| Esteban | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Esteban |
| Gender | Male |
| Homeland | Kingdom of Avalor |
| Race | Human |
| Family | Elena, Isabel (cousins) Raul (uncle by marriage; deceased) Lucia (aunt; deceased) Francisco and Luisa (grandparents) |
| Friends | Naomi Turner Mateo Armando Gabe Migs, Luna and Skylar Chief Zephyr Mingo, Zoom, and Estrella Dulce Rafa |
| Enemies | Shuriki Carla, Ash, and Victor Delgado Fiero Duke Cristobal Cruz (formerly) Vestia (formerly) Orizaba Marimonda Troyo |
| First Appeared | Elena and the Secret of Avalor |
| Voice | Christian Lanz, Anthony Avila (child), Desmond Gerber (baby) |
Chancellor Esteban is the cousin to Princess Elena and Princess Isabel, nephew to the late King Raul and Queen Lucia, and grandson to Francisco and Luisa.
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
41 years before the special began, Esteban made a deal with the wicked sorceress Shuriki of the Northern Isles in allowing her to invade Avalor and seize it for herself, but only under two conditions:
- Esteban is given a position of power under Shuriki's regime
- Shuriki does no harm to his family
Unfortunately for Esteban, Shuriki does not uphold the second condition, and murders his uncle and aunt, King Raul and Queen Lucia, and presumably does the same to his cousin Elena, while Alacazar protects Isabel, Francisco, and Luisa by placing them in an enchanted painting that Shuriki's magic can't affect. With his family either dead or imprisoned, Esteban becomes Chancellor of Avalor under Shuriki as she becomes Queen, ruling Avalor with an iron fist for four decades as he is forced to maintain her rules and ruin the lives of the citizens of Avalor in the process by banning everything Avalor stood for and enjoyed, such as music. He also is unable to prevent Shuriki from banishing fellow conspirator Victor Delgado and his family from Avalor as well, leaving Esteban guilt-ridden over his helplessness to stand up to Shuriki, lest he faces the same fate as Raul and Lucia should he show the slightest hint of treason against Shuriki.
41 years later, Avalor is visited by the Royal Family of Enchancia as Enchancia's monarch, King Roland II, wishes to open up trade routes with Avalor. Esteban does his best to avoid having Shuriki reveal her true colors and maintain the ruse that she's a benevolent ruler, especially when the Jaquins arrive to have a little fun with Shuriki and try to maintain hope in the citizens that Avalor will be free of Shuriki's tyranny in due time. Things go along fine as Esteban presents the trade agreement to open up trading with Enchancia, only for the meeting to be interrupted when Elena, very much alive, to Esteban's shock, arrives to reclaim the throne and exposes Shuriki for the villain that she is. Once Shuriki points out Esteban to Elena and how he grew up while she was stuck inside the Amulet of Avalor for 41 years, Esteban, not wanting to reveal his part in aiding Shuriki in her takeover, tells Elena he did so against his will, having no other choice. When the Royal Family of Enchancia is imprisoned on Shuriki's orders, Esteban reminds the guards that they are to be treated with the utmost respect since they are visiting royalty, before being confronted by Armando regarding aiding Elena with taking the throne back, but concerned about his grandparents and Isabel, and not wanting to face Shuriki's wrath if he betrays her, Esteban refuses to aid his cousin and tells Armando off before storming back upstairs to rejoin Shuriki.
Later, when Esteban confronts Shuriki about their agreement when he first aided her in her takeover, Shuriki warns him to be thankful she kept one of her promises, or she'll consider having him join Raul and Lucia in the afterlife if he continues to question her authority. After pursuing Luna the Jaquin to the palace foyer, Esteban watches in concern and fear as the citizens of Avalor City, aided by Elena, his freed grandparents and Isabel, Mateo, and the Royal Family of Enchancia, march on the palace. However, as Shuriki prepares to strike down Elena once and for all, Esteban intervenes, refusing to let Shuriki murder another member of his family after Raul and Lucia, and finally making his move to betray her, and throws Shuriki's wand to Elena, who breaks it in two, destroying Shuriki's powers and ending her reign over Avalor. Esteban then proudly declares Elena the rightful heir of Avalor, and when Elena thanks him for his help, but was concerned as to whose side he was really on, not wanting to reveal his betrayal with aiding Shuriki, Esteban lies and says he was always on the side of their family, but could not let Shuriki find a way to destroy the painting containing their grandparents and Isabel, so he pretended to follow her to keep them safe. With Elena back on the throne as Crown Princess, Esteban remains Chancellor to aid his cousin as a member of her Grand Council until she comes of age to become Queen.
Elena of Avalor
After Elena becomes Crown Princess, Esteban continues to maintain his duty as Chancellor until Elena comes of age to become Queen. Though there are some times when he and Elena come to blows about certain things, they still deeply care for each other and want to keep their family safe from harm.
However, Esteban soon learns of the return of his old friend, Victor Delgado, whom Shuriki banished from Avalor after she took over, and Esteban, frightened after Raul and Lucia's murders, did nothing to prevent it, earning hatred from Victor and his daughter, Carla for not standing up for them against Shuriki. After they attempt to steal the Avalor Crown Jewels and are stopped by Elena and Esteban, though Victor had confessed to Esteban's part in Shuriki's coup, Elena did not believe it as she was certain Esteban would not do anything that would harm his family, which was partially true.
Later, Esteban learns that Shuriki has returned, and allied with her former allies in the Delgados and the Malvago wizard Fiero. Though Elena wants to deal with Shuriki herself and avenge her parents, Esteban is against it, having the Grand Council vote to keep Elena in the palace for her own safety under heavy protection from the Royal Guards, confident he made the right choice keeping her safe in the palace, especially with Gabe maintaining Esteban's orders, even when Esteban is away on diplomatic duties with Francisco and Luisa as Elena begins the search for the Scepter of Night.
Later on, he travels with his cousins and grandparents to Nueva Vista for summer vacation to visit their cousin who rules Nueva Vista, but after the parade held to celebrate Elena's defeat of Shuriki, Esteban is horrified to find himself face-to-face with Shuriki again, along with all her allies, before being imprisoned in the tower. Elena joins them, revealing that the Duke, also their cousin, is allied with Shuriki as well, having betrayed them for gold. Mateo, Naomi, and Mateo bust them out with Migs, Luna, and Skylar, and Esteban later learns that Elena has defeated Shuriki for good, meaning that she and Isabel can rest easy knowing their parents have finally been avenged, and Esteban the same now that his late aunt and uncle could rest easy with Shuriki gone for good. Esteban then watches as Elena punishes their cousin for his treason due to greed, and forges a new alliance with the merpeople of Avalor, the Sirenas.
Esteban is later celebrating Navidad back in Avalor City, but when things between him, Elena, Mateo, Naomi, and Luna cause them to argue and blame each other for recent events, he admits that he lost his parents at sea when he was younger and that was the reason for his behavior and selfishness. He is forgiven, and Navidad goes much better with the rest of his family, along with Naomi's parents and Rafa. He later has to contend with Rafa when she tries to spruce up Avalor Palace due to Mateo being granted a personal quarter there as Royal Wizard before Mateo convinces her he is fine on his own and gets her to return home without him.
Esteban soon falls into a trap set up by the Delgados to drain Elena of her magic when they are lured to one of their neighboring kingdoms under the pretense that the king there had captured the Delgados himself. The process of draining Elena's magic would kill her, but thanks to Naomi, Gabe, and Mateo, Elena is rescued, Mateo destroys the last remnant of the Scepter of Night and Shuriki, and Esteban is able to apprehend Victor, while Carla and her mother, Ash, escape from being caught as well, vowing revenge. Esteban returns to Avalor with Elena and the arrested Victor to prepare for Ash and Carla's return with rescuing Victor and attaining their revenge on Elena and her friends.
However, at the start of the third season, Esteban's darkest secret of allying with Shuriki during her original takeover is exposed after Elena notices him acting nervous and anxious when the issue is brought up and he is hesitant to answer, and uses the Scepter of Light following its powerup in the Well of Crystals to find out why. Elena, furious at discovering the truth, summons Gabe and his men and has Esteban imprisoned and later exiled from Avalor for the rest of his life to the isolated Soledad Island, supported by Naomi, Isabel, and Luisa, while Francisco was willing to show mercy and forgive him, thus stripping Esteban of his position as Chancellor. With little other choice, Esteban breaks himself and the Delgados out of prison, but when Ash betrays Carla and petrifies Victor, Esteban flees with Ash while Carla turns herself back in to Elena to be imprisoned again, begging Elena to help her father in return for doing anything Elena wants. When Esteban later gains magic from the Well of Crystals and is summoned to confront Elena again in her dreams, despite his best attempts to apologize and plead for her forgiveness for what he had done, Elena officially disowns Esteban, no longer considering him family for his original allegiance with Shuriki that led to Raul and Lucia's deaths. With Elena having officially kicked him out of the Royal Family of Avalor, Esteban fully turns to the side of evil and joins Ash to better gain control of his magic.
However, in the series finale, "Coronation Day", during when he and Ash seek out the Four Shades of Awesome to conquer Avalor, Ash is pulled into the Spirit World with Elena, leaving Esteban to convince the Shades that he freed them to help conquer Avalor, only for them to double-cross him because of his trustworthiness after Cahu turns Francisco and Luisa into a stone tablet out of growing annoyed with them when they tried to convince Esteban that if he took over, he would be hated as ruler, just like with Shuriki. Horrified, he demanded that Cahu reverse what she did and restore them, but she reminds him that his trust is his fatal flaw, just like what happened with when he trusted Shuriki, causing him to fear he is beyond redemption now because he has not learned his lesson. When he later sees Elena about to meet the same fate at Cahu's hands, despite the hatred that Elena still harbored against him for Raul and Lucia's deaths, he willingly sacrifices himself to take the bullet for her. Despite whatever anger she still harbored towards him, but remembering what her parents told her in the Spirit World, Elena is heartbroken over his sacrifice and forgives him, causing her magic to awaken and restore him to normal. After Esteban then helps Elena defeat Cahu and banish her back to the Spirit World to join the other Shades, Esteban is welcomed back into the Royal Family, as Quita Moz reveals that Elena forgiving Esteban was her test that she needed to pass to become Queen, and she succeeded. Esteban later accepts Elena's decision to name Naomi her new Chancellor with his support and blessing after Elena's coronation to become Queen.