In a film world of wise-cracking pretty boys, the sweet, humble guy who gets pursued and loves the crazy chick is a refreshing sight.

Eric, where do I start on him? I know Princesslullaby will murder me with her bare hands for my comment but here goes...

Eric is my second least favorite prince and almost tied for my least favorite prince. He's so bland, Eric barely shows off any personality and I just find him a pretty face. The movie makes him stand around the whole movie doing nothing and then when the end of the movie comes Disney pulls Eric out of their left pocket so they can have someone save the day (In a very stupid ending I must say, the ending was really underwhelming for me) The only saving point for me is his dog who is so cute! *Pinches dogs cheeks* Eric passes off girls in the beginning of the movie without giving them a chance, then when one sings to him he goes gaga. My main problem with Eric is that I find him an idiot...Eric's dog is smarter then him!
He is beautiful ;)

I'm too stunned by how good looking he is. Also, I'm too lazy to rant, and I don't have much to say about him.

Sk8er__grl, I don't care because you must lead a very sad life to be so wrong, but how do you know he didnt give the other girls a chance?

He is cute but that is it. If roles were reversed he would not do half of what Ariel did for him.

I hate him, he falls in love with a girl he just saw once and doesn't know anything but her voice.

I like him a lot. He's shy, heroic, and doesn't throw himself ( like Naveen's leering smile for Tiana, and Flynn's smoulder at Rapunzel) at women the first time he sees them. The people who hate Eric, clearly tend to hate him because he appears in The Little Mermaid. Case closed.

@8804 I find that a bit offensive, they only hate him because he's from The little mermaid? That's a bit subjective IMO.

@PL I live such a sad life. XD Can't say, to momentarily paralyzed by how beautiful Eric is. Basically I didn't like how nit-picky he was about each girl, and that he visited as Grimsby said all these girl from across the land but really doesn't have a reason to dislike them, he only fell for Ariel because she could sing.

No, I actually agree with 8804. It's not true all the time, but really, a lot.
How could you tell he was nit-picky? Just because he didn't fall for any of the girls he met (and by the way, they only mention one girl) ? That's what I love about him, that he's NOT shallow and didn't just love them easily. And like he said, he would just KNOW. And with Ariel, he just knew. I'm sure he didn't dislike them, just didn't want to marry them.

It just rubbed me the wrong way when 8804 said that they clearly don't like him because they dislike TLM, I just wanted more explanation to what she was getting at.

Well, we'll agree to disagree I guess. He never really said why he disliked them and just kind of brushed them off, his reasoning for initially falling in love with Ariel was shallow IMO.

Short answer: Eric is very dense, dim, shallow and phonocentric. After Ariel saves him, he only cares about finding the girl with the right singing voice, and cares less about "one of flesh and blood; one warm and caring, and right before [his] eyes," as Grimsby puts it. The voice could have belonged to anyone and Eric would have "loved" her, because he was in love with the voice and not the girl.

That Ariel looks and smiles just like the girl that rescued him is secondary; that they spend a few days together and have a marvelous time based on her sweet personality and adventurous spirit is of little importance; that she doesn't have "that voice" is paramount. Until he discovers "[she] can talk," then suddenly she's "the one." All based on her vocal chords, and not her personality.

Did you miss the scene where eric threw his flute and was going to marry ariel and forget about the girl with the voice until Vanessa hypnotized him?

He is likable enough, and like Ariel, he matures enough during the movie to stop chasing for the "dream girl" and instead goes to the real one right in front of his nose instead (or at least he tries to). He is not one of my favs, but I like him, especially that he is not spoiled at all.

Going back on the boat for his dog was stupid though...why didn't he ensure him being with him when he went to the boat in the first place?

Because the boat was on fire and he had other things in mind....like not being set on fire... I don't know, I love that he rescues his dog <3