[Ambiguously A Fiction?] Auradon Worldbuilding Guide

I have spent the past seven years absolutely obsessed with the Disney Channel movie series Disney Descendants. I am sufficiently persuasive that the fandom of this movie, in addition to its target twelve-year-olds, now includes a few dozen effective altruists in San Francisco. You should all be glad I only use my powers for good.

The premise of this series is that all the Disney princes and princesses lived at approximately the same time and formed a country called Auradon. They sent the Disney villains off to the Isle of the Lost. Twenty years later, the descendants [ba-dum-tish] of various Disney heroes, villains, and sidekicks are meeting each other and getting in G-rated romantic drama.

If you have responses like “what?”, “no”, “that doesn’t make sense”, and “but… but… but… the tech levels,” I will be the first to assure you that absolutely none of this is explained at any point. And that’s where I come in.

God help me, I have spent the past seven years bashing together as many Disney movies as possible into a single universe, and now you get the benefit of my work.

(Thanks to apprenticebard, Alicorn, Aevylmar, and many other people for their contributions to this absurd waste of time; particular thanks to Grace, my partner in worldbuilding crime. If this post seems familiar to you, it was paywalled on Thing of Things.)

Ground Rules

• Things explicitly established in the Disney Descendants movie series or in the prequel novel are canon. The rest of the deuterocanonical material is not canon because the authors can’t even bother to keep their canon straight.

  • Descendants 4: Rise of Red is NOT CANON because its worldbuilding makes about a tenth as much sense as the worldbuilding of the rest of the franchise. Somehow.

• In the Disney Animateed Canon: No shorts, no sequels, no TV shows, no musicals, no novelizations. Only the first movie in each series is included.

  • The exception is that Kronk is Jewish, as established in Kronk’s New Groove, because when it came up the people arose as one and demanded Peruvian Jews.

• Pixar is not canon, except for Brave, which is a member of the Disney princess line.

• The Rescuers is not canon because I have never seen it. (Yes, the implications about how much of the Disney Animated Canon I have watched are accurate.)

• No furries: that means no Zootopia, no Robin Hood, etc. Furries are tonally different from Disney princess movies. Animal-shaped animals that live alongside humans have generally been included but may be excluded on a case-by-case basis for requiring e.g. the existence of New York, monarchies that literally eat their subjects.

• Pocahontas is technically part of the Disney princess line but has been excluded because of the unusual difficulty of incorporating it into Auradon sensitively.

• Enchanted is not technically part of the Disney princess line but has been included because I love it and because it clears up some worldbuilding issues. No other live-action movies have been included.

• No real-world history that hasn’t been explicitly textually mentioned in a Disney movie is necessarily canon. Real-world history may be canonized if it explains a plot hole, is cool, or makes me laugh.

Species of Auradon

Auradon has many sapient species. All humanoid species are interfertile.

Humans are generally similar to the Earth baseline, except that they have three magic powers. First, an Auradonian human is capable of uplifting animals they spend time around: that is, these animals become sapient. Second, like all people in Auradon, they are capable of performing true love magic (on this more later). Third, they burst into song when they have sufficiently deep feelings.

Uplifted animals are generally animals who spend a lot of time around humans: farm animals, mice, cats, dogs, etc. Uplifted animals maintain all of the biological traits of their species (e.g. large litters, short lifespans). They are usually noticeably psychologically similar to non-uplifted animals: for example, mice tend to be easily scared, while dogs tend to be loyal to their owners. They sometimes adopt human cultural traits, such as wearing clothes for decoration. All uplifted animals can naturally understand each other and humans. Humans can’t understand uplifted animals unless they have put in a good deal of effort into learning how a specific animal species speaks.

Fairies are immortal and have magical powers. The exact capabilities of fairies are little-known, but seem to include transformation, illusion, divination, mind control, and so on. Fairies tend to have broadly human concerns, but skewed from how humans think of them: for example, a fairy might think hospitality is important and express this desire by cursing random fourteen-year-olds to turn into beasts. Fairies are spontaneously generated in deserted areas. For unclear reasons, fairy magic must be performed using stupid rhymes; also for unclear reasons, fairies require various magical items (a staff, a magic wand) to perform powerful magic. All spells cast on another person have a criterion that, if met by the target, will break the spell. Half-fairies can cast spells and use magical items, but are not immortal. Half-fairies are psychologically normal humans.

Gods may or may not be a kind of particularly powerful fairy. They have areas of concern, such as love, lightning, oceans, or art; gods tend to have power associated with their areas of concern, and can hear prayers from humans addressing them. Half-gods have magical powers (superstrength, durability), can use magical items, and are immortal, but are not capable of hearing prayers or casting spells.

Dwarves are short and bearded and like mining. They have no magic powers.

Goblins are short and gray-skinned. While they can have a variety of physical features (horns, fangs, piglike features), they are universally ugly to humans. Goblins have no magical powers.

Mermaids are half-human and half-fish. They can breathe underwater and are excellent singers. Like humans, they uplift the animals that are around them; unlike humans, they are naturally capable of understanding uplifted animals. There are also mermaid fairies, who are similar to the human kind, but have marine animal body parts such as those of an octopus.

Genies live in lamps, where they grant wishes. A genie can grant any three wishes, other than resurrecting the dead, creating true love, or getting more wishes. If a genie has been wished free, they can use their magical powers for their own purposes. Genies are nigh-omniscient, but exclusively use this power to make jokes.

Trolls live in cold regions and look like they’re made of stone. They adopt unattended children, know a lot about magic, and are capable of casting spells. Although somewhat eccentric, they are far more harmless and less skewed ethically than fairies.

Ancestor spirits are summoned from the afterlife, especially in China. They have various abilities to watch what is going on on Earth and occasionally interfere.

There are dragons in China but they are not sapient unless uplifted by humans.

True Love Magic

All sapient creatures are capable of true love magic. When you really, genuinely love someone–when their happiness is as important to you as your own–you can shape the world to your will. True love magic is more powerful when you are physically close to someone, when you love multiple people, when the person also loves you back, and when your love is strong and pure. True love magic is most often used for breaking curses and resurrecting the dead, but can in fact do anything.

Fairies generally make the removal criterion of curses be something like “true love’s kiss,” since true love would break the curse anyway.

The Worldsheaf

Auradon is linked to several other worlds.

Auradonians who die go to Hades. It was previously very unpleasant and involved swimming around in a well for eternity and losing your entire personality and sense of self, but Hades-the-person has been put on the Isle and ever since then Hades-the-location has been quite nice.

It is possible for a human to acquire magic powers by making deals with people from a mysterious world called the Other Side. Very little is known about The Other Side, except that they are hungry for human souls, perhaps to enslave them.

Auradon is known to be linked to three other worlds: Earth via a well, Wonderland via a hole in the ground, and Neverland via flying to the second star to the right.

Wonderland¹ is a world where the laws of physics and math don’t hold, and everything operates according to dream logic, a la Lewis Carroll.

Neverland² is a relatively small island, inhabited by “Indians,” “fairies” (who are six inches tall and quite different from Auradonian fairies), and the Lost Boys (children who escaped their parents to go to Neverland). Neverland and Auradon maintain diplomatic relations. Captain Hook, who killed Neverland residents, has been moved to the Isle of the Lost, in exchange for Peter Pan only collecting abused children to join the Lost Boys. (Despite the name, children of any gender can be Lost Boys.)

Earth is like our Earth, except that it takes place in a universe with millions of alien species which happen to not have contacted humans because Earth is a mosquito preserve.³ Auradonians are discouraged from traveling to Earth, because while Auradonian animals have a natural resistance to uplift, Earth don’t and an Auradonian’s presence may cause millions of rats, mice, pigeons, cats, etc. to become sapient.

Recent History

For the past thousand years, travel has been difficult. Fairies took up residence in deserted areas and killed or cursed most travelers, meaning that nearly all countries were cut off from each other. Te Fiti’s heart had been stolen by Maui, which made travel by sea nearly impossible. The advanced technology of the Atlanteans⁴ had been lost in the destruction of their civilization. Most countries settled on an approximately medieval level of tech. A few countries, such as England and France Two, managed to remain stable for long enough to have the Industrial Revolution. France Two even managed to colonize Louisiana.

About eighty years ago, Moana returned the heart of Te Fiti to Te Fiti, which made sea travel possible again. Many countries, especially Arendelle, Weselton, and the Summer Isles, opened sea trade. This also prompted Louisiana to rebel against its historical colonizers, France Two.

About fifty years ago, Nancy–a human from Earth–crossed over to a small medieval kingdom to be with the man she loved. Nancy was smart enough to bring a whole bunch of engineering textbooks with her, and managed to advance technology in her kingdom from the Middle Ages to the 21st century within only a few decades.

The biggest innovation was about thirty years ago, when the anti-magic field was invented in France One. Easily cast even by half-fairies, the anti-magic field allowed France One to unite the various countries of Auradon under a single High King, King Adam⁵, about twenty years ago.

Since the conquest, life has improved tremendously. The elite have smartphones, video games, and the Internet. Most people haven’t accessed the benefits of technology; the usual profession in the ex-medieval countries is still “subsistence farmer.” But weather is extensively managed by half-fairies, mostly eliminating famines, and trade is getting rid of the rest. Sultan Aladdin mostly doesn’t want to interfere with his friend Genie’s thousand-year vacation, but Genie did come out of retirement in order to eliminate every major disease more likely to kill you than the common cold.

Economic growth is not quite as fast as it could be. In general, most countries have a quite protectionist, traditionalist, and guild-based economic system, because Nancy got engineering books and not economics books. Still, the economic growth rate is far higher than any growth rate ever known on Earth, and King Adam is presiding over the greatest golden age ever known. Some people suffer from future shock, but it is generally agreed that the world is getting better and better.

King Adam is the high king of Auradon; he is commonly nicknamed King Beast because of the years he spent in a monstrous form. Auradon’s governance tends to be quite decentralized, so he doesn’t have to worry about ruling the territories he’s conquered. He’s also planted a lot of colonies from France One in previously fairy-ridden wasteland. He doesn’t demand taxes from his citizens; instead, he requires the kings to downsize their armies and pay some of the money they save to him. He lives simply. King Adam likes power, not wealth.

Some of King Adam’s policies are more questionable. King Adam decreed that all sufficiently evil people (“villains”) would be placed on the Isle of the Lost. Following the legal precedent that humans could own uplifted animals, King Adam decreed that all nonhumans could be legally owned by humans.

In the present day, King Adam has abdicated in favor of his seventeen-year-old son, King Ben. King Ben performs ceremonial duties, while King Adam continues to set most policies. As his first act as king, King Ben criminalized slavery. He has begun a program of importing teenagers from the Isle of the Lost to attend Auradon Prep with the elites of Auradonian society, in the hopes of teaching them not to be villains. He has also encouraged factory farming to prevent uplift of food animals.

The children of all the Disney princes and princesses and major sidekicks, as well as any other world leaders’ children, attend Auradon Prep. King Adam believes in his heart of hearts that this is simply because he can get them a better education this way, and is absolutely not to make sure he has a bunch of hostages in case his vassal kings disobey him.

General Auradonian Culture

All Disney movies which are not canon for Auradon are in-universe fiction. Wreck-It Ralph, in particular, accurately depicts the popular video games in Auradon.

The elite in Auradon has the kind of gender and sexuality norms you’d expect from a planet of Disney heroes. People are supposed to save their first kiss for their one true love, and are definitely not supposed to have sex before marriage. Homosexuality and polyamory are incredibly taboo. Romantic love is put on a pedestal: it is believed that once you find your one true love you will never have a real fight with them, never be lonely again, and live happily ever after. It is believed to only be possible to cast true love magic using romantic love between one man and one woman or the love of a parent for a child. In reality, however, this is just because Auradon has a weird culture around romance.

Auradon is also strongly gendered in a Disney sort of way. Men are supposed to be brave, noble heroes who save damsels in distress from dragons. Women are supposed to be kind and patient and beautiful and to endure suffering until a man rescues them.

The Disney movie protagonists are Auradon’s celebrities. There are movies made about them; there are gossip columns covering their lives; there are paparazzi constantly following them around; people pretend to be them in theme parks. This extends to their children. All children of Disney movie protagonists have lived their entire lives in the limelight. In general, the celebrity press is heavily self-censored, in part due to Auradon’s strict libel laws and in part because people pedestalize celebrities and don’t want to hear about the bad things they’re getting up to.

Auradonian names are patrynomics (e.g. Doug, son of Dopey). You generally use your most famous or prominent parent, or the parent you would most like to be associated with.

The most popular sports are tourney (sort of like football, if football involved statues of dragons which shot pretend fire at the players) and Flynning (swordfighting but with points for style and close resemblance to Errol Flynn).

Countries of the World

Countries of the world, with key details and the movies set in them noted afterward:

• Greece. Ancient Greek tech level. Most notable because the gods live on Mount Olympus in it. An island; cut off from the world for a thousand years.

  • Hercules.

• Peru. Incan tech level; otherwise unusually unsimilar to Earth Peru even for an Auradonian country. Jews are from Peru, and Jesus was Peruvian. An island; cut off the world for a thousand years.

  • The Emperor’s New Groove.

  • Encanto.

• China. Roughly Tang dynasty culture and tech level.

  • Mulan.

• The Steppe. Former wasteland ruled by fairies; the Huns know the rituals necessary to propitiate them.

  • Mulan.

• Camelot. Ruled by King Arthur. Medieval tech level.

  • The Sword in the Stone.

• Alben. Formerly ruled by Queen Grimhilde; currently ruled by Snow White and her prince. A union of two countries. Medieval tech level.

  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

  • Bambi.

• Cinderellaburg. Ruled by Prince Charming and Princess Cinderella. 19th century tech level. (Cinderellaburg was renamed because of how much Prince Charming’s father was delighted about his son getting married and producing grandchildren. Cinderella is very embarrassed by this.)

  • Cinderella.

• Morgendammerung. Ruled by Prince Philip and Princess Aurora; merging of two countries. Medieval tech level.

  • Sleeping Beauty.

  • Pinocchio.

• Andalasia. Ruled by Prince Edward and Princess Nancy.

  • Enchanted.

• Corona: Medieval tech level. Ruled by Prince Eugene and Princess Rapunzel.

  • Tangled.

• Scotland. Medieval tech level.

  • Brave.

• Arendelle. In the frozen north. Ruled by Queen Elsa, who has the power to control ice.

  • Frozen.

• Weselton. A small island near Arendelle. Ruled by Duke Weselton.

  • Frozen.

• The Summer Isles. Ruled by Prince Eric and Princess Ariel; Prince Eric’s brother was Prince Hans, who was placed on the Isle of the Lost for attempted regicide. The mermaids live around the Summer Isles.

  • Frozen.

  • The Little Mermaid.

• Agrabah. Medieval tech level. Muslim. The most successfully industrializing ex-medieval country, partially because Sultan Aladdin leans towards abolishing the hereditary privileges of the elites, and partially because the existence of Sultan Aladdin’s nigh-omnipotent friend Genie gives him a lot of leverage in negotiations with King Adam. Ruled by Sultan Aladdin and Sultana Jasmine.

  • Aladdin.

• England. Landlocked. Early twentieth century tech level. Ruled by the very young Queen Elizabeth.

  • Lady and the Tramp.

  • 101 Dalmatians.

  • The Fox and the Hound.

  • The Great Mouse Detective.

  • Peter Pan.

  • Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

• France One: Split off from France Two after a fairy took up in the middle of the country six hundred years ago. Renaissance tech level. Catholic. King Adam is from France One. Recent attempted genocide of the large Roma population.

  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

  • Beauty and the Beast.

• France Two: Early twentieth century tech level. Catholic. Colonized Louisiana about two hundred years ago.

  • The Aristocats.

• Louisiana: Early twentieth century tech level. Catholic. Colonized by France Two. The indigenous residents are black and Native American. Unusually sexually liberal for Auradon.

  • The Princess and the Frog.

• Maldonia. Early twentieth century tech level.

  • The Princess and the Frog.

• The Pacific Islands. Each island is ruled by an independent chief, and they have not joined Auradon.

  • Moana.

Other areas of interest:

• On Tarzan’s Island, all of the animals are sapient, for unclear reasons.

  • Tarzan.

• Another continent, Kumandra, has entirely different sapient species, including always-sapient dragons and “Druun.” Auradon has yet to make contact with them.

  • Raya and the Last Dragon.

The Isle of the Lost

The Isle of the Lost is the island that the Disney villains and their minions were put on. Villains who died were resurrected and then returned to the island to live out a life sentence. Lady Tremaine was placed on the Isle in spite of not doing anything especially criminal—emotionally abusing your stepdaughter is wrong but not illegal—as a concession to Cinderellaburg’s former king, who was upset that anyone had mistreated Cinderella. (Cinderella is very embarrassed by this too.)

The Isle of the Lost was not very fertile and anyway is incredibly overpopulated. All goods from the island come from the garbage of Auradon, which they ship on enormous barges. For this reason, essentially everyone on the Isle of the Lost is diseased and half-starved.

When you put a bunch of Disney villains on the same island, you get a very weird culture. The Isle of the Lost is a place where everyone will destroy the social fabric constantly for lulz. If you make something, people will vandalize it. If you leave your possessions unattended, someone will steal them. If you look weak, someone will enslave you or beat you up. Love and loyalty are considered weaknesses and frowned upon. Everyone is just using everyone else to survive and acquire power.

The Isle of the Lost is completely accepting of trans people and queer people and has essentially no gender roles. Disney villains tend to be queer as fuck, and besides what are you going to do, tell a girl who can beat you up that she should stay home and do her knitting? Tell someone with some powerful allies that he can’t be a boy if he wants to? Nah. Islanders default to polyamory; in particular, gang members often have sex with each other.

The adults mostly lick their wounds and plot returning to Auradon and taking it over. They’ve organized a school to teach their children the evil skills they’ll need when their parents return and take their horrible revenge.

However, younger people–especially people who grew up on the Isle of the Lost–have gotten used to the Isle and rarely think about the outside world. The younger people have developed a sort of pseudo-feudalism. They form gangs of about two to six teenagers to young adults, usually ones who are descended from a major villain, although a particularly talented person can join a gang without a good background. Most gangs have various associated hangers-on who aren’t members of the gang proper. A gang takes over a particular territory. The gang demands protection barter and protects its area from the depredations of other gangs. You have to put up with four teenagers’ worth of vandalism but not with an entire island’s worth. In a couple of decades, as the teenagers get older, probably this would evolve into an actual government.

Gangs usually don’t fight each other. Everyone is hungry, and no one has access to good medicine. Instead, they usually perform dance and rap battles, which establish who has the stronger, healthier, and better-coordinated groups without the risks associated with violence.

1. Alice in Wonderland.

2. Peter Pan.

3. Lilo and Stitch, and yes the mosquito thing is canon.

4. Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

5. I am sorry about the slander this setting requires me to do against Adam (“Beast”) from Beauty of the Beast, but movie canon has my hands tied here.