Ursula, The Little Mermaid's villain, is confirmed to be King Triton's sister. Does that mean she was a mermaid, or was she always a tentacled figure?

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Little Mermaid live-action

The Little Mermaid brings the animated film to live-action, and changes Ursula’s connection with Ariel and Triton. Directed by Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid follows the story from the 1989 animated classic, which itself was adapted from Hans Christian Andersen tale, but the new film has its own additions to the narrative.

Ursula appeared to help the poor, unfortunate souls of the sea with her magic. One of them ended up being Ariel, who gave up her voice to experience the surface world after being denied by her father, King Triton. In the animated film, Ursula was a villain who enjoyed messing with people and getting what she wanted. In The Little Mermaid live-action, however, Ursula’s backstory gets an adjustment — she is upgraded to Triton’s sister and Ariel’s aunt, making her revenge and motivations all the more sinister. With that change comes the question of the Sea Witch’s appearance. If Ursula is Triton’s sister, why is she not a mermaid like Ariel and her sisters?

Why Ursula Is Not A Mermaid Despite Being Triton’s Sister

Although The Little Mermaid live-action confirms Ursula is Triton’s sister, the Sea Witch does not have a mermaid’s tale like Ariel. Rather, Ursula’s appearance is radically different from her family, and she sports tentacles that look like a permanent black dress. It’s possible Ursula is not a mermaid in appearance because she and Triton did not have the same mother or father. If they’re half siblings, Ursula’s tentacles make more sense.

The sea is full of diverse creatures, but it’s not like The Little Mermaid specifically classifies all human-like members of the sea as mermaids, which leaves room for a few differences in species. Ursula being Triton’s sister leaves much room for speculation. It’s also possible Ursula simply developed her tentacles over time, as her body transformed to match her growing hunger for power. It could be that she started out as a mermaid before changing. Knowing the Sea Witch’s penchant for dark magic, it’s not difficult to believe that she cast a spell that altered her appearance for good.

Was Ursula Ever A Mermaid? How She Could Have Become An Octopus

While The Little Mermaid’s canon is unclear about Ursula’s past, it’s likely Ursula was never fully a mermaid. The villain seems very much at home in her tentacled body. But there is one story that points to how the Sea Witch might have been transformed into the octopus-like character she is known as today (though it’s been argued she is more of a squid, not an octopus given the amount of tentacles she has).

In the 2016 novel Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch, Ursula chooses her tentacles instead of a mermaid’s tale, which pushes Triton to betray his sister. This particular story also suggests Urusla grew up as a human before returning to the sea to obtain her inheritance, banished shortly thereafter by Triton. Considering Ursula and Triton are indeed siblings in The Little Mermaid live-action — and in other iterations of the story, a concept that was dropped from the animated film — it stands to reason that the Sea Witch would be the one to choose her tentacles, morphing from a mermaid into a half-human, half-tentacled figure.