Princess Elena

Princess Elena of Avalor is the protagonist of the Disney Channel animated series Elena of Avalor. She is the oldest princess of the Kingdom of Avalor, next in line to the throne. But before she can become Queen, she must learn to rule as 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. Also like Sofia, she has a personal approach to leadership. 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 sixteen years of age, Elena is a olive-skinned girl, with a slender figure and amber-brown eyes. She has ruby red lips and long 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 in 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 teenaged 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 had garnered a few magical abilities on 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.

Sofia the First
Elena will appear in the upcoming special Elena and the Secret of Avalor. When her parents and kingdom were taken from her by the evil sorceress, Shuriki, Elena bravely faced the sorceress to protect her little sister, Princess Isabel, and her grandparents, but in the process, the Amulet of Avalor pulled her inside its enchanted jewel, saving her life but imprisoning her at the same time. Forty-one years later, Sofia discovers the truth about the amulet and sets out to restore Elena to her human form and help her return to the Kingdom 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 go 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 shop 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 to 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 steal 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, and the trio rush back to their ship. Along the way, 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 choosing 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, 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 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 and her grandparents go on a retreat, and 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, only to be challenged by Elena, who believes their 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 him from becoming one with the Kings, to which Elena retorts by declaring herself a future queen.

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.

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 will begin making regular meet-and-greet appearances at the Princess Fairytale Hall at the Magic Kingdom.

Trivia

 * Elena is Disney's first Latina princess.
 * 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.