Atlantica

Atlantica is a world that appears in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II. It is based on the setting of the 1989 film, .

Almost completely underwater, Atlantica is a rocky world with immense holes on its surface. Beneath the surface is an entire world full of fish, merfolk, and other aquatic species that make up King Triton's underwater kingdom. The Heartless that appear in Atlantica are unique to it, such as Sea Neons which resemble jellyfish. In all games, the boss of Atlantica is Ursula (occasionally accompanied by Flotsam and Jetsam).

King Triton is the ruler of this world, and its Keyhole is hidden in Ariel's grotto.

Settings and Areas
Atlantica has been the most drastically changing world throughout the Kingdom Hearts games. In each game it appears in, its gameplay is completely different. In Kingdom Hearts, Ariel joins Sora as a party member and things carry out much like in any other world, with the exception that the controls are different to fit Sora's new form. You are also restricted from using special attacks such as Ars Arcanum. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Sora doesn't change form at all, and the world is treated just like all other worlds. In Kingdom Hearts II, possibly the biggest change is seen; only two areas can be accessed, and the story progresses through completion of mini-games, rather than through battling enemies.

Kingdom Hearts gives Atlantica a sprawling design that requires certain special abilities to navigate successfully. Sora and company arrive in the , where Ariel and Flounder host the swimming tutorial. From there, the party travels forward, practicing battle in the , following the trident marks to their final destination. One exit leads to the ironically-named , which plays host to a swift moving current that pushes Sora and his party around unless they use Ariel's dolphin friend or obtain the Mermaid Kick ability. The Mermaid Kick ability replaces the Dolphin originally required to get through the calm depths. Following the trident mark here takes the group to the Undersea Cave with a strong current of its own. Making it past the current leads to the , a vast area which leads to several other places in Atlantica. On the opposite side of the gorge are the entrances to ' and, under the crate, the end of a hidden tunnel that leads to the '. Somewhere in the middle is the entrance to ' and the ' within. Also there, but easily missed, is the , hidden to the left of the Palace entrance.

After getting into the ' area, Sebastian helps the party find a hidden door in the corner which leads to the creepy '; the right fork leads to the ', a room with a save point, while the left fork takes the party to the ' and, past that,  for the first of two encounters with the sea witch. Finally, using Mermaid Kick from the ', Sora and the party can reach the very end and find the entrance to the ', where their final encounter with Ursula takes place.

Kingdom Hearts II features a tiny Atlantica in comparison; only two areas are available for Sora and the party to freely explore. They arrive and interact the most in the , where the song mini-games are activated. On the opposite end from the save point is the entrance to , which holds other characters, but no Heartless. Ariel's Grotto, The Shore, and the Wedding Ship also appear, but only in cutscenes.

Kingdom Hearts
When Sora,, and Goofy arrive at this undersea world, Donald uses his magic to give them more appropriate forms. They are soon encountered by Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastion, who help them get used to swimming about, despite Sebastion and Flounder's reservations about the group. After Sora and company fend off a Heartless attack, Ariel asks them to accompany her and her friends to the palace, where they meet King Triton. Triton dispatches more Heartless with his trident and scolds Ariel for venturing outside the palace, and when Goofy mentions the group's search for the Keyhole, he angrily denies its existence. Ariel retreats to her lagoon, accompanied by Sora and company and followed from a distance by Sebastion, and she proposes they search for the Keyhole.

They explore the Sunken Ship, where they find a Crystal Trident resembling an indentation in Ariel's grotto, and they head back, fighting past the shark Glut on the way. At the grotto, Sora places the crystal into the indentation, but Triton arrives and, furious at Ariel's disobedience and upon seeing the crystal, destroys it. Crushed, Ariel leaves the grotto, and Triton confronts Sora about being from another world, declaring the Keyblade and its bearer as bringing ruin to worlds, and he tells him to leave the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Ariel is approached by Ursula, who promises to help her reach other worlds in exchange for her letting Ursula into the palace, so that she can find the Keyhole. Once inside, she steals Triton's trident and overpowers him; however, the Keyhole is not in the palace, and Ursula flees when Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive. Ariel and Sebastion accompany them in pursuit of Ursula, and Sebastion opens the path to her lair. The group confronts Ursula and her minions, Flotsam and Jetsam, in the lair, and they defeat them in battle, destroying the two eels in the process. Ursula retreats into the open ocean, where she uses the trident to grow to a tremendous size. Sora and company follow, and after a drawn-out battle, they finally defeat her.

They retrieve the trident and return it to Triton, who apologizes for driving Ariel to helping Ursula and reveals that the crystal that was destroyed would have revealed the Keyhole in Ariel's grotto. He lends Ariel his trident so she can reveal the Keyhole and requests that Sora seal it. After it is sealed, Sora apologizes to Ariel for not telling her about being from another world, but she forgives him, expressing her wish to visit other worlds herself someday.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
In Castle Oblivion, Sora, Donald, and Goofy use one of their World Cards to enter a fascimile of Atlantica based on their memories. They encounter Ariel, who has stolen Triton's trident from the palace. After speaking with Sebastion at the palace and following Ariel to her grotto, they discover that Ursula has promised to reunite her with Flounder, who Ursula claims is trapped in the human world. Sora and the others agree to accompany Ariel to confront Ursula and discover what really happened to Flounder.

When they arrive at Ursula's lair, however, Ursula reveals that she captured Flounder herself and demands the trident. Ariel reluctantly turns it over to her, and although she releases Flounder as promised, she uses the trident to grow to giant size and attacks. Sora successfully defeats her, however, and Ariel recovers the trident, deciding to tell the truth when she returns it to her father.

Some time later, Riku also enters a memory-based Atlantica in one of Casle Oblivion's basements, but he only encounters Ursula, who he defeats in battle.

Kingdom Hearts II
Ariel is swimming on the surface shortly after a storm, and is horrified to see a young man, Prince Eric, floating on the remains of a ship. She brings him to the shore and falls in love with him, and, after singing a love song to him, returns to the ocean just as he regains consciousness.

Sometime later, Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive and are reunited with Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder; though Donald and Goofy quickly re-adapt to their sea creature forms, Sora has difficulty due to his year spent in suspended animation, so Ariel and co. help him. Sebastian then reveals that Ariel has been very depressed lately, and asks Sora, Donald, and Goofy to participate in the annual musical, hoping that their presence might get Ariel to lighten up. They agree, and perform "Swim This Way" fantastically, and once again meet King Triton, who tells Sora in private that perhaps his participation in the musical might takes Ariel's mind off her fascination with the human world.

However, things do not go as planned; even with Sora's presence, Ariel is unable to focus on rehearsals. Flounder then takes the trio to a statue of Prince Eric that he found, which is sure to cheer Ariel up. After acquiring the Magnet spell, Sora retrieves the statue and places it in Ariel's grotto, surprising her with it. Ariel then expresses her desire to walk on land in "Part of Your World", and Sora promises to help her in any way that he can. Sebastian is distressed by this secrecy.

After increasing the power of his Drive Gauge, Sora and Ariel perform spectacularly in "Under the Sea", a musical number which Sebastian hoped would "cure" Ariel's obsession with life on land. However, Ariel would prefer to sing about how the creatures of land and sea can live together in harmony, and ultimately decides not to sing at all when Sebastian shoots that possibility down, storming off with Sora, Donald, and Goofy in tow. Sebastian proceeds to complain about Ariel falling in love with a human at "the worst possible time"; unfortunately, Triton overhears him, and is not happy, especially given the fact that humans were responsible for his wife's demise.

Triton confronts Ariel, Sora, Donald, and Goofy in Ariel's grotto, angry with Ariel falling in love with a human. Ariel refuses to believe that all humans are as evil as Triton says, and Triton finally loses his temper; determined to turn Ariel over to his views of humans by any means necessary, he promptly destroys the statue that Sora retrieved for Ariel with a burst of energy from his trident and storms off. Distraught, Ariel runs off.

While moping in the courtyard, Ariel is confronted by Ursula, who has been resurrected by the powers of darkness. Ursula strikes up a deal with Ariel; in exchange for her voice, Ursula will change Ariel into a human being for three days. If Ariel can get Eric to kiss her within those three days, then the spell will be permanent; if she fails, she will return to mermaid form, and her very soul will belong to Ursula for all eternity. Sebastian and Flounder witness this, but are prevented from going for help by Flotsam and Jetsam.

Sora arrives, but it is too late: Ariel has signed the contract. Despite Sora's best efforts to stop her, Ursula magically draws Ariel's voice into her shell necklace and transforms the mermaid princess into a human. Ariel, no longer able to breathe underwater, begins to drown, but Sora quickly pulls her to the surface while Ursula laughs.

Sora drags an unconscious Ariel to the shore, where she is confronted by Eric himself and accepted into his home. Sora, Sebastian, and the rest unanimously agree to keep Triton in the dark about Ariel's situation, and spend the time watching Ariel's progress; at one point, Ariel and Eric nearly kiss, but are stopped by Flotsam and Jetsam rocking their boat (though Sora and co. don't see this happen). When not watching over Ariel, Sora, Donald, and Goofy also spend the three days looking for Ursula in the hopes that they can force her to reverse the spell, but are unable to find her.

Near the end of the final day, Sora and co. check up on Ariel, and see her crying at the beach. At that moment, Eric, having seemingly been hypnotized, walks to the beach alongside a black-haired girl named Vanessa singing in Ariel's voice. Seeing the girl wearing Ursula's necklace, an enraged Sora puts two and two together and uses a burst of energy from the Keyblade to destroy the necklace, breaking Ursula's hold over Eric and restoring Ariel's voice. Eric realizes that Ariel is the girl who saved him, but before they can kiss, the sun sets; Ariel has missed the deadline. Ursula reverts back to her normal form and grabs Ariel, returning to the sea with Sora, Donald, and Goofy in hot pursuit.

In the confrontation that follows, Triton arrives and attacks Ursula, but she reveals that even he doesn't have the power to break Ariel's contract. With no other choice, Triton agrees to take Ariel's place, and is transformed into a polyp as the horrified Sora and co. watch. Ursula promptly takes Triton's trident and proclaims herself the queen of the sea, moving to finish Triton off. Ariel, restrained by Flotsam and Jetsam, demands that Ursula let him go, but at that moment, Eric arrives and hits Ursula in the arm with a harpoon. Flotsam and Jetsam charge at Eric, but Sora, Donald, and Goofy block their path. Enraged, Ursula once again transforms into a giant and engages Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ariel, and Eric in combat.

Throughout "Ursula's Revenge", Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ariel, and Eric work together to fight Ursula, once again eliminating Flotsam and Jetsam in the process. In the end, Sora knocks the trident out of Ursula's hands, and Eric impales Ursula with it, destroying her once again.

In the aftermath, Ariel reveals her mermaid form to Eric, and sadly states that they cannot be together. Eric, however, states otherwise, and both embrace. In the end, King Triton accepts his daughter's choice and Sebastian goes along with Ariel's idea for the musical through "A New Day is Dawning", in which Ariel proclaims her newfound happiness.

After the success of the music, and Sora uses the Keyblade to open another pathway. Though Ariel is sad that they have to leave again, Sora, Donald, and Goofy refuse to say goodbye and assure their friends through a musical number that they will meet again.

In the ending credits, Ariel has become human and is on a wedding cruise with Eric, witnessed by King Triton, Sebastian and Flounder and the inhabitants of kingdoms.

Character Design
Atlantica is unique in that Sora takes on a different form while in the world, courtesy of Donald Duck's magic. While in Atlantica, he is transformed into a "dolphin merboy", while Donald himself becomes a half-duck half-octopus creature, and Goofy a sea turtle. While in the Castle Oblivion version of Atlantica, however, Sora's party does not disguise themselves, and even remark on being able to breathe and walk despite ostensibly being underwater.

Other
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