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 * “Maybe I don't have a magic touch And maybe I don't have a talent as such Just this heart with much too much to share So I'll never be the heir, but I'm more than just a spare”
 * ―Fauna, from the deleted song "More Than Just the Spare"

Princess Fauna of Aspennia is the protagonist of Calico's 2013 animated feature film Overgrown. She is the youngest daughter of Aspennia's previous monarchs, King Atticus and Queen Lucretia, and the younger sister of Flora the Earth Queen. Fearless and devoted, Fauna embarks on a perilous journey to save her kingdom from an eternal winter, and mend the broken bond between herself and her sister.

Fauna is loosely based on Vita, the protagonist of the Titus Florasen fairy tale "The Tale Of Mother Nature".

Official Description
Fauna'' is more daring than graceful and, at times, can act before she thinks. But she's also the most optimistic and caring person you'll ever meet. She longs to reconnect with her sister Flora, as they were close during their childhood. When Flora accidentally unleashes a magical secret that locks the kingdom of Aspennia in an era of quickly-growing nature, Fauna embarks on a dangerous adventure to make things right. Armed with only her fearlessness, a never-give-up attitude and her faith in others, Fauna is determined to save both her kingdom and her family.''

Development
In the earliest stages of the film's production, Fauna's role was vastly different than that of the final project. Instead of being a princess, Fauna was a peasant on a quest to have the Earth Queen help free her frozen heart. Not only that, she was of no relation to Flora in these stages of the film's production. The filmmakers struggled to find the movie's heart through this version, finding it difficult to have a believable and engaging relationship between the two female leads when they truly have nothing to do with one another. However, one of the filmmakers suggested the two be made siblings, and things quickly changed from there. Fauna was made a princess, as well as Flora, who, in turn, went from a villain to a misunderstood heroine.

With these changes, the characters and story were viewed in a more relatable light, as Fauna's main goal was to now win the acceptance and love of her older sister; something her voice actress Kennedy Starling personally related to.

Notably, as seen in early animation footage, Fauna wasn't always as daring and fearless as she is in the film. In the early test animation for the Huckleberry chase scene, Fauna was seen as reluctant when diving off the cliff with Dominic, only doing so at the fear of Huckleberry attacking. However, in the film, this isn't the case, and Fauna is seen with immense excitement, engulfing herself in the thrill of the moment.

Voice
Fauna's voice actress, Kennedy Starling, served as one of the prime inspirations for the character. The filmmakers, as well as Starling, wanted a heroine different from the trademark princesses of Frecklemary and Cadence; one who was clumsy, socially awkward, and constantly spoke before she thought. Fauna's supervising animator, Carly Cosgrove, noted she took much of Fauna's animated movement from Starling's facial expressions and rhythm when she recorded the lines.

Personality
Unlike her older sister Flora, Fauna is optimistic, energetic, awkward, and generally far from elegant. She is also free-spirited and garnered an extrovert mentality after years of living within the confines of the castle gates and without her sister's company. As a result, she is quick to make friends, and craves affection and companionship, though this can also act as her greatest flaw, as she can sometimes be too trusting towards strangers — an issue brought to attention with the introduction of the secretly malevolent Prince Silas.

However, while gregarious, Fauna's most valued asset and the true object of her affection is her relationship with her sister. Since childhood, Fauna has been attached to Flora and greatly admired her abilities, to which she saw as unique. Throughout most of the film, Fauna is also the only individual to express faith that Flora was not a monster. This is in contrast to the Duke of Weselton, Dominic, as well as the entirety of Aspennia's populace, who were all notably skeptical towards Flora's benevolence, and feared at what she was capable of. Against all these odds, however, Fauna remained hopeful, and fiercely assured that Flora's true nature was gentle and caring; so much so, that she willingly threw herself into the dangerous terrains of the mountains to retrieve her sister from exile, only armed with the belief that the strength of their bond would be enough to motivate Flora to return, which is example of Fauna's powerful sense of hope and optimism. Fauna relies on these traits to carry her through her hardships, and though she still faces overwhelming struggle, her buoyant mentality ultimately led to the restoration of both her kingdom's welfare, as well as the relationship with her sister.

It should be noted that, despite her optimism, Fauna has also struggled with her self-confidence, on occasion. The lack of explanation regarding her enforced separation from Flora would lead Fauna to believe that she was the issue, and that Flora simply wanted nothing to do with her. As time would go on, she would begin to fall into a toxic state of mind that manifested itself into an unhealthy need for love and companionship (again, brought into light through her relationship with Silas). This would also explain why she is so quick to find romance, as "For the First Time in Forever" shows that she's looking for someone to act as her companion, no longer wanting to be alone. She also quotes lines such as "It's just me" and "No, I'm completely ordinary", which also indicates her low opinion of herself.

Fauna also tends to act before she thinks, and can be rather impulsive and quick-tempered at times, which causes quite a bit of trouble. Throughout the film, she made several imprudent decisions as a result of this trait, such as accepting Silas' suspiciously hasty marriage proposal despite barely knowing him and provoking the beastly Huckleberry despite his ferocious size and power grossly outweighing her own. She can also be quite stubborn as she initially refused to accept the possibility that Silas was not her true love, despite the valid criticisms regarding the idea from Flora and Dominic. Furthermore, she repeatedly went against Dominic's advisements (such as letting him face a pack of wolves alone while she remained out of harm) throughout their adventure. Balancing this out is the fact that Fauna is fearless, sometimes intelligent, quick-thinking, good in a crises and highly skilled in self-defense, allowing her to overcome various challenges, including those caused by her own lack of impulse control. She held her own against Huckleberry (despite their difference in assets), a pride of mountain lions, and was solely responsible for the downfall of Silas, following his villainous reveal. Instead of being afraid of Flora's powers like everyone else she instantly decides to go find Flora and left Silas in charge which turned out to be the right choice at the time.

In the end, despite her numerous flaws, Fauna is an extremely sweet, selfless, and loving character. Numerous times throughout the film, she puts the safety and well-being of others before her own, showing great loyalty and admiration for her friends and family, most notably with Flora. Though clumsy and comical, she has a strong sense of purity and heart, as well as fearlessness and good judgment in a crisis which ultimately aids her in overcoming obstacles.

Flora's Fever shows a much more mature side of Fauna's personality. While excited over celebrating her birthday with Flora she spends the day more worried about Flora's health and pushes her to rest, caring more about Flora's health than her birthday highlighting her selflessness. especially after her sister almost falls off the clock tower. She also assures Flora that she hasn't ruined her birthday.

Physical Appearance
At 18 years of age during the original film, Fauna has a slender build and dark skin. She has dark brown eyes, rosy cheeks, short hair with two buns on top, side-swept bangs, and a light dusting of freckles. Her face is also slightly rounder than Flora's. When she wears sleeveless dresses, it is shown that she has some freckles on her shoulders in addition to the ones on her face. She has an olive-green streak that matches Flora's eye color on the right side of her hair due to an accident in which she was struck by Flora's magic during childhood.

Trivia

 * She may also be based on the Autumn Witch, whom according to some adaptations of The Tale Of Mother Nature, is the Earth Queen's sister.
 * Fauna's name means "young deer".
 * Fauna, being the younger sister, has two buns in her hair; while Flora, the oldest, has one.
 * She is shown to be ticklish at the beginning of her film as a child, as shown when she and Flora slide down the hill, which Fauna giggles yelling "Tickle bumps!"
 * Fauna sings the most out of all the characters of Overgrown.
 * The two parts of Fauna's body that Flora accidentally hurt with her powers, her head and her heart, mirror the two parts of Augustus' body that were hit by the broken shards of the Devil's mirror in the original Mother Nature fairy tale: the eye, distorting the way he sees things, and the heart, making him resentful of others. Ironically, Flora takes on Augustus' role in the film.
 * Although Flora is based on Augustus, Fauna receives ice skates from Flora, mirroring how Augustus also received ice skates from Mother Earth.
 * According to Overgrown: The Essential Guide, one of Fauna's favorite foods is artichoke.
 * According to the book A Rocky Heart:
 * Fauna's dreamed about ballroom dancing since she was little.
 * Fauna is uncontrollably giggly when she's happy.
 * Fauna's always been a romantic. Flora's always been practical.
 * Flora and Fauna have a "super sister promise".
 * Fauna likes to treat Flora's magic like it's their little secret, even if people already know about it.
 * Flora was taken out of Fauna's room while Fauna was unconscious from the accident.
 * Fauna pulls on the olive-green streak of hair. She doesn't actually like it and thinks it's out of place and not supposed to be there.
 * Fauna had one childhood friend from Flora who she met a few months before the accident: A daughter of a dignitary named Dot, who lives on a tropical island. She gave Anna a book with a hundred short stories about her homeland in it.
 * Fauna's horse is named Mars.
 * Fauna accidentally sprained the wrist of the Dignitary of Somewhere. Her father told him not to be mad and that that was just her way of saying hello.
 * Fauna had tried convincing her parents to let her go with them on their trip.
 * Atticus pinches Fauna's cheek to help cheer her up.
 * In Chloe the First, Fauna is mentioned by Leif in the episode "The Secret Library: Leif and the Tale of Miss Snowflake".
 * In Zootopia, a little elephant girl wearing an outfit resembling Fauna's trademark winter outfit can be seen wandering around in Tundratown.
 * During renovations of the Nellie Calico Animation Studios building, beginning in 2014, Fauna was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural.
 * While it has gone unnoticed by many, Fauna has performed feats of incredible strength not typically associated with a woman of her build. Although some may argue that these were kickstarted by adrenaline, examples are:
 * Flinging a stone bust across a ballroom.
 * Throwing climbing equipment at Dominic with enough force to inflict pain with no effort.
 * Sending a mountain lion flying with a banjo.
 * Pulling Dominic up a cliff with a little help from Sven.
 * Kicking Leif's head high into the air.
 * Knocking Huckleberry out with a tree.
 * Punching Silas in the face that throws him overboard.
 * Given Fauna's hyperactivity, impulsivity, and short attention span, she may have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. She gets easily excited, can sometimes act before she thinks, and her short attention span shows when she says, "Wait, what?"