Melody (The Little Mermaid)

Melody is the main protagonist of Disney's 2000 direct-to-video animated film The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. She is the daughter of Ariel and Eric and the granddaughter of King Triton, ruler of Atlantica where Ariel was born as a mermaid. Melody dreams of being in the sea against the wishes of her mother, (who is trying to protect from Morgana, Ursula's sister at the time) and when her mother refuses to tell her the truth about Atlantica and her mermaid heritage, Melody leaves her home and visits Morgana where she transforms her into a mermaid.

Why She Rocks

 * 1) She is the first human-merperson hybrid in history since her mother Ariel was born as a mermaid and turned into a human to marry Eric on land.
 * 2) Despite the film's negative reviews and the rehashed plot, Melody is one of the film's highlights who is one of the likeable characters and has a cute character design.
 * 3) Although she may be insecure and socially awkward with her human peers, Melody is very polite and friendly to her friends outside the castle wall, like Scuttle and Sebastian, the latter of which tries to warn her about going into the ocean.
 * 4) She has great character development when she started off with her interest and passion for the sea without feeling like an outcast by her human peers in her kingdom. When she became a mermaid, Melody realises that all she wanted is to be accepted, but understands that she must learn to be herself as Ariel tells her at the end of the film. Although she doesn't become a mermaid forever, Melody understands herself and loves both the land and the sea.
 * 5) Even though she was tricked by Morgana into stealing King Triton's trident and giving it to her, Melody isn't afraid to take Morgana on when all her friends, including Ariel and King Triton, are forced to magically bow down to Morgana by the power of the trident.
 * 6) Her voice actress Tara Strong did an amazing job voicing Melody and her singing is really beautiful, a trait inherited from her mother, as Melody sings "For a Moment".

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Even though she has a cute character design and is a tomboyish character, she spends most of the film in her camisole and pantalettes which can be inappropriate for a kids' film.
 * 2) Like Ariel in the original film, Melody ends up being an unwitting pawn to Morgana where she is tricked into stealing King Triton's trident and giving it to Morgana. Also, she is prone to make rash and foolish decisions like when she lets her anger get the better of her because her mother lied to her about her mermaid heritage and gave the trident to Morgana instead of giving it to Ariel, which nearly led to Melody drowning after she transformed back into a human when she is imprisoned by Morgana. Melody realises this once Morgana reveals her evil plan to her after getting hold of the trident.

Trivia
This is one of Tara Strong's favourite voice roles, as she was a big fan of the original 1989 film growing up.