Poseidon is a character who appears in the fourth season of ABC's fantasy-drama series Once Upon a Time. He is the sea king of an underwater kingdom and Ursula's father.
He is based on King Triton from Disney's The Little Mermaid.
History[]
His wife and daughter, both renowned for their singing voices, gave him much happiness. However, when his wife is killed by a pirate, Poseidon comes to hate humans and has Ursula lure sailors to their deaths with her enchanting voice. During one such excursion, she allows the crew aboard the Jolly Roger to live and incurs her father's disappointment. Longing to honor her mother's memory, Ursula doesn't wish to use her singing talent to harm others and insists all humans can't bad, but Poseidon commands her to obey him as long as she lives in his kingdom. Upset at his demands, she steals a magic bracelet from his vault to gain human legs and disappears with plans of going to Glowerhaven to become a singer. Once Poseidon discovers Hook, captain of the Jolly Roger, has agreed to take Ursula there, he offers squid ink, which the pirate can use to give retribution to the Dark One.
In return for this much-needed item, the sea king enchants a shell and asks him to trap his daughter's voice within it so she won't leave the kingdom for Glowerhaven. Instead, Hook tells Ursula about the deal, and she procures the ink from her father's vault for him. Poseidon accosts them, and as Ursula sides with Hook, he takes away the ink to prove the pirate only cares about his vengeance. As expected, Hook is furious that his only hope of getting revenge is gone, and he gets back at Poseidon by absorbing Ursula's singing voice so the sea king can never sink another ship again. Under Hook's threats, Poseidon is forced to retreat without regaining the shell. Later, Ursula uses her father's trident to transform her mermaid fin into tentacles to become more powerful than him.
Years later and with Ariel's help, Poseidon travels to Storybrooke to meet with Ursula, who is now a grown woman. As the person who originally enchanted the shell, only he can restore Ursula's voice, which she desires to regain. During their reunion, Poseidon apologizes to his daughter for using her gift for horrible deeds and expresses regret for not cherishing her talent as a happy reminder of his late wife. After restoring her voice, he turns to leave, but a moved Ursula wishes to reconnect and decides to go home with him.
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