Queen Elinor is the deuteragonist of Brave. She is the Queen of DunBroch, the mother of Princess Merida and The Triplets, and the wife of King Fergus.


"A vision of grace, wisdom and strength of character, Queen Elinor is fiercely dedicated to the well being of her family and kingdom. As the measured, diplomatic counterpoint to her more impulsive husband, King Fergus, Elinor carries the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders in order to maintain the fragile peace between the volatile clans. Elinor strives to instill in Merida the knowledge and manner of a royal, expecting complete commitment to Elinor’s standards. But her vision of her daughter’s future is at odds with Merida’s rebellious spirit and desire to forge her own path, which ultimately causes Elinor to face calamitous consequences."[1]

At the beginning, Fergus gave Merida a bow and Elinor and Fergus watched Merida shoot her arrow and miss. She ran into the woods and retrieved the arrow, watched by a demon in the form of an old giant short faced bear with red evil eyes named Mor'du. He reared up, roaring at Fergus and swiped his leg off.

Years later, Queen Elinor was turned into a giant short faced bear by a witch's spell.


  • If Elinor’s hair were always unwrapped, it would be about six feet, six inches long (200 cm).[2]
  • The reason Elinor was turned into a bear is to show how far a mother bear will go to protect her child, as shown in the climax with Mor'du.
  • Similar to Marlin, another Pixar character who is a parent, Elinor also has a rocky relationship with her offspring in the beginning of the film.
  • In order to develop the desired look for Queen Elinor’s emerald dress in the film, Pixar's art department took actual matte silk fabric samples and painted metallic colors onto them while adding other subtle embellishments. Afterwards, shading artists were able to replicate the look in the computer.[3]



  1. Exclusive: ‘Brave’ Character Descriptions and Images of King Fergus and Queen Elinor
  2. Close-Up: The Amazing Design of ‘Brave’ Characters
  3. The Science Behind Pixar Fun Facts