Ursula's Lair is the home of the evil sea witch, Ursula, after she was exiled from Atlantica by King Triton.
The lair also appeared in the television series.
Origins[]
The Little Mermaid comic entitled Serpent Teen reveals that the creature which made the skeleton was once known as the Serpentine. The creature was used by a kingdom of eel-human hybrids known as the Moray as a form of gladiatorial entertainment. They would send unsuspecting creatures to the maze where the creature lurked and watch as it fed upon them.
During the events of the comic, Ariel had managed to elude the creature to the point where it was sent into a bloodthirsty rage, which forced the Moray to kill it. Shortly afterwards, Ursula came along and offered the Moray a chance to steal King Triton's trident if they gave her the creature's skeleton.
From that point forth, Ursula used it as her lair.
The Layout[]
The lair is a skeleton of a gigantic creature long since dead. Its maw is the main entrance, but due to the decay, there are many ways to enter and exit the place.
Past the main entrance is a single corridor that leads to the main hall. In this corridor is Ursula's garden of polyps, writhing about in agony. Eventually, the polyps give way to the entrance leading to the main hall.
The main hall is the center of most activity in the lair. In the middle of the room is a large cauldron, kept inside a sort of pit in the ground. There are pink plants hanging from everywhere, and to the far right of the entrance, is Ursula's mirror and vanity, where she pampers herself up with flower lipstick, and her other cosmetics, all kept organized on the individual arms of the mirror frame.
Ursula's throne is directly ahead of the main entrance, hanging from the ceiling and blocking the entrance to the back corridor. Ursula sits in this area and possibly uses it as a bed at nights. She keeps a clam filled with live shrimp inside, so that she may snack on them whenever she desires to.
To the left of the entrance, (hanging from the wall) is Ursula's potion cabinet, where she has all sorts of ingredients tucked away for her spells. Most of these are made of various sea creatures, both alive and dead.
Descendants: The Rise of Red[]
In Descendants: The Rise of Red, Uliana summons her lair in the Black Lagoon where she attempts to find a solution for her revenge on Bridget. We are first introduced to it in the franchise at the start of Perfect Revenge. The lair is also guarded by sea creatures such as Jetsam and decorated with a garden of slimy sea creatures. Here, she hangs out with Hook, Hades, Maleficent and Morgie when they are not attending their classes at Merlin Academy. Its status after Red and Chloe left the past is unknown.
Kingdom Hearts[]
In Kingdom Hearts, nothing was changed about the decor of the lair, except for its missing back corridor. What's interesting to note about the lair is that Ursula's garden is never transformed back into merfolk after Ursula is killed.
Also of note is that the way to get to the lair has changed. Originally, Ariel had to cross volcanic open sea to get to the lair, but in the game, Sora must go through the ship graveyard to reach the entrance.
The lair never appeared in Kingdom Hearts II.
Trivia[]
- In the script for The Little Mermaid, the lair was named "The Whale Skeleton" despite the appearance of the creature in the final cut having no resemblance to a whale.
- In an original draft for The Little Mermaid, Ursula's fortress was originally supposed to be destroyed as soon as she was killed by Prince Eric.
- In the video game for the NES and Game Boy, Ursula's Lair is known as "Ursula's Castle" as the fifth and final level before the final battle. It has a much different layout and Ariel encounters Ursula (the boss) on the highest story.
- In the live-action remake, when Ariel first enters Ursula's lair, she passes by a skeleton mermaid, it's possible that the skeleton is Ariel's mother and hints that Ursula was the one who murdered Queen Athena.
- The design of Ursula's lair in the 2023 film resembles that of a mosasaur, a prehistoric sea creature.
Gallery[]
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