what do you look for in a disney hero/prince?

[faya27]

What qualities and characteristics do you look for?

[1luckyunicorn]

Basically, an interesting character that feels like he could be a real person, with a story that I can get involved in. Bonuses include him possessing kindness, humor, a sense of justice, and understanding what needs to be done. A good example of this is Milo from Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He didn't seem like the bravest guy around, but he stepped to the plate when it counted.

That said, I don't think it's accurate or fair when pple call the early princes airheads and such. They had no characters. We didn't see enough about them to determine if they were smart or not. The stories were dominated by Snow White and Cinderella, so I’m not surprised that happened. But I'm sure we're all happy that over the years Disney realized the princes need personalities too.

[Coral]

First of all he has to be sympathetic and likable. If there's nothing good about him, why bother? He needs to show courage early and show that he values others more than he values himself. Eric does that beautifully from the get-go. He doesn't want to hurt Grim's feelings by telling what he really thinks of the statue, isn't afraid to pitch in and help his sailors and risks his own life to save his dog. Now that's a hero!

[fathomsbelow]

I'll take a shot at this.

He has to be more than meets the eye. I mean besides being handsome and noble and all that jazz, he has to have a good personality. For me he'd have to be funny, intelligent, kind, brave, and sensitive. The two Disney guys who fit the bill for me are Aladdin and Eric.

[nikki]

Hmm... Sense of humor To me it's very important that the prince/hero has a sense of humor. A guy who can make me laugh is on the highway to my heart! As Coral said, it's also important to see that the character values others more than he values himself.

I also like male characters with an impulse... or a sense of adventure, in other words.

And I'd make it mandatory for them to take off their shirt at least once, but Disney seems to have a problem with that

[faya27]

Shang was shirtless in the movie.

[nikki]

Yeah, but he lacks the sense of humor Poor guy.

[WickedElphie]

Shang's another underloved guy that I squee for. He's a bit of a stick in the mud, but there's a real earnest sweetness underneath that I love. And he's clearly got a lot of loyalty to his men too. Which give him lotsa bonus points for me. Aside from those traits sense of humor is of the good. And just a sense of compassion and empathy, if that makes sense. Like if someone fell down in front of them, they'd go over and help them get back up.

[Coral]

Compassion is a must! And genuine caring. I've experienced fake caring and fake compassion and a whole bunch of other fake stuff and it's not fun to deal with. It's exhausting.

[fridamoonbeam]

I've come to really like Shang too. He was serious but he did have a tongue and cheek side. I like that Disney went a little different route on him then past guys. I just see him as raised by really displined people and never really had a chance to be a kid, since he was being trained as a solider. He was super anal but he was that way because I believed he really cared ^^

Yeah. I'm with you guys I really like more conpassionate characters and conflicted ones. I like seeing them go through the process a bit of eveluating things and what matters.