Prince Nalu is a supporting character in Barbie: Fairytopia and Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia. He is a merman voiced by Alessandro Juliani. Nalu is in love with a mermaid named Nori, who was his close friend and currently girlfriend. He is the Prince of Mermaidia and a dear friend of Elina.
Story[]
Barbie: Fairytopia[]
When Elina, Hue and Bibble were travelling to the Wildering Wood, the were stopped by a group of Laverna's firebirds. Hue flew low so he could evade them, but he disturbed Nalu because he flew into a mermaid cove, Crystal Cove.
Hue thought that the firebirds would not come into Crystal Cove, because they hate water, but he was mistaken. Nalu gave Elina, Hue and Bibble some magic seaweed to eat that allowed them to breathe underwater. Nalu guided the trio toward to Wildering Wood, and as they parted ways, Nalu told Elina he hoped to see her again. Nalu was not seen again in the movie after that moment, but Elina and her friends managed to defeat Laverna, and Elina got awarded wings.
Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia[]
Elina found out soon after she conquered Laverna that Nalu had been kidnapped by Laverna's fungi. He was being kept at the Crystal Cove, and was to be forced to lead Laverna and her fungi to the Immunity Berry. The Immunity Berry would allow anyone who ate it to become immune to all magic, and that was exactly what Laverna wanted. Nalu reluctantly agreed, because Max had threatened to destroy Mermaidia with poison if he did not agree. When Nalu had already left with the fungi, Elina arrived with Bibble. Even though she couldn't find Nalu, she met a stubborn mermaid named Nori who is a friend of Nalu's.
Nori and Nalu had planned to meet at the Crystal Cove, but Nori hadn't known Nalu had been kidnapped. Elina used magical seaweed to breathe underwater, and she and Nori went to search for Nalu. Nalu had sidetracked the fungi and led them astray to the Carousel of Confusion, a place with hypnotizing waters that make people forget what they're doing as a diversion. Nalu directed them in circles to keep them confused for as long as he could. He succeeded for a pretty long time until Max eventually discovered his trick. Meanwhile, Elina and Nori got to Mermaidia and found an oracle named Delphine so they could ask for help. Delphine told them to travel to the bottom of the Depths of Despair to find the Mirror of the Mist, which would lead them to Nalu.
Later, when near a brackish swamp with a powerful whirlpool, Max asks Nalu the correct way to the berry. Nalu tells them they have to go through the whirlpool to get there, which was true. They were concerned about going through that whirlpool at first. The other fungi tell Maximus that they don't want to go into the whirlpool because it looks scary, and Maximus agrees but he does not want to expose that he is scared because he does not want to seem like a coward, so he says that Nalu is lying, which was not a bad guess, because maybe the immunity berry was not that way and Nalu just wanted them to go there for another diversion that would get them killed. But Maximus was ultimately wrong. But when Laverna threatened Max to hang him by his toes and feed him to her Firebirds if he did not find the immunity berry, he certainly agrees to go down there despite being very scared.
Delphine gave Elina a pearl necklace which would allow her to trade her wings for a tail. The pearls would turn blue if she wished for a tail, and then they would slowly fade back to white. She needed a tail or she could not reach the Mirror of the Mist because to get there, she had to go through the depths of despair and the current was strong. It was too strong to get to the bottom with wings, but if Elina had a tail she would be able to get down there because a tail is stronger than wings and it is strong enough to carry someone down to the bottom of the depths of despair. She could get her wings back, but only if she made it to the surface of the water before the last pearl turned white. If she did not do this, she would remain a mermaid forever. Elina and Nori reached the Depths of Despair, but Nori got trapped by a sea plant. Elina used the necklace so she could swim as a mermaid and save Nori because she could not get to the bottom with her wings. They got to the Mirror of the Mist, and it made a bubble to lead them to Nalu. Nori and Elina followed the bubble and they locate magic fruits that can reveal the true self of whoever eats them. Nori and Elina went to the surface and found Nalu being guarded by fungi.
Bibble distracted the fungi by using a berry to sing opera, allowing Elina and Nori to free Nalu. He informed them that Fungus Maximus, the fungi leader, had found the cave where the Immunity Berry grows. Nalu, Nori, and Elina fought the fungi and got the berry that the Fungus Maximus had picked. Nori and Elina secretly swapped the berry with a fake one, and had the real berry. However, Elina had remained in the water for too long, and was stuck being a mermaid forever. Nori told Elina to eat the berry that would reveal her true self, and Elina was transformed back into a fairy, with wings.
With Laverna's plan ruined, Nalu saved, and Elina a fairy again, Nalu says that everything ended perfectly. He held hands with Nori, which confused her because she thought Nalu loved Elina. Elina told Nori that she and Nalu are just friends, and that he was in love with Nori. Nori was embarrassed to reveal it, but she did let him know that she returned his feelings.
Physical Appearance[]
Prince Nalu is a merman. He has brown hair and hazel eyes to match. His attire usually consists of a single sling of seaweed wrapped over his otherwise bare torso. He appears to be very muscular with a toned chest and well defined abdominal muscles. His merman tail was a beautiful deep sea-green color.
Trivia[]
- The name "Nalu" is a male Hawaiian name meaning "wave."
- In Barbie: Fairytopia, Nalu is credited as "Prince Kai." The name Kai is also water-related, meaning "ocean" or "ocean wave" in Japanese.
- Despite being a prince, Nalu met and was friends with Nori, a commoner, and they later confess that they are in love with each other.
- He is the first male character who always remains completely shirtless, Faban being a close second.
- Nalu's voice actor also voiced Prince Carlos, a character also from the Fairytopia series. Nalu's love interest, Nori, was voiced by the same person who voiced Mariposa in Barbie: Mariposa and Her Butterfly Fairy Friends.
