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high_seas
NAME
CANON
AGE
GENDER
CANON POINT
HISTORY
PERSONALITY
Anna's story is about love.
Yearning for it, mistakenly believing she's found it and ultimately affirming the power of it.
But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves.
Once upon a time there were two princesses, sisters who loved each other very much. The older sister possessed a power that could turn dangerous but neither of them knew of it yet. For them it was a source of wonder and fun and the world the older created around the younger was as much of love as it was of snow. They only saw the joy of it but an accident taught the older of the danger and the world around them became one of walls.
Once upon a time, Anna of Arendelle was a princess locked away in a tower and dreaming of love... aaaand that's about typically Disney as she gets. Impetuous, more than occasionally awkward and altogether too talkative, she's not the kind of princess that pretty songbirds would fly to in order to dress her during a charming musical number. The closest these bizarrely sentient and probably chorally trained avians would ever get to Anna would be if they were caught in a tornado and had to seek refuge in Anna's bedhead (that same tornado incidentally is responsible for styling said bedhead).
Both sisters were raised in isolation even from each other but this shaped them differently. In comparison to Elsa who lived fearing her own abilities and daily struggled to keep them contained, Anna didn't learn until much later the reason for their estrangement and thus only knew of the loneliness. Therefore, rather than becoming fearful or mistrustful of the outside world which surely would have been a possibility for being so sheltered, Anna is filled with the desire to see more of the world outside and to meet new people and learn about them and their experiences.
Anna also appears to have been largely left to her own devices. She had the run of the castle which was fortunate for her because she has an irrepressible spirit. Her childhood of isolation didn't turn her generally energetic temperament to a more depressed one and despite facing different obstacles in growing up and in the problems she faces while chasing after Elsa, she rarely remains downcast for long. Shut up inside a mostly empty castle, she managed to create her own fun and kept her spirits up. She chatted up the portraits, slid down the staircase banister, fooled around with the armor, playacted scenes around the castle. She was a very active child and remains much the same as a young woman grown.
Having not been around many people and likely having participated in fewer social situations that a princess might normally have been expected to, Anna's mostly been by herself and so she's rarely had to filter herself. Though she would have received lessons in deportment, there wouldn't have been much call to use them so Anna can be socially awkward. She's not poised; she's not all that graceful. When making what was probably supposed to be a stately and dignified entrance at Elsa's coronation ball, she's hurrying in, half-waving at someone in the audience and has to be positioned like a piece of nervously stammering furniture. She talks to herself out loud (hey she's her own number one loyal conversation partner), she rambles, gets flustered and rarely attempts to contain her reactions. She's unrestrained, wonderfully and entertainingly so. She puts her foot in her mouth while talking to Kristoff, talks over him as she tries to explain her situation. She's also physically expressive, constantly gesturing with her hands, tapping her fingers together as she, nervous but eager, tries to talk Elsa at the ball and practically jumping in place in excitement when she presents a new sled to Kristoff.
She's someone who leaps into things and is not passive. When Elsa runs off after her powers were exposed, Anna is quick to move decisively. She orders up her horse, leaves Hans in charge and goes after Elsa. Of course, it means she doesn't have much of a plan but for Anna it's crucial to act. Though she might have rushed after her, she's able to secure appropriate equipment for herself and even a guide, showing resourcefulness. When facing down danger with Kristoff, it's important for Anna to take an active part in the fight. Of course in the end, she ends up saving Kristoff from the wolves and is the one to cut herself and Kristoff down from Marshmallow's grasp. Despite what might seem to be foolhardiness, Anna proves herself to be capable of rising up to the challenge and takes to her chase after Elsa as an adventure. Her sheltered upbringing isn't a negative in this regard. While other people may be held back by their worry that they don't know how to do something and therefore can't, Anna's stance is "Can't do this? Says who?" When faced with an actual literal mountain, she's the first to start climbing. Granted she got a jumpstart since Kristoff got held up over consideration of mundane things like safety and proper mountain-climbing equipment. When faced with an actual literal cliff, she jumps off before Kristoff is even done counting to three. Her confidence, her belief in people and her headstrong determination all combined have given her a record of LANDSCAPE - O / ANNA - 2. She doesn't give up in the face of these things easily and her belief in people is such that she knows that Hans will take care of Arendelle while she's gone and Kristoff will catch her when she makes the jump.
She's also not someone to hold anything back or conceal her own feelings. She opens up to people easily, telling Hans about her estranged relationship with her sister at their first meeting and spills everything to Kristoff about the situation with Hans and Elsa. She's compassionate and open-hearted and eager to get to know people. When Kristoff awkwardly tries to tell her about his family, she warmly reassures him that they sound wonderful. When Olaf comes to rescue the slowly freezing Anna and builds a fire for her, her concern for him is still foremost in her mind rather than her own pain.
This open and unrestrained personality has its negative side. When Elsa refuses to give her blessing to her impulsive engagement plans, Anna, hurt, confused and upset, refuses to take their conversation in private and in demanding an explanation, in demanding an answer from a sister who has once again rejected her, ends up creating a scene during Elsa's coronation ball and causes Elsa (who is already at an emotionally precarious point) to lose control of her powers. After having been tossed out of Elsa's ice castle by Marshmallow, Elsa's snow bodyguard, Anna is indignant at how Olaf was actually thrown out and retaliates with her own thrown snowball at said freaking snow creature, provoking it to chase after them.
It's a part of her impetuous nature, unfortunate when paired with her naiveté. She might at times be too optimistic for her own good. She lacks any real plan to solve the magical winter outside of talking to her sister when Elsa herself isn't in full control of her powers. While her faith is later borne out, that won't always be the case. Her actions might hurt rather than help and her lack of understanding of the true scope of Elsa's fear even causes injury to herself. She also lacks experience with the world outside, a world with many different people in it and it's not always a kind world and the thing about different people is sometimes they're also different in how they present themselves and how they truly are as Hans eventually proves. Compounded with her longing for a close relationship similar to the one she had with her sister, Anna is easily deceived by Hans. Swayed by an idealized view of true and romantic love (no closed doors, even at first sight, you just know and it will never hurt you), she ends up agreeing to a quick marriage and plays right into his hands.
But her optimism isn't founded on her ignorance of the worse nature of people and it shouldn't be confused for it. When Hans turns out to be a scheming manipulator, she doesn't become cynical nor does she stop believing in love. Anna is at heart a romantic. She was wrong about Hans but she wasn't wrong about love.
Elsa is the one who proves her right. She is the one who proves herself right.
Because her relationship with Elsa is at the core of everything. It's telling that the primary symbol of true love for Anna is based on her relationship with her sister. She believes love is and should be an open door because her relationship with her sister was ended by a closed one. She feels her profound loneliness even more keenly because she has her former relationship with Elsa to compare it to and she misses it. Despite the pain of it, Anna is stubborn and it took years of Elsa's rejections before she gave up on knocking on Elsa's closed door. At the ball, it only takes a single overture of amicability for Anna to start hoping that she could reconnect with Elsa. Elsa however shuts her down again and dashes Anna's hopes that the lonely world she's lived in until then would change which leaves her all the more vulnerable to Hans. It should be noted however that even while planning to marry Hans, Anna never even considers leaving Arendelle and Elsa. She immediately defaults to the idea that she and Hans would live in Arendelle. Even after getting into an argument with Elsa after her sister firmly disallows Anna's engagement, Anna isn't angry at first and is pleading for her sister to finally tell her what changed their relationship. It's not until Elsa actually tells her to leave that Anna becomes angry.
While it may even make some coldly logical sense that she should leave if she feels trapped in the castle, it's unthinkable to Anna. She is of Arendelle. She belongs here and so does Elsa. Her determined belief in this truth is the impetus that has her chasing after Elsa. Anna is unwavering in her faith in Elsa, against Kristoff's express concerns, against signs of the dangerous side of Elsa's power, against Elsa's own fears. In Anna's eyes, Elsa's powers aren't a curse. They are a part of her sister, a beautiful part, and should be celebrated. She believes that as long as the two of them are together, they'll be able to solve any problem. That now that she knows, she can help her sister and Elsa no longer has anything to fear.
She was wrong about Elsa's power and Elsa's inability to hurt her. Elsa's powers are not fully under her control and Anna's presence exacerbates Elsa's fears and Anna is struck right to her heart by the cold and slowly freezes from within. She was wrong about her idealized view of true love. Her own odd contradiction is that she fully believes in it but fails to recognize it in Elsa and Kristoff who both love her. Elsa closed her door against her and hurt her but it was out of love for her and a desire to protect her. She eventually falls in love with Kristoff and she certainly didn't know it at first sight.
But she wasn't wrong about love.
Love is what saves Elsa, Arendelle and herself. Endangered by her frozen heart, Anna believes that the only way she can be saved is through an act of true love. Even then she still associates it with romantic love, this time in what Kristoff feels for her. He's running to save her and she's trying to make her way towards him but on the way she sees Hans advancing on her defenseless sister and she acts. Acting out of instinct, acting out of love and believing it's the last thing she'll be able to do, she puts herself in front of Elsa to protect her sister. She saves Elsa and she saves herself. She learns that an act of true love is an act of sacrifice, her own sacrifice and that the truest love in her life isn't a prince she just met but the one she feels for her sister.
Anna considers herself an ordinary girl and for the most part, she's right. For a crucial point though, she's wrong. Elsa's power is her magic but Anna's is her faith and her love.
She is wrong about herself but she's not wrong about love.
ABILITIES / STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
Though not the heir to the kingdom, Anna is a princess and would have received an education befitting one. As the spare, she would have received similar training to Elsa keeping in mind of course that they would still largely have been kept away from the rest of the world if it could be helped. If their parents' funeral is anything to go by, any necessary public appearances would have fallen to Anna. She's also shown in the movie to be very capable at horseback riding.
STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
Anna is decisive and doesn't freeze up in a crisis or when faced with danger. While being chased by wolves during her sled ride with Kristoff, she actively tries to take part in fighting them off and knocks one back with a lute and actually is largely responsible for their escape (with Kristoff unfortunately being dragged behind their sled for part of the time). She thinks quickly on her feet. When running away from Marshmallow, she uses a tree weighed down with snow against the snow creature, with the treetop lashing at the creature's face. It should be noted that something similar happens to Anna earlier in the movie (she doesn't get hit in the face but the snow gets dumped on her) so it's fairly suggestive that she remembered this and cleverly used it as a tactic against Marshmallow. She's brave and determined and has a strong will not easily deterred by blizzards, weather-inappropriate dresses and snow bodyguards.
Her weaknesses largely have to do with her naiveté and her borderline-reckless nature. She charged after Elsa with basically no back-up plan if Elsa turned her away (which did happen) and barely any plan for finding her at all. She also doesn't seem to have any wariness of people. 1 out of 2 in her judgement of the trustworthiness of dangers in whom she has placed her love (Hans) and life (Kristoff).
LIMITED POWERS
OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS
SAMPLES
♦ Post:
[ the handwriting would be elegant if it wasn't marred by splotches. the lines are also not completely even, some letters are overlarge and loopy like the writer has far too much energy to be contained by things like precise calligraphy and writing space ]
Hello!
CAN YOU READ THIS?
can you read this? if you can read this wow your eyesight must be really good.
I don't know how I'm supposed to start this off. "Dear Diary"? Wait, that can't be right. Obviously this would be a terrible diary since everyone can read this. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if you forgot and just started writing in it like a regular diary? Has that ever happened? One day you're just writing about this dream you had about laying siege to a castle of chocolate and then suddenly someone's writing back and asking what kind? Just an idea off the top of my head. That dream in no way resembles any I've ever had. No. Nope. Never woke up with drool because of it.
...wait what was I writing about again?