Merinor

Merinor is the family ship between Merida and Elinor from the Brave and Once Upon A Time fandoms.

Brave
When Merida was little she and Elinor were really close, as they play a game on the birthday where Merida receives her first bow from Fergus and one night during a thunder storm Elinor clams a scared little Merida by telling her that she'll always be there for her, before they begin to sing together. As the years passed and around the time Merida became a teenager, however, Merida's tomboy-like behavior and Elinor preparing her daughter for her future role as the queen of their land began to hinder it, since Merida hates her mother's lessons and countless lectures on her unladylike behaviour, from Elinor wanting Merida to be a proper lady like she is.

One night during dinner, Elinor is give the three letters that say the Lords of Clan MacGuffin, Macintosh and Dingwall have aggressed to let their first born sons fight for Merida's hand in marriage, while the DunBroch Queen is happy of the news Merida on the other wasn't, as she didn't felt ready for marriage or for her little free time life to be over, before she storms out of the room. When Elinor went to talk about it with Merida again and could tell that she is still upset about the idea, the Queen begins to retell Merida the legend of the forgotten kingdom and how the actions of one selfish prince led it to ruins, for not respecting the wishes of his father and three younger brothers. Merida didn't see the point is what her mother was trying to make with the unpleasant story that cannot be real, even though Elinor tries to tell Merida that legends ring with truth and that she will except the plan that have been laid out for her once the Lords arrive with their suitors. Later that night both Elinor and Merida pretended to have a talk with each other through Fergus and Angus, from where they stood in the castle, as they both want the other to listen to what they have to say. Along with Merida promising herself that she won't give in to her mother's plans.

On the day of the three Clan Lords' arrival in DunBroch, Elinor tries to tame Merida's wild hair before fitting her into a tied blue dress, along with giving Merida her sliver necklace to make her look beautiful. Elinor was proud of her work while Merida hated how she has trouble moving and breathing in it, and just has Elinor began to speak Merida could tell that it could be something important from the heart but before the Queen could say it she ends up reminding Merida to smile. Before their guests came into the throne room, Elinor fixes Merida's hair only to have her pull the stray strand down out, to make Merida feel more like her than what Elinor wants her to be. Once Merida hears Elinor say stating the rules of the games and oldest law, it gave her the idea as to how she can get herself out of marrying any of the Lords' sons by picking archery as the challenge for her hand. After the three shot their arrows Merida make her stand as she addresses as the first born child of Clan DunBroch and that it gives her a right to shoot for her own hand, which angers Elinor and tries to stop her from shooting any more arrows until Merida's last arrow pierced right through Wee Dingwall's.

Enraged by Merida's selfish actions and embracing both their guests and hostess, Elinor drags Merida back into the castle so she could tell the princess off for her actions in privet. As the two try to talk with one another on what they have to say on the subject, the princess's actions and words gets Elinor to tell her daughter that she is acting like a child, while an enraged Merida calls her mother a beast as she points to the tapestry image of Elinor, with the rest of the DunBroch family, with her sword. With Merida's anger getting the better of her she tells Elinor that she doesn't want to be like her, while Elinor begs Merida to not damage the tapestry she has worded hard on, until Merida sliced it with her when she stated that she would rather die than to be like Elinor; as Merida's actions caused the stick illation of Elinor to be separated from the rest of their family on the tapestry. Having enough of Merida's none princess behavior and is enraged by the damage that was done to the tapestry, Elinor takes Merida's bow and throws it into the fireplace as she angrily tells Merida to start acting like a princess. Seeing her bow burn in the flames, Merida bursts into tears before running out of the room and later out of the castle on horse back, while Elinor realized what she has done and manages to fish the bow out of the fireplace, but the bow's burnt state and the reminded of what she has recently done to Merida causes Elinor to cry as well.

Because of everything that has happened of late and Merida seeing her mother as the main reason for them, she willingly followed the Wisps to an old woman who turns out to be a witch, as asks for a spell to change her mother in hopes that it'll change her fate before using the necklace Elinor gave her as payment for it. Once Merida brought the spell form cake back to the castle and prepared it in away to make it to look innocent when she give it to the queen, Elinor finds Merida in the kitchen before she was about to bring it to her. Merida was surprised to hear that Elinor was worried sick about her when she ran out of the castle and was about to change her mind about giving her mother the spell, until Elinor says that Merida still needs to choose one of the Lords' sons to be her husband; and presents the cake as a peace officering she had made for her. After Elinor took a small bite of it she began to feel ill, while Merida asks her if she feels different about the wedding and the things connected to see if the spell has worked its magic.

Shortly after Merida brought her mother to her room and tucked her into bed, however, Merida came face to face with a bear that turns out to be her mother. Realizing that the spell didn't do what she wanted it to do and said her thoughts outload, Bear Elinor wasn't happy about what Merida had done to her or the fact that she wanted to change her. As the bear Queen lectures Merida in bear speak, the princess tells that there isn't a point in having a go at her and the witch is to blame, along with taking it upon herself to fix what has happened to her mother. With some help from Harris, Hubert and Hamish, in keeping their father and guests from seeing a bear in the castle, both Merida and bear Elinor were able to get got of the castle as they make their way back to the witch. At first Merida had tried to call the Wisps for help since she couldn't remember the way to the cottage, until bear Elinor made a start in finding the there herself and the two were able to find it. Even though the witch was gone when they got there, the witch did leave Merida a message encase she came back to ask her about the spell, since she had forgotten to tell her a few things about it, like it will become permanent if Merida doesn't "mend the bond born by pride". Merida had no idea what the witch meant, but promised her mother that they'll find away to get her back to normal. That night Merida dreamed about a happy moment in her childhood with her mother.

The next morning Merida wakes up to find her mother preparing breakfast for them, along with seeing that her bear mother is still her proper lady self which didn't help her since the barriers and water weren't safe to eat or drink. Since Elinor isn't the outdoors type that Merida is, the princess brings her mother to a river so she can catch fish with her bow and arrows, along with noting what Elinor had said about a lady having weapons to show her that they should in times like this. After catching and cooking her mother countless fish and was getting tired of it, Merida tells bear Elinor with her hand to get them herself, even though Merida helping her mother to do so and slashing in the water together allowed the two to bond with each other. Which is something that they haven't done in a long time. When Elinor began to show sighs that she is becoming a real bear in mind, they knew that they have to act fact before the next sunrise. After a Wisp appeared Elinor tried to catch them in a panic until Merida clams her mother down and tells her to listen and follow the Wisps to where they want to lead them.

Once Upon A Time
The past DunBroch events seen in the Once Upon A Time series takes place ten years after the events of the Disney Pixar film, where King Fergus being killed in a battle they all fought together in against the invaders from Camelot. Because Fergus's death, which Merida blames herself for, made Elinor a widow it was time for the queen to pass their kingdom's crown into Merida, the other three clans, however, didn't agree with Elinor's choice of letting an unmarried woman become their new ruler, they rose up against the DunBroch family by kidnapping Harris, Hubert, and Hamish; while Merida declare war upon their kingdoms for their actions. With Merida's three former suitors inheriting their fathers' titles and roles as the new Lords of their clans. After several hard months Merida learns what it means to be a good ruler as she works to save her brothers and reclaim their kingdom back from the Lords, who began to accept her as their queen. Along with Merida bringing her little brothers back home to their worried and proud mother.

On the day of Merida's coronation, she and Elinor stand before Fergus's grave as Elinor tells Merida that Fergus is proud of her and she'll make a good queen before they head back inside for the ceremony. After the Lords returned the crown and Elinor was about to pass her title onto Merida, the witch who gave Merida the spell that turned Elinor into a bear came to collect on Fergus's payment for her services when she had made the late king a magical helm. Knowing what will happen to them and the rest of their people, Merida tells Elinor that she'll find the missing helm before the witch's deadline. Elinor could tell that the news of Fergus turning to the witch for magic was troubling Merida, along with the fact that it is in the hand's of his killer, but Merida promises her mother that everything is going to be fine and she has a plan to find it. Once Merida's learned what helm's magic is, however, she began to question her right to rule and returned home to disgust her choice with her mother. While Elinor understood that Merida wanted to do what is right for everyone, she would rather be turned back into a bear than to have Lord Macintosh as their new king, Elinor's faith in Merida has her believing that the crown and role should remain with her.

After Merida finds the helm and brings it back to the castle, along with Lord Macintosh finally accepting her as his queen, Elinor is finally able to proudly crown her daughter as their new Queen of DunBroch. When the witch came to collect the helm, Merida stood up to her and learned that the task of finding the helm was really a test based on Fergus's request for his kingdom's future. Like the spell that was used on Elinor, the result from the mended bonds brought good to their kingdom, while Elinor comments that the witch's magic isn't very direct and clear. Even though the witch revealing the true meaning behind her actions when she gave Fergus magic, and his final choice on what he should do with it in the end, gave both Merida and Elinor peace of mind.

Brave: The Video Game

 * The game opens with Bear Elinor running out of the castle, before Merida goes to chase after her. While called out to her mother.
 * After Merida finds Bear Elinor she sees that her leg in injured and goes to fetch a plant to cure it.
 * Before Merida faces Mor'du, she tells Bear Elinor that she is sorry for spell that was placed on her. Along with sharing the lesson she learned on her quest to undo it.

Fanon
Merida and Elinor are one of the most popular mother-daughter in the Disney Pixar fandom, along with Violet and Helen Parr from The Incredibles. Which is why Disney fans include them in their mother's day fan-made work, they are also supported together in a few popular crossover fandoms, like Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons, whenever fans focus on the bonds that Merida and the other main characters share with their families and family-like figures.

Merinor is one of the main Brave ships supported in the Once Upon A Time fandom, even though both Elinor and the moments she shares with Merida in the ABC series were only seen in "The Bear King".

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Merida/Elinor on FanFiction.Net
 * Merida/Elinor on FanFiction.Net
 * Merida/Elinor on FanFiction.Net