SweetPea2007 I don't think her mother is the villain, yeah they looked at each other with anger and there is tension, but that is kind of normal between a mother and a teenager...Merida may think her mother is her enemy, but she is her own real enemy...I think alot of the plot deals with growing up and having the courage to make mistakes and then admit those mistakes and take care of them yourself. Merida messes things up when she decides to take charge of her own fate but from what I have seen of the trailers she also has the courage to fix that mistake. The Bear may be a metaphore or just a Bear, but I do not think it is a prince....I am kinda hoping that Brave ends with the Princess finding happiness, just not necissarily with a guy (or girl)...just with herself and her family...Merida's father seems to want to be her bestfriend or buddy and is the easy going one, that is why the Mother seems like the villain....she has the resposiblity for enforcing the rules and being the logical one...She shouldn't be despised just because she is being a responsible mother...I look forward to seeing this movie with my girls!

faya27 I'm wondering that too. I don't know if the villian is the witch (voiced by Julie Waters) or if it is Merida herself. I agree that the plot seemed to be about that Merida made a mistake that caused chaos for her family and she has to fix it. Story reminds me a bit of Epic Mickey where Mickey accidentally made a mistake that caused chaos in Oswald's homeland and has to fix it. I too, wonder if Merida will encounter a villian like Mickey and Oswald did with the Phantom Blot and that crazy doctor. I don't think Merida's mother is the villian. She is just trying to run her kingdom and just doesn't know how to handle her daughter. I'm not too sure about the Bear. Although I love fairy tale romances I hope that Merida will stay single throughout the movie. She seems like the type of princess that does NOT need a prince by her side. (Besides the three guys that competed for her hand at the archery tournament are anything but charming).

cuteasprincie I agree with both of you..

IsaacKuo Isn't the bear Queen Elinor? I don't know if that's a spoiler or not, but that's the impression I got from the mama bear plush doll that has been released. The bear doll wears the queen's crown and the text describes her as the transformed Queen Elinor.

SweetPea2007 oh my gosh.....I just suggested that on the question that leads to this....and the cubs are her brothers, right? Merida must try to change her destianty and the consquence is her mother and brothers are transformed into Bears and now she must end the curse and not kill her mother and brothers and make things right...maybe there was a bargain made by the mother long before (either she was a bear to begin with or that was just the consequence to breaking it)and as long as her daughter married like she was suppose to and kept on track everything was okay....or maybe the bargain was made by one of the queens ancestors...I am now more intrigued....this sorta of reminds me of Brother Bear....the whole curse and running from destinty....

Mr_Cubbins By running from your destiny you end up full filling it. It's nice to know a little more about the movie.

TigerRanma The trailer shows Merida jumping and reaching for a bear who is trying to take her hand from above (who I assume is her mother) while another evil looking bear from the dark is trying to catch her from behind (who I assume is Mordu, the bear from King Fergus's story and the one we see in other trailers).

Queen_Kitty I had wondered who's villain too! I think the villian is the bear and the witch

Artemishunts i think it's the which she goes to for help to me she seemed happy about the spell she was doing

thetscfan121 The villain isn't Merida nor Elinor nor the witch. It's someone else that dies in the end. At least that's what I understood from what I saw in the movies.

fishypup I don't mind a villain-less film. Lots of Pixar ones have no true villain, or a very sympathetic or misunderstood villain, or someone you don't realize is the actual villainous one until near the end... (*cough Waternoose cough*) "Brave" is a story in which the conflict is not between some character(s) and a big, bad, obviously evil force. The conflict is both internal and between basically good, well-meaning people, who simply cannot see eye to eye. Merida DID make a mistake. It turned out to be a big one. Like another beloved redhead, she went ahead and made a deal with a powerful witch (not knowing what the consequences would or could be, however), in order to quickly and impulsively bring about results that she very strongly desired at the time. Of course, Ariel was trying to get WITH a guy and Merida was trying to get OUT of a forced marriage, but still. Someone making a gargantuan error and having to somehow find a way to rectify things is a great basis for a plot. A full-on, external villain is unnecessary and sometimes overdone, anyhow. As for Merida's attitude...I totally disagree that she should have just accepted everything that was heaped upon her, and changed herself to suit the dictated duties of a princess. She wasn't cut out for the role the way it was being imposed on her. The thing is, both she and her mother needed to give a little, to make some concessions, to compromise. They both needed to learn how to listen to one another. I thought that Elinor was more in the wrong for paying so little attention to her daughter's nature and desires, for ignoring her wishes and trying to subdue her strong will. But Elinor was ultimately just struggling to simultaneously be a good mom and Queen--not such an easy task. She felt pressured to ensure that her daughter would be able to perform all of her duties in the traditional manner and live up to their ancestry. She was a proper and rather repressed, constrained sort of person who felt it difficult to connect with the bold, brash, free-spirited Merida. Now yes, Merida did need to come to accept that there would be a certain amount of responsibility in her life which she'd have to bear so long as she remained royalty. But she should be able to be herself as well as handling the royal family business--behaving "like a princess" all the time is unnecessary so long as things get done well. The lessons learned by all were satisfying--we can sense that in the future there will be a better balance and harmony in their family as they learn how to accept one another and their positions in life. Merida will eventually be an effective ruler, Elinor is able to cut loose and have fun, the triplets are happy for everybody else, and Fergus no longer has to be such a mediator between two opposing, stubborn, and unyielding forces. And of course, "a princess shall marry whomever she deems worthy!" ;)