Disney Sofia the First Princess Sofia and Royal Prep Fairies

"It's your time to shine, Sofia."

Sofia the First is a Disney Junior original series that stars a new Disney princess. A pilot film aired during November 2012, followed by a television series that premiered on January 11, 2013.

It introduces Sofia, a little girl from the kingdom of Enchancia who lives a commoner's life until her mother marries the king, and suddenly she's royalty. With the help of three familiar fairies in charge of the Royal Prep Academy — Flora, Fauna and Merryweather and, on occasion, the Disney Princesses — Sofia learns that looking like a princess isn't all that hard, but behaving like one must come from the heart.

A major plot point of the show is Sofia possessing a powerful artifact, the Amulet of Avalor, which blesses its bearer incredible powers and abilities, and must never take it off and protect it from numerous villains who want to use it for their own purposes. Cedric, the bumbling castle sorcerer, secretly plots to use the amulet's magic to take over Enchancia, but always fails. Sofia never discovers his true nature until the final season premiere.

For the fourth and final season, the series shifted to a more sequential storyline featuring Sofia training to become Protector of her home world, while simultaneously working to protect dangerous artifacts called the Wicked Nine, which could carry a dark magic to free the most powerful villain ever lived.

In 2016, a new story in the same world, Elena of Avalor was announced. Sofia appears in Elena's prequel movie, and Elena is Disney's first Latina princess.

In August 2018, it was confirmed that the show would end the following month. The series finale aired on September 8, 2018, after a roughly 6 year/4 season run and almost 110 episodes.

Two Disney Tsum Tsum based on Sofia are available in the mobile game, regular Sofia and Horse Rider ^note actually Sofia in her Protector attire Sofia, albeit as limited time offers and are exclusive to the Japanese version only.

Not to be confused with SOPHIA the Third.

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The series provides examples of:

    A-C

• Absentee Actor: Of all the characters in the show, Sofia is the only one to appear in every episode.
• The Ace: Princess Kari is stated to be this in "Princess Ballet" by her fellow Royal Prep students. However, it later appears that ballet is something of a blind spot with her.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: Sofia gets this briefly after being chosen to sing the Enchancian anthem at a harvest festival. It begins with her trying to avoid the extra attention, but it gets to her. Her amulet doesn't let her get away with it and curses Sofia with a frog in her throat until she can make up for it.
  • Robin suffers from this in "The Leafsong Festival." After the director dove compliments her singing voice, she starts voicing the desire to do a solo during her duet with Mia, ignoring her partner's protests.
  • Princess Vivian also gets a dose of this during "Princess Prodigy" as a result of Baron von Rocha insisting she is the star of the show.
• Actor Allusion:
  • Travis Willingham voices a king; he previously voiced a character who had an ambition to become one.
  • Tim Gunn voices Baileywick the steward, who has been known to voice Gunn's Catchphrase "Make it work!" The creators have openly admitted that this is a Parental Bonus.
  • Sofia becomes a mermaid in "The Floating Palace." Ariel Winter voices the mermaid Marina in Jake And The Neverland Pirates.
  • Jeffrey Tambor as a very similar-looking brother to Baileywick. Too bad they're not twins.
  • A cross reference example. "The Mystic Isles: A Merry Wassailia" has a Santa type character names Elfafa. One of the Mystic Isles protectors is named Galial, and is voiced by Kate Micucci, who voiced an elf named Elfafa on Wallykazam, who is the Jingle Troll's helper.
• Adaptation Distillation: The storybook release of the pilot film distills quite a bit of the story and actually eliminates Cedric as the villain, focusing instead more on Amber's bullying of Sofia. Justified in that it's from Sofia's perspective and she never knew Cedric was to blame.
• Added Alliterative Appeal: The sorcerers in Cedric's family seem to be fond of this while adding titles to their names. Cedric is known as Cedric the Sorcerer and later as Cedric the Sensational; his sister is known as Cordelia the Conjuror; and their parents are known as Goodwin the Great and Winifred the Wise.
• Adopted into Royalty: Sofia becomes this upon her mother's marriage to King Roland.
• Aesop Amnesia:
  • In "The Emerald Key", Amber hasn't quite internalized the "appearances can be deceiving especially since there are megalomaniacal shapeshifters in the kingdom" lesson from "The Enchanted Feast". By the time she realizes that the fake Princess Lani has the key, it's almost too late.
  • In "Dads and Daughters Day," during a trip to an enchanted animal park, Hildegard refuses to learn the lesson of leaving animals in their natural habitat and not taking them to be pets; Even after her desires get the group chased and cornered by the angry animals, she still goes back to wanting another enchanted animal.
  • In "The Secret Library: Tale of the Eternal Torch", James is told by Sir Finnegan that he failed his knight test because he just rushed into things, and urges him to think things through before acting. Despite this, James repeatedly does the opposite of what Sir Finnegan was trying to teach him before the lesson sinks in.
  • In "The Royal School Fair", Hildegard proves that her lesson from "Sidekick Clio" hasn't sunk in, or at least she hasn't taken it by heart.
• All Animals Are Domesticated: Zigzagged, as the cute woodland creatures here straight-out admit that their tradition of helping the fairytale princesses is because "we gotta eat — and you got the food."
  • There also are clear wild animals in "Holiday in Enchancia" and "The Emerald Key," including a stag, a snowy owl, and a grizzly bear.
  • In "The Mystic Isles: The Princess and the Protector", wild animals can be tamed by calm collars, though most magical creatures are friendly with people.
  • Sofia's ability to speak to animals mostly helps play the trope straight.
• All-CGI Cartoon: The animation style looks somewhat similar to the appearance of the animated segments of Enchanted.
  • The character design of Sofia bears a resemblance to the kids on Special Agent Oso.
• All Trolls Are Different: In "Let The Good Times Troll," the trolls living under the bridge are smart, friendly, love music and were banned from the castle due to a simple, knee-jerk misunderstanding. The show being what it is, it's up to Sofia to fix this mistake and introduce the trolls to polite society.
• Alpha Bitch: Amber in the premiere movie.
• Always Someone Better: Amber sings in "The Mystic Isles" that she feels like she can't be as good a heroine as Sofia. Luckily, Sofia helps her sister think about the times she herself was a heroine.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's never made entirely clear if the tales of the Disney Princesses are legends of fiction or history. The existence of the three fairies (plus another, who also mentions Maleficent as an infamous figure) proves that Sleeping Beauty happened some time ago, Amber is a fan of the story of Rapunzel, and Winter says that the story of a princess that could control ice is passed around where she lives. The Series Finale reveals that the Ever Realm shares its world with Neverland, and that it is connected to the "real world", with Word of God implying that Tiana comes from the past of the "real world".
• Ambiguously Brown: Sofia's mother, Queen Miranda, because she comes from Galdiz, the equivalent of Spain.
• Ambition Is Evil: Cedric and Miss Nettle. Cedric wants to become king so he can gain respect for his sorcery powers, and Miss Nettle wants to come out of the shadow of the other fairies.
• Amulet of Dependency: Sofia frequently relies on her amulet for help, and has gotten so used to it that whenever she loses it, she immediately wants it back.
  • There's also the fact that she can't talk to her animal friends without it.
• Anachronism Stew: While the show mostly stays faithful to its medieval setting, there are a few modern elements here and there. For example, in "The Big Sleepover", Sofia, Jade, and Ruby do some rapping (and even make beat box sounds).
  • The technology varies from things that stay aesthetically true to the fairy tale setting to full-on Steampunk, with large flying hydrofoils and flying, steam-powered cars.
• And I Must Scream: Princess Elena was trapped inside the Amulet of Avalor after saving her grandparents and younger sister from the sorceress Shuriki.
• And I'm the Queen of Sheba: When Sofia, turned into a cat, tells Clover that she's really Princess Sofia, he says he's King Roland.
• Animal Gender-Bender: Praline is a female peafowl (peahen), but has the iridescent train of a peacock. However, the bird's gender is male as of "Scrambled Pets".
• Animorphism: Sofia's first power granted after freeing Elena is the ability to transform into animals; however, she must look at the actual animal she wants to turn into for it to work.
• Apologizes a Lot: Sort of a recurring theme of the series, more or less. (The show is full of morals, of course, given its target audience, and the biggest one seems to be that an apology is the first step in correcting a mistake.)
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Mermaids and ghosts are NOT REAL!! Trolls, fairies, giants and sorcery are all ok, but mermaids and ghosts…no way!
  • Sofia also didn't think the Mystic Isles were real until Cedric told her they were, despite meeting many magical creatures.
• Arc Welding:
  • All Disney Princesses up to Moana (except for Pocahontas ^* The writers were unsure of how to include her tastefully, due to the controversial reception of her movie. and Anna and Elsa ^* Due to not wanting to conflict with the then-upcoming Frozen 2, although Olaf appears in their place.) are summoned by Sofia's amulet.
  • Merlin from The Sword in the Stone appears.
  • The Wicked Nine are items from nine villains that opposed the Disney Princesses. When they're combined with the Locket of Vor, it summons Vor, the first villain to exist in the Ever Realm. Her influence is said to be what caused these villains to become evil in the first place.
  • The Series Finale reveals that the Ever Realm and Neverland take place on the same world. By extension, the Disney Fairies franchise, Return To Neverland, and Jake And The Neverland Pirates have also happened.
  • As Word of God is of the opinion that any Disney fantasy stories that don't take explicitly place on Earth take place in the Ever Realm, this at least places Mulan (and Mulan II), Brave, and The Princess and the Frog on Earth.
• On that note, Word of God is that the events of The Princess and the Frog do not necessarily take place in the future and that the show takes place much later than we think.
• Are We There Yet?: In The Floating Palace, James asks this right around the beginning of the special. The answer is "yes" because the floating palace has in fact arrived at Merroway Cove.
• Art Evolution: The show boasts smoother shading and animation from season 2 onwards. Settings get more detailed as well, and certain locations like the throne room get some major facelifts.
• The Artifact: Sofia's backstory as a village girl who becomes a princess when Miranda marries the king. In the first season, Sofia adjusting to royal life is easily the basic premise of the show. In the later seasons, her backstory is rarely mentioned at all, and there is almost no indication that Sofia hasn't always been a princess. Justified in that it was inevitable that Sofia would get used to life as a princess as time passed.
  • One particularly notable example is in In "The Mystic Isles: The Princess and the Protector": Chrysta dismisses Sofia as a "pampered princess" and claims that a princess can't be a protector. Chrysta is seemingly unaware that Sofia has lived most of her life as a commoner.
• Ascended Extra: Princess Zooey briefly appeared in "Scrambled Pets" as a prospective new student touring Royal Prep. "Princess Adventure Club" picks up on her first day as a student, with plot revolving around her.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The fruit-punch fountain on Amber's go-carriage and the cannons at James' may look cool but their weight slows them down.
• Back for the Finale: In the Grand Finale "Forever Royal", all of the Disney Princesses who were summoned to help Sofia appear as visions during the Final Battle with Vor. Multiple minor and recurring characters are also present at the graduation ceremony.
• Bad Mood as an Excuse: In "Winter's Gift," when Sofia asks Glacia why she can't just remove Winter's ice touch, Glacia replies that she's in a bad mood.

  Glacia: Why don't you check back in a few centuries. Bye-bye, now. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Oh, that's right. I had the door removed.

• Baleful Polymorph: Sofia was twice turned into a lizard in "Cedric's Apprentice," and in "The Fligel has Landed," Grotta the Fliegel liked to turn people who refused her demands into salamanders (and changed her flunky Flinch from a salamander to a mole).
  • Sofia has also had the misfortune of being turned into a purple cat by a wishing well, and then, demonstrating Jerkass Genie qualities, a pink cat when Amber wishes she was no longer a purple cat.
• Batman Gambit: Sofia uses one in "Cedric's Apprentice", making it look like she'd accidentally turned herself into a lizard during Cedric's performance, so that when Cedric cast the spell to restore her, something she'd already seen him do firsthand, he'd get some gratitude from King Roland and demonstrate his skill as a Royal Sorcerer.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • King Roland's wish for a baker's life in "The Baker King". To a lesser extent in that same episode, Amber wanting the cake to have one hundred layers.
  • In "When You Wish Upon a Well," a Literal Genie wishing well issues this warning, and indeed, Amber regrets two of the three wishes she makes. All King Roland reveals about his first wish is the fact that he regrets it as well.
    • The wish is revealed in "Forever Royal". He wished for a family and it resulted on his first wife dying from giving birth to James and Amber.
  • In "Winter's Gift", Winter the faun wanted Glacia the mountain witch to give her an ice touch. This resulted in her being unable to touch her friends and family for fear of freezing them.
  • In "The Curse of Princess Ivy", Amber steals the Amulet of Avalor so she can make it introduce her to a Princess. The Amulet brings Princess Ivy.
  • In "New Genie On The Block," a number of people make offhand wishes that are overheard and granted by Kazeem the genie. Several of these wishes (toy elephants becoming real elephants, giant cookies, etc) end up causing a lot of trouble.
  • In "The Birthday Wish," Sofia's birthday party is ruined and she wishes to relive it over again. Tizzy grants the wish, and Sofia finds herself stuck in living the same day over and over again until she has a truly happy birthday.
• Bewitched Amphibians: Has appeared a fair number of times.
  • In "Cedric's Apprentice," Sofia accidentally spills a potion on herself that turns her into a lizard.
  • In "Mom's the Word," Marla turns Baileywick into a frog, much to his dismay.
  • In "The Fliegel Has Landed," Grotta threatens to turn anyone who displeases her into a salamander, and actually carries out this threat on Cedric. the end of the episode reveals that her mole minion was a salamander to begin with.
• The Bad Guy Wins: In "In Cedric We Trust", Sofia is unable to get the Evil Queen's crown back from Prisma, who escapes with it scot-free.
• Big Brother Instinct: Sofia's stepbrother James is extremely helpful and encouraging (except in "The Tri-Kingdom Picnic", but his brief Jerkass sore-winner behavior is dealt with by the end of the episode).
• Big Eater: Clover is by far the most food-obsessed of the four main animals.
  • James is one too.
• The Big Race: "Just One Of The Princes" features a race where first and second prizes were places at Royal Prep's derby Racing team. Sofia enters the race despite being told that sport is for Princes and not for Princesses. She and James tie for first place and thus make it onto the team.
• Bilingual Backfire: Happens to Wormwood, as he was unaware Sofia had been granted the ability to understand animals.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
  • Miss Nettle. In her first two appearances, her evil schemes involved pretending to be nice to gain others trust.
  • Mamanu. She posed as Princess Lei-Lani in an attempt to trick the royal family of Enchancia out of the Emerald Key.
  • Grimtrix the Good, headmaster of Hexley Hall. He acts nice and friendly, then reveals that he has been spying on Sofia and Cedric since they came to the school. He then tries to take the Amulet of Avalor by force.
• Bittersweet Ending: "In Cedric We Trust" ends with Wormwood pulling a face heel turn, and Prisma stealing the Grimhilde's Crown, which is one of the Wicked Nine items. On the bright side, Cedric has fixed his friendship with King Roland.
• Blended Family Drama: While the titular character has a good relationship with her stepfather King Roland and stepbrother Prince James, the same can't always be said with her new stepsister Princess Amber, who is often antagonistic towards her because she thinks Sofia will steal her thunder.
• Bookends: The series starts with an animated movie where Sofia enters Royal Prep and ends with an animated movie that features her graduation ceremony. Both stories are the only ones in the series where Royal Prep's anthem is sung and the only ones featuring Sofia and Miranda's shoe store outside flashbacks.
• Book on the Head:
  • The exercise was part of the "Princess Test" in the episode of the same name. All the female students of the Royal prep succeed to do it. So, the fairies teachers complicate the test by throwing enchanted cushions into princesses's legs.
  • Sofia herself wasn't present but can be seen doing so in the merchandising. ◊
• Boomerang Bigot: In "Pin the Blame on the Genie", the new royal sorcerer of Tangu, Omar, despises genies, but is eventually revealed to be one. Once this is discovered, he admits that he hates the "silliness" of his own kind, and posed as a sorcerer so he could be taken seriously.
• Breaking Old Trends: The show broke many trends over the course of it's 6 year run:
  • The specials:
    • The first 3 specials (Once Upon A Princess, The Floating Palace, The Curse Of Princess Ivy) were all 48-50 minutes long. The remaining 3 specials (Elena And The Secret Of Avalor, The Mystic Isles, Forever Royal) were all 66 minutes.
    • The royal family and court were always together in some way for the first 3 specials. Elena And The Secret Of Avalor sees Baileywick and Cedric absent, while the only main character besides Sofia to appear in The Mystic Isles is Amber .
    • The first 4 specials premiered on the Sunday before Thanksgiving in primetime. The last 2 specials, both in season 4, premiered on Saturday mornings in summer.
  • During Sofia's more intense moments, one of the Disney Princesses would come to help her out. During "The Mystic Isles: Olaf And The Take Of Miss Nettle", it's instead Olaf who helps her out. Also, the whole practice of someone being summoned to help Sofia was abandoned after season 3. Both were broken in the series finale when the princesses help Sofia during the climax, albeit in a silent cameo.
  • "Royal Dragon" is Crackle's first focus episode that doesn't involve her dynamic with either Clover and/or Vivian.
  • While the first three seasons have largely self contained episodes with some light continuity sprinkled in, the fourth season tells more of an overarching story, and even the more self contained episodes call back to elements from many seasons ago.
• Broken Pedestal: Princess Amber used to have a crush on Prince Hugo until she saw him cheating during a failed attempt to keep Sofia from entering Royal Prep's Derby Racing Team.
• Buffy Speak: Of a sort, the incantation for undoing a hex is apparently, "un-hex."
• The Bully: Grotta the Fliegel in "The Fliegel Has Landed" gets others to do what she wants, or else she'll turn them into salamanders.
• But Not Too Black: Word of God is that Sofia is supposed to have a Spanish dark-skinned mother. While pale complexion and brown hair is not uncommon among real-life Latin Americans, the fact that she does not take after her darker mother appears to be this trope. May be explained by her father possibly being pale-skinned.
• Canis Latinicus: Most of Cedric's spells. Averted with the spells Sofia has to learn in "Cedric's Apprentice".
• Canon Discontinuity: Just where in their timelines the princesses pop up from is unspecified. Although, some argue that the amulet summons a version of the princesses and not necessarily the real ones.
  • In Cinderella's song, she mentions that she and her step-sisters are not friends - whether the show is ignoring (or even meant to be consistent with) Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time is unknown. However, it is possible, as Cinderella is a princess, that she is after the first story of Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and before the event that re-unites her somewhat with Anastasia. She could have just been settled into the palace for all we know.
  • As for Ariel, she mentions saving Eric from the shipwreck. Looking at her giddy behavior, she may have arrived just after her reprise.
  • Aurora is implied to be from a time after her movie as Miss Nettle, in her song, mentions "as famous as Maleficent" implying that the events of the film have already happened.
  • Rapunzel appears with her Rapunzel Hair, despite it getting cut off at the end of her movie. This could be excused as being a part of what makes her iconic. Thankfully, the later-released Tangled: The Series provides another possible explanation in that Rapunzel was summoned during the events of her show.

• Captain Oblivious: While it's perfectly obvious that Hugo is faking sick in "Lord of the Rink", James, Khalid, and Derek don't notice how fake his cough is.
• Cartoony Tail: Ginger's tail is a bit long for a rabbit.
• Casting Gag:
  • Sofia's voice actress, Ariel Winter, previously voiced Princess-turned-Queen Perdita in DC Showcase: Green Arrow and Young Justice. Coincidentally, both of their fathers' deaths led to their royal ascension... though fortunately, Sofia doesn't have any Evil Uncles.
  • Amber's voice actress, Darcy Rose Byrne, previously voiced Ikki, both bratty (at least until some Character Development) daughters of a nation's leader.
• Cerebus Retcon: A Played for Laughs variant: according to the show, the cute woodland animals that helped Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and other such princesses all did so expecting to be paid with food. Because those princesses couldn't talk to animals, they seldom gave food and often abused their services. Clover explains in detail how frustrating this has become.
• Creator Cameo: Ariel Winter, voice of Sofia, appears at the very end of "Once Upon a Princess" to sing "Rise and Shine" as a lead-out.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Luckily for Cinderella, she was depicted in her movie with the ability to talk to animals and featured an extended scene of her handing out food to all the animals in her household (including the mice as well as the horses and chickens and her dog Bruno), as well as being nice enough to provide all her mouse friends with custom-made clothing. Not so much for Snow White, she's rather bossy when it comes to having animals help her with the chores and forcing the dwarves to wash up before meals. The most she gives up is the crust of a gooseberry pie she was making for Grumpy.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The laughing-plant potion in "Make Way For Miss Nettle".
  • The Liking Berries in "All The Sprite Moves."
  • The Shatter Stone in "The Mystic Isles."
• Chekhov's Skill:
  • In "Blue Ribbon Bunny", there are two: Clover's breakdancing moves, first showcased just before he takes a break to snack on carrots, and Sofia attempting to coax Ginger into playing catch with fruit. Clover uses both moves in the pet contest, and Sofia and Clover end up winning.
  • Early in "Dad's and Daughter's Day", Sofia and Roland are playing catch. That skill becomes useful during the climax when they need to climb their way up and return a pelicant egg and find out it's impossible to climb while carrying the egg.
• Christmas Episode: "Holiday In Enchancia," "Winter's Gift," and "The Mystic Isles: A Very Mystic Wassailia." (see You Mean "Xmas" below).
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: A lot of the kids' pets didn't return after season 1 (i.e: Hildegard's mink Lulu, Xandar's pet elephant,)
• Cliffhanger: "In Cedric We Trust" ends with this. Sofia calls Orion and Vega on her Enchantlet and telling them that Prisma has one of the Wicked Nine, Queen Grimhilde's crown, and so the episode ends. It's completely unknown what happened ever that.
• Clingy MacGuffin: The Amulet of Avalor. Sofia must keep it on at all times, and must never take it off.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Aunt Tilly.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • In "The Amulet of Avalor", upon hearing the possibility that there is a thief in the castle, James responds, "Cool!"
  • In "King for a Day", Jade and Ruby ask for James' help because a sleeping giant is bothering their village with his constant snoring. James decides to throw a party at the village so the party's noise will block the giant's noise. When he's told the noise might make the giant wake up, James just says the giant will stop snoring.
• Company Cross References: A bunch of them, but just to name a couple, King Roland's domain is part of the Tri-Kingdom Area, and in the episode "The Ghostly Gala", Dax sings about meeting his Uncle Walt and Uncle Roy (referring to none other than Walt and Roy Disney) and summons some familiar-looking dancing skeletons.
• Continuity Nod: The fourth season regularly features references to past episodes, and brings back several one-shot characters.
• Cool Boat: The Floating Palace is exactly that: a Big Fancy Castle style of house boat.
• Cool Crown: Most of the cast has them, naturally, although Amber seems to have an entire collection of tiaras.
• Cool Pet: Several are seen in "Blue Ribbon Bunny"; In addition to Vivian's pet dragon Crackle and Hildegard's mink Lulu, Amber has a peacock named "Praline", James has a baboon, and Xandar has an elephant.
• Cool Teacher: Miss Elodie, Royal Prep's drama teacher. She is very lively and upbeat, even singing her words on occasion.
  • Aunt Tilly also counts as this.
• Cowardly Lion: Prince Desmond. He spends most of his debut appearance terrified of practically everything, but in the end, he finds the courage to tackle Miss Nettle, taking her wand from her.
• Creative Closing Credits:
  • "Once Upon A Princess" (the pilot) has Ariel Winter singing in live-action intercut with scenes from the pilot.
  • The end credits for "Holiday In Enchancia" and "The Mystic Isles: A Very Mystic Wassailia" have the castle in the midst of snow falling (it usually appears under a clear blue sky).
  • The end credits for "Winter's Gift" have the castle seen from a different angle and at night.
  • The end credits for "Ghostly Gala" shows the castle on a dark and cloudy night, and farther into the distance.
  • The end credits for "The Secret Library", and episodes that revolve around it, have the titular library instead of the castle - as with "Holiday In Enchancia," "The Secret Library: Olaf And The Tale Of Miss Nettle" have the library in the midst of snow falling.
  • The end credits for "The Bamboo Kite", which took place in Wei-Ling, ends with a night scene of their palace.
  • The end credits for "Hexley Hall" feature a shot of the titular school.
• Creator Cameo: The director dove in "The Leafsong Festival" is voiced by series director Jamie Mitchell. More literally, series developer/story editor/executive producer Craig Gerber voices a servant in "New Genie On The Block."

    D-G

• Dark and Troubled Past: In "The Princess Stays in the Picture", Hildegard reveals through flashback why she's always a snooty know-it-all: when she first came to Royal Prep, she tried to do a twirl like her big sister, but she didn't know and tripped and everyone laughed at her. Since then, she became the know-it-all she is today because she thinks everyone will like her if she knows everything.
• Darker and Edgier: The series becomes slightly more edgy as the series goes, such as introducing a new villain much more dangerous than the other. The final season shifts to a more serialized narrative, featuring an Arc Villain, and most importantly, the Wicked Nine.
• Dark Is Not Evil: In "The Secret Library: The Tale of the Noble Knight", Sir Jaxon initially seems to be crafty and manipulative, with his appearance leaning towards him being a bad knight. But he is eventually revealed to be a good and decent knight, who only wants to stop Sir Oliver from harassing his dragon friends.

• Dating Catwoman: Cedric's evil mom somehow married his good father.

• Death by Childbirth: It's revealed in "Forever Royal" that Roland's first wife died from giving birth to James and Amber.
• Death Glare: Sofia shoots a rather furious one toward Amber in the pilot when she realizes she tricked her and ruined her dance lesson. James gives her the same seconds later.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Sir Oliver asks this when he unwittingly brags about his plan to scapegoat the dragons in front of the King of Brazendell.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • In "Once Upon a Princess", Cedric tricks Sofia into using a sleep spell that'll make everyone around her sleep so she'll have to give him the Amulet of Avalor in Exchange for the conter-spell. By the time he realizes he should stay out of the ballroom to avoid being affected by the spell, it's too late.
  • In "When You Wish Upon a Well", Amber saw how the wishing well twisted her second wish and yet doesn't expect any twists when she uses the third one to wish Sofia was no longer "a purple cat" (it turned her pink).
  • In "Ghostly Gala," Dax lets a swarm of bats into the castle to frighten off the living, but never considered that getting the bats to leave would be much harder.
  • In "In A Tizzy," both Amber and James add large, unnecessary decorations (a cannon in James' case, and a punch fountain for Amber) to their go-carriages. Naturally, the extra weight ends up slowing them both down during the race.
  • In "Cedric Be Good", Cedric finally steals the Amulet of Avalor but, by putting it on, he subjects himself to its rules, which means he'll be cursed for doing bad deeds like stealing the amulet from its current bearer. The curse he receives as punishment for the theft indirectly causes the destruction of the potion that would enable Cedric to use the amulet's blessings without putting it on.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Cedric once stated that the Amulet of Avalor would curse wicked and or evil deeds. However the severity of the curse when Sofia started boasting about her singing talent (making her croak, rendering her unable speak much less sing) seems to have been a bit of an extreme punishment for so small a crime. However, it's implied that the curse was less concerned about the boasting itself (or it would've disappeared when Sofia apologized) and more concerned about the boasting hurting her friends' feelings (thus necessitating that Sofia make her friends happy before the curse would go away).
• The Ditz: Mia.

  Mia: I have an idea!
  Clover: You do?
  Mia: ...No, it's gone!

• Does This Remind You of Anything?: In "Mom's The Word" Lucinda's bad witch mother refuses to believe that Lucinda's a good witch, but eventually accepts it for the sake of her daughter's happiness, while hoping it's just a phase.
• A Dog Named "Dog": The robin's name is "Robin".
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Never, EVER steal the Amulet of Avalor from its current bearer, otherwise it curses the thief. Amber and especially Cedric learned this the hard way.
• Dramatic Irony: The audience knows Cedric is always tricking Sofia, but Sofia is completely unaware of this. Even when Cedric gives her a sleeping spell instead of a dancing spell in the pilot, she thinks she said the spell wrong after chanting its exact words. However, Sofia is of Spanish descent and the spell was in Latin, two languages that require specific intonation to make words exact. Sofia may have thought she said a vowel wrong.
• Easily Forgiven: In "The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies", after the culprit behind the attempted theft of fairy magic is revealed to be Bridget the brownie, Chrysta and Sofia manage to stop the theft. Then, the Sugar Plum Fairy instructor gives the fairies their wands...including Bridget, forgiving her for the attempted theft. Even Bridget is confused that she'd be given a wand after what she did. But this trope is given more justification than most examples: the Sugar Plum Fairy admits that she was wrong to previously fail Bridget just because Bridget was different, so the reason Bridget is easily forgiven is because the Sugar Plum Fairy is willing to admit her own misdeed that motivated Bridget in the first place.
• Enemy Mine: Cedric teams up with Sofia to stop Miss Nettle in "The Enchanted Feast".
• Episode Title Card: Also spoken by Sofia (except in the pilot, when it's done by one of the head fairies, and in the finale, which has no title card).
• Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: It's taught at Royal Prep. Sofia receives lessons on that during her first day.
• Evil Brit: Cedric, though he's much too bumbling to play the trope completely straight. Wormwood, on the occasions when he talks, is actually a better example.
  • Slickwell in Baileywhoops would count as a lesser example of this.
• Exact Words: In "When You Wish Upon A Well", Amber wishes that Sofia wouldn't be a purple cat any more. Sofia's cat self then turns pink.
• The Exile:
  • In "The Tale of the Noble Knight", Sir Oliver ends up being exiled from Brazendell for provoking dragons into attacking the kingdom.
  • In "Day of the Sorcerers", as a condition for Cedric to keep his position as the Royal Sorcerer, King Roland demands him to remember it's because of Sofia he's not being exiled.
• Expository Theme Tune: The TV series has this (and "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune, as Ariel Winter not only voices Sofia but also sings the theme tune).
• Extranormal Institute: Royal Prep.
• Face–Heel Turn: Grimtrix the Good is revealed to have gone through one prior to his appearance in "Hexley Hall"; Formerly a good sorcerer, he now seeks power so he can take control of his own kingdom.
  • Wormwood deserts Cedric for evil plans with Prisma in "In Cedric We Trust".
• Fairest of Them All: When Sofia arrived at the castle, Prince James told Princess Amber she'd no longer be the fairest of them all.
• Fair-Play Whodunnit: "The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies" is this, as it's possible to figure out who the attempted fairy magic thief is in advance. But the viewer may miss it, as Sofia first suspects Flurry the frost fairy, who seemingly acts suspiciously. However, Bridget also keeps not only sneaking off like Flurry, but she keeps unexplicably getting dirty, so an eagle-eyed viewer may figure out in advance that Bridget is the attempted thief, not Flurry.
• Falling Chandelier of Doom: Amber's strawberry chandelier for her Berry Banquet. With the music as it falls, it also counts as a Shout-Out for The Phantom of the Opera.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Tri-Kingdom Area has a few:
  • Enchancia seems to be the British Monarchy
  • Khaldoun and Tangu for Saudi Arabia
  • Wei Ling is presumably Imperial China
  • Outside the Tri-Kingdom Area, Hakalo is based on Hawaii, and based on its architecture and climate, Prince Hugo's kingdom might be based on Russia.
• Fantasy Gun Control: Played straight, albeit realistically: cannons exist in-universe even though the show is set during a vague Medieval period. Just like in real life.
• Fantasy Kitchen Sink: The Ever-Realm is a mish-mash of various real-world cultures and mythologies.
• Failed a Spot Check: Throughout "The Floating Palace", Sofia never recognizes Cedric in his sea monster form.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Cedric's attempts to steal Sofia's Amulet, especially least those that involve him simply taking it (Word of God says that the Amulet's power only works when it is willingly passed from one owner to the next).
• Fanboy: Clover acts like one when he meets Snow White in "The Enchanted Feast".
• Feathered Fiend: Wormwood, Cedric's familiar, is (according to Word of God) not only smarter, but more evil than his master. This is confirmed in "In Cedric We Trust," when he deserts Cedric for evil.
• Fish out of Water: The whole premise of the series. Sofia, who's not used to life as a princess, has to learn how to be one.
• Five Stages of Grief: Has happened on occasion.
  • Amber hits all five stages throughout "Once Upon a Princess" - is unwelcoming over Sofia's induction into the royal family (denial), gets jealous over her getting all the attention at Royal Prep (anger), gets James to play a prank on her and tricks her into using magic shoes for her dance lesson (bargaining), breaks down and cries as Suzette and Marcy are occupied with Sofia (depression), and admits her jealousy and finally accepts Sofia as a sister (acceptance).
  • Sofia goes through the five stages in "Mom's the Word" - Saddened when Miranda loves Amber and James' presents and doesn't pay attention to her (denial), expresses her jealousy to Lucinda (anger), lures Miranda away from Amber and James with a boat ride (bargaining), admits her jealousy when stranded on an island (depression), and finally gives in and enjoys Mother's Day as a family (acceptance).
  • Cedric hits them in "Cedric Be Good" after he finally snatches the Amulet - realizing the Amulet curses him when he does a bad deed upon switching it (denial), clearly not happy this is happening (anger), constantly tries to do good deeds to earn powers from it (bargaining), sad that he'll never get his kingdom wish (depression), and returning the amulet to Sofia, knowing how much she needs it so he does the right thing (acceptance).
• For the Evulz:
  • Witches seem to commit malicious (and in the case of adults, dangerous) hexes on ordinary people simply because they can.
  • Wormwood betrays Cedric and joins Prisma in "In Cedric We Trust", solely because he wants to keep taking part in evil schemes.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In "Once Upon a Princess", Sofia is worried she'll trip and everyone will laugh at her, but her mom is sure that won't happen. Sofia actually does stumble and trip later on, thanks to Amber's meddling with Sofia's dance lesson, and everyone laughs at her in response.
  • In "Curse of Princess Ivy", Amber thinks of some Disney Princesses while trying to decide who she'll use the Amulet of Avalor to summon. Among those that come to Amber's mind, Rapunzel is the only one who never appeared before.
  • In "Princess Adventure Club", Princess Zooey doesn't let Amber join the titular club because she fear Amber would turn it into the "Amber Adventure Club". That becomes the name of the club Amber starts to retaliate for not being allowed to join Zooey's.
  • In "Through the Looking Back Glass", it is revealed that Aunt Tilly was heir to the throne, which confuses Sofia, who says that her aunt never became queen. It's revealed in "A Royal Wedding" that Aunt Tilly abdicated the throne because she knew that she wanted to be an adventurer and that Roland was more fit to rule.
• Formal Full Array of Cutlery: Sofia's first dinner at the palace embarrasses her so much that the little girl actually take all the forks at once in her hands. Princess Amber notices it-and make fun of her new stepsister's table manners at school the very next day.
• For Want of a Nail: "Through the Looking Back Glass" reveals that a single incident in his childhood resulted in Cedric's decision to take over the kingdom. He bungled a spell that changed Cordelia's hair (though it was Cordelia who unknowingly mixed the potions by accident), and was judged an inefficient sorcerer by Enchancia ever since. Throughout multiple episodes of bullying, being harshly judged and put down in his life by former loved ones excluding his mother and niece, particularly with a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Cedric's aspirations grew stronger and stronger. Thank goodness Sofia came along.
• Freudian Excuse: The song "King Cedric the Great" reveals that Cedric has often been mocked and looked down on for his lack of magical prowess. He believes using the power of the Amulet of Avalor to take over the kingdom is the only way he'll get some respect.
  • Princess Hildegard's Know-Nothing Know-It-All tendancies are due to events from her first day at school, where she embarrassed herself by trying a dance she didn't know and falling down. From then on, she thought the only way she could be liked was if she acted like she knew everything.
• Friendly Enemy: Cedric seems to be moving in this direction as of "Cedric's Apprentice."
• Friend or Idol Decision: In "Cedric's Apprentice", when it came time for Cedric to use his concocted invisibility potion, he has to decide either to use it on himself so he can take the amulet, or a different subject. Ultimately, because of Sofia's kindness and the fact she helped him prove what a great sorcerer he is to Magnus, he goes with the latter and uses the potion on Clover instead.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: A pet variant. Fredo and Rex are both James' pets, but they aren't seen onscreen together until "Clover Time," when they both attend a party.
• Full-Name Ultimatum: Wendell Herman Fidget III receives one from his mother in "Minimus is Missing".
• Furry Female Mane: Ginger the rabbit has bangs.
• Generation Xerox: King Gideon IV once jumped to conclusions and thought trolls were attacking. (They were just banging the clubs on the floor because they like the sound) He ordered the guards to seize the trolls, who ran away to the cave under the palace and ever since forbidden from leaving. Upon learning the trolls' side of the story, Princess Sofia tried to set things right but King Roland II (King Gideon IV's grandson) had basically the same reaction his grandfather did. The misunderstanding was eventually cleared.
• Genki Girl: Both Ruby and Jade; Ruby especially.
  • Crackle is a non-human example.
• "Getting Ready for Bed" Plot: Sweet Dreams, Sofia is a picture book from the series about Princess Sofia's bedtime routine, with pull-tabs and flaps to make the story more fun. The routine includes changing into her nightgown, washing her face and brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, wishing her family a good night, hearing a bedtime story (Sleeping Beauty) with her brother and sister, and finally tucking her pet rabbit Clover into bed.
• Girl Posse: Amber, Clio, and Hildegard.
• The Golden Rule: Royal Prep Academy has a version of this rule as their motto: "Rule over others as you'd have them rule over you." To illustrate the point, a graphic is shown of a blond boy bowing to a princess sitting on a throne, but the graphic magically changes to a picture of the blond boy on the throne, and the princess bowing to him.
• Gonna Need More X: In "The Shy Princess", the students of Royal Prep were paired up and each pair had to make a model of their dream castle. Prince James and Prince Zandar made a cannon with a castle on it. When they lost, the believed that should have made a bigger cannon.
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: Cedric's parents are this to him with the father being good and the mother being bad.
• The Good King: King Roland II, Sofia's stepfather.
• Good Samaritan: "Bunny Swap" gives us Sassafras the opossum, who loves to help animals in need, even leaping to help the lost Clover get home.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Plank the merman has a very nasty-looking one running down his arm (The result of a previous encounter with humans).
• Good Stepmother: Sofia's mother, Miranda, marries King Roland II and is a kind and loving stepmother to his children, Amber and James. She acknowledges there aren't many stories with good stepmothers, so it drives her to be as good as she can.
• Got Me Doing It: In "The Great Pretender", Wormwood tries to teach Clover how to recognize ingredients but Clover can't even get their names right.

  Clover: Uh... dragon... thing-a-whatever, and hurricane... stuff-a-maguff!

  Wormwood: No! This is hurricane stuff-a-maguff- Oh, you've got me saying it! Hurricane dust!

• Graduate from the Story: The series finale kicks off with Sofia's class graduating from Royal Prep.
• Grand Finale: "Forever Royal".
• Greater-Scope Villain: Shuriki as it was her actions in Avalor four decades earlier that ultimately led to Sofia getting the amulet.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Amber gets jealous pretty easily, and often reveals her nastier side, Sofia can also become somewhat nasty when she becomes jealous and its even happened a few times. Both girls come to regret their jealous actions.
  • In the episode "Carol of the Arrow", Carol's second-in-command Jane becomes jealous when Sofia tries to join the merry band, fearing that Sofia will replace her, so Jane sabotages Sofia's attempts to good deeds. However, once Sofia saves Jane's life and Carol reassures Jane that the merry band will be merrier with as many people as possible, Jane regrets her earlier jealousy and confesses to the sabotage.
  • James had this moment in "A Royal Wedding" after learning that Amber is the real heir to the throne because she's seven minutes older than him. Well, he did spend his whole life thinking he was heir to the throne, so it's hard to blame him. After his attempts to make Amber look bad result in Amber being miserable, James regretted what he did to the point where he admits that Amber deserves to rule Enchancia more than he does.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: "The Birthday Wish."
• Growing with the Audience: The show started in 2012 and ended its 4th and final season in 2018. As such, the plots branch out more to have greater appeal to older audience members, such as the original target demographic, yet are still appropriate enough for younger audiences, the be all around target demographic.

    H-L

• Happily Adopted:
  • While everyone is happy about the combined families there is a bit of friction and jealousy, mostly from Amber and Sofia.
  • Sofia develops some concerns about not being Roland's "real daughter" in "Dads and Daughters Day," but is convinced by the episode's end that, even if Roland isn't her birth father, he still considers her as real a daughter to him as Amber.
• Harmless Villain: Cedric. He really, really wants to be an Evil Sorcerer, but he's neither mean nor competent enough to pull it off. (His attempted assaults on Sofia to take her Amulet louse up so badly that Sofia never even realizes she's in danger. And he's really not evil anyway.)
• Harp of Femininity: Amber, as seen in "A Royal Mess".
• Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?: Well, Have You Tried Not Being A Good Witch: Lucinda's mother is more than a little shocked her daughter wants to be a Good Witch, and hopes its just a phase.
• Heel–Face Turn: Amber, after the premiere movie, starts acting like a real sister and friend to Sofia.
  • Lucinda in "The Little Witch".
  • Wendell in "Camp Wilderwood", although it remains to be seen if it'll stick.
  • Cedric seems to be on a constant Heel–Face Revolving Door, but in recent seasons seems to do the right thing by the end of the episode more often than not. By the end of "Day of the Sorcerers", he is firmly on the side of good.
  • Miss Nettle in "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle".
• Heir Club for Men: Averted — near the end of the series, it's stated when Roland (who got the throne because his sister Tilly wanted to adventure) steps down as king, Amber will succeed him.
• Hen Pecked Husband: Minimus' father, Argus. He agrees with everything his wife says, and urges Minimus to do the same.
• Here We Go Again!: At the end of "Scrambled Pets," the pets spill more of the mix-up potion on themselves.
• Hey, You!: Before Sofia felt comfortable enough to call her stepfather "Dad", he allowed her to call him "Roland" or "Hey you with the crown".
• The High Queen: Sofia's mom, Miranda, has become one.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • In the premiere, Cedric gives Sofia a sleeping spell and not a dance spell to blackmail her into giving him her amulet - yet when she casts it, it affects everyone in the ballroom, including Cedric himself.
  • In "Baileywhoops", Slickwell gives Baileywick a pin (a cursed pin that gives whoever wears it extreme clumsiness), and when Baileywick screws up royally at his job, Slickwell convinces him that he should quit and retire (so that Slickwell can take over his position). However, Clover secretly plants the pin on Slickwell, and he starts screwing up his duties.
  • In "The Leafsong Festival," Cedric covers the whole kingdom in extremely slippery "Forever Frost," intending to blackmail Roland into letting him become king in exchange for him using Crackle's fire (which he recently extracted) to melt it. His scheme fails when he slips on the Frost and drops the jar containing Crackle's fire, allowing her to recover it.
  • In "Day of the Sorcerers", Grimtrix gives Cedric his staff so he can freeze Sofia. However, Cedric (having been convinced of his inner goodness by Sofia) uses the staff to freeze Grimtrix instead.
• Horrible Judge of Character: In "The Emerald Key", Amber favors the fake Princess Lani/Mamanu because she superficially looks more like a traditional princess. She completely ignores the fake Lani's extreme rudeness, but criticizes the real Lani's opening of her present (and ignores her graciousness).
• Hypocritical Humor: Wormwood in "Hexley Hall". He mocks fellow familiar Pumpkin for using the "conjureteria" (which produce anything requested of it) to get a ball of yarn... then asks for a piece of peanut brittle (the best peanut brittle in the world, but still just peanut brittle).
• I Can See My House from Here:
  • In "Four's a Crowd", Ruby makes this comment during a flying carriage parade.
  • Sofia doesn't say this exactly in "The Great Aunt-venture," but the castle is visible in the shot when she declares "I can see the whole kingdom from here."
• I Can't Dance: Sofia says this, word for word.
• Identical Stranger: "Bunny Swap" features one for Clover in the form of a wild rabbit named Barley. Barley is all but identical in appearance to Clover, save for a longer strip of dark fur on one ear and longer claws.
• I Gave My Word: Sofia is promised by her father to never take her amulet off, and she keeps that no matter what. Especially when Cedric asked to take a look at it, she has to remind him just that. She also has to remind Amber when the latter wants a turn wearing it.
• I Have This Friend: When Sofia tells her Mom that one of her friends is being bullied by a fliegel, Miranda assumes the "friend" is Sofia herself. Sofia explains it's one of her troll friends.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Lucinda the witch, Type B. She wants friends very badly, spending much of her episode brooding about it in some fashion or another. As she explains to Sofia, the only reason she hexes people is because she comes from a family of witches and that's all they do so that's all she knows how to do. She finally gains friends at the end of her episode after undoing all of her hexes and apologizing to her victims.
• I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: The bird-shaped door knocker at Tilly's manor cannot let Sofia in because it's a door knocker, not a door opener.
• In Another Man's Shoes: In "Scrambled Pets," Clover and Crackle take on each other's forms. They even sing a song about it, called "In Your Paws."
• Inadequate Inheritor: King Roland sees Cedric as this, considering his father was Goodwin the Great and touted as "the greatest royal sorcerer ever to wave a wand" (He saved Roland's father's life nine and a half times). By "Baileywhoops," Cedric has started to move beyond this through Sofia's trust in him and receiving his Family Wand.
• Incredible Shrinking Man: In "The Littlest Princess," Sofia saves a trio of Wee Sprites. The Amulet of Avalor rewards her by giving her the ability to shrink down to the size of her new friends at will, and, if she requests, even smaller.
• Insane Troll Logic: Invoked when Aunt Tilly gets on a horse backwards:

  Sofia: Aunt Tilly, shouldn't you be facing forward?

  Aunt Tilly: Then how will I see what's behind me?

• Insistent Terminology:
  • "The Floating Palace": Oona constantly corrects anyone who refers to her sunken ship hideaway as a "shipwreck."
  • "When You Wish Upon a Well": The wishing well prefers the term "wish-granting water feature".
• Instant Costume Change: In the Pilot Movie, Sofia instantly changes from her commoner dress to her princess gown between the time she gets out of the carriage and the time she is crowned.
• Interspecies Romance:
  • Crackle the dragon may have a crush on Clover; In "Blue Ribbon Bunny", she calls him "my Clover" and reacts angrily when fellow rabbit Ginger compliments him.
  • Barley and Sassafras seem to be heading this way at the end of "Bunny Swap."
• Ironic Echo:
  • Happens in "Once Upon a Princess":

  Sofia: Princess Amber, I'm so excited we're sisters!

  Amber: Stepsisters. (Sofia looks shocked)

  • Later on:

  Amber: No, Sofia. You wouldn't have needed the spell if I didn't give you those trick shoes. I was just jealous because...everyone likes you more than me. Even my own brother.

  Sofia: That's not true, you're the most popular princess at Royal Prep. You have no idea how happy I was when I found out we were going to be stepsisters.

  Amber: (sighs) Sofia...we're sisters.

  • In "Baileywick's Day Off", every time Baileywick has to choose between getting his day off and helping one of the children, he tells his older brother Nigel that while this would make him late, "the children are more important". At the end of the episode, when the children have thrown him a "day off do-over" party, Baileywick tells the royal family that they shouldn't have gone to all this trouble, it will make them late for their royal supper. Sofia says, "Baileywick is more important."
• Is the Answer to This Question "Yes"?: In "The Great Pretender", Sofia asks Clover to be her animal helper and learns, to her surprise, that her other animal friends also want the position.

  Robin: Does a bee make honey?

  Mia: Does a duck quack?

• Jerkass:
  • Boswell the Magician. Unlike Cedric (who has become more of a Friendly Enemy) and Lucinda (who pulls a full Heel–Face Turn), Boswell is cruel to both Clover and Sofia, and has to be outwitted to get Clover free.
  • Miss Nettle. She imprisons Flora, Fauna and Merryweather in a giant bubble and steals their spell book, all so she can be the "number one fairy" (And she shows no qualms about similarly trapping anyone who gets in her way).
  • Plank the merman. Yes, he was scarred by humans, but he takes his resentment way too far, making King Triton look tolerant by comparison!
  • Mamanu. She almost cheated princess Lei-Lani out of the only thing that could allow her to return to Hakalo, leaving her unable to go home ever again.
  • Slickwell. He gave Baileywick a cursed pin that would make him incredibly clumsy, in an attempt to make Baileywick retire and take the castle steward job for himself.
• Jerkass Genie:
  • The sentinent wishing well at the castle grounds. When Amber wishes her father to be allergic to Sofia the same way he is to cats, it turns Sofia into a cat; in spite of understanding what Amber means by wishing Sofia was no longer a purple cat, it grants the wish by turning Sofia into a pink cat; when Clover wishes for food, it grants the wish by dropping lots of the wished food on the bunny.
    • It's even demonstrated malevolence beyond the abilities of a Disney-canon genie: The series finale, "Forever Royal", reveals that Roland's first wish was for a family. The well granted it by subjecting Roland's then-wife to Death by Childbirth.
  • "Pin the Blame on the Genie" briefly features a genie named Ali Bobo who intentionally twists the wishes he grants. When a random person wishes that Ali Bobo would "make [him] a birthday cake", Ali Bobo turns him into a birthday cake.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Amber in the series.
  • Sir Finnegan in "The Silent Knight". When James acts as his squire, he pushes him quite hard, laying on countless tasks, and demanding he hurry up. But when James does a good job, he congratulates him, calling him an "excellent squire" (Aunt Tilly had earlier suggested that Sir Finnegan was hard on James in order to prepare for the hardships of being a knight).
• Just Like Robin Hood: The episode "Carol of the Arrow" introduces the eponymous Carol of the Arrow, leader of a "merry band" of people who do good deeds. Befitting this trope, they dress very similarly to Robin Hood, and their motivation is to help others. However, unlike Robin Hood, they are do-gooders only; while Carol of the Arrow has a negative opinion of the Royal Family, she never "steals from the rich" (especially since Carol adjusts her negative opinion after seeing Sofia's earnest attempts to do good deeds).
• Lampshade Hanging: Queen Miranda admitted to Princess Amber there're not many good, loving stepmothers but she intends to be one and subvert the Wicked Stepmother stereotype.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In "In Cedric We Trust", Twitch has trouble remembering the name of Grimhilde, Snow White's step-mother. While Grimhilde's name was given in early supplementary materials for the film, Disney have often simply referred to her as "The Evil Queen".
• Living Lie Detector: Sven the seahorse claims his kind can always tell if someone's telling the truth.
• Loads and Loads of Characters: The series goes from a central cast consisting of Sofia's immediate friends and family to a whole cadre of magical creatures, recurring villains and new allies, many often getting one or more focus episodes, and that's just the characters Sofia meets in the Ever-Realm!
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Since Cedric cannot get Sofia to take off her Amulet because she holds a promise to never ever take it off, he uses a spell to switch the Amulet's jewel with a fake lookalike. Naturally, this causes the Amulet to activate its safeguard for taking it away from its chosen bearer, cursing him nonstop until he gives it back.
  • Believing that picking either of her two best witch friends as witch of honor for her Cauldronation Day would make the other witch too upset, Lucinda picks Sofia instead. When Sofia's non-witch status is used to challenge the decision, Lucinda's mother reads the cauldronation rules and finds no rules saying the witch of honor must be a real witch.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: In the show, Amber retains her Alpha Bitch personality, but is a much nicer person, especially toward Sofia.
• Loyal Phlebotinum: The Amulet of Avalor will only work for its chosen bearer, the current one being Sofia. If it is ever taken away from her without warning, it will repeatedly curse the thief until it is given back to its true owner; Cedric learned this the hard way. It is later revealed Elena was the one doing the cursing while she was trapped inside.

    M-R

• MacGuffin:
  • The Amulet of Avalor. Many villains want to use it for its power, especially Cedric who wants to take over Enchancia with it. It is especially helped by Sofia refusing to take it off because she promised her father not to, and it is eventually revealed someone was trapped inside it for years.
  • Oona's comb from "The Floating Palace".
  • The Hocus Crocus from "Enchanted Science Fair".
  • The Wicked Nine from Season 4, which Prisma wants to use to awaken the spirit of Vor, while Sofia and the Protectors are out to bring them to safety so no one uses them.
• Magic Mirror: The Royal Castle has one that grants wishes.
• Making a Splash: Princess Oona's comb has the power to control the ocean, though she herself doesn't know how to use it. Her older sister Cora makes use of it to dispatch the sea monster holding Oona hostage.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: Winter the faun has seven brothers and three sisters.
• Meaningful Echo: When Sofia and Amber first met, Sofia commented on how happy she was that they became sisters. Amber corrected by mentioning stepsisters. After they make amends, Amber says "sisters" instead of "stepsisters" to show she's more accepting.
• Meddling Parents: Cedric's parents, who keep an eye on him via a magic portrait and occasionally pop in to give him advice.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: After Baron Von Rocha successfully steals Vivian's musical talent in "The Princess Prodigy", his pet songbird, Piccolo, reminds him that he had promised to return the talent he had stolen from him. Von Rocha callously refuses, which drives Piccolo to not only inform Sofia of Von Rocha's scheme, but bring her the counter-spell the band uses to take back the stolen musical talent from Von Rocha.
• Mix-and-Match Critters:
  • In "Scrambled Pets", Clover, Crackle, Praline and Freedo (James' baboon) become this after a mix-up potion is spilled on them.
  • "Dads and Daughters Day" features some natural examples at the enchanted animal park, such as Pelicants (Pelicans with elephant trunk beaks) and zerbra-fish (literally half-zebra, half-fish).
• Moral Myopia:
  • In "Cedric Be Good," Cedric is given Super Strength by the Amulet of Avalor, and uses it to try and take the throne by force, saying aloud that anyone who disobeys him will be sent to the dungeons, and that he will rule with an iron fist. The Amulet then curses him by turning his arms into heavy metal gauntlets. Cedric is truly baffled by this, believing that taking over the kingdom isn't a bad deed, as he "deserves" to rule.
  • Sir Oliver of "The Secret Library: The Tale of the Noble Knight" sees himself as a great and noble knight, yet he intentionally provoked the peaceful dragons of Brazendell by attacking them, causing fires that made the citizens think the dragons had turned on them, as part of a scheme to become "First Knight" of the kingdom by driving them away and making himself look like a hero. Even when the King of Brazendell himself denounces Sir Oliver's actions and banishes him from the kingdom, he still refuses to acknowledge that he did anything wrong, calling his banishment "an outrage".
  • Princess Ivy and Miss Nettle have Heel Face Turns and come to like Sofia, but not because they've come to feel regret for their actions, but because of something else. Ivy doesn't feel bad about trying to overthrow her sister or trying to take over Enchancia, but she is scared of losing Roma, while Miss Nettle is still vain. The two seem to get along because of this.
• Morality Pet: In "Day of the Sorcerers", Cedric just can't bring himself to freeze Sofia like he did the rest of her family, giving her the opportunity to take his wand and break the spell. Sofia is later able to convince him that there is good within him, driving him to turn on Grimtrix.
• Morphic Resonance: Twitch the strangeling can change into any animal form at will. But no matter form he takes, he always has a white diamond-shaped pattern on his chest.
• Motor Mouth: Ruby.
• The Moving Experience: "All The Sprite Moves" focuses on Vivian's family moving to a new castle. Vivian wants to stay in their old castle, and recruits the Wee Sprites to make it seem like the new castle is haunted. However, she soon realises that there's a lot about the castle that she likes, so she changes her mind, and accepts the move.
• Music Soothes the Savage Beast: In "Princesses To The Rescue", Princess Jun's flute playing calms a group of snapping "lagoon lizards" enough that they are willing to carry the group across their lagoon after Sofia asks them nicely.
• My Beloved Smother: "Best in Air Show" reveals that Minimus' mother Gemina is this, absolutely refusing to let him take part in the family's stunt flying work out of fear that he'll hurt himself.
• My God, You Are Serious!: Clover's reaction the first time Sofia tells him she saw a mermaid.
• Mystery Fiction: One episode delves into this genre, "The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies". The premise is that someone is trying to steal all the fairy magic from the Pixie Cup, a blossom that only blooms once a year. Heightening the urgency, if all the magic gets stolen, no fairy will ever get a magic wand again and the magical things fairies do will vanish forever, so Chrysta and Sofia need to go undercover to find out who the attempted thief is. The suspects are Etheria the Air Fairy, Flurry the Frost Fairy, two other unnamed fairies, and Bridget the Brownie. There's a Red Herring when Flurry behaves suspiciously, but only because she was looking for flowers to make corsages, but the actual culprit finally turns out to be Bridget.
• Mythology Gag:
  • When Sofia and Cedric visit Merlin, the famed sorcerer reuses the same design established in The Sword in the Stone.
  • When Sofia sees Olaf for the first time, she kicks his head off, just as Anna did when she first met him.
• Names to Trust Immediately: Roland was likely given the name for this very purpose, although the significance is likely lost on the average viewer.
• Narcissist:
  • King Magnus. Not only does he constantly brag about himself and his kingdom, his idea of a good gift is a bust of himself (of which he has given several to Roland over the years).
  • Sir Oliver of "The Secret Library: The Tale of the Noble Knight" can barely go five seconds without boasting about what a great knight he is. When he sees a mirror, he instantly starts flexing and admiring himself.
  • Wormwood. In "Hexley Hall", he expresses the belief that he is "perfect".
• Near-Villain Victory:
  • In "The Emerald Key", Mamanu manages to get the Emerald Key, but the royal family learn of her sabotaging Lei-Lani, and give chase.
  • In "The Princess Prodigy", Baron Von Rocha succeeds in stealing Vivian's musical talent without anyone being any the wiser. However, when he callously refuses to return his pet songbird Piccolo's talent, Piccolo turns against him, informing Sofia of what has happened. This allows Sofia to rally her friends, and they defeat Von Rocha together.
  • In "Day of the Sorcerers", Cedric succeeds in freezing the royal family and taking the throne. But when Sofia confronts him, he finds himself unable to do the same to her, allowing her to take his wand and break the spell, leading to Cedric being imprisoned for his betrayal.
  • In the Grand Finale, Vor has Sofia cornered inside the Amulet of Avalor, but she sees visions of all the Disney Princesses who came to her in need, nodding in encouragement to never give up, allowing her to use The Power of Love to destroy Vor forever.
• Never Recycle Your Schemes: Cedric never reuses any of his potions or spells to steal Sofia's amulet. This is particularly obvious because some (like the sleeping spell and the invisibility potion) work as intended.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sir Oliver could never have gotten his hands on the Ice-Fire Shield he needed to defeat the dragons if Sofia, at that point believing he was a noble knight, hadn't helped him.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between:
  • James is adventurous and protective; Amber is self-centered and vain; and Sofia is innocent, but willing to learn her lessons and more determined to get the job done than others.
  • The grownups are this, too. Roland is steadfast but humorous; Cedric is surly and antagonistic; and Miranda is a motherly figure who is more assertive and watches out for everyone, especially her daughter.
• No Hugging, No Kissing: Aside from Prince Hugo being the object of a few of the princesses' (short-lived) affections, the subject of romance is hardly even gleaned as a topic between Sofia and her peers. The only ones involved in romantic subplots are people who are old enough to be parents themselves, such as Sir Bartelby, Aunt Tilly and Cedric (who quickly had the rug pulled under him by Sascha/Miss Nettle).
• No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: In "Cedric Be Good", Cedric makes a potion that'll enable him to use the Amulet of Avalor's blessings without the risk of being cursed but he accidentally destroys it. He cannot make another batch because one of the ingredients is too rare.
• Noodle Incident: The episode "When You Wish Upon a Well" features a wishing well that grants Three Wishes. King Roland's first wish hadn't ended well in the past and this is all he says about that wish. The incident's details are explained in "Forever Royal".
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Averted; enough time passes from the start of the show to its end for it to have covered at least four years, and the Series Finale centers around Sofia, Amber and James's graduation from Royal Prep (which seems to be this world's rough equivalent of elementary or primary school).
• Not Me This Time: In "The Amulet of Avalor", near the end, Cedric is accused of being a jewel thief. Though he wants to steal the Amulet of Avalor, he's actually telling the truth when he says he was chasing the thief. (The actual jewel thief was a baby griffon.)
• Not This One, That One: When Sofia meets Minimus for the first time in "Just One of the Princes", since at first it looked like Sofia was getting a majestic black pegasus. However, unusually for this trope, Sofia is still happy with getting Minimus instead.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • By Sofia in the pilot, as she stops dancing uncontrollably for a moment to notice Amber's Slasher Smile.
  • In "Day of the Sorcerers", when Sofia mentions this to Roland, Amber herself has this moment. Sofia herself has an even bigger one when she finally learns the truth of Cedric's long-awaited scheme to take over the kingdom and how naive she's been all these years.
• Older Than They Look: Word of God says that the characters have aged three years by season four, but the younger characters don't look any older than when the series started.
• Once per Episode: A musical number (more than once in "Once Upon A Princess"). Also more than once, if you count the two instances the song "Blue Ribbon Bunny" (in the episode with the same name) is sung, as two separate songs. The first time, it's sung in an upbeat hip-hop fashion by Clover and the birds, while the second time Sofia sings a short reprise but this time it's slow and quiet.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: Sofia is the only one who can wear the Amulet of Avalor and use its power.
• Origins Episode: Season 3's "The Tale of Miss Nettle" fleshes out Miss Nettle's backstory.
• Our Genies Are Different: "New Genie On The Block," reveals that the genies of this world do have the classic traits, such as residing in lamps, and granting three wishes to those who release them. However, a genie can choose not to follow these rules; The young genie Kazeem flew around, granting every wish he overheard (those he thought were "fun," at least), and refused to return to his lamp. Fortunately, there is a "Genie Patrol" (staffed by a single genie, Sergeant Fizz), tasked with making wayward genies follow the rules.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: "Ghostly Gala" reveals that ghosts can only leave the place they haunt once every hundred years, on Halloween. They can also converse with animals (Both living and dead).
• Out of Focus: Whatnaught the Squirrel seems to be appearing less and less as the show goes on, being completely absent from episodes that heavily features the other animals such as Finding Clover and The Amulet of Avalor. This is somewhat averted in Gizmo Gwen, where Whatnaught serves a crucial role near the end.
• Overly Narrow Superlative:
  • In "Buttercup Amber", Amber says Mossy has the sparkliest swamp monster eyes she's ever seen. Those are the only swamp monster eyes she's ever seen.
  • Water zebras are Miss Elody's "favorite striped water animals." Except diving tigers.
• Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: Not evil, exactly, but in "Scrambled Pets," Sofia is convinced to bring Clover to school (which is against the rules) after being pressured into it by Amber, James and Vivian.
• Pep-Talk Song: Several of them:
  • "A Recipe For Adventure" from "Great Aunt-Venture" as Aunt Tilly encourages Sofia to not give up hope.
  • "A Better Me" from "Cedric Be Good" as Sofia teaches Cedric how to embrace his good side.
  • "It's Up To You" from "Minding the Manner" as Tilly expresses her faith in Sofia as she leaves her in charge of her manor.
  • "Come To Your Senses With Me" from "The Lost Pyramid" as Cassandra teaches Sofia and her friends to rely on their other senses to get through the pyramid.
  • "Gotta Have Fun" from "The Elf Situation" as Sofia encourages Amber and James to have fun for a change.
  • Several of the Disney Princesses' songs are this, too. "True Sisters", "Make it Right", "The Love we Share" and "From the Heart", and especially "Stronger Than You Know" and "Dare to Risk it All".
• Performance Anxiety: Minimus has this in spades, even after he and Sofia win the race.

  Minimus: We won! We actually won! Wait, does that mean they'll expect us to win the next race? And the one after that?! I think I need to lie down!

  • Cedric also suffers from it whenever he has to perform in front of King Roland or any other royal.
• Placebo Eureka Moment: There's a partial example in "The Tri-Kingdom Picnic". Amber advises Sofia to help James be a better sport by showing him an example, but as the other kids stopped playing, Sofia has no way to do so. She comes up with an answer to that on her own, but thanks Amber.
• Playing Sick: In "Lord of the Rink", Prince Hugo does this in order to get out of hockey practice and prevent his friends and his father from knowing about his joining the ice-dancing class. Although he managed to easily fool his friends in the beginning, he's not very good at pretending to be sick.
• Power at a Price: Sofia's Amulet grants her quite a few magical powers, but it does come with a curse that punishes the wearer for any bad deeds, the severity of the curse proportionate to the offense and the nature of the curse fitting the crime. For example, when she started boasting about her singing, it made her start to croak, rendering her unable to do so. (As far as is known, the curse inflicted can only be lifted by apologizing and making right any damage caused by the bad deed.)
• Power Incontinence: Winter the faun freezes anything and anyone she touches even if she doesn't want to.
• The Power of Friendship
• The Power of Love: Sofia unleashes this in the Grand Finale, channeling all her love for her family and friends which destroys Vor for good.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Sofia as she is finishing off Vor in the Grand Finale with her pure heart during the song "On Your/My Own".

  Sofia: "My love will be...!! THE END!!... OF!!!... YOU!!!!! "

• Prince and Pauper: Clover and Barley accidentally switch places in "Bunny Swap."
• Princess Protagonist: The show is about Princess Sofia, who becomes a Princess Classic after her mother marries her stepfather. She's given a magical amulet as a gift, which allows her to summon Disney Princesses as well as use its powers to eventually defend Enchancia or the world from various villains.
• Pronouncing My Name for You: In the first season, Sofia mispronounces Cedric's name as "Cee-dric", prompting him to correct her in annoyance. She grows out of it in later seasons.
• Protagonist Title
• Pulled from Your Day Off/Surprise Party: In "Baileywick's Day Off", King Roland insists that Baileywick take a well-deserved holiday on his birthday. But every time he tries to leave, one of the children call him to deal with a trivial problem. Sofia eventually realizes how selfish they were being, and they throw him a "Day Off Do-Over Party", complete with all of the fun activities he had missed out on that day because he was helping all the kids.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When Sofia tries to persuade Clover to go to Princess Vivian's castle and play with Crackle.

  Clover: She. Breathes. Fire!
  Sofia: You're. Her. Friend!
  Clover: Fire!
  Sofia: Friend!

• Pushover Parents: King Henrik is shown to be this in "Dads and Daughters Day," getting his daughter Hildegard anything she wants. He even grabs a Pelicant egg out of its nest, ignoring Miss Elodie's warnings. After being caused and cornered by the Pelicant's parents and their flock, Henrik learns his lesson, refusing Hildegard's next demand for an enchanted animal.

  King Henrik: Hildegard, I'm going to tell you something I should have said a long time ago: No.

• Rags to Royalty: Sofia and her mother.
• Real Men Wear Pink: In "Lord of the Rink", Prince Hugo becomes interested in figure skating but feels pressured into playing ice hockey to please his friends and his father. In the end, they eventually accept him.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • In "Once Upon a Princess", James gave one to Amber when he called her out on her jealousy towards their stepsister.

  James: You gave Sofia the trick shoes on purpose.
  Amber: If I recall, you played a prank on her too?
  James: What you did wasn't a prank, she needed those dance lessons. You're trying to ruin her ball, and I know why.
  Amber: Because she doesn't belong here?
  James: No, because everyone likes her more than you. And after what you did today, so do I!
  Amber: (offended) You don't mean that!
  James: Yes...I...do.

  • Sofia delivers one to Hildegard in "The Princess Stays in the Picture", angry at the fact she insists she knows everything.

  Sofia: Oh, stop it, Hildegard! Just stop it! You act like you know everything, but you don't! And now, thanks to you, we're going to be stuck in these paintings forever!

  • Princess Lei-Lani gives one to Sofia in "Stormy Lani", after causing another rainstorm thanks to her temper.
• Red Herring: In "The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies", Chrysta and Sofia are trying to figure out who's attempting to steal the magic of the fairies. Initially the culprit seems to be Flurry the frost fairy, because she keeps sneaking off and looking for something. But it turns out Flurry was just looking for flowers to make as corsages for her fellow fairies, and the real culprit is someone else.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: In "Stormy Lani," Mamanu has a snake named Milo for a minion. Milo is very enthusiastic about committing evil deeds.
• Reset Button: "The Curse of Princess Ivy" ends with one.
• The Reveal:
  • "The Secret Library" reveals that Aunt Tilly knows all about the Amulet of Avalor and its powers, because she wore it herself in her youth.
  • "Elena and the Secret of Avalor", of course, reveals Princess Elena was trapped inside the Amulet for 41 years; as an added bonus, she was the one who chose Sofia as its current bearer and gave her all those blessings and curses up to now, to see if she was the princess young and brave enough to free her.
  • By "Hexley Hall", Sofia's Amulet is working differently. Why? When Elena was trapped inside, she gave her all the powers she used to now; after she was freed, now the wearer is in control of the powers the Amulet gives them.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: In "The Amulet of Avalor":

  Sofia: What would I do without you?

  Clover: I guess you'd do all this stuff by yourself.

• Riddle for the Ages:
  • How can anyone's life be saved nine and a half times?
  • In "The Baker King", we never find out what happened to the actual baker during the wish's events, and he clearly didn't take the role of king in turn. It appears the wish also made it so that no one would recognize "Roland the baker" as the king, and altered everyone's memories.
• Road Sign Reversal: In "Enchanted Science Fair", Amber turns an arrow pointing to the top of the mountain (where a flower all the kids need grows) to keep the others from following, but when Sofia and James come to it, James switches it back, thinking he's doing the same thing.
• Royal School: The royal prep is a rare co-educated and non-boarding version.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something:
  • Sort of a G-rated version of the Trope. "The Baker King" puts this at the forefront, where King Roland is stressed out because he does so many things for the kingdom, and after wishing to spend a day not being the king, he realizes how much his people appreciate the things he does.
  • Sofia herself. The whole show is about her learning how she fits into her role as a royal princess and the things she's done have helped the kingdom a lot.
• Running Gagged: Throughout Season 1, Sofia repeatedly mispronounces Cedric's name as "Ceedric" to his annoyance; starting in Season 2, she pronounces it correctly.

    S-U

• Say My Name: Amber lets one loose in "Bailywick's Day Off" when she cries out Baileywick's name to fix the cookies for her tea party.
• Say My Name Trailer: The commercial that came out sometime around May 2013 announcing that Sofia was now on every day.
• The Scapegoat
  • Sofia in "The Royal Mess", but voluntarily so. To summarize, James broke a castle window King Roland was planning to show his wife Miranda as a surprise, and after half an episode of unsuccessfully trying to cover it up and making the damage worse, the parents eventually see the damage anyway. But before James can confess, Sofia confesses to breaking the window in his place because Sofia knows how badly James wants to see the circus (breaking the window was a grounding-worthy offense, since King Roland was intending the window as a gift to his wife), so Sofia is made to stay home while James and Amber get to go see the circus. But James feels so guilty he later confesses anyway while the family is at the circus, and Baileywick figures out Sofia was innocent and cautions Sofia against any future lying even to be kind.
  • There's a knee-jerk tendency to blame Cedric for magic-related problems even when they're nothing to do with him, especially in earlier installments.
  • In "Bad Little Dragon," Vivian adopts a new baby dragon she names "Crispy", but Crispy is secretly a grown-up pretending to be a baby so he can rob the castle's jewel room, and as part of his plan, he attempts to frame Crackle for causing trouble so Crackle will be kicked out of the castle. It temporarily works, and Crackle even runs away—except Vivian feels so guilty that she goes to retrieve Crackle to take her home, which causes Vivian to return to the castle door just in time to see Crispy's true nature as a jewel thief.
  • Sir Oliver's plan in "The Secret Library: The Tale of the Noble Knight" involved making the peaceful dragons of Blazendell start fires by attacking them, so he could look like a hero for driving them away.
  • Kazeem in "Pin the Blame On the Genie" is framed for several magical incidents by Omar, the new royal sorcerer, who is himself a genie.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: In the premiere, after Cedric is awakened from the sleeping spell, he says, "Merlin's mushrooms!" and disappears in a huff.
• Schizo Tech: The kingdom is definitely more medieval than modern, but there is a modern-looking elevator in the castle (Justified in that it's hand-cranked by a servant).
  • Then at the end of Season 3, a flying car, ...err we mean "horseless carriage", that looks very reminiscent of 1950s automobiles is introduced. And it's specifically mentioned to be steam-powered, so in this case, a wizard didn't do it.
• Second Love: Miranda and King Roland are this to each other.
• Secret Identity: Sofia constantly keeps her amulet powers a secret from everyone, especially her parents, until the series finale.
• Secret Test of Character:
  • In "The Princess Test", Fauna disguises herself as Royal Prep's librarian, and asks each princess on her way to the Princess Test for help. Sofia is the only one willing to put off the test and help, which earns her full marks for displaying a Princess' most important trait: kindness. Not only this, but the test is rigged with a number of pitfalls specifically designed to test Sofia's resolution to continue helping Fauna; in each instance, she passes.
    • Notably, the rest of the princesses still technically passed the test, due to legitimately getting good scores in gown presentation, fan fluttering, and posture, so they all get "silver stars". But because only Sofia passed the secret test of kindness, Sofia gets a huge gold trophy.
  • Aunt Tilly actually provides several of these to Sofia in "Minding The Manor," with the music rolls used in a music box each causing a magical problem to solve. Sofia unknowingly chose the hardest problem, but managed to succeed. As a reward, Tilly gave her a book on the History of Enchancia (and revealed in "The Secret Library" that she was testing to see if Sofia was ready to be a story keeper).
    • Indeed, Aunt Tilly's introduction could be considered a Secret Test of Character. She's been asking James and Amber for years to help her make an apple pie, an activity they dismissed as "boring". However, it's made quite apparent when Sofia goes with her that she goes on adventures just to find the apples for the pie, and if James and Amber had taken her up on it, they would have had a good deal of fun.
  • All of Sofia's powers and curses from the amulet were to test her to see if she was the princess who could free Elena.
• Seldom-Seen Species: James pet baboon Fredo is a gelada, not the kind of baboon most commonly seen in cartoons.
  • Also, Hildegard has a pet mink.
• Series Goal: Cedric's goal is to use the Amulet of Avalor's power to take over Enchancia.
• Serious Business:
  • In "Blue Ribbon Bunny", Ginger the fluffy rabbit feels that pet contests are serious business.
  • In "Baileywick's Day Off", Amber panics and needs to be reminded to breathe, because the cookies being served at a tea party aren't pink as Amber requested, but plaid.
• Shout-Out:
  • Several of the pegasus featured in the pilot episode (specifically the ones taking Sofia to school) resemble the one from Disney's Hercules.
  • King Roland's domain is part of the "Tri-Kingdom Area".
  • In the pilot film, the dancer instructor, Professor Popov remarks to his students "So, you think you can waltz?"
    • Sofia also gets punked with a pair of cursed blue shoes. Maybe they were nerfed from the red ones?
  • "Blue Ribbon Bunny" has Clover indulging in Gangnam Style hopping during his "I Am" Song.
  • Sofia somewhat resembles a young Kairi, right down to the skirt designs. It helps that they share a voice actress.
  • King Roland's outfit (a dark blue top and light yellow bottom) is reminiscent of Snow White, resembling a male version of her dress.
    • Also, James teased Amber by commenting she'd no longer be "the fairest" when Sofia moved in.
  • "Finding Clover".
  • King Roland II marrying a shoemaker (Miranda) sounds like a Gender Flipped version of the end of Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses.
  • The clock tower with the moving dolls shown in "Make Way for Miss Nettle" resembles It's a small world's clock tower.
  • One of the lines in Miss Nettle's Villain Song mentions being as famous as Maleficent.
  • In "The Amulet and the Anthem", Clover mentions hearing about "A princess who turned into a swan."
  • When Sofia becomes a mermaid and swims underwater in "The Floating Palace", she says it's like a "Whole New World, Under the Sea".
    • In that same episode, Baileywick gets seasick like Grimsby at the beginning of The Little Mermaid.
  • The outfit Amber wears at the end of "Enchanted Science Fair" is reminiscent of this one worn by The Sun King Louis XIV. ◊
  • In "The Ghostly Gala", Dax sings about meeting his Uncle Walt and Uncle Roy, and summons up some familiar-looking dancing skeletons.
    • Also in "The Ghostly Gala," when Dax reaffirms himself in front of a mirror, he says "I'm scary enough, I'm frightening enough, and by George people are terrified of me!," a play on the catchphrase of Al Franken's character Stuart Smalley.
  • In "The Emerald Key", Amber sits on a mattress that is so lumpy she says that no true Princess would be able to sleep on it.
  • In "Winter's Gift", Winter the faun mentions hearing about a princess who could freeze anything with just a touch. When Winter gets freezing powers, they come with the same sort of drawback that King Midas suffered with his golden touch.
  • In "Cedric's Apprentice", one of the things Sofia and her classmates must do to pass a test is to turn a shoe into crystal.
  • In "Minimus is Missing," one of the flying horses has a grey coat, yellow mane, and white spots on its flank.
  • In "Sofia in Elvenmoor", not only the title alludes to Alice in Wonderland but she falls down a hole to another realm. Upon arriving, she comments that she thinks she's not in Enchancia anymore. Eventually, she's told she must stay on the path to get back home.
  • In "When You Wish Upon a Well," the well speaks in a monotone and when Amber tries to make a fourth wish, it tells her, "I'm sorry, Princess. I'm afraid I can't do that."
  • Amber's racing outfit in "In A Tizzy" makes her resemble Penelope Pitstop.
  • "The Fliegel has Landed": Not only is the title a nod to The Eagle Has Landed, Cedric's books have titles like For Whom The Spell Tolls, Tuesdays With Merlin and How To Hex Friends And Enchant People (a reference to the self-help book How to Win Friends and Influence People).
  • "Best in Air Show" has Grand Mum entering a stunt race with a horse, and she becomes known, with a disguise, as the Masked Rider, although her outfit doesn't resemble any Rider at all (the choice in name was likely an unintentional shout out).
• Shrinking Violet: Princess Vivian.
• Sibling Seniority Squabble: Amber is seven minutes older than her twin brother James. This is rarely brought up though.
• Sibling Yin-Yang:
  • Baileywick's brother, Nigel, is loud and outgoing, in clear contrast to his quiet, reserved younger brother.
  • Twins Amber and James (revealed to be twins in Tri-Kingdom Picnic); while the former is a Lovable Alpha Bitch who is very prim and proper, the latter is a bit irresponsible and lacking in manners but overall avoids having his sister's superior attitude.
• Sinister Schnoz: Cedric.
• Skunk Stripe: Cedric has one that Word of God says is meant to be a Homage to Cruella De Vil.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Miss Nettle states that she'll become as famous as Maleficent. (Yeah, sure you will...)
• Speaks Fluent Animal: One of Sofia's powers, courtesy of the Amulet of Avalor.
• Special Guest: Thus far, Cinderella (in the Pilot Episode), Jasmine, Belle, Ariel, Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, Tiana and Rapunzel have all appeared so far, courtesy of Sofia's Amulet. Sofia can theoretically summon any of the Disney Princesses when she is suffering a crisis of character to consult them for advice.
  • Due to her amulet acting up, Sofia summoned Olaf during "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle" instead of one of the royal princesses. He still helped out, though.
• Spoiled Brat: Hildegard is shown to be this in "Dads and Daughters Day," being given anything she wants by her father.
• Stalker with a Crush: Crackle displays hints of this towards Clover.
• Start My Own: Invoked by Amber in "Princess Adventure Club"; After Zooey excludes her from her adventure club (due to an earlier experience where Amber was mean to her), Amber decides to start her own adventure club, in direct competition to Zooey's.
• Sticky Fingers: In "Gone With The Wand", Cedric's niece Callista is shown to have a habit of taking anything that is colored red (her favorite color). This kicks off the problem of the episode when she takes Merlin's Dragonclaw wand, with the evil sorceress Morgana taking it for herself soon after.
• Strong Family Resemblance:
• Successful Sibling Syndrome:
  • Amber feels inferior to Sofia, who's always going off on exciting adventures and doesn't let anything get in her way of helping others while Amber herself normally hangs around the castle and puts her own needs first. Fortunately, Sofia reminds her of all the good deeds she's performed.
  • Prince Hugo is overshadowed by his older brother, Axel, when it comes to sporting events. He does manage to win the Flying Crown, something nobody in the family had ever pulled off.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: "Forever Royal" features a very tragic example: Roland's first wife, Queen Lorelei, couldn't bear him children, so Roland made a wish on the wishing well, resulting in Amber and James being born. However, Lorelei's body was unable to handle the stress of childbirth (due to simply not having the means for it), and she passed away soon after.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Several of the younger princes and princesses resemble Disney Princesses or princes, such as an Asian princess and Arabian princess who may be related to Mulan and Jasmine.
• Take Over the World: Cedric's goal, though focusing just on Enchancia. He gives it up by "Day of the Sorcerers".
• Talking Animal:
  • While most animals avert this (except when around Sofia), there are certain animals in this world capable of speaking human, such as dragons, most magical creatures in the Mystic Isles, and the pandas of Wei Ling.
  • Wormwood gains this ability in "Hexley Hall", after Cedric accidentally spills a "Talking potion" on him.
• Techno Babble: Gwen, from "Gizmo Gwen" uses a more kiddie version of the trope, using phrases like Do-dad, Thingamajig, and don't forget the ever important What-Chu-McCall-It.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Clover and Wormwood in "The Enchanted Feast."
• Tempting Fate: In the pilot when Sofia worries she might trip and everyone will laugh at her, her mother denies, saying "No one laughs at a princess." Guess what happens to Sofia during her dance lesson later!
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: The girls in the show have eyelashes while the male characters don't, although Prince Hugo appears to be the only male on the show with noticeable eyelashes.
• Testosterone Poisoning: "We should've made the cannon bigger."
• Theme Naming: Sofia's True Companions Ruby and Jade. Amber is named for a material that's formed differently, but can resemble precious stones with a little work.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: Once Wee Sprites are allowed into a home, it becomes nearly impossible to get rid of them. Even putting them outside is useless, as they can just reappear inside. The only way to get them to leave for good is by getting them to say they want to leave, whereupon they will magically fly outside.
• Those Two Girls: Sofia's best friends Ruby and Jade from the village.
  • Mia and Robin also qualify.
• Three Wishes: One episode features a Wishing Well that grants no more than three wishes to each user.
• Title Confusion: Sofia's official royal title is not "Sofia the First," a title that would make little sense as "the first" is generally only applied to reigning monarchs who have descendants with the same name. She is usually referred to as "Princess Sofia" in official contexts, and as "Sofia" or "Sof" by her friends. The phrase "Sofia the First" is title dropped only twice in the series, neither one of which is presented as an official title.
• Title Drop:
  • In the pilot film, when Roland explains that he's called "Roland the Second" because his father was also named Roland, and Sofia says "So I guess that makes me Sofia the First."
  • In "The Mystic Isles: The Princess and the Protector", Chrysta decides to call Sofia "Sofia the First" because she's the first person from the Ever Realm to become a Protector.
• Token Heroic Orc: By the end of her debut episode, Lucinda seems to be the only good witch around. However, "Cauldronation Day" reveals that there are other good witches, such as Lucinda's friend Lily.
• Token Trio: Sofia (half-Latina), Ruby (black) and Jade (Asian).
• Took a Level in Badass: Prince Desmond, in the episode "Make Way for Miss Nettle."
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Princess Hildegarde in "Scrambled Pets"; She watches events spiral out of control with undisguised glee, and relishes the idea of the pet owners (even Amber, her best friend) getting in trouble.
• Trademark Favorite Food: King Roland loves jigglywiggly pudding.
• Trailers Always Spoil: The trailer shows Cinderella talking to Sofia, amongst other things.
• Two Girls and a Guy: Sofia, Amber and James.
  • Also Robin, Mia and Clover — with Whatnaught occasionally making it a Gender-Equal Ensemble.
• Two-Timer Date: In "Lord of the Rink," Hugo darts between hockey practice and ice dancing practice to keep his participation in ice dancing practice a secret. It doesn't work long.
• Ugly Cute: Invoked. In "Minding the Manor," Sofia's reaction to the gargoyles at Aunt Tilly's manor is that "They're so ugly, they're cute."
• Unexpected Character: "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle" featured a guest appearance by Olaf from Frozen (due to magical interference on Sofia's amulet). While the title is a giveaway, no-one would have guessed before season three that anyone other than the Princesses would have been summoned by the amulet.
• The Unfavorite: Cedric considers himself this to his father. By contrast, his mother spoils him. The sad thing is that his father does care for him and is only hard on him to get him to do the right thing, whereas his mother is evil and wants him to be the same.
• Unknown Rival:
  • Sofia was unaware that Cedric wants to take her amulet and use its power to take over the kingdom. Even when he spills some of it before her, he has to quickly rephrase to cover it. She learns the truth by "Day of the Sorcerers".
  • When she first came to the castle, Sofia was unaware of Amber's jealousy toward her, but finds out by the dance lesson when she uses a pair of trick shoes secretly given to her.
• Unmanly Secret: In "Lord of the Rink," Hugo hides from both the hockey team and his father that he's joined the ice dancing team.
• Uptown Girl: Gender-Switched. Miranda (a shoemaker) and Roland the Second (a King).

    V-Y

• Verbal Tic: Omar, the new royal sorcerer of Tangu, tends to start his sentences with "If I may".
• Villain Has a Point: In "Day of the Sorcerers", Grimtrix points out that sorcerers are always doing impressive feats for their kings, and receiving no credit for it. Later on, Cedric tells Roland that he was always seen as a failure by everyone, and never given any kind of respect. Sofia and Miranda even agree in the end that Cedric could have used more encouragement in the past.
• Villain Song: "Cedric the Great,""Make Way for Miss Nettle,""A Kingdom of My Own," and "Crystal Clear."
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Robin often pokes fun at Clover, earning her some annoyed glares, and occasional retorts.
• Vocal Dissonance: The Silent Knight avoids talking because he fears people might mock him for his voice.
• The Voiceless:
  • Despite the amulet letting Sofia talk to animals, Whatnaught the squirrel does not talk at all.
  • Princess Hildegard's pet mink, Lulu, who has appeared twice so far, never had a word either.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting:
  • Mamanu can turn herself into animal forms.
  • Sofia gains the ability to turn into animals at the beginning of "Hexley Hall", though she later learns she can only become an animal if she's looking at it.
  • Zinessa the Enchantress (of "Beauty is the Beast") can turn herself into a cat and back again at will.
  • "The Mystic Isles: The Falcon's Eye" introduces Twitch, a creature called a strangeling, who can become any animal at will.
• Weasel Mascot: In "Hexley Hall", Grimtrix the Good has a weasel familiar named Wriggley.
• Weather-Control Machine: The Queen Mermaid's trident can be used to control the weather and summon storms if she chooses.
• Weather Manipulation: "Stormy Lani" reveals that Princess Lani has this ability, as does all her family. An unfortunate side effect is that she inadvertently creates storms whenever she gets angry.
• We Used to Be Friends: "In Cedric We Trust" reveals that Cedric and Roland were the best of friends when they were children. Cedric spends most of the episode trying to rekindle their former friendship, and finally succeeds after saving Sofia.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Miss Nettle's plant sidekick Rosey (introduced in her second appearance) is nowhere to be seen in "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle."
  • In "The Curse of Princess Ivy", the dragons of the Blazing Pallisades numbered five: Everburn, Flambeau, Nitelite, Smokelee, and Hob. But when the group returned in "The Secret Library: Tale of the Eternal Torch", Hob was absent.
  • In the episodes leading up to the finale, "Forever Royal", Prisma has one of the wicked nine (Grimhilde's crown), the Protectors have three (the Falcon's Eye, the spinning wheel's spindle, and Ursula's necklace), and the remaining five are still hidden throughout the Ever Realm. Then, at the beginning of the finale, the Protectors have already locked away all nine items in the Protector's Castle before Prisma uses them to awaken Vor. We never find out where the remaining five were hidden, how the Protectors obtained them, or how the Protectors took Grimhilde's crown from Prisma.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • James gives a very sharp and very deserved one to Amber after she purposely gives Sofia trick shoes to try to ruin her welcome ball, though he unfortunately slips up at the end and unwittingly justifies Amber's fears that have been fueling her antagonism toward Sofia to begin with. Luckily Sofia is able to sort things out with her afterward.
  • In "The Little Witch", Sofia gives Jade a minor one after Jade's "witch trap" accidentally traps Sofia instead, but Sofia's actually more concerned about the fact that this drove Lucinda away after Lucinda had come over to fix the damage she caused earlier.
  • In "Lord of the Rink", Prince Hugo glares at Prince Derek, who scolds Sofia as she slides to the hockey team's side of the ice rink.
  • In "The Mystic Isles", Sofia gives Amber one after Amber destroyed the bridge connecting the Isles of Dancing Deserts and Crystals with a shatter stone. After Prisma got Skye the unicorn and the sisters through a vortex, Amber was more upset about her new amulet being defective than Prisma harming the Mystic Isles, which got Sofia to angrily scold her for not only helping Prisma but being a spoiled brat and thinking only about herself.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Cedric, the King's Sorcerer. Everyone else at court speaks with an American accent, but Cedric has a bizarre "British" accent that seems to migrate around the British Isles at will. In the same sentence he can go from Cockney to Scouse to Brummie and then back again. His family members also possess British accents, but they all sound different too!
• What You Are in the Dark: In "The Emerald Key", Princess Lei-Lani gets Clover's head unstuck and gives him some blueberries out of the goodness of her heart. Sofia oversees this and this convinces her that she's the real Princess Lani.
• Wicked Weasel: Wriggley invokes this after Grimtrix is revealed to be a villain, gleefully assisting him in his schemes.
  • Twitch takes the form of one in "The Mystic Isles: The Great Pretender."
• Wicked Witch: Lucinda's mother; she is proud of their family's long history of being wicked witches.
• Worthless Yellow Rocks: While looking for more cave crystals, Gnarly finds an emerald and dismisses it as worthless because it doesn't glow. He later also finds a diamond and casts it aside.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Cedric, ironically. In fact, this is likely the biggest reason why his attempts to take Sofia's Amulet always fail.
• Wrench Wench: The titular character of "Gizmo Gwen."
• You and What Army?: In "The Floating Palace", the helpful seahorse Sven says he's going to stop the Mermaid Queen from sinking the Floating Palace while Cora and Mermaid!Sofia rescue Oona. It leads to this exchange:

  Sven: Don't worry. I can stop Queen Emmaline.

  Sven takes a deep breath, whistles, and summons dozens of other seahorses

  Sven: That army, Cora. Actually, this is just the immediate family, we'll pick up the cousins on the way.

• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • Miranda's talk with Sofia when she doubts being a princess.
  • Sofia also gives this to Amber when she thinks everyone likes Sofia more than her, and to Minimus, Cedric, and Desmond when they doubt their abilities.
  • In "Day of the Sorcerers", Sofia reminds the imprisoned Cedric of all the times he helped her. She also tells him that he really is a good person, and a good friend.
  • Sofia and Amber have a song devoted to this around Amber's ability to save the day in "The Mystic Isles."
• You Are Grounded!: Wendell is grounded for stealing all the flying horses in "Minimus is Missing" and also punished to no dessert for a week, no crystal ball-gazing for two weeks and spending the rest of his day cleaning out the cauldrons.
• You Just Told Me: Cedric's raven Wormwood has no problem telling the animals that Sofia is looking in the wrong spellbook. He then discovers that she can understand animals.
• You Mean "Xmas": The people of Enchancia celebrate the winter holiday of Wassailia, which features singing, decorated trees, giving gifts and lighting a ceremonial candle.
  • Which is somewhat bizarre, considering that Halloween exists in Enchancia.
  • In the book "Sofia's First Christmas", Christmas is celebrated in Zumaria. Regardless of the book being canon or not, Christmas is hinted to exist in the cartoon when a reference to Santa Claus is made in the second Wassailia episode. While gifts are part of Wassailia, neither Santa nor any similar character is said to be.
• Youngest Child Wins: Sofia, the main character, is two months younger than her step siblings, though James and Amber get plenty of focus.
  • This becomes played straight in Season 3, as she appeared more times without her siblings.

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Disney Sofia the First Princess Sofia and Royal Prep Fairies

Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst

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