curse: This curse was unleashed in "The Littlest Princess". This curse leaves the victim at wee sprite size. The Amulet placed this curse on Sofia when she disobeyed her mother and brought her wee sprite friends into the castle. Sofia broke this curse by apologizing to her mother and obeying her when Miranda told her how to get the sprites out of the castle. Like the croaking curse, this curse was a very minor curse that was meant to help Sofia learn a very important life lesson: To have faith in those who love her and to listen to them when they're trying to help her.
 * Sticky Fingers Curse: This curse was unleashed in "Cedric Be Good". It makes the victim stick to anything their hands touch. The Amulet placed this curse on Cedric when he stole it from Sofia. He broke it by giving Sofia his flying machine.
 * Bird Beak Curse: This curse was unleashed in "Cedric Be Good". It turns the front of the victim's face into a bird's beak. The amulet placed this curse on Cedric when he upset some birds. He broke this curse when he dealt with the baker's pest problem.
 * Metal Hands Curse: This curse was unleashed in "Cedric Be Good". It gives the victim metal hands. The Amulet placed this curse on Cedric when he tries to take over Enchancia. He broke it by returning the amulet to Sofia.
 * Safeguard: When the Amulet is stolen from its current bearer, it will place a very powerful curse upon the thief.
 * Secret Library Guide: The Amulet of Avalor's fourth ability is the ability to guide its bearer to the Secret Library of Enchancia. Unlike the other five abilities, which activate on their own, this ability only activates when its bearer has the magical book that contains the library's key. Also unlike the other abilities, which make the amulet glow purple, this ability makes the amulet glow blue.
 * Secret Library Alert: This ability alerts Sofia to when a story in the Secret Library of Enchancia needs her to give it a happy ending right away. Like the Guide ability, this ability makes the Amulet glow blue.
 * Secret Library Visions: This ability allows Sofia to have a psychic link with those she is supposed to help by having visions of their memories. Like the previous two Secret Library powers, the Amulet glows blue when this happens. Sofia did not get this ability until Elena and the Secret of Avalor.
 * Princess Companion Summoning: When the one wearing the amulet needs help, but the Amulet can't summon Princesses, the Amulet will summon one of their companions instead. Unlike the Princesses, the companions normally help out directly. This ability was activated only once so far.
 * Olaf: Olaf was summoned by the Amulet in "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle". He helped Sofia save the Winter Flowers Festival and taught her that the abilities that being someone who has a big heart and who never gives up bestows are stronger than any magic.
 * Bearer Summoning: When someone who had previously worn the Amulet really needs help, the Amulet will teleport the current bearer to them to help them out. This power was revealed in "Beauty is the Beast" when Sofia was summoned to help Princess Charlotte become friends with a goblin. The second time this happened was in "Ivy's True Colors" when the Amulet brought Sofia to help Ivy learn to think of others and not just herself.
 * Bearer Protection: When the bearer of the Amulet is on the receiving end of a potentially fatal attack, the Amulet will save his or her life by pulling them into it. This can also give them powerful magical abilities. The magic in the Amulet will prevent its prisoner from aging depending on how long he or she has been inside it, but they will be fully conscious and aware of their surroundings. Unfortunately, it cannot reverse the process on its own if the bearer is cursed by an enemy when enters in the Amulet.
 * Bearer Protection Release: When a previous bearer of the Amulet of Avalor is pulled inside the Amulet due to a sorcerer's potentially fatal curse, only its current bearer can let them out. This ability is activated when its bearer wraps the Amulet around the weapon that activated its Bearer Protection ability, and places the weapon on the Crown of Aziluna.
 * Quest Compass: When the Amulet's bearer is on a quest, the Amulet can help them complete it by pulling him or her to something or someone that can help.
 * Interacting with Spirit Guides of Avalor: The Amulet can bring its bearer with the ability to interact with Spirit Guides of Avalor, seeing and hearing them without a wizard's help. This ability was given only to Princess Elena, though Sofia can also see Spirit Guides despite not being granted the power.
 * Interacting with ghosts during Dia de Los Muertos: The Amulet can bring its bearer with the ability to interact with ghosts during Dia de Los Muertos, seeing and hearing them. This ability was given only to Princess Elena.
 * Asking for Assistance: When the bearer needs help the amulet can grant its bearer any help she needs or asks for. This ability is given to Sofia in The Mystic Isles, when she asks for the unicorns to help.

Trivia

 * The Amulet's jewel type is unclear, but its scarlet appearance before Elena's imprisonment matches up with a red opal--it is not clear and faceted like a ruby. Opals, like the Amulet of Avalor, are smooth and foggy. If the Amulet is a ruby, then it underwent magic prior to Elena's entrapment to gain an opaline appearance. If the Amulet is a red opal, this would suit Sofia, as her birthday of October 6 would mean she'd have opal as a birthstone. The bright flecks inside the Amulet also line it up with a fire opal, the only gem to have such an appearance.
 * Princess Ivy believes that if the Amulet is destroyed, any princesses summoned cannot return to their original locations and times. However, since she showed no knowledge of the amulet prior to meeting Amber and overhearing Sofia, this is likely just an assumption she made.
 * The Amulet transforms with Sofia to make it be worn more easily during animal transformations. When Sofia became a lizard, the Amulet became a marking on her scales. As a cat, the chain shortened to become a collar.
 * "The Amulet and the Anthem" is the first episode where the magical amulet curses Sofia for the first time. This helps show some truth in Cedric's rumors of its great power in the strength of the curse. Fortunately, the curse was more comical than dangerous, being quite similar to hexes cast by Lucinda or on Cedric's trick shoes, and was more meant to remind Sofia to know herself so she wouldn't hurt her friends than to harm her.
 * Roland's mother told him the stories of the Amulet's princess-protecting powers, which helped lead him to accept the Amulet's flash as a mark of Sofia being chosen as the next bearer. The Queen of Avalor also believed that the Amulet could protect its bearer. This proved to be very true with Elena, whose life was saved by the Amulet, even at the cost of her freedom.
 * Most of Sofia's family and human friends don't know that Sofia's Amulet is a mystical item or about her magical abilities because Sofia refuses to tell them because, for some reason, she feels she's not supposed to tell anyone about the Amulet of Avalor's magic. They think it's just a family heirloom because Roland once asked her if she thanked the griffin after seeing her talking to it and Amber said she thinks Sofia's always pretending to talk to "that bunny of hers" when trying to disprove Sofia's claims about Oona's abduction by a sea monster and Queen Emmaline's threat to sink the Floating Palace. The only ones who know the magical secrets of Sofia's Amulet and about her magical abilities are her animal friends, the merpeople of Merroway Cove, her Wee Sprite friends, and her Aunt Tilly. In Elena and the Secret of Avalor, Princess Elena eventually reveals the Amulet's true power to Sofia's family. In "The Mystic Isles", Amber discovers Sofia's amulet also leads them to the Secret Library.
 * The Amulet does different things according to the action. When choosing the next bearer, it flashes and gives off a slight glow. When summoning, it gives off a brief, strong glow. Blessing, the light brightens with sparkles, and when it curses, there are sparkles, but with the light being darker than the Amulet's chief jewel. The Amulet also neutrally sparkles to mark power, when Sofia showed it to Ginger in "Blue Ribbon Bunny", greet its bearer, when it was shown to Sofia, warn her of trouble, as was the case in "The Amulet of Avalor", and awaken, when it sparkled the morning after Sofia got her first magical ability. When it is removed to help Amber, it emits a pale glow. When it leads Sofia to the Secret Library, it glows blue. When it summons help, it emits a purple star of light. There may be other actions that it does, but they haven't been seen yet.
 * It can summon Princesses from the past, according to Cinderella, "all princesses that ever lived."
 * Interestingly, it seems to be implied by Tiana's appearance that princesses from the future can also be summoned. Unless the version of Tiana who met Sofia is a retcon living on the same fictional universe, not Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.
 * The Amulet's been removed three times, all because of Amber. The first was so Sofia could swap jewels with Amber for a ball. The second was for a supposed potion from Cedric to remove Amber's butterfly "costume." The third time was so that Amber could summon Princess Rapunzel. In all three cases, the Amulet was captured, first by a baby griffin, the second time by Wormwood, the third time by Princess Ivy, until Sofia retrieved it.
 * It is similar to Oona's magical comb in that both are best carried by the pure of heart, while those who gave the items were unaware of the powers the objects possess.
 * The large spellbook of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, as Miss Nettle reveals in her first appearance, has a section for it identical to Cedric's, which she made a copy of in her own spellbook.
 * According to Cedric, there are fake Amulets, likely created to trick the power-hungry, or those desiring the Amulet for its beauty, such as Amber. The only way to tell the real Amulet from fakes, besides looking at size, color, temperature, and the smoothness of the stone, is by looking into it. Cedric's even tone and speaking pace showed that he was telling the truth. The existence of fake Amulets is also supported by Sofia duplicating herself. Cedric even makes his own duplicate in "Cedric Be Good" that fools Sofia, perhaps due to a hot environment that would mask the stone's lack of temperature.
 * The Amulet has been compared with a ruby necklace twice―the first time was in "The Amulet of Avalor", when Roland revealed he was going to give Sofia a ruby necklace if not for the Amulet flashing, an event which strangely coincided with Sofia singing "I'm Not Ready to Be a Princess", hinting that the Amulet may be able to choose its bearer when it hears of or senses distress. The second time was in "The Enchanted Feast", where Miss Nettle, disguised as Sascha the Sorceress, offered to trade a fancy Ancient Egyptian-style ruby necklace for the Amulet. The reason for this comparison is because the Amulet was originally a ruby-red opal, though its enchantments changed its color. Sofia's connection to rubies and red opals may be because her magic is red, as revealed in "Substitute Cedric." Elena's blue magic, as implied by the Scepter of Light's blue jewel, is why she turns the Amulet purple.
 * The Amulet may have the potential to be used as a weapon, since the other enchanted object wielded by a princess on the show, the Mermaid Comb, can be used as a weapon in experienced hands. According to Craig Gerber, it cannot be used like the Scepter of Light, but does have "a few tricks of its own," and is a power source rather than a wand like the Scepter. However, it only displays as much power as its bearer. This is why Charlotte viewed the Amulet only as a necklace, while the more magically-inclined Sofia and Tilly received several powers from the Amulet.
 * Once the Amulet is transferred, any powers given to the previous bearer do not apply to the new one, though if the previous bearer retrieves the Amulet, they regain the powers they earned.
 * The Amulet, despite it being unable to be destroyed by common means, has a weakness as shown in The Curse of Princess Ivy. According to Cedric, the Amulet of Avalor can only be destroyed by the bright flame of Everburn the Elder Dragon in the Blazing Palisades. Fortunately, Everburn's cold prevents him from breathing fire often. In addition, due to Everburn became Sofia's friend and he learned that the Amulet is hers, no known way to destroy the Amulet remained.
 * The Amulet has a second, more minor weakness in the form of crazy crystals, which warp its abilities, making it summon sidekicks instead of princesses, for instance.
 * The Amulet can trap people within its stone, as revealed when its magic imprisoned Princess Elena of Avalor.
 * The Amulet is very old, and looking at its ability to stay intact for centuries, may have gotten its power through divine means.
 * The Amulet is named after its kingdom of origin, like Oona's Comb and the Emerald Key. Unlike them, it has traveled all over, going from Avalor to Enchancia.
 * Aunt Tilly was the bearer before Sofia.
 * Olaf is the first male character to be summoned by the Amulet and the only one seen returning to his home.
 * Originally, the Amulet of Avalor was red, but it changed to purple when Elena got trapped in it. When she was freed, the jewel turned pink because she took a bit of the magic inside of it, and used the Amulet's magic to create three new powers for Sofia that she left inside the Amulet.
 * Elena's release also turned the three dark blue stones around the Amulet a near-white blue.
 * If Princess Ivy actually had gotten Everburn to destroy the Amulet, Elena would have been killed.
 * The Amulet can grant powers that will work permanently, even without the Amulet. Princess Elena was blessed with two Amulet powers permanently: the ability to interact with Spirit Guides and the ability to interact with ghosts during Dia de Los Muertos.
 * After Elena was freed from the Amulet, the Amulet no longer cursed the wearer for bad deeds. This could mean that Elena was the one doing the cursing in the first place.
 * Also in "The Mystic Isles", the crystal masters of the Isle of Crystals grew magical crystals for wizards everywhere in the Ever Realm for them to use in their wands, staffs, and amulets. So this could mean that the jewel used to make the Amulet of Avalor was grown by a crystal master then given to a magical wizard that lived in the ancient civilization of Maru.