King Eric


 * "Ken is the Nutcracker, a fearless hero and true prince at heart."
 * —The official Barbie in the Nutcracker website.

King Eric, also known by the alias Nutcracker, is the deuteragonist  in Barbie in the Nutcracker. He is a victim of the Mouse King's magic until Clara saves him and Parthenia. He is voiced by Kirby Morrow.

Story
Prince Eric did not always make the best choices, so when his father, the king of Parthenia, died, his father left his sceptre to the Mouse King, who was one of the king's servants at the time. He did not feel as if Eric was ready to be king, but unfortunately the Mouse King could not be trusted either and transformed Eric into a nutcracker doll.

As the nutcracker, Eric made more sensible choices and tried to defend himself when Major Mint revealed how he felt about him: that the prince was irresponsible. Prince Eric was good friends with Captain Candy before his dissapearance, so the captain was intrigued when he found out that the prince was still alive.

None of the prince's subjects were aware that prince Eric was the nutcracker, but Clara soon realised. He told her that by searching for the Sugar Plum Princess and, with her help, ending the Mouse King's evil reign, it was his way of the redeeming himself. He feels that the Sugar Plum Princess is the only way to restore his kingdom's happiness ("I owe them that," he tells Clara).

When Clara kisses him when he is hurt by the Mouse King, and the Mouse King is supposedly defeated, she becomes the Sugar Plum Princess, which transforms the Nutcracker, Parthenia and the Parthenian locals back to normal (as the Mouse King had a liking for turning his subjects to stone statues if they displeased him).

The prince is forgiven and dances with Clara, and they share another kiss, but their happiness is taken away when Clara's locket is swiped by none other than the Mouse King, back for one more strike. He is subsequently struck down with help from the young snow faerie, who makes up a snowball for the Peppermint Girl to throw at the Pimm and the Mouse King. it is unknown what his fate was after that, but the prince was dismayed by Clara leaving when they had finally grown to love each other. His last words to her are that he loves her, but she is already gone before he can say them.

When Clara wakes up after her locket is opened by the Mouse King, she is upset because she feels as if all that happened to her in her dream was real. She tries to talk to her family about it but they think she is just being silly. All of a sudden, Aunt Elizabeth comes in with an "old friend", who is none other than the prince. He kisses Clara's hand, to her Grandfather's annoyance (he states that they are acting too familiar with each other), and Eric asks Clara to dance. She replies that she "couldn't say no to a prince", confirming that he is truly Prince Eric. The two dance and Eric supposedly stays for dinner, under Aunt Elizabeth's invitation. it is unknown exactly what happened between the two after they dance however, as Barbie's story ends.

Physical Appearance
Eric has dark brown hair pulled back behind his ears and is just past his ears (or down to his collar) in length. He has dark blue eyes and light skin, he generally looks neat and clean-cut, this could be because he is a Prince/King and needs to look pristine and well kept.

Nutcracker
The nutcracker's appearance is different to that of Eric's, he has white hair that stops at his chin and is pulled back behind his ears. He also has a small beard that is white, a black curled moustache and black eyebrows. His eyes are a slightly lighter blue than when he is a Prince, and he has two lines either side of his mouth (starting at the moustache and ending at his beard) as he is a nutcracker.

He wears a royal blue hat with gold trims and a gold star on the front, the hat has a small royal blue brim with a gold trim. His collar is royal blue with a gold trim and he wears a red military jacket with gold braid and buttons, the jacket goes to tails at the back which are red with gold edging. His shoulders are hinged and made of gold wood, this decends to red sleeves, hinged elbows and ends with white gloved, hinged hands and gold braid around the cuffs. His mid section is also red and he wears a sword on his right side with a gold handle. His trousers are red and hinged at the knees, just below the hinged knees are his boots which are black with a gold trim.

Human
Towards the end of the film Clara transforms the nutcracker into Price/King Eric, he wears similar attire to the nutcracker, a red military style jacket with gold braiding along the front, gold buttons, gold ruffles on the shoulders and a royal blue collar with a gold braid. As well as royal blue cuffs that come to a point (pointing upwards towards his elbows) and gold braiding. The jacket goes to tails at the back in the same red as the rest of his coat (with royal blue lining) and he wears white trousers tucked into black/dark navy boots with gold trimming on the cuffs (pointing upwards towards his knees).

Visiting Clara
Eric appears at the very end of the film as the son of a friend of Elizabeth. His facial appearance is the same, but he wears a black suit jacket, dark teal/blue/green waistcoat with black buttons, a white shirt and black bow tie. He also wears black suit trousers and black dress shoes.

Trivia

 * Several times, Prince Eric has made cameos in other Barbie movies, as Nutcracker.
 * Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus - Nutcracker can be seen very briefly in the crowd at the ice skating rink.
 * Barbie in A Christmas Carol - Nutcracker can also be seen on a shelf behind the Spirit of Christmas Past during Eden's childhood sequence.
 * Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale - On a gossip website that Barbie looks at after she is fired, a user used an image of Nutcracker as their display picture.
 * Barbie: A Fairy Secret - Carrie takes a Nutcracker doll out of her magic purse when she is imprisoned in Gloss Angeles with Taylor.
 * Barbie: Princess Charm School - Blair picks up a Nutcracker doll in the palace basement.
 * Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 - In the bloopers, Nutcracker is lying inside a bowl of pickled beetroot and poi while Hadley talks about it.
 * Barbie: The Princess & The Popstar - Nutcracker gets thrown out of Crider's office.

Quotes

 * "Thank you for saving my life, and for your superior nursing skills."
 * "I didn't want to be the prince when I had the chance. Now I don't deserve to be."
 * "Clara? Clara? I love you!"