It is quite obvious that Merida is not particularly beloved on this spot. Placing last place in just about every countdown done recently, and probably in many to come, Merida needs más love. I used to hate Merida, so I totally understand why people dislike her, but I can't help but wonder why she is hated on, yet people fall in amor with Ariel and Jasmine. Oh, I am not going to hate on Ariel o jazmín in this article, they are both in my parte superior, arriba 5. Merida is currently fourth on my list, inches ahead of Jasmine, and inches behind Cinderella.
Why I used to hate her:
I used to hate Merida for her very noticable flaws. She is selfish, inconsiderate, and has this habit of blaming others for her mistakes. I used to hate her for this, now I find it endearing. I didn't really see all her good qualities, o how well she develops, o what an all around unique, layered character she is.

Why Merida is typically low on other's lists:
Merida's falling point is her poisoning her mom. Many people find that to extreme. She is also called unoriginal, which I completely disagree with, and the archetype Merida represents is hated among users.

Why I amor Merida:
I'm going to divide this into sections: Originality, Personality,Development, and why I think she is undeservedly hated at times.

Originality:
Merida is, unfortunately, thought to be unoriginal. Basically, she is the so-called blend of Ariel and Jasmine. This is something I disagree with. First, we need a basic understanding of Ariel and Jasmine's personalities.

Ariel: She is bubbly, fun, adventurous, impulsive, and determined. I will not go into much depth, but she very extroverted and acts on emotions.

Jasmine: She is independent, courageous, clever, outspoken, and confident. She also acts emotion and longs for company, so I see her as an extrovert. She seems to wantr to be with others and escape for freedom and meeting others.

Merida shares their independence, courage, selfishness, thirst for adventure, and cleverness, but she has her own distinct personality. I see Merida as an introvert. she really has no interest in other people but Angus and her family. She prefers to be alone with her freedom. Obviously, she adores her family, but in terms of friends she is quite introverted. Yes, she speaks her mind... to her parents. But at first, when she is distracting the clans for her mom, she is afraid and unsure. This makes her the first rebellious, outspoken, crazy princess to be an introvert. I don't see Pocahontas as these things, so no, I didn't forget her.

Obviously, she is the first without a prince but I don't count that as personality.

She is also the first princess to have her flaws be clearly shown in a truly negative light and have clear consequences towards her. Yes, every princess has flaws, but are they shown to bad in the movie the way Merida's are? No, not really.

She is also the first true tomboy to me. When she spends time with others, they are male. She seems to enjoy her brother's and Fergus's company más than the maid's o her mother's. She does traditionally male things for her time and she doesn't seem at all concerned with her looks o clothes.

Merida is not the first to be brave, strong, o independent, but she does bring something new to the table.

Personality:
This section might get unBEARably long.
Sorry... I had to! Anyways, Merida has one of the más complex, layered personalities of the disney Princesses. When she is first shown, we see her intelligence (moving away from her mother in hide and seek), sense of adventure (the bow), and her belief in fate and magic( the wisps). Oh is she adorable as a kid as well!

siguiente up we see how out of place she is. Awkward, not royal, quirky, sarcastic, and how she is total let down. Not to interested in sitting still with a total wish to be herself. We also see how she hates her lessons and doesn't try in them. All these traits are quite relatable.

Touch the sky is arguably the best scene in the film. Not only is it visually stunning, but also reveals lots of Merida's primary traits. We see how she is gifted in archery, climbing, horse-riding, and even a little woodcarving (her bow). This also touches on how she is introverted and prefers freedom to friends. I amor when she is climbing Crone's tooth. The whole scene shows that she is daring, rebellious, wild, outdoorsy, brave, and quite a bit of fun.

When we return to the castle, Merida is being all dramatic, crazy, and weird with her dad as she tells the story she's heard a million times. She is obviously mischievous and close with her brothers, as shown with the cakes. She also get excited and loves to share what she has accomplished. This shows Merida's pride and confidence.

Then, she finds out about the suitors. This shows her temper, her amor for her freedom, and how she dislikes being forced into things. As she cleans up Angus's stall, we see her side of the argument about the suitors. She acts a tad selfish, but also she is saying how she isn't ready. This says a lot about her. She doesn't put responsibility o others before her, which though selfish, is also realistic.

When she is getting ready to meet the suitors, tu can tell she hates being cooped up in that dress. When Elinor looks at her though, she thinks that somewhere in there the old Elinor from Merida's childhood is in there. tu can see it in Merida's expression. This shows her slight dreaminess and how she looks back fondly on her childhood.

When she sees the pathetic suitors, she dies on the inside. We see más of her sarcasm and closeness with her dad. When Dingwall wins, Merida has had it. Now it's time for her to act epic. This is bravery, intelligence, rebellion, and absolute anger at it's finest. She displays her skill por "shooting for her own hand". Yes it's selfish, but also quite amazing and interesting.

When Elinor throws her bow into the fire, it's the last straw for Merida. It's time to change her fate!

The scene at the Witch's cottage shows Merida's intelligence and her selfishness. Once she gives the cake to Elinor, there is no sympathy for her. She doesn't take responsibility for actions. This is my sum up for beginning of movie Merida.

siguiente up is her development, which I will get into later.

I really amor how she is daring, fun, adventurous, and outspoken, yet still introverted, relatable, and flawed. I would also like to point out that she is Valiente and heroic, but needs saving, just like anyone else. She isn't a damsel in distress, but character who fails sometimes. She is so similar, yet so different from me. I also like how dramatic, loud, and sarcastic she is. I would also like to point out Merida's intelligence. She figures out who Mordu is quite quickly and she is very well educated. She thinks on her feet and is resourceful, sarcastic, and clever. I amor how she is flawed and has such a balance between good and bad traits. And of course I amor her large range on traits that come together to create one of the most, if not THE most, complex, well developed disney Princesses.

Development:
One thing that Merida haters can't deny is that she develops. At the beginning on the movie (teenage years-not as a kid), she is, obviously, selfish, unappreciative and inconsiderate. She doesn't take responsibility for anything. When Elinor first changes into a bear, there is no difference in character. It's when she realizes how truly dangerous the situation is that she begins to at least trust her mom. Her bond with Elinor is at first trust and memories. Wen she is escaping Mordu she has to trust her mom and she has her memories of her bond with Elinor when she was younger. This is a small part of their relationship, it what helps build it. It helps Merida's character arc begin. When fishing, they begin to truly change and remember why they amor each other. Their whole journey shows them remembering why they amor each other, realizing their mistakes, and when it's time for Merida to announce she's going to get married (which was very selfless, brave, and is a major point in her development) Elinor changes her mind proving how much she loves Merida. Merida totally transforms herself because of familial amor and realizing her mistakes. And when she realizes Elinor will be a oso, oso de forever, what she says is heartbreaking. She takes responsibility and has an emotional outburst, which were unheard of for her the first half of the film. This shows how she changed to a kinder, más humble person while keeping her original personality in tact. She is still brave, smart, crazy, and values freedom and family. I doubt she stopped her bad habits, but I also bet she is stronger, kinder, and a much better, responsible person. Her development is very well done, much better done than Rapunzel's o Tiana's.

The hate:
Merida is hated on far too often. I seriously have never see her win a poll. Like I'm dead serious. Everyone seems to find her unoriginal. I don't understand this at all. She is not that similar to Ariel. Merida isn't bubbly, extroverted, romantic, and she isn't quite as curious as Ariel. Merida is most similar to Jasmine, but the differences are that Merida develops, has no intentions of love, no matter what, and isn't as non-judgmental o kind. Like who else saw Merida's face when the muscular guy looks like her suitor? That screams shallow. There's also her hating on true amor thing. I disagree. She never says, o implies, "True amor is fake! tu can't marry a man tu just met!" she says "I'm not ready!" The poor girl is 16. Merida is in the same position as Jasmine, she just never finds an Aladdin. Some people find her annoying and bratty, but because she changes, I don't really see that. I understand why people don't like her, but sometimes it ticks me off that no one sees her good traits.

I hope this articulo at least made tu reconsider Merida, a little bit. Yes she is flawed, VERY, VERY, flawed, but also layered, complex, and a lot of fun.
Please comentario below and share your thoughts!